exporting to c4d

[Anonymous]

I think that I've tried just about all the various options and so far find the OBJ format to work the best. However, when I export by materials, which makes sense, ALL the AC geometry of that material comes in as ONE single polygon object in C4D. This is a major, major pain as there is no easy way to split all the polygons like the explode command in autocad...you have to do it polygon by polygon. What I would really like to see in the file transfer is all the polys of one material to come in under a single null object in C4D so that each part is easily accessed amd edited in C4D and yet comes in already "sorted" by material under the null object. This would save a lot of time. By the way, that is the way FormZ objects come in, except I used to do it by layers, but same concept.

Have I missed an option here somewhere that might work better? I did try the AC to C4D exchange plugin...and offhand can not remember the results as far as how the geometry came in.

[Wokka]

Joesphus,
That's exackly what the exchange plugin does but only available on ArchiCad 11. The new plugin will probably be out before R13 if we're lucky
I use it all the time and it's very good most of the time. Occasionally some geometry is missed in large complex models but will return the next time you save the file.
Regarding C4D, if your in polygon mode, you can select groups of polygons and use the 'split' command.

Cheers

[Anonymous]

Wokka wrote:
That's exackly what the exchange plugin does but only available on ArchiCad 11. The new plugin will probably be out before R13 if we're lucky Regarding C4D, if your in polygon mode, you can select groups of polygons and use the 'split' command.

Warwick, thx for your reply. Just tried the plugin again w/AC11 and C4D10.5...it definitely gives me all the polys I could want So far we've not switched to AC12 as we're still having problems with the 3D Profiler for AC12...personally I wish 3DProfiler would just go away if GS can't bring it into the heart of the program. I would rather do about 90% of the model in AC with native commands and do the rest for construction docs in 2D like the old days, and then finish the model in C4D for final presentation. Since I've been leaning much more to using Maxwell than VRayforC4D (which I may see if they will let me sell), I think that probably the OBJ export with materials works the best as it will be a lot easier to assign Maxwell materials that way. I will just have to clean up my AC material model assignments some before exporting to C4D. Per your comment the split command works fine for a single poly at a time or a group of polys that will be split as a group and not as a collection of individual polys, which is more what I was hoping for.

By the way, we have a very similar hardware/software setup. I'm also a practicing architect (a bit older) becoming more and more interested in focussing on the design and viz part...the fun stuff

[Wokka]

Maybe not that much older

How is Maxwell going? I was onboard when all the preliminary trouble started and bailed out when Vray bridge appeared.
Yes, the design and fun of images is great, but in this market if your not 100% into the rendering, it doesn't always pay the bills. So it's construction documentation thats paying the bank at the moment

Cheers

[Anonymous]

Maxwell is going well, the C4D plugin works very well and is very easy to use...the ONLY issue I have is that it takes sooooooo long to do a render of an interior, but the results are very satisfying. I'm still very much in the learning mode for both C4D and Maxwell. Fortunately at work I currently have available an 8 core computer to render on, so that helps. I also bailed out for a long time during the beta and RC releases.

By the way, I've tried the Maxwell plugin for Archicad which works fine but is limited by the rendering settings within AC. It's a bit cumbersome to use when compared to how nicely it works within C4D.

I've been both self-employed several times and am currently (again) employed, having done residential architecture all of my professional days. The last couple of years I've had to switch to commercial work as the residential work in the US is currently at a bit of a standstill However, I'm very happy to have work As I'm nearing retirement age my focus has been to learn more of the rendering/archviz as that seems like a fun thing to do to make some extra $$ during "retirement".

[Anonymous]

this is a little off topic, but do you guys export to c4d when the design/layout is final and then do the renderings, or is it incremental throughout the design?

if it's the latter, do you have to manually re-assign materials to polygons in c4d?

[Anonymous]

...not so off topic. I'm still looking for the best workflow myself. Although I've been dabbling in (architectural) 3D since 1990, it was only about five years ago that I began to do more with it, using FormZ and its built-in render engine Renderzone. I would use a very rudimentary model to develop the elevation design and use as an underlayment for hand-drawn sketches. The hand-drawn sketches with the CAD floor plans were the basis of the prelim design approvals. As the projects I worked on required numerous city and community approvals, it was then that I did the 3D renderings....and yes, I had to make changes to those for one reason or another after completing them...in one case the client decided to add photovoltaic cells to all the roofs and wanted to show them in the renderings. As I wanted the best render engine I could get (Maxwell was not yet available as a plugin for FormZ), I decided to jump ship and go with an Archicad/Cinema4D/VRayforC4D combo. I actually still work pretty much the same workflow, 1) basic model in Archicad, 2) hand drawn 2D elev sketches finished up in Photoshop 3) prelim design approvals, 4) completion of Archicad model 5) this is still in the works...exporting to C4D using either VRay or Maxwell to render for sales and marketing brochures.....a LOT to learn at once. So far I'm not getting good imports as others are doing the Archicad model and leaving "holes"....all of which can be fixed in C4D but take time...which is limited. I personally don't like the Archicad/C4D exchange plugin as (so far) I've not been able to bring the objects/polys in a good order, which at least I can get with the ojb (Wavefront) export where all objects of the same material are grouped as a single object in C4D....just makes it painful when you have to edit just one small part of what is now a single huge object. Gotta run...but that's where I am at the moment. I should add that so far when I've made any changes after a completed model I did it ALL in Cinema4d...great program for the price by the way.

[Anonymous]

Hello
As I'm not well versed in the rendering side of AC, how would Artlantis-Render fit into, or be alternative to, the general concepts discussed in this rendering thread, (which of course I found very interesting)?
Would appreciate any comments by current posters here.
Thanks
Bier

[Anonymous]

I suppose the workflow could be compared to Archicad and Maxwell (which is a standalone render engine like Artlantis) with which I am familiar. The achilles heel IMO is that you have to model EVERYTHING including the site in Archicad...because Artlantis is a standalone renderer...no modeling. So as long as you feel comfortable that in Archicad you can model everything you will need in you final render, that would be a good way to go.

At this point I prefer to do about 90% of my building/structure modeling in Archicad and the remaining 10%, as well as all the site modeling in C4D...this is still a workflow that I'm refining. I will then render out of Cinema4D to either VRay or Maxwell.

[Dwight]

Let me take both of these questions on at once:

Modeling in Artlantis:

Yes, you can edit models and introduce scalable elements into Artlantis files, including sophisticated objects and primitives. Say you forgot a wall - just place a primitive block and size it appropriately.

Or - need to delete - easy.
Need to move something? No problem.
Need to amend something - easy to add an element.

[these things are all new features: convert an element into an object, then it is free to move… and love… as written about by Benny Benassi - who knew that they were playing songs about Artlantis in the clubs]

Artlantis has an automatic heliodon sky and what they call infinite ground to make up for a CAD model having a base that truncates at the property lines.


Workflo in Artlantis:

It also remediates from the original model acceptably well, so progress renderings can be made to follow along with design development.

So why do you need anything else???

I think Artlantis is the feline's night-garb when it comes to describing design, but for guys with more rendering time than productive design time, products like Cinema can deliver better results because they have better [and more complex] surface descriptors.

Cinema is a great program that I have dabbled with for many years, but it is nowhere as fast as Artlantis. At some point you need to decide if you are an illustration artist making top quality work or an architect - possessing the Artlantis attitude - making expedient design descriptions. Abvent have created and refined a very direct way to produce excellent results.