[Radiance-general] Radiance plug-in for 3DS

[Jack de Valpine]

Hi All,

Here are a few more thought to add.

    * 3ds - this format has some limitations in data size/allocation. I
      have noticed on big models that have a lot of geometry, 3dsout
      from Autocad will stop on large entities. One thing to consider
      would be writing a script (autolisp) and using 3dsout on a per
      layer or per color basis, though this still may not work on large
      entities.
    * Max and objects converted to 3ds - there are lots of objects out
      in the 3D marketplace that are sold in multiple formats, some of
      these are actually modeled in Max and then converted to other
      formats. One problem that I have noticed with models created in
      Max is that because of the way Max deals with coordinate systems
      on a per object basis, models exported to other formats such as
      3ds do not always have things transformed correctly. I think that
      this must be a problem with the way Max deals with exporting to
      other formats. For example, I bought some nice 3D car models in
      3ds format, in a few of them the wheels where not in the right
      location when I viewed the model.  PLEASE NOTE - I am not a Max
      user, but I have worked with customers who use Max, and it is a
      huge @#%$%^#$% pain in the @#%$$#$% to get things converted into
      something useful.
    * Polytrans - my latest effort at find a decent 3D conversion tool
      finally lead me to purchase Polytrans from Okino
      (http://www.okino.com/conv/conv.htm) along with the cad-pak
      module. I have used this for a few different things (though there
      are some minor problems with the native autocad dwg as they use
      opendwg vs native dwg). The nice things is that I now have a
      reliable way to export directly to obj!
    * 3Dwin4 and Accutrans3d - I have used the former with some success
      and heard of the latter. You will have to do a search on where to
      find them. These are shareware
    * Revit - As far as this is concerned, I have always thought that
      this must be a pretty great tool. However, I have never used it
      for production for the very reason that it seemed extremely
      difficult to get geometry out. This being said though, I have
      heard from relatively reliable sources that they are working on
      this, on the other hand though I think that in the bigger picture
      they are trying to determine the best way to fit Revit into their
      overall product mix.
    * Outsource Development of custom exporter - Depending on need and
      how much you use Revit it might be worth it to consider
      outsourcing the development of a native exporter. I have no idea
      what the Revit api is like though so not really sure what would be
      involved. You might check out: www.4d-technologies.com,
      www.fpsols.com, www.sycode.com

Regards,

-Jack


Iain Macdonald wrote:

> Jeffrey,
>
> I also get the same behaviour as John reports.  In my experience going 
> from dxf -> 3ds -> mgf -> rad (works better than dxf -> rad directly) 
> missing surfaces are due to errors in the original cad model or small 
> errors in curved surfaces being triangulated.  I would recommend 
> checking the original model.
>
> Apart from that could there be any 3ds primitives that are not 
> translated by 3ds2mgf?
>
> Iain
>
> John Mardaljevic wrote:
>
>>> I then export out a nice
>>> 3DS file from 3D Studio, and run the 3DS2MGF -> MGF2RAD style of
>>> conversion, and it gets most of the way through the conversion but  
>>> then
>>> hits a 'Unexpected EOF'. If I then render the RAD file things are
>>> missing, for it didn't finish the conversion. It happens with this
>>> script as well.
>>
>>
>>
>> Jeffrey,
>>
>> In my experience, the 'Unexpected EOF' report occurs with every  
>> successful execution of 3ds2mgf.  In which case, the report may have  
>> nothing to do with the missing geometry.
>>
>> Sorry I can't be of more help, but I thought it worth pointing out  
>> that this seems to be normal behaviour for 3ds2mgf.
>>
>> -John
>>
>> -----------------------------------------------
>> Dr. John Mardaljevic
>> Senior Research Fellow
>> Institute of Energy and Sustainable Development
>> De Montfort University
>> The Gateway
>> Leicester
>> LE1 9BH, UK
>> +44 (0) 116 257 7972
>> +44 (0) 116 257 7981 (fax)
>>
>> jm at dmu.ac.uk
>> http://www.iesd.dmu.ac.uk/~jm
>>
>>
>>
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>>
>

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