Hey guys, Me posting problems is becoming a regular occurance now =) So, Ive found my workflow for some projects (triangle networks) that each object must be imported seperately. What this does however is makes it so the triangles do not line up correctly. I can line them up horizontally via the top view, but vertically is another story. I must do that via the camera view. I'm close (see attached image) but with no snapping, I'm finding it damn hard to get correctly lined up. Pressing the up arrow goes way too far up. Pressing down goes too far down. Is there a key command where I can adjust it ever so slightly? As always, your help is appreciated.

Have you "resize and center imported objects" off in the preferences? Maybe this simple thing can do the trick here. I fear the arrow keys are not precise enough. But you can try out the little arrows to the right of the numerical input. They are MUCH finer. A little trick maybe. Define a block in the modelling software that contains all objects of the scene. Then export always this block with the part you need in Vue and delete then this block. The position and size should be then correct for all parts. One of the tricks from ancient Vue times where there was no option to switch off center and resize.

Oh, tested something tight now - arrow key step is 5 units per push. Add the shift key (shift-arrow) and it goes down to 0.5 units per step.

Resize and center imported objects I dont think will work for me using my current workflow because I'm using Deep Exploration to export and to get it into Vue, it has to be resized to 20% of what it comes in as. Otherwise, vue doesn't see it correctly. It may work if I further resize it down in DWG format. I think DE is resizing each object seperate from one another so it changes the position. I'm afraid I have different problems from most because I'm using specific CAD data to make real life renders. Thanks for the arrow workaround!

Resize and center must be off - so that Vue loads things with their respective position. I will check that now too! If it is not working it is a bug i would say!

Ok, did a test with Cinema 4D and Infinite here. To the right you see a group of two objects i did in Cinema 4d. Exported there as 3ds and imported into Infinite. Group is ok, even names are ok and positions too (haven't tried to texture them). To the left you see two separately imported objects. Both were saved separately as 3ds from Cinema and separately imported into Infinite. The option position and resize imported objects is switched off. Looks exactly the same to me - positioning and scaling is correct. Oh, before somebody tells me - i moved them to the left and right of course to make them visible as comparable elements. Originally both came into Vue at exactly the same position where they have been in Cinema 4D.

Right, sorry if I confused you but Resize and Center is off. I'm not sure why it's not working exactly. Here's exactly what I do. 1. Make a selection set in MicroStation 2. Export the selection set to DWG 3. Import DWG into Deep Exploration 4. Tell it to make items 20% of their DWG size (for import purposes) 5. Save as a LWO 6. Import LWO into Vue From there it is usually off center and off its height. If I try exporting the whole thing to DWG, DE sees 1 object, but 6 materials. Then when I save it as an LWO, Vue only sees the object...I cant select it by material it seems. BAH!!!! I see DE had a "center object" checked on buried deep in the options! HGJFJHFGHTRR@!@!$@!$

AHA!!! :-))) BTW, you can split objects with several materials attached into pieces too. I am now at home so i cannot look where but it is possible. And/or you don't have to worry, you can cange the materials as well by changing them via material summyry window for example.

I believe you should be able to nudge objects into place by using SHIFT+ARROWS or ALT+ARROWS.... I never remember which.

Hey guys, I promise to do freebies and help others in the future cuz you must be getting sick of me. Once I get these few problem areas solved, I'll be much less annoying. How do I fix this grass? It's patchy, even though density is 100%, and presence is 1.0. I'm not forcing regular alignment, nor am I disallowing overlapping instances. I also have grass patches coming off it's element. Is there a better way to do full blown grass? How can I control these so that the grass touches the edge, but not over? It's important it reaches the edge like rough would.

Yeah, the grass problem.

The reason for all you see (and we) in your image is a very simple one. The e-on grass is a plate, not only one plant. For the ecosystem as reference they use the center of the object simply. The bigger the object then is the higher the possibility that parts are lapping over the borders - as you see it in your image.

The solution? Use smaller grass elements. I even prefer single plants. As for example Bigbraader (i hope this is correct) offers them as freestuff or Flink for example in the marketplace.

3.6 billion polygons btw in my image!
Look at the image i posted today, there i used Flinks grass for a meadow.

Message edited on: 09/13/2005 14:13

"Tell it to make items 20% of their DWG size (for import purposes)" It will scale the objects to the centre of origin...if your origin isn't central to all objects (or object) and/or is not positioned at the base of the object it will move its relevent position during scaling. Hope you understand my explanation and it helps :) Cheers

Fired up Modo to just give a quick explanation of what I was trying to explain...in this example the object is being scaled to an offset origin...

...and with this one you can see tthe movement of the object after scaling. I have not moved the object manually at all...I only scaled it from the offset origin. Now imagine how much movement you will get amongst multiple objects if the origin for scaling isn't exactly central. Hope that helps. Cheers

"BAH!!!! I see DE had a "center object" checked on buried deep in the options! HGJFJHFGHTRR@!@!$@!$" - BAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH, only just noticed this...sorry, oh well, gives other people a reference if somebody has the same problem in the future lol! Cheers

You shouldn't have to scale anything. I do something similar where I create a scene in AutoCAD, using multiple layers, and I use metres as units. I export out using 3DS file format. However, VUE sometimes does not accept full 3DS scenes, so I read the 3DS into AMAPI. This way, I can export either whole scenes or just individual objects as 3DS. Since AMAPI is also a CAD program, it will read in either the scenes or objects using the same scale as the originals. From AMAPI I export out as OBJ file format, which VUE reads w/o any problems. I have no scale issues at all as long as the the VUE "center & resize" option is turned off. You can find a freebie version of AMAPI somewhere on EOVIA's web site, from what I heard. I picked mine up several months ago when it was a freebie in "3D World". AMAPI versions 4, 5 or 6 will do. I had a look at your workflow and that is a lot of steps to go through just to port a file. Part of your problem could be in too many translations.

Not to say it's the grass that's bad. It just didn't look like rough. I went back to Vue's patches of grass and some photoshop. I think that Flinks grass will be better for a meadow or tall grassy area.

Anyone know why the area will populate FULLY with grass if I only have that in the ecosystem, but if I add a tree (presense of .005), the amount of grass goes DRASTICALLY down. The only thing changed is I added trees to the mix. Decay near foreign objects is off.