File Import Formats -New Problem
JOdel
Posts: 6,310
I find myself in the position of needing a model of a D-9 Caterpiller Bulldozer. It doesn't need to be rigged. There are quite a few of them on various sites, both free and not. I'd prefer a free one, obviously. The issue is getting it into Studio.
Most of the free ones seem to be Sketchup models. Either 2018 or 2017. It's also available as a Collada file, or an STL file.
What I want to know is whether Studio can import any of these directly? Failing that; can Blender import any of these directly and export them as .obj?
Post edited by JOdel on

Comments
DS imports .OBJs the best with little to no issues. Blender can import/export many different file types. I would use blender to import the collada (DAE) file and then export as .OBJ for DS
Thanks. Was pretty sure that was going to be necessary. Studio can see the .dae file but it doesn't bring in anything visible.
A lot of those models seem to be photogrametry or whatever it's called of some sort and poorly organized but it doesn't matter if you're not going to do cleanup & rig it.
Well I've managed to bring them into Blender, but none of the free ones I found come in complete. I only seem to get the cab and the blade. No tracks.
Looks like I'm going to need to pay for an .obj model.
Okay, new problem. .obj files are greyed out and I can't select them to import. I've got the import dialog set to recognizing/looking for .obj files, they are in the file list, but they are greyed out, just like the .jpgs.
I went and checked, and .obj file that I have imported and used before alre also greyed out. Is this something new in 4.12, or what is going on here?
Got a link to the sketchup model and I'll check it out
Rob suggests that you use the current Public Build
I stepped back to 4.11, .obj files were still greyed out. I stepped back to 4.9 and the .obj was selectable. Haven't made the attempt in 4.10.
So... the problem is solved, but I don't like the look of this at all. Is anyone else unable to import an .obj file in 4.12?
As Chohole says, if this is Catalina use the current Public Build - 4.12.1.16 - which has a fix for the multi-format syntax issue that breaks (some) older versions of DS in Mac OS Catalina.
No, it's Mojave. Admittedly I haven't been in a position to need to import an .obj since I was working in... I think 4.10 under High Sierra. So I wouldn't have noticed the function had disappeared.
I'll need to check 4.10 and see if it still is available there. But it was a nasty surprise.
Would this possibly have been why the .dae import was invisible? I could find it in the list to select it for import, but when imported, nothing was there.
.DAE files have always been problematic in my experience, not even sure why the option to import is even there, same for .FBX.
Yup. In 4.10 the .obj shows up and imports without a problem. It's greyed out for 4.11 and later.
Just as well I keep older versions installed. I may drop 4.11 though. And possibly 4.9 since I don't think I'll need to step back that far for anything these days.
I have 4.12 installed and have no issues importing .OBJs
I'm assuming that you are on Windows? This could be a Mac thing.
I normally work on Windows but am out of town working on my MacBook. Unfortunately, I've discovered that I'm unable to import OBJ files with the current version of DAZ Studio (4.12.0.86). All OBJ files are greyed out, as experienced by the poster above. This is an issue because I use OBJ for my workflow to/from Marvelous Designer. I'd be grateful if anyone has a suggestion for a workaround that I can use while I have to be in the Mac environment.
https://www.daz3d.com/forums/discussion/comment/5037956/#Comment_5037956
HTH.
- Greg
Below is a render of the freebie from Sketchup Warehouse of
Caterpillar-D9-Bulldozer-Now-with-a-ripper-attachment-added-and-in-cab-updates
without any materials changes in Daz Studio 4.12.1 Beta iray. Looks like a lot of fixes needed.
I have added Brute 8 - https://www.daz3d.com/the-brute-8 - for scale comparison.
I downloaded a .dae version of that and opened it up in Blender to try to get an .obj. It came in without the treads. I finally gave up and found the cheapest acceptable version in .obj on Turbosquid. That worked fine once I stepped back to 4.10. DS 4.10 has no problem imporing an .obj.
Great, that you have found the model, you needed.
The free models, like that, requires additional work, to be useful in Daz Studio.
Below is one more render with some other materials in Daz Studio.
I'm trying to parse the best solution for my problem of being unable to import OBJ files from the responses here. If stepping back to 4.10 will do the trick I'm willing to go that way. Could somebody enlighten me as to where I find the older version to install?
What OS? MacOS Catalina needs the current Public Build, 4.12.1.16, rather than the General Release as the earlier version has an issue with dialogues supporting multiple formats under Catalina.
Earlier versions are not available for download anymore, only the current version of the General Release and of the Beta are available at a given time. Unless you kept a backup of the installer for an earlier version there's no way to downgrade.
I'm having problems, as well, I'm using DS 4.12.0.86 Pro Edition (64-bit) on OS X Mojave.
The .obj files are ghosted. I can't import them. These are files from several different sources.
I can see them in the directory list and load them in Blender.
I can see them in the directory list and load them in ZBrush. If I export from ZBrush to create a fresh .obj file from my own system, DS still has them ghosted.
I tried other file formats and most of those are ghosted (although I was able to load an .fbx).
It seems to be a DS problem.
Mojave rather than Catalina? I thought this issue affected only the latter, but it may still be worth trying the fix included in 4.12.1.16 https://www.daz3d.com/daz-studio-beta
As I think I said; the problem with greyed out .obj imports appears to have started with 4.11. It continues in 4.12. 4.11 was superceeded fairly quickly, so we aren't talking about a long period of time here. But the import function is definitely is disabled in Mojave. No Catalina on my system.
All I can say without having to guess about it is that I had no problem importing .obj files on my previous iMac -- which was running High Sierra -- in May of 2018. I was using 4.10 at that time.
I replaced that computer in December 2018, and the replacement shipped with Mojave. I hadn't needed to import an .obj again until this last October, and found that I couldn't do so in either 4.11 or 4.12. I stepped back to 4.9 and had no problem. I also tried in 4.10 and had no problem. So whatever got borked, seems to have started with 4.11 and affects Mojave. I don't know whether it would still be borked under High Sierra or earlier, since I no longer have access to a Mac running that.
I don't use DIM so I have no access to the beta.
You could use DIM solely for the beta without its affecting anything else.
Hello! I have a problem with DAZ Studio and Carrara when using Collada models from the site 3D Warehouse. Numerous viewers show models downloaded from this vault in normal form, as does the internal browse script on this site. But when loading DAE-models downloaded from it, the same thing happens in Carrara and DAZ Studio: up to 25 percent of geometry is lost. For example, when you load this model: gabby V. - orgue Her body and legs are lost. Apparently, these are problems exclusively with DAZ Studio and Carrara, because in MAX models boot normally 3DS Are your programmers preparing to solve this problem? After all, despite all the primitive look of these models, they consist of separate parts, they are easier to animate and repaint, and they... are free. By the way, Poser 11 has the same trouble. Please help, as there is no way I can finish the scene involving your models and the synthesizer from this site.
Hello!
I used to import 3D obj with Daz Studio 4.12.0.86 on mac OS 10.14.6 (MOJAVE),but suddenly it's not working anymore.!!!
I don't think I made any upgrade recently so I don't understand why? I just put a ticket to ask to the technical support
if there is a solution...Could it be that after a while this function is desactived ?To push people to buy props in Daz store in duf format???
any informations in the Mac user's group ?