Guidelines for importing an OBJ to be populated?

[rasputin]

Hey guys,

I'm wondering:   If I want to import a tree into TG4 to be populated,  and I own it as an OBJ,   not a standard XFROG model,   are there any useful guidelines for optimizing that OBJ beforehand (in my usual 3D app,  which happens to be C4D).

For example,   should the tree be sized to a certain height in centimeters first?   Or any other such optimization,    so TG knows what to do with it when imported?

Thanks,     rasputin

[cyphyr]

I would definitely advise scaling the tree to its real world size before importing to TG.

It is also good to run the model through Poseray (Google it) to check that it conforms to Terragens interpretation of standard .obj and .mat .mtl file specifications. (Just open it in Poseray, check that all the material channels have their proper textures assigned, and re-save).
It is probably a good idea to ensure that the textures associated with the model are all in the same location as the model and the the .mat .mtl file is properly showing them (if the model and textures are all in the same folder the mat file should show path information).

It may be a good idea to import the obj tree as a single tree, set up all the textures, including translucency, specular and displacement and then save the tree out as a .tgo by right clicking on the .obj node and choosing "Save as".
You can import the .tgo as a population with all the settings intact.

That's about it.

[Oshyan]

That's all good advice from Richard. Just a couple of things to clarify.

Terragen is based on meters for units, so if your modeling application is not working in meters, you'll need to convert, either before export, or after import into Terragen.

Poseray is helpful, but it's not doing anything special *for* Terragen in regards to OBJ format. Rather, Poseray conforms more closely to the OBJ standard itself, and is more flexible in terms of what it will accept for *import* and the tools it provides to convert to a more standards-conforming OBJ output.

And lastly, I think when he said ".mat" he meant ".mtl", which is a "sidecar" file that needs to be included with a .obj for the texture files to be referenced and loaded properly by Terragen (again, a part of the OBJ standard, but many applications do not generate it properly upon export). .mtl files can be opened in a standard text editor, and that's how you would verify that the appropriate texture file paths are there.

- Oshyan

[rasputin]

Thanks,  guys--- so helpful!

[cyphyr]

And lastly, I think when he said ".mat" he meant ".mtl",

Doh (homer Simpson slaps head emoji!)
Yes that is exactly what I meant, thanks for the clarification