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3D Importing .OBJ file from Maya > Photoshop > After Effects


frussell89

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I'm a noob so bare with me please :p

I spent a few hours yesterday shading a 3D character I made in Maya only to import it as an .OBJ file into photoshop to find that none of the shading I did was exported out of Maya. Eventually, I need to get the 3D Model into After Effects to create an animation.

How do I export my 3D Model AND all the shading work I did from Maya?

Right now the whole thing is sitting in Photoshop completely gray. Am I missing something?
 

Hoogle

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you will need to bake the textures onto the model or create a uv map so you can texture it in photoshop.
 

Zeealex

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out of interest purely, what do you intend to do with it in photoshop? is it just to convert the model to an image file compatible with AE?

if it's completely gray, it sounds like you haven't added a texture to it. not sure how Maya works, but if you can get 3dsm 2012 ed version, I can help you texture it for export from there.
 

frussell89

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you will need to bake the textures onto the model or create a uv map so you can texture it in photoshop.

Hi Hoogle! How would I bake the textures onto the model? Is there anyway that I can just bake the coloring AND the texturing from Maya onto the model so it stays intact in Photoshop? It just looks so good in the Maya render-- don't want to lose that...


Also I know vaguely how to use a UV map but can it be used to texture a model IN photoshop? I thought you could texture the UV map in photoshop but needed to actually put it onto the model in Maya.
 

frussell89

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out of interest purely, what do you intend to do with it in photoshop? is it just to convert the model to an image file compatible with AE?

if it's completely gray, it sounds like you haven't added a texture to it. not sure how Maya works, but if you can get 3dsm 2012 ed version, I can help you texture it for export from there.


Hi Zeealex! Yes the only use I have for photoshop is to convert the Maya .OBJ model into a .PSD file so it's compatible with After Effects. I plan on making a short little animation with the model and some other 2D elements.

I've only just learned Maya so I don't think I'll be using 3DS for a while until I've really started to feel comfortable with Maya.
 

Zeealex

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okay dokay! do the elements need to be seperate, or are they all one part of the model.

if it's all one model, the easiest work around is to render it and port the image to PS
 

frussell89

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okay dokay! do the elements need to be seperate, or are they all one part of the model.

if it's all one model, the easiest work around is to render it and port the image to PS

The elements are all apart of one model. I've already rendered it but is there a type of file that photoshop can use besides .OBJ? I'm not sure you can export a rendered image as a 3D object.
 

Zeealex

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you can just export the render as a jpeg it'll have a background, but it should easily be cut out. it'll look 3d, but you won't be able to do much other than edit it as you would normally
 

Hoogle

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Well you should render it as a png and check the box Alpha channel only that way it wont render a background.

Or if you can animate most of it in Maya then do so and export it as a quicktime movie alpha channel only then you can import that into after effects with just an animated model with no background.
 

Zeealex

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what he said ^ I just model stuff and port it to a program that does the lighting for me. primarily because I'm a lazy sod.

i know a fair bit about Autodesk software, enough to get by, but he's probably more knowledgeable on this than me :p
 

frussell89

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Well you should render it as a png and check the box Alpha channel only that way it wont render a background.

Or if you can animate most of it in Maya then do so and export it as a quicktime movie alpha channel only then you can import that into after effects with just an animated model with no background.

Hoogle-- that sounds like a good idea, my only worry is being able to animate the entire thing without the actual backgrounds that I will be using in After Effects. Also, am I right in my assumption that if I render out alpha channels and use that as my "model" in After Effects that it will be a 2D "model"? Meaning that I would HAVE to animate the whole thing in Maya that way it appears 3D in After Effects.


Is there no other way to export the shaders and textures from Maya to AE besides exporting alpha channel renders?
 

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