Hello!
I am new to using Twinmotion and have loved using it as a rendering software in partnership with Vectorworks.
I have used the Datasmith direct link tool built in to VW to import my model to TM. I assigned the desired materials and effects to the model in TM but at a late stage, made some changes to my VW model. When I used the sychronize tool to update the model from VW to TM, I lost all of the assigned materials applied to my model.
When I imported the model I chose to 'Keep hierarchy' with 'Enable substitution' unchecked. The assigned materials & effects assigned in TM still were all over written to the original state of the imported model - Blank or untextured.
This is counterintuitive and leads to repeating work if the model is not 100% complete.
Are there any work arounds or suggestions that I am unaware of to preserve assigned materials in TM whilst still being able to update / work on the base model in VW?? My understanding of the direct link tool is that it is intended for this exact purpose, to be able to update the base VW model and have those changes implemented to TM in real time.
Any help is appreciated!
Daniel.
(VW version - Architect 2022)
(TM version - 2022.1.2)
Hello ,
Thank you for contacting us and reporting this issue. I am sorry to hear about this and recommend you contact Vectorworks to investigate this updating issue as they are the team involved in making the plugin work with Twinmotion.
I recommend you try to export the content from Vectorworks by using the udatasmith format instead of the Direct-Link as there are less chances of running into this problem. Each time you have an update to make, you will need to export another udatasmith file and update/refresh it in Twinmotion. Hope this helps.
Kind regards,
Vincent B.
Hi Vincent,
Thank you for your reply on this. I have created a ticket with VW also to flag the issue.
I will try the udatasmith export and test if this works. I had been speaking to a colleague of yours (Raghib Khan) who passed my test file on to a technician and they could not re create the issue.
I am wondering if there is possibly something I did wrong when Linking between Twinmotion & VW? If the error persists I will screen record to show what happens.
Regards,
Daniel.
Hi, I also have a similar problem, it was not the case with older 2021 TM and VW versions (there were only minor errors). Right now with TM 2022.1.2 and VW 2022 Sp3 it is even worse - not only does refreshing the datasmith file bring back old textures (like in the first message above), but some materials lose texture graphic and appear white in TM. This is very time consuming, please find a fix for that. Thanks!
Same problem, MacOS, VW 2022 sp4 TM 2022 2.0, both using DireckLink and udatasmith. Every texture assigned in TM I lost after sync.
mildly frustrating as deadlines get closer.
This problem persists as of 3 August 2023 with the latest versions of Vectorworks and Twinmotion. Right now, this combination is unstable, unreliable, and, therefore, unusable. Until I see some real evidence that this problem is getting top priority attention, I'll just use the built in walk-through abilities in Vectorworks.
Has anyone fixed this issue? Even on TM 2023.2 preview 2, it is still there... this makes Vectorworks and Twinmotion combo not suitable for professional use and/or larger projects. Strangely enough, with simple objects that were edited there is no issue with reverting textures, but if you edit more than just the size (in.ex. round the edges) the problem is still there. Also with walls, even if you change the size of the walls the textures revert to VW. And with datasmith direct link it is even worse, sometimes whole object dissapear, or when you edit obejct, texture in Twinmotion changes to grey, and then all objects revert to VW textures, even object that were not edited. So do not use the direct link (it is a total mess), just try the datasmith export, that is also problematic, but kinda works.
Hello Vincent.
I have recently tried your suggestion of using the udatasmith format to import my model to twinmotion. Unfortunately this hasn't helped at all! Once I went back and edited the model and updated the import, I lost materials again. This is very frustrating!
In the import menu, I selected the option to 'use scene material' with enable substitutions unchecked. Please see the attached video showing clearly what happens when doing something as simple as moving a window in a wall. Can you please inform me if this is how it is intended to work or if this is a bug? 
Is there something I am missing or doing wrong either at import stage or at modelling stage that is causing this to happen? I have tried various different settings and still no joy!
Daniel.