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Lightwave into Daz problem

CamthaleonCamthaleon Posts: 39
in The Commons

I recently got this model for Lightwave: http://www.foundation3d.com/index.php?categoryid=38&p13_sectionid=321&p13_fileid=1973

The website sometimes takes ages to load. The file has a scene lws and two objects lwo format. 

First odd thing is that it looks entirely black in preview mode unless I switch to VPR then I can actually see all the textures.

Second, how do I bring it into Daz? Do I use Lightwave Layout or Modeler to export the model? And which format? I've tried .dae and .fbx with no luck. I mean, it gets the model into Daz but sometimes all the components appear detached, the textures never seem to appear, the objects are not rigged correctly, i.e. the wheels do not rotate in place, instead they just fly away or the canopy appears out of position and same thing it rotates around the wrong center point.

 

 

Comments

  • Richard HaseltineRichard Haseltine Posts: 108,072

    I would think Modeller and export as OBJ.

  • CamthaleonCamthaleon Posts: 39

    The problem with OBJ is that it's one single element, there would be no moving parts and still I can't seem to have the textures exported.

  • Richard HaseltineRichard Haseltine Posts: 108,072

    The OBJ should have the groups from the LW model (if it has any), so you should be able to rig it as a figure. As for the textures, is it UV mapped in LW?

  • MattymanxMattymanx Posts: 6,996

    I can tell you from experiance that LWO format is one of the most frustrating formats to convert.

  • CamthaleonCamthaleon Posts: 39

    I am a noob in Lightwave, I have an older version I got back then just to convert some models. So I'm not sure how to check if the UV are mapped but I think they are, I'm attaching screenshot where the textures appear to be UV mapped. Drop down box reveals many more.

    The model appears to have distinct parts (see second screenshot).

    But an OBJ export results in a single shape without textures (see Daz screenshot).

    I've had more luck with FBX, just parts aren't rigged correctly. Maybe it's a model that is only suited to LW.

    uvm.PNG
    432 x 164 - 26K
    marks.PNG
    805 x 257 - 19K
    dazm.PNG
    1386 x 771 - 387K
  • Richard HaseltineRichard Haseltine Posts: 108,072

    I don't have Lightwave (9) installed right-now, but you need to have the UV map you wish to use assigned to each surface (material is I think the LW term) when you export in order to get the UVs.

  • AlienRendersAlienRenders Posts: 794
    edited October 2018

    Why don't you just export to OBJ and make sure you assign the UV maps to the appropriate surfaces as Richard says? And the term is indeed "surface" since they have a "surface editor". Starting in LW2018, there is a material editor in surface editor. You'll have to rig any movable parts and assign a weight map to them. It's fairly easy to do since the wheels and other components should be a connected mesh. Note, when exporting to OBJ, the weight map must be in the surface editor, usually in the "T" icon (you can just pick the color channel). Set projection to "UV". Then pick your UV map in the next dropdown. If there's a texture map, set it in the third dropdown. If not, then try leaving it blank or assign a dummy image. If it's a Lightwave object, the UV map should already be set on the surface.

    For detachable items like the missiles, I would export separately and make them props.

    OTOH, it's possible it's rigged in Layout. So you'd have to export to FBX or something from Layout, but I've always gotten inverted bones when trying to do that.

    If you have google drive or dropbox, send me a PM and I'll give you my email so you can send me the file if you want me to take a look. It seems they disabled registration at the link you gave.

    Also note that Lightwave's exporters have gotten exponentially better from LW11 onwards. I have LW2018 and the import/export tools are WAY better than they ever were before.

     

    Post edited by AlienRenders on
  • Richard HaseltineRichard Haseltine Posts: 108,072
    AlienRenders said:
    If you have google drive or dropbox, send me a PM and I'll give you my email so you can send me the file if you want me to take a look. It seems they disabled registration at the link you gave.

    Make sure that redistribution is allowed.

  • CamthaleonCamthaleon Posts: 39
    AlienRenders said:

    Why don't you just export to OBJ and make sure you assign the UV maps to the appropriate surfaces as Richard says? And the term is indeed "surface" since they have a "surface editor". Starting in LW2018, there is a material editor in surface editor. You'll have to rig any movable parts and assign a weight map to them. It's fairly easy to do since the wheels and other components should be a connected mesh. Note, when exporting to OBJ, the weight map must be in the surface editor, usually in the "T" icon (you can just pick the color channel). Set projection to "UV". Then pick your UV map in the next dropdown. If there's a texture map, set it in the third dropdown. If not, then try leaving it blank or assign a dummy image. If it's a Lightwave object, the UV map should already be set on the surface.

    For detachable items like the missiles, I would export separately and make them props.

    OTOH, it's possible it's rigged in Layout. So you'd have to export to FBX or something from Layout, but I've always gotten inverted bones when trying to do that.

    If you have google drive or dropbox, send me a PM and I'll give you my email so you can send me the file if you want me to take a look. It seems they disabled registration at the link you gave.

    Also note that Lightwave's exporters have gotten exponentially better from LW11 onwards. I have LW2018 and the import/export tools are WAY better than they ever were before.

     

    PM Sent mate. 

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