Exporting 3DS from Blender?

dbini

(I'm currently using Blender 3.6.2 - i will try tomorrow with Blender 4 on a different machine)

dbini

update: i tried using Blender 4 - the 3DS exporter addon looks a little different, but the results remain the same. i tried dragging the 3DS into an online 3D viewer and it reported an error - 'the object contains no meshes'. I exported a FBX from Blender and dropped this into the online viewer and it looks fine. (one slightly complicated mesh)(its from a LIDAR scan)(although I already cleaned up and decimated the geometry so it is more manageable) GLTF export works fine as well.

bonemap

@dbini

Hi John,

Here is a scanned file from iphone lidar and converted in Blender 4.1.1

bunny_tester.zip

I also scanned a pair of pliers but could not successfully export that mesh as a 3D model after decimation using Blender, but I could do so using Cheetah3D. The attached bunny scan did not require applying any decimation modifier, but the plier mesh did. This could mean that the decimation modifier in Blender changes some of the polygons from triangles to quads—3DS requires polygon triangles only - just a guess.

Best wishes

Russell

Skulpture

@dbini feel free to send me the file and I can take a look.

Skulpture

@bonemap said:

3DS requires polygon triangles only - just a guess.

Yes, the blender addon ignores quads, only see's triangle meshes.

For reference: https://docs.blender.org/manua...

dbini

the mesh is all triangles. i just decimated at 0.5 to simplify everything, then triangulated the mesh, just in case. exported a new 3DS. still doesn't show up in Izzy. When importing into Izzy, it says that the texture cannot be found (even though it is in the same folder as the blend and 3DS files) - but, even without texture image, the model should show up as wireframe or points or with default material, I'm seeing nothing.

(I've WeTransfered a folder to Skulpture to have a look)(thanks G)

I've booked a session with a Blender specialist next week so he can teach me how to bake textures for GLTF - maybe i get time to test the 3DS process with him as well.

bonemap

@dbini

Hi John,

If you find out how to make the 3DS export from Blender work, it would be great to get information about the solution here.

Best Wishes

Russell

Skulpture

The issue was the texture file name. It had an underscore in it. I think 3DS is very sensitive to naming conventions. I renamed said texture to "girl.jpg", re-linked it via Blender using the technique in my videos and then imported it into isadora - Bingo. I'd post a picture, but it's not mine to post.

jandraka

Hi,

I am also having problems when importing 3ds file into Izzy. The original is an obj file obtained with the iPhone that is imported into Blender and exported as 3ds. I have tried changing the name of the file in case it could be a problem and I can import the resulting file into Isadora. The problem is in the distribution of the texture, which is not correct. If I open this same file with Meshlab or Blender, the texture appears correctly.

I would appreciate any help.
I am attaching the original model in case someone can take a look.

Thanks

Best regards.

Javi

Original model

dbini

@skulpture
thanks for working with this, Graham, your 3DS model is looking good in Isadora, but, even though I followed your advice, my 3DS exports are still failing to show up in Isadora. I'm going to look at this again next week.

Skulpture

@jandraka I will have a look for you.

Skulpture

@dbini I will send you the files I have.

Skulpture

@jandraka OK the issue is it has multiple textures; 4 I believe. texgen_0, texgen_1, texgen_2, texgen_3, so you are going to have to do a bit of work to combine all the textures into one single texture. Sorry, I don't have time to do this, but there are many tutorials online; Youtube to help. The trick is 'island packing' UVs in Blender. I hope this helps for now.

jandraka

@skulpture

Thanks Graham for the reply.

Skulpture

@jandraka said:

I am getting the exact same image/preview and I can't figure out why! Sorry! I can't see or understand what the white areas are. They don't show in Blender.

jfg

@skulpture

I don't know if it could help? I have open the file in Cheetah3d and export it as a 3ds File. Then open it in different software with following results:

I also export from Meshlab in 3ds and import in Isadora. I cannot saw the Model. The screen remain black.

Best regards,

Jean-François

bonemap

@jandraka

Hi,

I have had a quick look at your OBJ file. The problem is not the texture but your original mesh. The issue can be fixed by cleaning up the mesh in Blender. I used Blender: Edit Mode: Mesh>Clean up>Decimate Geometry to fix the mesh before exporting it as a .3ds file into Isadora. The following screen grab from the Isadora stage shows the model on the left exported as .3ds before clean up and to the right after clean up.

Here are the Blender manual pages for Mesh Cleanup: https://docs.blender.org/manual/en/latest/modeling/meshes/editing/mesh/cleanup.html

Best Wishes,

Russell

jandraka

@bonemap

Hi,

Thank you very much for your contribution and your time. Really is the way to solve it. I understand that there will be a limitation on the number of vertices or faces that Izzy admits.
Best regards.

Javi

Skulpture

@bonemap that's so weird. I did that time and time again. I could not see those solid white areas in blender at all. How bizarre?!

bonemap

@skulpture

Hi Graham,

In my opinion the issue is with Isadora being unable to interpret the anomalies in the mesh and therefore producing the error in rendering the model and texture. Blender compensates for the anomaly and therefore corrects the error in the mesh automatically. In other words the error in the mesh can be detected in Isadora when looking at the wireframe of the model. However it looks ‘normal’ on Blender and many other 3D software that interpret the mesh differently to Isadora.

Best wishes

Russell