Twin Motion

[stager386]

I never heard of TM until a couple days ago. I haven't quite figured it out yet.  But it looks like a good option.

 

I have a cottage I've built on CA and am unhappy with the grass, lake, trees, etc.. so I went to TM. I don't know how much of my finished plan I should be importing into TM. 

 

-  Do I take the terrain perimeter with me and leave behind the trees and lake, or only take the cottage?

-  Can I import the plan back into CA with newly added things from TM to continue with the details?

 

You can see the landscape looks kind of fake. What would anyone suggest I do, in order to use TM to enhance it?

 

Thank you!

Kate

 

 

[DavidJPotter]

Check out  these YouTube videos by Rene Rabbit.

 

DJP

 

[Michael_Gia]

3 hours ago, stager386 said:

I don't know how much of my finished plan I should be importing into TM.

Besides René’s YouTube videos on TM….

 

- bring your model in without the terrain.

- then bring just the terrain without the model (in case you want to use it instead of the TM terrain)

This way you can make modifications to either the model or the terrain back in Chief and simply re-import into TM.  
As long as you are using the same plan to generate the 3D camera views to export then when you import into TM they will be in the proper location (x,y,z)

 

I personally will use trees, bushes, vehicles and people from TM and not from Chief, because they’re more realistic and adjustable. 
 

Also, capturing images and videos in TM is way more user friendly and adjustable on the fly. 
 

As far as your images above, the real problem you have is more of a perspective and positioning one.

You should look at other exterior renderings, find one you like and closely match what you’re looking for and then adjust the camera position and field of view until you can almost duplicate what these pros are able to achieve. 
 

I’ve found that my weakness in rendering has more to do with how bad of a photographer I am than my computer rendering skills. 
Copy and steal from someone great and if you get close you’ll have a much better result. 
 

 

[OldBarnDesign]

Twinmotion is great and the learning curve isn't bad. The latest version is based on the Unreal 5 engine (which is basically a top of the line, real time rendering engine used for many major game titles). I've been only using it for a short time but produced this render recently. Like all rendering you'll spend a lot of time, especially up front, tweaking materials, getting to know what settings work best, and the amount of detail you need in your model based on your view. It comes with a nice library of vegetation and trees that look good and should get you going. Good luck!

 

[SHCanada2]

26 minutes ago, OldBarnDesign said:

but produced this render recently

every window looks through to the backyard...is that how the actual house is designed, or is it a TM glitch?

[OldBarnDesign]

21 hours ago, SHCanada2 said:

every window looks through to the backyard...is that how the actual house is designed, or is it a TM glitch?

Not the backyard, those are window reflections, they are just cranked up in the renderer. You can control them to be less reflective. It also depends on the sun angle.

 

[stager386]

On 1/20/2023 at 7:59 PM, Michael_Gia said:

Besides René’s YouTube videos on TM….

 

- bring your model in without the terrain.

- then bring just the terrain without the model (in case you want to use it instead of the TM terrain)

This way you can make modifications to either the model or the terrain back in Chief and simply re-import into TM.  
As long as you are using the same plan to generate the 3D camera views to export then when you import into TM they will be in the proper location (x,y,z)

 

I personally will use trees, bushes, vehicles and people from TM and not from Chief, because they’re more realistic and adjustable. 
 

Also, capturing images and videos in TM is way more user friendly and adjustable on the fly. 
 

As far as your images above, the real problem you have is more of a perspective and positioning one.

You should look at other exterior renderings, find one you like and closely match what you’re looking for and then adjust the camera position and field of view until you can almost duplicate what these pros are able to achieve. 
 

I’ve found that my weakness in rendering has more to do with how bad of a photographer I am than my computer rendering skills. 
Copy and steal from someone great and if you get close you’ll have a much better result. 
 

 

Thank you. I appreciate the critique! Perspective and positioning are very important, and I need to work on that.  There are so many nuances to producing the perfect image!

[VHampton]

 

To add to Michael's comments... TM is an extremely helpful tool to enhance model making. 

 

That said, Chief still has incredible potential to render exteriors. Much of it has to do for example, with user settings. That's all. With the correct camera views, texture settings, vegetation and sun angles... that's what's going to make your model shine.  

 

If you wanted to post that particular plan, it would literally take less than ten minutes to bring it from a 3 to a 10. 

