Collaboration with other software
About model and data exchange with 3rd party solutions: Revit, Solibri, dRofus, Bluebeam, structural analysis solutions, and IFC, BCF and DXF/DWG-based exchange, etc.

exporting to c4d

Anonymous
Not applicable
I think that I've tried just about all the various options and so far find the OBJ format to work the best. However, when I export by materials, which makes sense, ALL the AC geometry of that material comes in as ONE single polygon object in C4D. This is a major, major pain as there is no easy way to split all the polygons like the explode command in autocad...you have to do it polygon by polygon. What I would really like to see in the file transfer is all the polys of one material to come in under a single null object in C4D so that each part is easily accessed amd edited in C4D and yet comes in already "sorted" by material under the null object. This would save a lot of time. By the way, that is the way FormZ objects come in, except I used to do it by layers, but same concept.

Have I missed an option here somewhere that might work better? I did try the AC to C4D exchange plugin...and offhand can not remember the results as far as how the geometry came in.
151 REPLIES 151
owen
Newcomer
Andy,

I think 3DS export is the best option at the moment if you are using AC12 (most of our clients stuck with AC11 to keep the Exchange workflow).

The new Cinema modeling plugin (old Maxonform) creates a more complex element structure that makes assigning materials in C4D a nightmare - it is good for modelling (the purpose of the plugin) but no so good for viz.

Maxon are working on a fix for the Exchange plugin, so hopefully we see something fairly soon.
Picture 1.png
cheers,

Owen Sharp

Design Technology Manager
fjmt | francis-jones morehen thorp

iMac 27" i7 2.93Ghz | 32GB RAM | OS 10.10 | Since AC5
Anonymous
Not applicable
owen wrote:


Maxon are working on a fix for the Exchange plugin, so hopefully we see something fairly soon.


Hmm... i was talking to maxon-support a few days ago - they don't know anything about fixing the plugins?!? the information was: GS is doing the code
Anonymous
Not applicable
Dirk wrote:
owen wrote:


Maxon are working on a fix for the Exchange plugin, so hopefully we see something fairly soon.


Hmm... i was talking to maxon-support a few days ago - they don't know anything about fixing the plugins?!? the information was: GS is doing the code
That is just comical! More finger pointing. We had two GS guys in the office a couple of days ago saying Maxon is busy working on it! I really dont care who, please just get it done!
owen
Newcomer
SunnyBris wrote:
Dirk wrote:
owen wrote:


Maxon are working on a fix for the Exchange plugin, so hopefully we see something fairly soon.


Hmm... i was talking to maxon-support a few days ago - they don't know anything about fixing the plugins?!? the information was: GS is doing the code
That is just comical! More finger pointing. We had two GS guys in the office a couple of days ago saying Maxon is busy working on it! I really dont care who, please just get it done!
Well i was corresponding with Bernd @ Maxon just after the recent posts from him in this thread and based on this i am very confident Maxon do know about the problem and are working to fix it. It is not up to GS AFAIK as the Exchange plugin is a Maxon product (it comes as part of their Architecture Bundle) ... the modelling plugin on the other hand IS a Graphisoft add-on for ArchiCAD, and so is their coding job. Having said that i would not be surprised if sometime in the future the two are somehow merged (as atm having two can be a little confusing). Please do not read anything into this statement though .. it really is me just speculating/wishing.
cheers,

Owen Sharp

Design Technology Manager
fjmt | francis-jones morehen thorp

iMac 27" i7 2.93Ghz | 32GB RAM | OS 10.10 | Since AC5
Anonymous
Not applicable
owen wrote:
SunnyBris wrote:
Dirk wrote:


Hmm... i was talking to maxon-support a few days ago - they don't know anything about fixing the plugins?!? the information was: GS is doing the code


That is just comical! More finger pointing. We had two GS guys in the office a couple of days ago saying Maxon is busy working on it! I really dont care who, please just get it done!


