Any Tips Regarding Making Models For 3DSMax and Maya Using Blender?

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#1

Hello,

I’d like to be able to make stock models to sell. 3DSMax with Vray is standard for architectural visualizations. Maya is standard for animation, and Cinema 4D is gaining popularity. However, I have never worked with any of those programs.

I did a quick search online, but I didn’t find much information. Does anyone have tips regarding how I can ensure that what I export in Blender is what customers see in their respective programs?

This is what I have found so far:

  • Use a scale of 100 when exporting OBJ
  • Preferably export FBX

I can UV unwrap the model and include images for diffuse color, normal map, and spec map. But, is there any part of the material setup that I can export? Are things like materials assigned to parts of the mesh preserved?

Ideally I would preview the models in various programs, but I’d rather not learn more if I don’t have to. And, I don’t really see that being an option. Last time I checked, which was several years ago, demos of the software are temporary.

Thank you.

#2

Read the docs for the exporters to see what options each exporter supports https://wiki.blender.org/index.php/Extensions:2.6/Py/Scripts

#3

Thank you, Mr. Marklew!
When that talks about materials, it is unclear how those can be actually implemented.

  • DiffuseFactor, DiffuseColor.
  • TransparencyFactor, TransparentColor.
  • EmissiveFactor, EmissiveColor.
  • AmbientFactor.
  • SpecularFactor, SpecularColor.
  • Shininess, ShininessExponent.
  • ReflectionFactor, ReflectionColor.
  • Normal/bump.

Do you have details on this?
Also, I assume that the “Shininess” is related to the roughness. But, how is the Shininess exponent related to the roughness?

I have noticed that the roughness property has an extremely non-linear effect on the material’s appearance. Could it be that we should be processing the roughness input before using it? (edit: duh, I forgot that roughness does get processed such that the shader input[SUP]2[/SUP]=roughness. Also, it seems like shininess exponent might be 1/roughness.)

#4

Exporting materials between different softwares and render engines usually does not work. There are some odd cases where it is actually possible but from Blender I would not bet on anything but the most rudimentary form of texture data: diffuse map + some other stuff. It could be possible to export vray materials as text file if you have vray standalone running in Blender, but I’m not sure if the exported material descriptions can be used in Max or Maya vray plugins. Exporting Blender Internal or Cycles materials to other software is not possible.

The reason for all this is that all render engines have very different internal algorithms and shader logic, so it is either very hard or practically impossible to exchange anything but very simple material data in a meaningful way. Meaningful meaning that you get a close enough result when rendered.

#5

I understand that. Part of my question was from the surprise at the claim. It would be nice to have the basics read for other people to tweak, though. It would be better than them importing a gray mesh and needing to setup everything and reference the images from scratch.

At any rate, my original question was regarding general tips. I’m not fixated on materials or anything like that.