 

In any event, TM animation such as moving clouds and the leaves rustling in the trees is really amazing. Water ripples too. Maybe one day Chief will have a similar functionality. I have faith. Chief continues to make advancements year after year. 

 

 

Quote

-  Do I take the terrain perimeter with me and leave behind the trees and lake, or only take the cottage?

-  Can I import the plan back into CA with newly added things from TM to continue with the details?

 

Export a 3d overview of your model as a .dae file (or 3Ds) no terrain. You can settle the house into the ground upon import.

Regarding the possibility of reimporting to CA, TM files won't be in a format to come back into Chief. Once it's a TM model it stays that way. 

 

 

[Kbird1]

Steve Hof has been kind enough to add his recent foray into TM over in the Tips Sections, he has also added some of his files for everyone to Download.

@stevenyhof

 

 

 

Mick.

[stager386]

On 1/22/2023 at 4:14 PM, Kbird1 said:

Steve Hof has been kind enough to add his recent foray into TM over in the Tips Sections, he has also added some of his files for everyone to Download.

@stevenyhof

 

 

 

Mick.

Wow this looks amazing!

[stager386]

On 1/22/2023 at 3:28 PM, VHampton said:

 

To add to Michael's comments... TM is an extremely helpful tool to enhance model making. 

 

That said, Chief still has incredible potential to render exteriors. Much of it has to do for example, with user settings. That's all. With the correct camera views, texture settings, vegetation and sun angles... that's what's going to make your model shine.  

 

If you wanted to post that particular plan, it would literally take less than ten minutes to bring it from a 3 to a 10. 

 

In any event, TM animation such as moving clouds and the leaves rustling in the trees is really amazing. Water ripples too. Maybe one day Chief will have a similar functionality. I have faith. Chief continues to make advancements year after year. 

 

 

 

Export a 3d overview of your model as a .dae file (or 3Ds) no terrain. You can settle the house into the ground upon import.

Regarding the possibility of reimporting to CA, TM files won't be in a format to come back into Chief. Once it's a TM model it stays that way. 

 

 

 I would love to post the plan to see what could be done with it but it's too big. I have to say, the hour or so I have spent in TM has been very frustrating. The structure is buried under the landscape, so I haven't really been able to explore that much yet. How do I get unburied?  Thanks for your help!

[VHampton]

You can use WeTransfer to upload a file. It's free. Totally safe, and our print shops use them for ease of file transfer. Anyway, the upload will result in a link which can be copied or emailed. Files can get so large these days that email often won't send them, and likewise, they can't be posted to the forum. 

 

Regarding TwinMotion, yes, it's like driving on the opposite side of the road at first. lol. Just takes time. Everything is bizarro including how the mouse works. Lumion operates the same way.  

 

So to answer, the landscape in their virtual world needs to be adjusted. When you click on it (the landscape) it will highlight and the ground can be raised or lowered to the correct elevation. Sorry to make this sound all too easy, but there truly is a low learning curve. You will be amazed at the results. 

[stager386]

2 hours ago, VHampton said:

You can use WeTransfer to upload a file. It's free. Totally safe, and our print shops use them for ease of file transfer. I subscribe to it since my company logo is used for client downloads which is quite nice. Anyway the upload will result in a link which can be copied or emailed. Files can get so large these days that email often won't send them, and likewise, they can't be posted to the forum. 

 

Regarding TwinMotion, yes, it's like driving on the opposite side of the road at first. lol. Just takes time. Everything is bizarro including how the mouse works. Lumion operates the same way.  

 

So to answer, the landscape in their virtual world needs to be adjusted. When you click on it (the landscape) it will highlight and the ground can be raised or lowered to the correct elevation. Sorry to make this sound all too easy, but there truly is a low learning curve. You will be amazed at the results. 

Thank you for the advice. Will follow up when I've fiddled with the landscape!

[VisualDandD]

I export to TM with terrain.   I use the terrain to cut in driveways, side walks, and even landscape beds.

The TM paint on terrain does not give a good enough finished product for that.

Export to a terrain that contains your drives, and walks, (and beds if you want them).   Have the terrain slope off approx 24" at edges.

Import into TM and blend terrain to meet up with it.

