Hexagon to Daz = solid black object

keithg

Real puzzler this one. I have a model from a supplier in .obj format.

I can import it into Daz without any issues. I can import it to Hexagon without any issues. If I export the model from Hexagon as an .obj (even if I don't touch the model at all) then try and import again to Daz it comes in as a solid black model. If viewed in wireframe the mesh seems fine but no matter what I do, I can't get it to reflect light at all. It renders completely black as well.

Thinks I've tried without success:

Amending the diffuse, opacity etc. sliders in surfaces in Daz
Adding a completely different shader to the material in Daz
Deleting the .mtl file that Hexagon produced (It didn't come with one originally) before importing to Daz
Every single export/import option (both Daz and Hexagon)
Reversing the normals in hexagon before exporting

Has anyone any idea what's causing this?

keithg

Thought some pics might help.

First one shows the .obj imported straight into Daz - everything fine, I can alter the material colour, add shaders and render.

The second shows what happens if import same obj to hexagon then export from hexagon then re-import to Daz. It stays black no matter what I do to the diffuse colour or any other material settings.

The third image is the same corrupted .obj viewed as wireframe just to show the mesh appears to be intact.

It is specifically the models I got from one of our suppliers. They were exported from pro/e 5 as .obj files and import into Daz and Blender without issue. I'm not having issues with any of my own models which are drawn in sketchup then exported as .obj files.

Anyone?

 

keithg

I've solved it - well, kind of. Just posting this in case anyone has a similar issue. I imported the original .obj into daz then exported it from daz as an .obj with a different filename.

Opened the new .obj in Hexagon, altered the mesh as I needed to then exported as .obj. Final file opens perfectly in Daz. Seems a long way round and have no idea what the issue was.

ben98120000

Black objects usually mean that normals are facing wrong direction. Or to put it this way, each geometry polygon haves a front side and back side assigned to it. If the sides are flipped so that back side is facing front of the object, the object looks black.

In DS you can flip normals with geometry editor.

1. Select your object and go to tools - geometry editor.

2. Click with right mouse in the view port to get a menu and from menu select Geometry selection - select all (object should become orange-ish)

3. Click again with right mouse button in the view port to get a menu and from the menu select Geometry editing - flip normal of selected polygons.

4. Select some other tool (like universal tool) to get out of geometry editor.

    

keithg

Thanks ben but that doesn't help. It's a very strange problem. Whichever way the normals are pointing the part appears solid black. It's as if it can't reflect light. It appears to be some sort of corruption in the surface material. As I mentioned, If I import into Daz, export as obj, import into Hexagon I can then send it to Daz. If I import the original obj into Hexagon then send to Daz it's just black. I did a UV projection of the part in hexagon and instead of black and white checks they are dark grey and black. Image attached.

patience55

Hexagon and D/S have a little communication dance when it comes to materials. Always check the ambience and specular settings in D/S.

keithg

Thanks Patience but it's not that. Ambience is 100% black (ie off) and specular settings are fine. Playing with them does nothing. I tried changing the diffuse colour to pink and nothing - still a solid black object.

The original obj is fine and imports to daz without an issue. It's only when I import it to hexagon the problems start. Hexagon seems to be reading the surface material incorrectly then corrupts it all when I export it back out as an obj. I'm pretty new to hexagon so I'm sure I'll figure it out when I start exploring the material seetings within Hexagon.