hi i have created a particle fluid object and wanted to export it to max where i can work n the shader and renders.. I baked the simulation as bgeo's and then exported that as a FBX file. However after importing this fbx in max i notice that the polys are all detached(the vertices are not welded) and hence a mesh or a turbo smooth cannot be applied. any clue as to how i can solve this issue.


-alok

What you're seeing was actually done on purpose.

The problem with FBX is that its architecture was never meant to support animated meshes in which vertex count changes during the animation (which is exactly what a particle fluid is). We found a way to export it, but it requires triangulating the mesh and disconnecting each triangle.

In Maya, there's a simple way to weld all the vertices back again, and smooth the result. I'm not sure if there is a single modifier in Max that can weld all the close vertices together, but if there is, you can use that.

Alternatively, you can try to go to Max through an obj sequence, but I think that would require a script on the Max end to import properly.

as long as they are within the threshold, add a vertex weld modifier, that should re-connect it all. Play with the threshold, but watch for any irregularites as you crank it up.

Selecting all the vertexes and doing a weld operation from the edit vertex subobject might be better, as you can bring up the spinner and see the vertex count reducing as you up the spinner.

Hi and BIG thanks to oleg and ragupasta.

@olega : Yes indeed i could weld the vertices.. but if i weld the vertices at the edit mesh level then the mesh goes for a toss and it is all distorted . there is an option in maya to import the .obj sequence but am not too sure with Max.

@ragupasta: thanks for your feedback.It sure is the best solution by far

I found this script for MAX which claims to import OBJ sequences. Haven't tested it though:

http://andye.myweb.hinet.net/maxscript_1.html [andye.myweb.hinet.net]

Let me know if this helps.

hey oleg … thanks for the script … it works great !!

cheers