Rhino to MAX

[glorybound]

I am getting some Rhino models. Is there a best way to get the Rhino nurbs into clean MAX mesh?

[AJ Jefferies]

The best way is to export from Rhino as an ACIS (.SAT) file.

Alternatively, I believe npower do a .3dm importer but I've not had any experience with it.

[glorybound]

thanks. I did install the npower demo, but I'll try the .SAT file first.

[super gnu]

the npower plugins are excellent. you keep full control over the tesselation in max, and you can even do perfect nurbs booleans and filleting on the resulting geometry.

[glorybound]

I tried .sat, .3ds, and .dwg. Other than the npower plugin the .sat was the best.

[Paul Oblomov]

Body objects inside max 2012 - is a piece of s*it!!! It doesn't let you convert your data to edit poly or edit mesh without broken smoothing groups in the end. Loading time for big (more than 1k objects) assy just f*ckin' huge!!!! The only way - is to put on top edit mesh modifier, but it will broke your smoothing groups....

Any npower importer (for example .stp reader) can only read "proper" nurbs data. So, if you have huge, enormous, bad ass assembly inside pro/e - you just can't import in one click!!! Or you can, but your data will look like s*it - any error in tolerance (improper trim or fillet, that looks good inside pro/e or rhino) and you got nothin'... or something, that looks like piece of crap....

Any really huge and not well optimised assy - and you'll get error like "sorry, delete node... bla bla bla made a big mistake... bla bla bla" - and NOTHING like names, multisub materials..... So the only solution - create mesh inside NURBS program and forget this s*it..


P.S. Sorry guys for this emotion post, but.... just tired. Having veeeeeery big (15k objects in each) assy and believe me - no body! Just say - NO to this sh*it!

[PIXELBOX_SRO]

yep...i have to agree with Paul Oblomove here....
we have so much bad experience with messed up imported files.....its like with badly made DWGs
Everything depends on the person that creates the original files int he native applications.
If its an idiot and lamer, then prepare to suffer when trying to work with the files....

also prepare for all the crap from client like:
* we can easily see the model here and there is nothing wrong with it
* there is no flipped and unwelded geometry on our model
* you must be doing something wrong
* the last 3D guy we worked with did not have these issues (bullshit....more likely they ditched him cos he told them to shove that model to places where the sun dont shine)

[glorybound]

so, the Rhino model will never, at least for now, transfer nicely into MAX.

[suurland]

If you got a good rhino model or know how to fix the model in Rhino then powertranslator (or the build in sat importer) is by far the best way to get the model into max. I've personally been using power translator since 2002 and imported a TON with it. I always import and then collapse to a mesh when I have the density I need. Paul says the smoothing gets broken by doing that, if that is the case then complain to David Gill at Npower, as that is clearly a bug.

/Thomas

[PIXELBOX_SRO]

all provided you have a good Rhino model as Thomas says.
in my experience its very rare....guess i never had a chance to receive a pro made model in Rhino.
I have a very good experience with models made in Inventor though...and i know they were professionally done.

[thablanch]

Do you need to keep it nurbs?
If not, from Rinho export FBX.. works fine here, everyday, on several big and small projects. Clean output, no holes and nice smoothing groups. And if well modeled, transfers 'kinda' nicely.

[Paul Oblomov]

Smoothing is broken when using 2012 SAP .sat imported body object. Using npower is fine. It just totaly ruined a week of hard work... Damn. Me personaly think that .sat import is... hm pointless. You don't have layers, you don't have object names, materials. Just nurbs. You can't even put uv on top... And at the end you can't convert 'em to mesh/poly without smoothing group loss......
I haven't tried body object from powernurbs 8. And I won't.