Hi!

Is there any way to import animation of a shattered object done in Houdini to Softimage? Tried FBX and it works for Maya, but I can’t figure it out how to get that into Softimage for texturing and rendering…

Thanks.

PS.: Softimage 2011/2011.5

Tried pre-shattered object via fbx and mdd point cache - looks ugly but almost works. Can be Make Breakable exported if count of points changes?

MDD cannot work if the point count/numbering is changing; that option doesnt work for dynamically shattering geometry. FBX “should” work, though I haven't done Houdini<->Softimage via FBX. It has worked with Maya though.

Tried pre-shattered object via fbx and mdd point cache - looks ugly but almost works. Can be Make Breakable exported if count of points changes?

Are you sure it works with Maya. As if you take a box then shatter it, the point count will change. Normally you need to render out a MI file. Which then maya users can add textures and render.

rob

I know FBX works ok for Maya, even Make Breakable export. Just put the fbx into Maya - that's it, I did nothing else about it. But it's kinda a no-go for Softimage… Here's a test FBX for Maya.

MDD works not for dynamicly shattered stuff, sad but true. I shattered it with Shatter so that it has all the points and they don't change. Then I rendered MDD for each object, took FBX and MDDs into Modo 501 first - should be tweaked to get it nice. Then tried Softimage - FBX brought no luck, FBX+MDD - well, it looks strange.

obj sequence is your friend.
for export use a rop output driver.
for import into xsi try http://rray.de/xsi/. [rray.de]
there should be a couple of tools in there.

Thanks, I thought so, that in the end I have to deal with OBJ sequences…

FBX doesn't really support geometry with changing vertex count. We did manage to kind of find a way around it, so you should get something in - however, it'll be in the form of disjoint triangles that will need to be welded together (and possibly smoothed). So yes, OBJ sequences are a better solution in this case.

The main problem we've had so far with the fracturing stuff going back into FBX and then maya is that when it gets there, and you try to render it with motion blur its pretty much useless at the “shattering” frames. because
from what I understand, when fbx is storing the “fractured pieces” it puts all the verts back at 0,0,0 and on that frame they “pop” out.

so the whole object ends up looking totally blurred out when it hits and fractures..

if there's any way around this I'd love to know.

only thing I can think of is offsetting the shutter on the motion blur or something?

anybody else got any ideas on this?

thanks

-johnc

Edit- just realized my reply below doesn't cover changing point counts… Don't have a good way to cover this except the forementioned series of obj files- but that might have issues with texturing and getting motion blur in another package.


I just did something like this where I took my RBD chunks and put the dynamics onto bones and then weighted each chunk to its relative bone and then exported the skeletal mesh to FBX. This was for export to a game engine but it also came into XSI and Maya.

Its not automated right now, but its not too painful in the way I set it up.

Just make sure that your mesh has normals and UV's or the FBX import may not work (although I think it did come into Maya and XSI without UV's- just not the game engine).

oleg
FBX doesn't really support geometry with changing vertex count. We did manage to kind of find a way around it, so you should get something in - however, it'll be in the form of disjoint triangles that will need to be welded together (and possibly smoothed). So yes, OBJ sequences are a better solution in this case.

But why it works for Maya? :roll:

i think because Maya its a kind of magical soft? 8)