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Datasmith for Unity?

Discussion in 'Formats & External Tools' started by Detniess, Feb 20, 2018.

  1. Detniess

    Detniess

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    Hi folks,

    I've read about an upcoming feature called datamisth for Unreal, which creates a faster workflow between different softwares. Essentially a CAD/BIM-importer to Unreal, and some other formats..

    I'm coming from the AEC-industry and nowadays work at a major Architecture firm in Sweden. So I'm looking into if a similiar workflow is possible to Unity? (I personally prefer Unity and have all my experience in this software)

    A workflow between Unity <= ArchiCAD <=> Rhino <=> Grasshopper is what im hoping for.. So my main concern is that the process of imporing models from ArchiCAD to Unity is to slow atm. I need to push models into Unity really fast, iteratively, and cannot repeat the whole process every time. So I need to find a better solution, such as Datasmith...? Any thoughts about this? :)

    (Examples of good workflows is Blender => Unity or SketchUp => Unity or ArchiCAD => Twinmotion. But instead I want to use the softwares mentioned above, as it would also create a connection to computational design, through ArchiCAD.)
     
    Pitak_ and Charan_PSR like this.
  2. Detniess

    Detniess

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    Oct 28, 2014
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  3. Aljundi

    Aljundi

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    I will bump this one here as I am asking the same question
     
    Charan_PSR likes this.
  4. Detniess

    Detniess

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    There is an integration called pixyz for Unity, which eventually will support formats such as Revit and Rhino. However, I was told they won’t support ArchiCAD anytime soon..
     
    Archviz3d likes this.
  5. Archviz3d

    Archviz3d

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    This would be awesome - a datasmith for unity that would be able to transfer not only the geomtry but also vray materials from 3ds max...an fbx importer that could transfer vray materials, proxies, etc :)))
    But i think we wont see it any time soon...
     
  6. jcarpay

    jcarpay

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    Isn't pixyz very expensive?
     
  7. cmorait

    cmorait

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    Nov 22, 2017
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    Yes it is super expensive. Datasmith for unreal is free for the moment.
     
  8. tadavis

    tadavis

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    bumping this up as i'd like to see this as well
     
    Detniess likes this.
  9. nawash

    nawash

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    Jan 29, 2010
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    Hi guys,
    Just to let you know I've written a Revit plugin to export Revit project to Unity without using cloud transfer or IFC.
    I can of course, on demand, add specific Revit Data.
    I use the Revit API in this plugin so I can access a LOT of data :)

    May be I can do the same for ArchiCAD and help you with the workflow you want.

    Feel free to contact me using a private message.

    N
     
  10. Hattoriseed

    Hattoriseed

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    Hey Nawash, are you selling the plugin in any website?
     
  11. Charan_PSR

    Charan_PSR

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    UE's Datasmith is waaaaay better than anything Unity's Pixyz plugin offers.
    1. Datasmith is absolutely free
    2. It supports a ton of CAD formats, especially most of the popular mechanical CAD formats like CATIA, NX, SOLIDWORKS, Inventor, etc. Pixyz doesn't support as many formats as Datasmith
    3. Datasmith is open and well documented. You can't find detailed information about Pixyz except a few product demonstration videos and seminars on YouTube targeted at large enterprises but not individual users.

    In a nutshell, Unreal is levels better for engineering/CAD workflows for individual users. Unity should actually be better since there are quite a bunch of industries using it for robotics and other simulations, but there's this huge monetary barrier for individuals and students. Pixyz should've been made free at least for students to explore and learn.
     
    spacefrog likes this.
  12. WavyRancheros

    WavyRancheros

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