it comes as part of their Architecture Bundle


yep that is the bundle i use - that was the plugin i ask for - the answer was clear:GS is working on it.
anyway maybe the right hand don't know what the left hand is doing (hopefully). shame on maxon for advertising a not working connection. AC 13 will be released soon, so we can wait for the next update. thats easy when AC 14 is released we just work with AC 12, and update to AC 13 when AC 15 will be released. not really doing a smart job.
Wokka
Contributor
OK,
Just trying to keep this thread alive.
It's been a good month since we heard from Maxon, and several years since I heard from Graphisoft. What is happening? Are we going to have to wait for R13? If I wasn't on an upgrade plan I'd be even more peeved! We need this acted upon. Graphisoft's silence is just as annoying....

Sorry, had a bad night.....
Warwick Lloyd-Martin
3 D E N V I R O N M E N T
http://www.3de.com.au
Windows 11 Pro 64bit
ArchiCad 4.55>27 AUS
Lumion 12.5/2023
D5 Render
Greg Kmethy
Graphisoft
Graphisoft
owen wrote:
Having said that i would not be surprised if sometime in the future the two are somehow merged (as atm having two can be a little confusing). Please do not read anything into this statement though .. it really is me just speculating/wishing.
The two things are already merged in ArchiCAD 12. In ArchiCAD 11 there were two Add-Ons for ArchiCAD: The 'modeling' Add-On, developed by Graphisoft, and the 'exchange' Add-On, developed by Maxon. In ArchiCAD 12 the two are combined, and there is only one Add-On, developed by Graphisoft. However, the problem with the scene update functionality was that the receiving side (Cinema4D's new 'melange' API interface, part of C4D) was not ready for it. Maxon is now working on improving their API, and Graphisoft needs to adjust the Add-On to that. Work on both side is progressing well, but it requires coordination of development and testing on both sides, so we beg for your patience.
Gergely Kmethy
VP, Customer Success, Graphisoft
Anonymous
Not applicable
gkmethy wrote:
owen wrote:
Having said that i would not be surprised if sometime in the future the two are somehow merged (as atm having two can be a little confusing). Please do not read anything into this statement though .. it really is me just speculating/wishing.
The two things are already merged in ArchiCAD 12. In ArchiCAD 11 there were two Add-Ons for ArchiCAD: The 'modeling' Add-On, developed by Graphisoft, and the 'exchange' Add-On, developed by Maxon. In ArchiCAD 12 the two are combined, and there is only one Add-On, developed by Graphisoft. However, the problem with the scene update functionality was that the receiving side (Cinema4D's new 'melange' API interface, part of C4D) was not ready for it. Maxon is now working on improving their API, and Graphisoft needs to adjust the Add-On to that. Work on both side is progressing well, but it requires coordination of development and testing on both sides, so we beg for your patience.
nice to hear from GS
Wokka
Contributor
Maxon update
http://www.maxon.net/index.php?id=205&tx_ttnews[tt_news]=1133&cHash=cddcc77487

Appears to be C4D R11 only
I have voiced my displeasure in another thread

http://archicad-talk.graphisoft.com/viewtopic.php?p=145756#145756
Wokka wrote:
Thanks for the link!
If this is ONLY for R11 I'll be extremely P^*$*&^d off!
I've been given the runaround for 8 months by Maxon and/or Graphisoft.
The ONLY reason I used C4D was for compatability with ArchiCad and now Vray. Makes me think I should have taken the Revit/Max/vray path instead as much as I hate the Autodesk monolopy.
I'll wait for clarification.........again....
breath in.........breath out.........breath in...........breath out.........
Warwick Lloyd-Martin
3 D E N V I R O N M E N T
http://www.3de.com.au
Windows 11 Pro 64bit
ArchiCad 4.55>27 AUS
Lumion 12.5/2023
D5 Render
Anonymous
Not applicable
This patch only only fixes the vectorworks>C4D update right?