Xcode's SceneKit editor renders .dae file's wrong and Xcode sometimes crashes during preview

Asked 12/11, 2018 at 10:40 Answered 17/12, 2018 at 7:58

I'm trying to figure out how to import .dae files with animations into Xcode and SceneKit.

It works somewhat, but it's really buggy, I can't preview files, and Xcode sometimes crashes when trying to preview the .dae files in Xcode.

Here's how I'm importing the animated models

I download an animated character from Mixamo, as a Collada file, with the settings below.

Create a brand new SceneKit iOS project, import .dae file, and select the file in the Xcode file list to preview it. The result can be seen below. I have zoomed all the way out to make sure I'm not just viewing the model from the inside of the mesh. The lines extend infinetly it looks like.

If I use the ConvertToXcodeCollada workflow, and verify that the .dae XML only has one <animation> tag with corresponding closing tag, and then import it into Xcode, it won't open at all. See image below.

If I import the .dae file version not converted using ConvertToXcodeCollada, and the add .dae file as a sub reference in a .scn Scene file, the model displays correctly, and the animation is playing correctly. Image below.

So how should I do this properly?

I have also tried to import animated models into Blender and then export it to Collada from there (with unstructions from tutorials on youtube), and same results. Is there a way I can do this a proper way, where it works like it should, without Xcode behaving buggy? It would be easier if I could actually preview and edit materials etc of the .dae files directly, without having to always add them to an existing .scn Scene Kit Scene.

Bail answered 12/11, 2018 at 10:40 Comment(3)

I'm experiencing the same problem on Mac OS Mohave 10.14.1, Xcode 10.1. Seems like an Xcode or system bug - I've checked previous .dae files which definitely worked correctly in the past and the same problem happens also for them. I'm experiencing system crashes (necessary to do hard reset of OS) quite often now when browsing these collada files in Xcode. This happened from time to time in the past, however, on Xcode level only, not affecting the entire OS. – Negrito 26/11, 2018 at 16:30

Yeah. And the SceneKit Editor uses so much resources. It's super slow for only one single model with a simple mesh. This is on a top spec 2018 Macbook Pro. – Bail 26/11, 2018 at 17:20

Share your project – Punctilious 14/12, 2018 at 6:16

I did followed your instructions and try to load a 3D animation. Its working fine for me

In new sceneKit project I have updated my code like.

// create a new scene
        let scene = SCNScene(named: "Jumping.dae")! //"art.scnassets/ship.scn")!

and this too

 let ship = scene.rootNode.childNode(withName: "mixamorig_Hips", recursively: true)! // "ship"

I am using XCode 10.1 on macOS 10.13.6

Punctilious answered 14/12, 2018 at 6:42 Comment(5)

Please can you open this project and verify the file .dae is shown correctly? github.com/eh3rrera/ARKitAnimation – Proust 14/12, 2018 at 17:59

I downloaded .dae files with mixamo these files with animations but and when I try to open with finder it looks weird, like the image 2 in this post – Proust 14/12, 2018 at 18:4

Also when I try to open with finder it looks weird, like the image 2 in this post. Can you please share your project or .dae file to try to open with finder or Xcode – Proust 14/12, 2018 at 18:23

You can try this on macOS high seira – Punctilious 15/12, 2018 at 2:0

bug bixed by apple OS 10.14.2 👍🏻 – Proust 15/12, 2018 at 19:21