Lookinf for a plugin

[Kryslin]

I'm not sure it even exists but...

Kitbash3D recently had a sale, and I picker up their Shogun kit at half price. Unable to load the massive OBJ and textures, I managed to write a down and dirty splitter that split all 1878 different objects out of the 6GB object file. Took 4 hours, but it worked.

Now, I'm trying to put them back together into grouped files, one file for a related group of object. Load Object into Layer works fine for this except...
1) it defaults to *.lwo. So every time I want to add an object, I have to type in *.obj.
2) It only allows one item at a time.

So, is there any plugin that allows you to load a list of models into layers, so they can be saved as a single model file?
(Also, my ability to script one isn't having much luck. LW's built in file requester only returns a single file at a time...)

 

[prometheus]

FBX?

 

[Kryslin]

The FBX version of the kit locks my machine up.

There is one thing I haven't tried, which is to load everything in Layout, and then see if I can save the scene as a single object...

I was hoping there was something I could use in modeler.

 

[prometheus]

The FBX version of the kit locks my machine up.

There is one thing I haven't tried, which is to load everything in Layout, and then see if I can save the scene as a single object...

I was hoping there was something I could use in modeler.

Not sure why you would load back to layout and then save it as a single object again, wasn´t there are reason you split it...but maybe I misunderstand that.
The load obj to layer is only working with one object at a time.
The basic load object file loader, allows you to select all objects in a folder and load them at once, but they will be loaded as individual objects in the object list.

But you can do it that way and then just go to modeler layer panel, and layer utilities/collapse obj, select all loaded and collapse to one single object..or in to layers.
Or have a clean modeler opened..and directly use the layer utilities/collapse obj, click on that, select collapse from dir, choose the folder where you have all your objects..but make sure it says, none so don´t try to select the objects, live it as that is with that question strings that follows with not choosin anything.
specificy a collapse object and file name for it, choose to collapse to layers..that should work, the individual object should now have loaded seperately in to seperate layers within one and the same object.

 

[raymondtrace]

I've been working a with the same problem. Use the FBX interchange option, not the file open/import FBX option. Then I load one object at a time. Slow. Inelegant. But works. I was going to research OBJ/MTL hacking next.

 

[Kryslin]

My first step was to hack the OBJ collection, splitting into a new file at every 'o' line. Doing this took a long time, but it worked, splitting the kit into its 1878 component models. The workflow after that is...
1) Load object into layer.
1a) change *.lwo in the load object into layer open file dialog to *.obj
2) Load file.
3) If not all the sub models are loaded for the set piece, goto 1)
4) Adjust surfacing Everything comes in highly reflective, and using the standard material.
5) Reduce polygon count where possible. You can get a 94% reduction on some items.

If you don't change the layer, the models all load into the same layer.

The end result is quite lovely. However, the repetitve task of 1) - 3) was one I'd had hoped someone had scripted / written a plugin for loading a list of objects, so all I had to do was select the files in the open dialog, and wait the 30 seconds for lightwave to load the files, and then start steps 4) & 5).

As it turns out, you can load multiple items in layout from the 'load model' command. But I couldn't find a away to collapse them into one model file, or even a layered model file.

 

[prometheus]

My first step was to hack the OBJ collection, splitting into a new file at every 'o' line. Doing this took a long time, but it worked, splitting the kit into its 1878 component models. The workflow after that is...
1) Load object into layer.
1a) change *.lwo in the load object into layer open file dialog to *.obj
2) Load file.
3) If not all the sub models are loaded for the set piece, goto 1)
4) Adjust surfacing Everything comes in highly reflective, and using the standard material.
5) Reduce polygon count where possible. You can get a 94% reduction on some items.

If you don't change the layer, the models all load into the same layer.

The end result is quite lovely. However, the repetitve task of 1) - 3) was one I'd had hoped someone had scripted / written a plugin for loading a list of objects, so all I had to do was select the files in the open dialog, and wait the 30 seconds for lightwave to load the files, and then start steps 4) & 5).

As it turns out, you can load multiple items in layout from the 'load model' command. But I couldn't find a away to collapse them into one model file, or even a layered model file.

but why didnt you try loading as I said with the object collapser?..you load all objects at once from desired folder..and choose to collapse to multilayer.
it automaticly loads all objects from that chosen dir.

