Importing 3D Objects From The Web?

jake_f

I thought I'd experiment with importing 3D objects from sites on the web.   I've tried this before with other 3D software (Cheetah) and it was pretty much a disaster.  More than 90% of the imported files were broken in some manner, so I finally gave up on that.

So, before trying that again I thought I'd ask for advice.  Can you point to any 3D objects which import reliably in to DAZ?  Perhaps you know of a good site for 3D freebies?  Or perhaps you can even point to a specific file that you know will import successfully?  

My uninformed impression from the last time I tried this was that the 3D industry is still too immature to have established reliable data transfer standards.  An example of mature would be, say, a png file.  Anyone using any image app on any platform should be able to view it.  What say you?  Should I expect and accept that importing 3D objects is typically going to be a problem?  Or is there some information which could liberate me from such problems.

Thanks as always!

jake_f

Tried a bunch of files from TurboSquid, few of them worked.  Having already been down this road in other software, I get that it's not DAZ that is the issue.   Unless somebody has a good suggestion which doesn't involve tons of complex techno manipulations I guess I'll forget about imports. 

BeeMKay

I haven't had much of a problem importing obj files into DAZ Studio so far, be it self-modelled content from Blender or Hexagon, or other content. I'm using the import function of Studio. Of course, there's things to be careful about, like axis and scale, depending on the source files and what you have as output. But perhaps, my imported models were too simple. Which one did you try to import? What was the result?

I mean, you talk about errors that you get, what exactly were those errors (error messages)?

Hylas

Two big sources for freebies are Renderosity and ShareCG.

There's also an entire subforum dedicated to freebies and where to find them.

Some file formats that work well in my experience* are: duf, pp2, cr2, and obj. There's probably more.

*to be clear, I'm no expert... just a dude who does things by trial and error.

Roman_K2

jake_848b35ab said:

My uninformed impression from the last time I tried this was that the 3D industry is still too immature...

You may want to try being a bit more specific as to what you want. Naturally anything in the DAZ store is probably going to work and you'll get technical support and an opportunity for a refund or store credit. Other sites may have .OBJ format files that will readily import, but if you want complex texturing that was originally created for 3D Studio Max (say) then yes it's going to be hit and miss.

Where I have seen "immaturity" in the past couple of years is in stereo, VR stuff like for Google's Cardboard experiment. Compared to that I think Poser and DAZ and the broader industry "3-D" models are pretty good. And there *are* some Cardboard apps that bode very well!

jake_f

Hylas said:

Two big sources for freebies are Renderosity and ShareCG.

There's also an entire subforum dedicated to freebies and where to find them.

Some file formats that work well in my experience* are: duf, pp2, cr2, and obj. There's probably more.

Thanks for these links Hylas.   Oops, I missed the subforum.  Duh......! 

I'll take this there.

 

jake_f

Hi,

I've been experimenting with some of the free 3D file sites such as Turbosquid.   The vast majority of files I download (usually in FBX) don't load properly in DAZ.  I know it's not DAZ's fault because I had the very same problem in other software.

Has anyone built a directory of free 3D files that have been tested and found to import properly in to DAZ?  Well, there's the DAZ store of course which has some freebies.  Anything available anywhere beyond that?

Many thanks.

PS:  I'm new to DAZ and 3D and I'm trying to figure out whether I'm doing something wrong when importing 3D files, or perhaps most free 3D files are junk so I should just ignore them?

3dOutlaw

Check https://poserdazfreebies.miraheze.org/wiki/Main_Page, ShareCG and Renderosity Freebies.  Those are the biggest caches of freestuff.

Looking for something specific, post in the looking for thread above!

I never had much luck with FBX import, but others have...OBJ is a safe bet, unless you need an animation.  

3dcheapskate

Try the DAZ Studio section at ShareCG - https://www.sharecg.com/b/21/DAZ%20Studio

(click the 'Shared' radio-button to just see the freebies)

 

Richard Haseltine

Merged threads since they are on essentially the same subject (and the second thread was a questuion, not an offer of freebies).

jake_f

3dcheapskate said:

Try the DAZ Studio section at ShareCG - https://www.sharecg.com/b/21/DAZ%20Studio

(click the 'Shared' radio-button to just see the freebies)

Sounds good, but I'm unable to even register on that site in either Firefox or Chrome.   It does look like a good resource for those who can figure out how to get in.

 

jake_f

Thanks for the replies above, truly and sincerely. 

Gotta report though, every file I download from every source doesn't load in DAZ properly.  There's always some kind of problem, this is missing that is missing, something or another, and never any explanation of how to install this stuff. 

I realize that nobody gets this and so I should probably stop saying it, but until there is a reliable data transfer standard for 3D files, the 3D realm will remain an amateur hour joke.