This is a chief terrain blended with a larger area in TM

The driveway is modeled in chief as is the underlying terrain.  (drive set approx 3" higher than terrain for grass) 

You can do some cool things in TM to get more realistic ground look.   Perfectly flat grass looks fake. See ripples down the side of the home in the ground.  That is an intentional element meant to try to being in some more realism.  

 

 

 

[stager386]

37 minutes ago, VisualDandD said:

I export to TM with terrain.   I use the terrain to cut in driveways, side walks, and even landscape beds.

The TM paint on terrain does not give a good enough finished product for that.

Export to a terrain that contains your drives, and walks, (and beds if you want them).   Have the terrain slope off approx 24" at edges.

Import into TM and blend terrain to meet up with it.

This is a chief terrain blended with a larger area in TM

The driveway is modeled in chief as is the underlying terrain.  (drive set approx 3" higher than terrain for grass) 

You can do some cool things in TM to get more realistic ground look.   Perfectly flat grass looks fake. See ripples down the side of the home in the ground.  That is an intentional element meant to try to being in some more realism.  

 

 

 

Oh this is so helpful, thank you!

[VHampton]

Agreed. Thank you Justin. 

 

Per my initial suggestions (to Kate) flat parcels can often have the terrain removed.

 

Hillside contours however should necessitate the terrain import so that the TM model is correct.

 

By way of example, I just worked on a bluff side project, and the grade was quite important to show in the TM model.  

 

BTW... really nice work! 

 

All the best -Val 

[BalutFX]

I've searched the forum and can't find anything that discusses this issue, so please excuse me if this has already been answered.  I have been experimenting with Twinmotion over the past 6 months.  I am able to successfully export my plan to a DAE file, import it into Twinmotion, and adjust materials and location.  However, I want to use the trees from Twinmotion and recently discovered that all of the objects in my plan import into Twinmotion with the same X-Y-Z origin.  I was hoping to use the object replace function to replace the various types of trees in my imported plan, but cannot since they come in as all one object.  I also want to use the rotate function in Twinmotion to animate opening doors, but again most of the objects import as a single object (or asset) with single origin).  I created a simple plan for this post and exported it into Twinmotion to demonstrate my issue.  I selected just the door, but that grabs the door and windows with a single origin.  I did use keep hierarchy when importing.  Thanks for any help.

[VHampton]

This will shed some very helpful light on what you're after:

 

Link to Twin Motion Animation Tutorial on YouTube

 

...at 4:46 into the clip, he'll explain. 

 

[BalutFX]

Thanks for the link to that tutorial, but I don't think that is the solution I am looking for. I had already viewed that video.  The problem is selecting the object in my Twinmotion import (door in this case),  also selects the windows and the origin is not located on the door.  Granted, I haven't tried placing the rotate tool from Twinmotion on the door and linking, but I feel it would just end-up rotating the windows too, since they are recognized as one object along with the door.  I'm thinking it is a materials issue with the import of the Chief Architect plan into Twinmotion, but I haven't tried assigning a unique material to the objects I want separated yet; perhaps I will try that next.  In any case, my main objective is to be an able to use the replace object on the trees in my imported plan.  Thanks again for the link.

[BalutFX]

Ok, so it's definitely a materials issue.  I changed all the items of the door to a red color (not used anywhere else in the plan) and imported into Twinmotion.  That translated to a single object in Twinmotion. I should have figured that out from watching previous tutorials on importing Chief Architect plans into Twinmotion, but at least I verified why objects are grouped together in the imported model.  I have a partial plan for tree replacement issue, but I still need to figure-out the origin problem.  I need the trees in my plan to have individual origins on the import, but it looks like it will still default to 0-0-0 for all items.  Hoping anyone else can help me figure this one out.  Thanks.  BTW, the pic below is a new test plan I drew in Chief with the back left wall starting at 0-0 (didn't save the first one).  That's why the origin is different from my previous post.

 

 

[Michael_Gia]

58 minutes ago, BalutFX said:

 I changed all the items of the door to a red color (not used anywhere else in the plan) and imported into Twinmotion.

 

Were you able to animate the door?

 

[BalutFX]

I haven't tried yet, but I'm pretty sure I would be able to do it.  I would just need to make sure the door and hardware are their own separate unique materials, so they come into Twinmotion as separate objects, then use the rotate tool in Twinmotion to animate them on the same axis.  But I need to figure out the origin issue for the trees as that is my main issue.