Importing downloaded file

What is the model that you have downloaded and what is the software where you want to import this ?

https://www.cgtrader.com/3d-models/plant/bush/xfrogplants-scarlet-firethorn--2
There are 9 files, individual parts and the complete plant plus a materials file. I want to bring it into Chief Architect Premier. I need the whole plant but the file is huge (over 220,000 KB)

I thought that you downloaded free model and that examintaion of files in order to help you will be posible, but now i see that you bought the model. I don't know how author exported those models or how he/she packed files for sale. The best way is to contact the author of those plants, and ask for help, Im sure that he/she will be able to help you to achive your goal.

I think I can help with this as I own the flowering plant, too. Please contact me by sending me a note on the mail service for CG Trader so that I don't have to post my private email addy here in the public forum.

Just some general information - because nothing in the Chief Architect documentation explains how the different kinds of 3d model file formats work. (Maybe I can explain everything you need to know right here.)

First, if you downloaded the *.obj version of this plant from CGTrader, then you have the nine different plants that are shown in the Xfrog product pictures, and these are compressed and packed within the "zip" file that you downloaded. These nine plants range from the small shrub with green leaves only, as shown in the second picture for the product, to Plant Number 9 (ES54_9.obj), which actually is two plants, one with red berries and one with yellow berries, as shown in the eighth product picture.

So, in theory, you first create a file folder just for your new plant models somewhere on your computer,

Second, put the downloaded "zip" file into that location,

Third, open the zip file and drag out the packed contents into that directory,

and then, fourth, go into Chief Architect, and IMPORT each of the nine plants into your project, one at a time.

Here's a more lengthy explanation --

The zip file that you downloaded (the file that is "over 220,000 KB") is not a single plant. It is a "container" file that holds the plants and textures you purchased. This file needs to be "unzipped" into some folder or directory on your computer. You might want to create a folder called something like C:\Assets\Plants\Pyracantha" on your computer, and then put that zip file into that location. Now, you should be able to just double-click on that zip file, once it is put in that location, to open and start unpacking the contents in it. But, if you can't open the zip file to display the contents packed inside it, come back here and tell us. We'll explain what you must do to open a "zip" file.

Inside this particular zip file are the nine plants you pruchased, in *.obj file format, plus a folder that contains the textures for each of the plants. You must unpack all the files inside the zip file into the same file folder on your computer. Each file that has an *.obj file extension is the actual model. Each file with an *.mtl extension is an accompanying file for the model that says which textures apply to its parent model. There also is a folder in the zip file that contains all the textures for these plants.

The file that you import each time in Chief Architect is one of the files with the *.obj extension. (For example, a file that ends in *.obj, such as "ES54_5.obj".) This file contains the model itself. one. You can ignore the file that has the same front part of the name but that ends with "mtl" (that is, the file titled "ES54_5.mtl) because this is a file that tells the corresponding *.obj file which materials should be applied to it. You don't need to worry about touching this one because Chief Architect knows that when in imports an *.obj file, it also needs to look for and read an *.mtl file with the same first name. In this way, Chief Architect knows which materials to apply to which model.

(For files in an *.obj file format, it is best if the actual texture files are located in the very same folder as the model, so one of your options is to spill all of the texture files into the same directory (folder) where you placed the *.obj files. But, when Xfrog creates a set of models in *.obj file format, they write the corresponding *.mtl files to go look for the textures in the "Textures" folder, so you probably don't have to do anything here.)

I think this is all that you need to know. If you experience any issues, some back here and explain the problem. We'll all try to help. The only problems that I can think of that you might experience have to do with the file sizes. XFrog plants are generally very large - they have a lot of polygons, and XFrog plants are always made with triangles, rather than with quadrangle polygons. If you run into problems with file size, I probably can help you reduce these plants a little but, but you'll need to send me a more private message via the CGTrader mail system.

Good Luck!