If you have a model in both .obj and .3ds format, which one is better for use in Poser? Are there any significant differences between the two? Or does it really not matter?

.obj. 3DS is an old format with alot of restrictions. There are alot of significant differences, but I'm no techie. Someone will chime in with specifics I'm sure.

They both have their advantages: obj's tend to hold their textures better. 3ds has a smaller file-size, so it's frequently easier to render (although it doesn't always make much of a difference). Sometiems 3ds files won't import - there are apparently variations in the 3ds format and poser won't accept some variations. I guess the best thing would be to try importing both and see which one works better for you.

That's very helpful! Looks like I will be going with the .obj format then. Thanks very much both of you! :)

Someone will chime in with specifics I'm sure. 3DS files are always triangulated, and group names have a limit of ten characters.

obj files may or may not be triangulated by the way. From what I'm learning somtimes you want triangles and sometimes you want squares. If you plan to 'rig' the import into a figure I suggest importing both and seeing which will pose better. On the other hand, if the person saving it made a 3ds, and those are always triangulated, then they probably made the obj in the same manner, though that is just a guess.

the only time you should need a triangulated mesh is for cloth that needs to fold & move in a realistic way,& even then you'd be best having a Delaunay triangulation.
.obj is a better all round solution

.3ds polycount is limited to 65536 per mesh & normals aren't supported,

Message edited on: 02/11/2006 03:45

For Poser, the normals stored in a file are irrelevant. What Poser uses is derived from the order of the vertices in the facet line. This can sometimes result in a part of an imported mesh having the normals facing in the wrong direction.

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All Poser models (figures, hair, and props) reference external obj files (not 3ds files)... so you should use obj files. :) --John

Poser is no fan of Delaunay wires, though ~s

Any 3ds file much bigger than 1 Mb is likely to crash Poser. An Obj can be 100 Mb and still be loaded, though Poser will cry and be unbelievably sluggish.

Thanks again everyone! I will definitely go with .obj whenever possible. :) Usually it's not an option, a model is either in one format or the other, but now that I have high speed I was wanting to download some of rodluc's castles, and some of them are available in both .3ds and .obj format ... so that got me to wondering.