2255 replies to this topic

[Psiclone]

Hey everyone. I am using 3DS Max Design 2014. I've gotten to he part where you create the import.txt files but I don't know how to run python to import the models into 3DS Max. Any suggestions how I can import the OBJ files with their proper coordinates into 3DS Max?

[Heffay]

Psiclone, on 20 May 2015 - 11:20 AM, said:

Hey everyone. I am using 3DS Max Design 2014. I've gotten to he part where you create the import.txt files but I don't know how to run python to import the models into 3DS Max. Any suggestions how I can import the OBJ files with their proper coordinates into 3DS Max?

The import script won't work with 3DS Max. It writes python code specifically for Blender. What you can do is after exporting all the .cgf files to .objs, just import those into 3DS Max. You'll probably have to manually place them all.

[Sparks Murphey]

Psiclone, on 20 May 2015 - 11:20 AM, said:

Hey everyone. I am using 3DS Max Design 2014. I've gotten to he part where you create the import.txt files but I don't know how to run python to import the models into 3DS Max. Any suggestions how I can import the OBJ files with their proper coordinates into 3DS Max?

It is possible to open up the configuration for the Mech and read in the numbers manually. I tried doing that for a while, before coming to the conclusion it was much, much simpler to install blender, get blender to run the import script, then export the assembled model to fbx or obj so I could reimport it into 3DS Max.

[Psiclone]

Heffay, on 20 May 2015 - 11:29 AM, said:

The import script won't work with 3DS Max. It writes python code specifically for Blender. What you can do is after exporting all the .cgf files to .objs, just import those into 3DS Max. You'll probably have to manually place them all.

Thanks! So I ended up using Blender. I wanted to use 3DS as I have free access to it at work. I made an *.obj of the Summoner and printed it using our Makerbot Replicator. The software made some 'best guesses' while rendering for the 3D printer and you can only get .1mm of detail. Lots of flashing and lots of knife work to clean it up but here is the finished model.

Summoner Prime w/ER PPC, LB 10-X AC and LRM 15. Standing at 52mm and weighing 9g.

Edited by Psiclone, 21 May 2015 - 11:43 AM.

[Ovion]

What printer are you using?

[Psiclone]

Ovion, on 21 May 2015 - 12:12 PM, said:

What printer are you using?

Makerbot Replicator - 5th Generation. Used with standard PLA filament. The next one I make I'll document the whole process.

Edited by Psiclone, 21 May 2015 - 12:18 PM.

[Ovion]

Psiclone, on 21 May 2015 - 12:17 PM, said:

Makerbot Replicator - 5th Generation. Used with standard PLA filament. The next one I make I'll document the whole process.

You really should be able to key it in better.
Ok, so, it has a 0.4mm nozzle, I see your problem.
You'd think such an expensive printer (Holy crap!) would have a better nozzle. (And a bigger print bed..)

I've been running my MendelMax3 at 0.1 some, and am working on getting it to 0.05.
I'm told with patience and proper calibration I should be able to print at 0.02.
(Probably going to invest in a .25 nozzle for my E3DV6 in the near future to help facilitate this)





- I know.. again, but Holy crap, the price of the thing! My MM3's price made me sad!

Edited by Ovion, 21 May 2015 - 01:16 PM.

[Ovion]

Also - thought this might be semi-relevant:

Printed on my MM3 in Ocean Blue PLA at .25 layers, no support.

Map Scale Union Class Drop Ship.

I'm thinking of doing an MWO Leopord once we get the R2 cockpit items.
OOOH, I might be able to yank a Gazelle as is!

Edited by Ovion, 21 May 2015 - 01:24 PM.

[raptor27x]

Hello,

I can't get the mech-importer script to work, it throws a lot of errors when I run it, any idea what it could be?

[Heffay]

raptor27x, on 29 May 2015 - 01:20 AM, said:

Hello,

I can't get the mech-importer script to work, it throws a lot of errors when I run it, any idea what it could be?

Can you provide more details? What steps have you taken, what the errors are, etc. There are many problems with the script.

[Psiclone]

Ovion, on 21 May 2015 - 01:11 PM, said:

You really should be able to key it in better.
Ok, so, it has a 0.4mm nozzle, I see your problem.
You'd think such an expensive printer (Holy crap!) would have a better nozzle. (And a bigger print bed..)

I've been running my MendelMax3 at 0.1 some, and am working on getting it to 0.05.
I'm told with patience and proper calibration I should be able to print at 0.02.
(Probably going to invest in a .25 nozzle for my E3DV6 in the near future to help facilitate this)


- I know.. again, but Holy crap, the price of the thing! My MM3's price made me sad!

