I am using a 3rd party autocad program to design some models. I can export in 2 formats other than the native format Obj and 3ds. Obj format keeps the materials I created in the model but when I export in 3ds I loose the Materials and it is not solid, like the faces are inverted.
the 3ds files are small in size (25 MB) but unusable in Poser due to the faces, but the Obj files are large around 72MB. Is there a 3rd party software that can reduce the obj size but still make detailed for poser too use?

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I read there is a tool in Blender, and there is also one called Polygon Cruncher from MoTools (I think). If you use a major 3d app (now mostly Autodesk-owned except Lightwave and Cinema4D) there should be freebie plugins that also do it. There are several for Lightwave, which I use.

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obj files are normally text files with a lot of blank space. They can be compressed in Poser and as an obz file will be much smaller. Learn to evaluate obj size as number of polygons.

 

Quote - I read there is a tool in Blender, and there is also one called Polygon Cruncher from MoTools (I think). If you use a major 3d app (now mostly Autodesk-owned except Lightwave and Cinema4D) there should be freebie plugins that also do it. There are several for Lightwave, which I use.

I never had good luck with blender. I will look for it for Max. Do you have a link?

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http://www.mootools.com/plugins/us/polygoncruncher/index.asp
That's polygon cruncher.

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Quote - obj files are normally text files with a lot of blank space. They can be compressed in Poser and as an obz file will be much smaller. Learn to evaluate obj size as number of polygons.

 

obz is not an option at this point, due to file size I cannot get it into poser with out freezing

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Sounds like you need to remesh your object. I'm guessing you'r working with nurbs or some kind of spline based design (the only cad-centric program I've used was Rhino).  So when converting to polygons, you'll need to aim for lower mesh resolution. How you go about that would be in your docs I wager.

If that's not an option or not the case, you can try loading the OBJ file into UVMapper and saving it again without Normals.  This will reduce the file size significantly.  Make sure all your normals are facing the correct way first.

The reason the 3DS file is crap is because the 3DS format used is the same Poser uses and most other apps use outside of Max itself.  It's the 3DS format from 3DStudio - not 3D Studio Max, I'm talking 3D Studio - the original.  So you can guess how old and limited that format is. It also has a polygon limitation of 35,000 polygons per an object, so if you're exporting something as a whole that contains more than that, the format will break it up into smaller bits.  Usually with no rhyme or reason.

-Teyon

Quote - .
So you can guess how old and limited that format is. It also has a polygon limitation of 35,000 polygons per an object, so if you're exporting something as a whole that contains more than that, the format will break it up into smaller bits.  Usually with no rhyme or reason.

-Teyon

It can't handle texture names outside of the old DOS 8.3 format so careful texture naming is important.
But I thought the poly limit was equivalent to the computer programming term for an unsigned integer so 65,535 in 16bit. If you must use the format then split the object yourself into the sub-meshes but I would use obj.

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Toolset: Blender, GIMP, Indigo Render, LuxRender, TopMod, Knotplot, Ivy Gen, Plant Studio.