Export Subdivided Figure

H. J. Valdi

Is it possible to apply subdivision to a figure and then export it as a Collada file.

Just thought I'd ask as I bought an octopus model the other day for using in one of my Vue scenes. The problem is it's a little old and the suckers aren't nice and round as they should be. I can use the "convert to SubD' command on it and get round looking suckers, but the subdivision doesn't seem to carry over to the Collada export.

Am I doing something wrong , or is it just not possible to export a subdivided figure?

Cheers :-)

Herald of Fire

Never tried exporting to collada, so I can't give much insight. But I do know that the subdivision remains when you export as an OBJ file, if it's any consolation. This is notable, because if you export a Genesis figure for morphs many people make the mistake of not turning down the subdivisions first, resulting in a higher resolution mesh.

If you absolutely need it in Collada format, you could always export it as OBJ first and then re-import into Daz Studio so that it has natural high-resolution geometry. You can then export the new model. The downside is you'll lose any extra information, so it will be a static mesh.

H. J. Valdi

Thanks for the reply.

A .obj will have to do. Though Collada would have been better as I'd wanted to repose the figure in Vue.

Oh well, c'est la vie! :-)

Thanks again for the help. It's much appreciated ;-)

prixat

Does Vue have subdivision capabilities?

thd777

prixat said:

Does Vue have subdivision capabilities?

Yes, Vue does support 3 different types of subdivsion. I usually just export the base resolution from Studio and then subdivide in Vue. I use Vue 2014 Infinite, so I am not sure how much of this is available in the artist versions.
Ciao
TD

H. J. Valdi

As thd777 said. Yes, Vue has subdivision. But I've never got it to do anything but use up all my RAM. Perhaps I'm using it on meshes that it thinks aren't capable of being subdivided. It certainly didn't work on the octopus model.

thd777

Misangelic said:

As thd777 said. Yes, Vue has subdivision. But I've never got it to do anything but use up all my RAM. Perhaps I'm using it on meshes that it thinks aren't capable of being subdivided. It certainly didn't work on the octopus model.

Which Octopus model? The old DAZ one? I have used that bone and was able to apply subdivision in Vue. The model is a mix of quad and triangles, so one needs to use the "loop" type for subdivision. It is also best to weld it first so that it does not get holes (you can also do that in Vue). If it is another octopus let me know. If I have it, I can have a look.
TD

H. J. Valdi

It's the Giant Octopus model from Content Paradise.

I don't have options for which type of subdivision to use. I just have the option for dynamic subdivision and how many levels to use. I think I'm going to install the Vue Infinite PLE version and see what subdivision options it offers compared to Vue Complete.

thd777

I have that one. Let me see.
I use Vue 2014.6 Infinite. So the different subD options seem to be a feature of the pro versions.
TD

thd777

This guy? This one I imported as Collada. That way you can pose it in Vue, but with all those bones it is a pain. Best to use only for minor adjustments. The mesh is already pretty dense (>200000 poly). Dynamic SubD works, the other two (Loop and Catmull-Clark) fail.

The .obj export has some issues in the file formatting. Straight out of Studio the subD in Vue fails, but if you run it through Meshlab and re-save, you can use loop SubD without issues.
Ciao
TD

H. J. Valdi

That's the guy!

I've already imported and posed him in my scene using collada. Just need to apply subdivision to him 'cause those hexagonal suckers will look like crud in a large resolution image.

So, how did you manage to apply subD to him? Did you save him out from Vue as a .obj, then run him through Meshlab? And if so, what did you do in meshlab? I'm guessing convert to tri polys, but thought I'd ask just to be safe.

thd777

Misangelic said:

That's the guy!

I've already imported and posed him in my scene using collada. Just need to apply subdivision to him 'cause those hexagonal suckers will look like crud in a large resolution image.

So, how did you manage to apply subD to him? Did you save him out from Vue as a .obj, then run him through Meshlab? And if so, what did you do in meshlab? I'm guessing convert to tri polys, but thought I'd ask just to be safe.

For the Collada import only the dynamic subD works, but even at +3 quality setting it still has somewhat rough suckers. I got the best result by using .obj export from DS. The only problem is that the exported .obj has some formatting issues that cause Vue to burp. That's easy to fix by loading the model into Meshlab and exporting it again as .obj. No need to do anything, just re-export. That fixes the obj formatting. (great tool by the way, has saved me many times and free: http://meshlab.sourceforge.net/). That newly saved obj can now be sub-divided in Vue using the loop algorithm. I just did one level which brings it to just under 1 million ploy and looks good to me. Here is a quick render.
Ciao
TD

H. J. Valdi

Woohoo! :-)

I did it a little different than you did, but I got the end result I wanted.

Exported the posed collada version from Vue as .obj

Imported .obj into Meshlab and converted to tri polys

Exported from Meshlab as .obj

Imported into Vue Infinite PLE and used loop subD.

Job done! ;-)

Thank you very much for your help with this isssue. It would have been a massive pain to try and get my octopus posed exactly the same in Daz as it was in Vue.

*hug*

thd777

No problem. You are welcome.
Happy Vueing
TD