Author Topic: How to import an obj file  (Read 2857 times)

2020-09-28, 10:55:33

franm

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I am trying to import an object file in Cinema which contains 4 area rugs.  I have two files, an obj file and a material (mtl) file.  Cinema4d will open the obj file, and I get 4 flat rectangles with no finishes on them. How do I get the material file to open as well?  When I click on it Cinema says "file format unknown".  Below is screen shot of the two files I have.  Thank you.  P.S. I know I have opened an obj file in the past of a chair without Cinema4D, and it worked fine but I even forget how to do that.

2020-09-28, 14:56:45
Reply #1

Beanzvision

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Hi, where was the file obtained from?
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2020-09-28, 15:31:57
Reply #2

Cinemike

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For the wavefront format (obj) you got a geometry file (the obj itself) and a material file (mtl). You can open the material file with a text editor, it is an ASCII file that contains plain text.
With your purchase you should have received (at least) 4 textures, too. You will have to create 4 corona materials and assign these textures to them (the mtl file can be helpful with the information it contains or totally useless, I had both ;)).
With obj files, some manual work is always required.
If you need help, ask here again.

CU
Michael


More text: The file was created for max, thus will only open with ready-to-use mats in there. In C4D, obj files will open as C4D files with C4D materials (and usually missing textures). Although C4D reads the mtl file on import (it does this by itself) it cannot always make sense of it (weird texture paths or pretty useless contents that can also be the fault of the exporter).
This is where the manual part begins, but it is usually a straightforward procedure.
« Last Edit: 2020-09-28, 15:42:58 by Cinemike »

2020-09-28, 20:49:03
Reply #3

franm

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Thank you Beanvision and CineMike: Beanvision I got the file from CG Trader. CineMike: Thank you so much for your explanation.  Most of it I understand but some of it (opening the material file with a text editor) is over my head at this point.  Luckily I did contact CGTrader and the designer directly on CGTrader and within about 12 hours he provided a Cinema4D file for me!  Thanks.

2020-09-29, 04:44:27
Reply #4

Cinemike

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Thank you Beanvision and CineMike: Beanvision I got the file from CG Trader. CineMike: Thank you so much for your explanation.  Most of it I understand but some of it (opening the material file with a text editor) is over my head at this point.  Luckily I did contact CGTrader and the designer directly on CGTrader and within about 12 hours he provided a Cinema4D file for me!  Thanks.

That's really excellent customer service I must say.

2020-09-29, 16:42:31
Reply #5

Beanzvision

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Yes, a good result indeed. Thanks for the update. ;)
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