scene convertering for revit files import to 3dsmax 2024

[s_gru]

hello. i seem to be running into an issue where bitmaps are disconnected from a material when it is converted. so i have a grass object from Revit. after importing the revit file to 3ds max 2024, i can select the material into the slate material editor and see that it is: Autodesk Generic Material. with Autodesk Bitmap in "Parameters_Color_map" slot. and a Autodesk Bitmap in "Advanced_Hightlight_Controls_Color_Map"

if i run scene converter to convert Autodesk Generic to Autodesk Physical, or to Standard material, the bitmaps are disconnected.

I did use convert to Autodesk Physical in the past b/c Vray scene converter has a "Convert Physical Material to VRayMtl" option.

do i need to convert in any particular order? like bitmaps first, then materials?

thanks,

[s_gru]

interestingly, take a look at materials. they seem to have different parameter names. the concrete autodesk generic will convert properly. the site asphalt & site grass will have the bitmaps disconnected. hm.

[hermit.crab]

Try adding a new conversion rule for Autodesk Bitmap to VRayBitmap along with the shader conversion.

[s_gru]

ok, did that yesterday and even tried bitmaps conversion only as a 1st step, then materials as a 2nd step. well i closed down 3ds max last night opened it up and loaded the scene... check out this error. i talked to one of our revit people and he's going to check if those specific materials are the new "prism" type of materials or the "old" materials inside Revit. (they made a change 2-4 years ago in Revit with their materials. i imagine the change is similar changing from "standard" to "physical" inside 3ds max.

edit: although this error says 1 of your maps -- so it might not have anything to do with material conversion.

[s_gru]

my co-worker confirmed that the concrete is the "old material" in revit, and the other two are "new" which i think is called prism materials.

[s_gru]

update. ok so in the slate material editor above, the top two are the prism autodesk materials. it seems like all we would need is a script that converts and remaps diffuse-color maps to the generic image of a regular ad material. or to standard etc...

i posted over on the autodesk forums and submitted a ticket. we'll see what happens there.

but one thing i did notice is that if i right-click on one of these prism materials i can click "copy as generic" and that will make a copy of the material and the bitmaps, then we have to convert that to standard or whatever. this can be quite tedious though. but then working with RVT or FBX files between Revit and Max always has been.

its all a bummer because somehow there is no support for these prism materials -- apparently these are PBR materials autodesk came up with or absorbed from 3rd party?

[tsvetomira.girginova]

Dear s_gru, hello.

Thank you for the interesting topic.
I found the discussion in Autodesk Forum that you have opened and I am following the progress there as well.

Let's try to clear out the workflow. Please confirm or correct where I could be wrong in my vision of your setup:
1. You have a Revit file (no V-Ray materials are used for replacements)
2. In 3ds Max you are using File > Import/Merge orFile > Import > Link Revit
3. You to go Rendering > Scene Converter - please share a screenshot what is chosen there
4. When taking a look at Slate material editor you see disconnected Bitmaps

For the warning shared here - you could take a look at C:\Program Files\Common Files\Autodesk Shared\Materials.
And from the ME - are the disconnected bitmaps successfully found on their locations, are their paths shown and accessible...

Could you please share exact where in the described issue V-Ray is involved?
Or you started a thread to receive some advices from the community here as well?
We should understand in more details how to help you.

At first glimpse this looks like an issue more related to Autodesk, that's why I am asking.

Best regards,
TS

[s_gru]

1. correct
2. i'm doing File > Import > Revit (no link because i'm using 3ds max 2024)
3. i will upload screen shot monday
4. yes. i picked the three materials you see in my screen shot before using the Rendering > Scene Converter, then after Rendering > Scene Converter, the bitmaps are disconnected.

i have checked the paths of bitmaps that were disconnected after conversion and they do exist int he paths they are listed.

i think the warning is something different completely as it's only happening with this one revit file. i have 3 other projects that do not give me that error. those files are all from Revit 2023.

overall, AD is really simply not supporting their Revit PBR materials in 3ds Max. and what's really interesting though, is that both the revit PBR material and the non-PBR revit material come into 3ds max as Autodesk Generic Materials. ugh. but they have different node names. to me, if the nodes of the destination material (during conversion) don't match the nodes in a conversion script, then the bitmaps simply won't connect. so i wondered if a custom script can be written? "if Autodesk Generic Material diffuse_color, then attach to Standard|Vray|other diffuse_color" else if "xyz to abc" else if "etc... etc..."

scripting is not something i'm good at scripting at all. i've tried but just can't get the hang of it.

i think autodesk is just going to leave it go seeing as this Revit PBR material has not worked with 3dsMax since it was introduced in 2019. more searching is revealing quite a few poeple having issues.

oh well thanks for putting some thoughts on this. since this is all happening in just this one revit file, i maybe play aroudn with it in revit and save copies to see if i can narrow anything down. also, the plans changed so i have an old local copy of the revit file anyway now. so i will 1st try and file > import > revit file to see what that does.

[s_gru]

sorry for the delay attached are the converter rules. you'll see here too that there is no provision for distinct versions of Autodesk Generic materials (one of which is the PBR material from Revit).

[tsvetomira.girginova]

Hi again,

I saw that there are some suggestions from other users in the Autodesk forum.
The issue still seems Autodesk related, so I am not quite sure what further help we could offer.

But will keep an eye on this topic on both forums.

[s_gru]

yeah it's definitely and AD issue, and the new people i've talked to said there's nothing we can do about it.'

however - given the screen shot i first posted of the 3 materials in the slate material editor, 2 of which are the PBR materials and 1 of which is a "legacy" Autodesk Generic material, i wonder if a script can be written to convert?

it would have to be something like : "if Auotdesk Generic material Parameters_Color_Map then connect Bitmap #63 else if Autodesk Generic material Generic_Image then connect Bitmap #63"

otherwise, the conversion script that comes with 3ds max just changes the base material and disconnects the bitmaps for the PBR version of Autodesk Generic.

if not possible with a material conversion script, then oh well.

it's the same old bugger with autodesk & 3ds max - keep working around their problems.

[s_gru]

i'll have something to post soon but looks like i found a conversion script that will handle the prism materials!

[s_gru]

ok it's been dragging on and i have quite had the time to test more, i was getting a few errors trying to convert a whole scene, but that may not be related at all. i'm able to convert materials groups of objects at a time successfully with this script from https://www.3dstudio.nl/webshop/category/p3dstudio. it's paid but it works very well and i don't have to do any conversions to A then conversion to B.

[phill_moris]

ok it's been dragging on and i have quite had the time to test more, i was getting a few errors trying to convert a whole scene, but that may not be related at all. i'm able to convert materials groups of objects at a time successfully with this script from https://www.3dstudio.nl/webshop/category/p3dstudio. it's paid but it works very well and i don't have to do any conversions to A then conversion to B.

From everything you wrote above, I didn’t quite understand your problem, but V-RayMax Converter Pro does an excellent job of converting ANY Autodesk materials.
Although, it is also paid, but half cheaper than the one in your link and does it much better (IMHO).