I don't know why but I can't import obj's.
I'm trying to import them with a geometry/file node, but it gives me this error:

Error
Unable to read file “Dtest/geo/house_01.obj”.
Error
Expected array object (near byte offset 1, line 1, column 2)
Backend IO

I've changed the obj to different locations but I doesn't matter, the error still there.

The thing is that I can import this file on other computer with the same Houdini Version (16.5.536)
I already deleted the houdini prefs folder located in CDocuments and I reinstalled Houdini too but the problem is still there.

I'm getting really tired, if someone could help me I would be really grateful.

Cheers.

I have the same issue. Converting the obj to bgeo is a workaround that worked for me but its a bit of a pain.

see here: https://houdinitricks.com/convert-obj-models-bgeo-format-houdini-14/ [houdinitricks.com]

I hope there is a better solution

I have the same problem now that i installed houdini 17.5 How did you solve the problem?

Thanks!

I, too, have the same problem. Using Houdini 16 though. Subscribing to this.

I just had this happen today. What is going on. It was fine 2 days ago.

H17.5.173 can't open or place an obj file

What would be the reason for this?

Moin,

I have had obj-reading issues in Houdini whenever the obj was even SLIGHTLY “incorrect” - like lack of spaces or one space too much or floating point values where integer indices were expected.
The best you can do is strip down your obj file to a minimum to check if there is a formatting issue. Leave out texture or normal information, using the formatting from the file and create one face manually - my bet is that the error message mentioned in this thread is due to integer/floating point misplacements in the file.

Other software is often more forgiving, if all fails you can always write your own obj file importer inside Houdini.

Marc

Hi Marc, thanks for the reply. Are you talking about the naming convention of the obj when you say “incorrect”?

I did update to the latest production build and that seem to take care of things. Just had to relink the obj file.

Hi,unknown,

> Are you talking about the naming convention of the obj when you say “incorrect”?

no, I was talking about what I wrote above:

MALBRECHT
” - like lack of spaces or one space too much or floating point values where integer indices were expected.

I can create the error mentioned in this thread above by using floating point indices for faces (as an example).


Marc

Okay. That can't be because the obj had worked previously without issue. Same when I moved to a newer production build. I will watch for that though for future reference. Thanks!

Hello,
Had the same problem, or something that at least seemed to be, but got to the bottom of it on my machine. The symptom for me was that the newest Houdini version (18.0.287) didn't read obj files nor could it output obj-files that ZBrush could read. I hadn't had this problem in any previous Houdini version, opening the exact files that now proved troublesome.

On Odforce some people seemed to have found a different cause for similar symptoms - a faulty .env file.
https://forums.odforce.net/topic/28688-solvedhoudini-unable-to-read-obj-file/ [forums.odforce.net]

This did not turn out to be the root of my problem. It instead turned out, that with Zone firewall I had chosen to block a weird suspicious repetitive outgoing connection by a program called qwavefront.exe. I didn't think of a link between Wavefront obj and this program when I blocked this suspicious behaviour, but it turns out there is one.

It turns out this suspicious program needs to get to connect to the internet every time Houdini reads or exports (a working) obj-file.

I hadn't noticed it before, but it seems, at least now, that the same is true on Houdini 17, although I don't remember such firewall alerts from when I was using that.

Anyway, I got the problem fixed by allowing qwavefront.exe to the internet, but why it needs that connection when the same doesn't seem to be true when reading or writing obj-files with ZBrush, nor with a few other 3D-applications I've used (SpeedTree, Cinema 4D), still remains a mystery. Overall the new Houdini version aside from it's undeniable awesomeness, has a problem of seeming to want to connect to the internet a lot more than previous versions, for different reasons (continuous license verification, I think, is one that didn't seem to be as constant a need in previous versions, but there seem to be other processes as well). I quite hated Autodesk Maya trial version for having constant processes that had such outgoing and incoming needs. I do hope Houdini isn't following in the footsteps of similar programs in these practices.

Moin,

It turns out this suspicious program needs to get to connect to the internet every time Houdini reads or exports (a working) obj-file.

I think that is untrue.

For a simple test I disconnected my computer from any network, started Houdini, imported an OBJ (that software I wrote myself created) - and it worked off the bat. No issues. I was also able to write out that obj file back to the harddrive.

Also searching my “program files” directory and my documents folder, both of which are being used by Houdini, for “qwavefront.exe” turned up nothing.

Marc Albrecht

This is quite peculiar then, because I had this problem with Houdini 18. Got that error on every obj file I tried to open, and could not open any obj file exported from Houdini in ZBrush. I went to try on Houdini 17, because I did not have trouble on that version. When I opened an obj file or saved on Houdini 17, each time at that exact moment Zone alarm firewall notified me that qwavefron.exe wants to connect to the internet, I allowed it and everything worked fine. I then checked my Zone Firewall preferences. As I vaguely remembered, I indeed had blocked an application with that name from connecting to the internet. I set it again to ask every time, and after that in Houdini 18 aswell, I now get this notification, when I open or export an obj, and now I get no error in neither Houdini nor ZBrush with the obj files.

I don't imagine how or who has attached this piece of code to some software, but it does seem to get activated each time I deal with obj-s in Houdini, and if I block the process, my export or import fails. Perhaps it's something to do with Zone firewall itself?

Apologies for the necro thread, I was seraching an unrelated issues ran into this post.

The offending program isn't qwavefront.exe, but should be gwavefront.exe.

A fair number of file formats are supported in Houdini by using standalone programs to do the conversion. gwavefront, gdxf, gply, etc. When houdini tries to read or write a .obj, it will instead launch this program to do the task. This is usually done with pipes so no files go to disk, but the gwavefront program doesn't know it was invoked by Houdini. Thus, it has to check for licenses to see it is allowed to run. This usually involves contacting hserver. In most configurations, this should be entirely local connections, which is why it will run normally unattached to the network. But it surprisingly difficult to separate local from external connections, which is probably why Zone firewall is tripping on it.

Hello!
I have a similar problem.
The File Cache node cannot read the bgeo.sc cache.
if the path to the cache is given by the expression

If the path is set explicitly, the problem disappears

I`m use Houdini 19.0.657

Thank`s!

I'll be leaving this here for all the google search folks like me who landed here
I had the same problem with some fbx files and it turned out the issue could be resolved by renaming ".FBX" to ".fbx" ... No idea why that makes any difference, but there it is. Loads fine now. Hope it helps someone.