Hi All,
I’m trying to figure out how to use a UV layout from 3ds max unwrapped model in sketchup. There was another thread about Blender that said you import the UV layout as a png and paint it onto the object, but that is not working for me. Has anyone done this successfully?
In Material Editor (3DS Max), did you put in Maps > Diffuse Color the texture (PNG, JPG) obtained from UV Editor > Tools > Render UVW Template and then did you exported the model as OBJ file?
Import that OBJ file in SketchUp.
Thanks Mihai, what are the steps then in Sketchup? How do I attach that uvtemplate to the object?
You’re welcome!
As I already wrote and you could see in the video tutorial, you need to attach the texture in 3ds max, in the Diffuse Color slot.
Did you follow the steps and import the OBJ file into SketchUp and the program still ask you to attach the texture? It shouldn’t have.
I did the texture in the 3d max, in the diffuse colour slot. I opened the unwrappeed obj, the uvmapping and texture are not correct. If I use the paint bucket to apply the uvunwrap (which I saw you do in a video on another form topic), then you see the results in the attached gif.
In 3ds Max
Now, you should have three files in the folder: *.OBJ, *.MTL and *.PNG / JPG.
If the model was correct UV unwrapped and UV mapped, in SketchUp, the only thing you do it’s to import that OBJ file. Nothing else.
Hi again Mihai, I’m working on this between myself (a sketchup user) and a freelance 3d modeller (working in 3ds max), and here is what he said when I forwarded your comments:
hi again , yeah there is a point that i should tell you, substance painter wont accept a model without an unwrapped coordinates, yeah the model is fully unwrapped and the maps created out of painter is created based on the 2d UV layout, UVW template is also in PNG format, you can check the format of the UV template again, it is in png cuz it needs alpha channel in it. i’ve done all those stuffs and don’t really know why it is not working the way it should. is there some kind of plugin to read UV data ?
Hi,
Both, in the first and in your second message, you did not specify anything about how that 3D model is made or obtained.
If the model you are importing actually came from Substance Painter and was made by someone else, can you tell me what type of extension the file you received has… FBX, OBJ, DAE? And if it also has a texture file, PNG / JPG?
For information only:
Substance 3D Painter can automatically unwrap meshes that don’t have any existing UVs when importing the 3D mesh.
In SketchUp, does the model you imported have any material?
Was sent to me as an obj for importing and the texture file a png.
-Joanne
And besides these two files, is there a third one with the extension *.MTL? It should be.
If you double click on the *.OBJ file, it should open in the Windows 3D Viewer. Does the 3D model appear with the texture on it? It should be.
Otherwise, in SketchUp, you can install the Universal Importer extension and test it to see if it loads the texture correctly. While importing the OBJ file, it will also ask you if you have a texture, select it (PNG) and then the model should appear correctly textured in SketchUp.
The Universal Importer worked!!! Thank-you so much!!! I was starting to go a bit crazy.
The last question I have with importing from 3ds max to sketchup is some of the texture slots. Below are the textures I get sent, and I know where to put most of them, but the ‘height’ and the ‘mettalic’ I’m not so sure. Also, when inserting the others, should the colour be linear or rbg?
Height map is a grayscale texture used as a displacement map.
For metallic map read this article.
Typically, you’ll always want to switch the color space to rendering space linear for your metalness, roughness and normal maps to get the best results.