I'll take a look at the resolution settings and see if I can get it better. I think my layer height is causing the loss of resolution. I'm also considering getting 3rd party software for creating the print files for the Replicator.

[Ovion]

Psiclone, on 29 May 2015 - 06:26 AM, said:

I'll take a look at the resolution settings and see if I can get it better. I think my layer height is causing the loss of resolution. I'm also considering getting 3rd party software for creating the print files for the Replicator.

You should be able to calibrate it some, but yeah, a .4mm nozzle will struggle at smaller.

Printing anything at this scale and quality requires you calibrate well though, where it wouldn't matter so much with larger pieces.
Worth doing some 20mm cubes and checking the actual distance across the bed vs what you tell it and key it in a bit.

I'm impressed it's done that well at .1 height tbh, my .3mm E3Dv6 head struggles a bit with .1 layer height and getting proper squish.

If you're able to get a finer head for it, I'd certainly go for it for this stuff.
Looking forward to my .25 head.

[Psiclone]

Ovion, on 29 May 2015 - 07:51 AM, said:

You should be able to calibrate it some, but yeah, a .4mm nozzle will struggle at smaller.

Printing anything at this scale and quality requires you calibrate well though, where it wouldn't matter so much with larger pieces.
Worth doing some 20mm cubes and checking the actual distance across the bed vs what you tell it and key it in a bit.

I'm impressed it's done that well at .1 height tbh, my .3mm E3Dv6 head struggles a bit with .1 layer height and getting proper squish.

If you're able to get a finer head for it, I'd certainly go for it for this stuff.
Looking forward to my .25 head.

How did you find out the specs for the extruder nozzzel? I've been struggling to find this information. I found out how to create more detailed print profiles but Simplify 3D is looking enticing...

[Ovion]

It was hidden away on the manufacturers site somewhere.
I don't recall exactly, I was still reeling from the price! though I'll have another look for you.
http://www.makerbotu...plicator5g.html
Scroll down a bit, under Printing.

Looking online you can buy third party .2mm and .3mm nozzles for your Makerbot, which should help too.

Edited by Ovion, 29 May 2015 - 09:00 AM.

[Psiclone]

Ovion, on 29 May 2015 - 08:46 AM, said:

It was hidden away on the manufacturers site somewhere.
I don't recall exactly, I was still reeling from the price! though I'll have another look for you.
http://www.makerbotu...plicator5g.html
Scroll down a bit, under Printing.

Looking online you can buy third party .2mm and .3mm nozzles for your Makerbot, which should help too.

Ahh... Thanks!. I found some various nozzles for only a few dollars. I just got Simplify 3D and am going to try that out.

I was wondering if anyone knows what's wrong with my UV mapping in blender? A fair number of my objects are being imported black.

[Heffay]

Psiclone, on 29 May 2015 - 09:32 AM, said:

I was wondering if anyone knows what's wrong with my UV mapping in blender? A fair number of my objects are being imported black.

It's a display bug in Blender. They will still render properly though.

It can be fixed by unassigning the material and then reassigning it.

[raptor27x]

Hello again

Well I've already converted the .cga to .cgf and exported them as .obj, I'm keeping the .dds format, so with that in mind I changed $basedir to "$basedir = "C:\Users\Sebastian\Documents\MechWarrior" # this is where you extracted all the *.pak files from the game. \objects, \textures etc" where I've extracted the .pak files, and kept $imageformat as "$imageformat = ".dds" # Default image file format. If you want to use .pngs, change this", is there any other thing I should change at this point?

this is what I get when running the script (some is in spanish)



BTW thanks for the reply

[Heffay]

Si se puede!

What version of powershell are you running? It needs to be v3 or newer. Whenever I see errors involving the split command, that's my initial guess.

[raptor27x]

Lol, thanks so much, that did it, checked powershell version and it was 2.0, updated to 3.0 and worked perfectly... thanks a lot pal

[Guinness530]

Okay, so I am a total novice at powershell scripts and general usage. Not much better at Blender either. My love of PGI's "resculpts" of my most beloved mechs has provoked me into getting into all of this mess just so I can have some 3d prints of my own. That being said i'm having some trouble getting the mech-importer to work. I have the script saved in "C:\Scripts" as "mech-importer.ps1". All my mech files are at "C:\Blender Projects\May2015\Objects\mechs". The .pak files were extracted into "C:\Blender Projects\May2015" if that makes any difference. I've got powershell updated to 3.0 and am using the most recently posted version of your importer. I've made my .obj files already and am leaving the .dds as they are. Any help or direction would be greatly appreciated either way, you sir are a saint and a Knight of the Inner Sphere.

Here is the error i'm getting: