3ds max Proper Export rules for 3ds max to Houdini?

[mstarktv]

I am having my first shot where I have to export geometry from 3ds Max to Houdini. Is there a preferred exporting method to follow? For example, I have a wall made of bricks. In Max, they are all attached as one object made of multiple separate objects. When I tried exporting it this way(as a single obj), the most I was able to get from Houdini was to take each primitive and treat them individually.

I also tried exporting as a single Alembic piece, but that acted as what would essentially be an unpacked object and came in as a single point. 

So in short, what method is everyone/standard practice used for exporting out multiple (hundreds, thousands) of geo pieces from another package into Houdini? 

I tried doing a search but couldn't really find a definitive answer. Any help would be much appreciated! Thanks :)!

 

 

****i solved this by exporting as multiple elements in 1 go. So instead of having all objects connected into 1 object, they were separated out and exported by selection.

Edited June 23, 2016 by mstarktv
Solved

[Atom]

I think Alembic is generally the newer method for these kinds of transfers. Once you have imported inside Houdini you may have to add an unpack node to retrieve your objects for further processing inside Houdini.

[6ril]

using .fbx here, as for multiple object imports, you can retain hierarchy.

[mstarktv]

I tried doing .fbx but I didn't see the import option. I actually ended up just using .obj as they were static objects from Max. The hierarchy didn't matter in this case. However, if .FBX is an option I missed I'm going to give that a try for sure. But I do prefer using Alembic because it seems all applications are playing nice with it, even if they have a basic level of options implemented.

Thanks guys!