[Solved] Splitting an Obj file into its pieces

dawnydawny

Hi,

I have imported an obj file of some pipe connecters that I wish to use in a project. However, they are all 'lumped' together as one object and I cannot see how to split them into seperate pieces. I have attached a snip to show what I mean. 

I'm quite new to all this and I haven't been able to find any help on this, although it is entirely possible I am asking the wrong questions.

 

Thank you :-)

 

Richard Haseltine

If you haev a modelling application it would probably be quickest to split them there, but you can do it in DS:

1. switch to the Geometry Tool (Tools menu) and make sure the compound model is selected in the scene
2. click on one of the pieces to select a polygon
3. hold down cmd(Mac)/ctrl(Win) and press the * key - that will select all of the connect polygons, which looks as if it will give you a single section of pipe
4. right-click in the viewport and select Geometry Visisbility>Hide Unselected
5. right-click in the viewport and select Geometry Editing>Delete Hidden
6. either save as an asset (File>Save as>Support Assets>Figure Prop Asset) or export as OBJ
7. repeat for the next piece.

dawnydawny

Thank you so much. That has worked brilliantly. The only thing extra I had to do was use the marquee tool to select each piece as clicking on it only gave me a small subsection of the piece I wanted.

I will now start the process of saving all the bits I need.

 

Thanks again :-)

 

Richard Haseltine

Ctrl * didn't select the whole piece? That may mean the model was not welded together - though it would usually look facetted then, which is why I thought the shortcut would work.

dawnydawny

No, I just got a single polygon selected, like the attached picture. I couldn't click on each piece, I had to either paint it which meant I missed some so I found the marquee tool instead :-)

 

Richard Haseltine

That's odd - are your shortcuts working generally? I suppose it's beside the point now, but you could try selecting a single polygon, then right-click Geometry Selection>Select Connected (and note whether that has the keyboard shortcut next to it)..

dawnydawny

Arrgh, it was me..... I had pressed crtl+8 rather than shift+8 for *. I should have just used the * on the num pad. Oh well, live and learn :-) I do feel a bit daft now!

Richard Haseltine

Heh, well keyboard shortcuts do go AWOL sometimes - I assume a file system error - so it was worth checking.

nynico_8c2302db09

dawnydawny said:

Hi,

I have imported an obj file of some pipe connecters that I wish to use in a project. However, they are all 'lumped' together as one object and I cannot see how to split them into seperate pieces. I have attached a snip to show what I mean. 

I'm quite new to all this and I haven't been able to find any help on this, although it is entirely possible I am asking the wrong questions.

 

Thank you :-)

 

Bless you!