 

[Ma3rk]

You don't need anything outside of Lightwave for Kit Bash FBX's.

When you buy a kit & go to the download page, your asked to make two choices; the format type and the Render type.

For Lightwave, you need to choose FBX and Native.

The easiest way to handle the zips I've found is to fully extract BOTH first; the textures will be the larger. The kb3d-xxxxxx-native and the KB3DTextures folders need to be in the same folder. In the -native Scenes folder, you'll find a kb3d_xxxxx-native.lws that contains ALL of the kit.

The models are grouped under separate _grp nulls, so a performing a Load from Scene is quite easy using the filter.

From there, your can perform your merging tasks. Be mindful, these were done in 3DMax I think, so the rotations and scaling are being set by the _grp null.

 

[Sensei]

So, is there any plugin that allows you to load a list of models into layers, so they can be saved as a single model file?

Object Collapser is the way to go, as Prometheus has already pointed out..

 

[Kryslin]

It's not the collapsing I have a problem with, it's the loading of 28 files, having to type in the right file extension every time doing so to be able to select the file I want to load, that I have a problem with, which was why I was asking if there was a plugin that one could use to automatically load a list of files, each one into a layer, at one go.

It appears that I would have to code something that uses the system open file dialog, with the flag for multiple selections enabled...

 

[prometheus]

It's not the collapsing I have a problem with, it's the loading of 28 files, having to type in the right file extension every time doing so to be able to select the file I want to load, that I have a problem with, which was why I was asking if there was a plugin that one could use to automatically load a list of files, each one into a layer, at one go.

It appears that I would have to code something that uses the system open file dialog, with the flag for multiple selections enabled...

but why would yoy need to write in the file extension?..you dont have to to a thing when loading it from the object collapser..you just select the folder they are in..and they load in automaticly...in to multilayers of one object or a single layer if you want.

or is it that you can not pre-sort the files you want in the standard explorer windows?


object collapser does load a "list of objects at once in to individual layers"
the list is seen as such when targeting the directory they are placed in.

again .load the objects from the object collapser..follow my instructions previously..do not load them wirh standard load objects..
so what with that do not work?
Wrong file extension?

 

[Sensei]

It's not the collapsing I have a problem with, it's the loading of 28 files, having to type in the right file extension every time doing so to be able to select the file I want to load, that I have a problem with, which was why I was asking if there was a plugin that one could use to automatically load a list of files, each one into a layer, at one go.

The Collapse Objects tool takes DIRECTORY as an argument, not files, so you have nothing to choose from except a directory..

That is, make a directory, copy the files you want in Windows Explorer to it, and use/try the Collapse Objects tool.

 

[Ma3rk]

It sounds as if you're creating way, way, WAY more work than is really needed, as the KitBash kits are already grouped, just in the scene file, NOT the models.

Assuming you have the folder structure correct (and it didn't sound as if you did), then you'll have a kb3d_xxxxx-native.lws that it creates from the fbx.

This is the all inclusive scene file. I usually save it as KB xxxxxALL.lws a higher up in the folder structure for easier finding.

--My Kit Folder
|
- kb3d_xxxxx-native (LW Objects & Scenes)
- KB Textures <- for the textures. If you got the 4K rez ones, you will need them to move to the 4K folder
_4K

From that scene file, perform a Load Items from Scene.

Click select NONE on the right FIRST, then enter the item name in the Filter Items list at the top.

See how ALL the items for that model get selected.

Click Select All, then Clear Filter. Then click OK.

Once it loads, you'll want to move the _grp MASTER to 0,0,0. Save that scene with a new name of course.

 

[Greenlaw]

Recently, I used the FBX Interchange version because the old FBX Exporter was crashing. In my case, I was using FBX Interchange to move a LightWave animation and assets to Maya, and I kept getting weird errors and/or crashes. The Interchange version is stable and worked mostly predictably though. I think the one thing I didn't like about the new method is that it lacks a scale option. (LightWave's Alembic exporter is missing this option too.)

I also had problems getting UV maps and textures transferred using the old FBX exporter, but the new FBX Interchange exporter mostly got it right when I brought the file into Maya.