Topic: 3dsmax Questions

[Kreeargh]

the gmax tut diesn't cover texture based animations; How do I do thoughs?

Are you trying to make a 3d comic ?   (How do I do thoughs?}

[Starfox1701]

single texture bussard animations for ships

[Rod ONeal]

single texture bussard animations for ships

.gif files are the easiest to do that with. SFC can't use .gif files though (AFAIK?). Maybe it's something that can be added to EAW once the guys get the source code to compile for them. It "might" also be possible if Bink video files could be applied as textures?

[USS Mariner]

Is there any possibility of using the mod plugins for Max 2010?

[FoaS_XC]

Sadly, no. They broke back when 3ds Max v6 came out. I'm chewing on the problem bit by bit. I have a bridgeing solution where you need a version of Max that can handle the plugins as well (basically it converts the scene into an old max version).

If I were more experienced with the SDK I'd TRY to write a new plugin. I may yet try to write a maxscript for newer max versions.

[CaptCujo]

Bummer, I just got my hands on 3dsMax 2012 . . .

[FoaS_XC]

You can model, map, and render to your heart's content. But you'll need something else to convert it to MOD, is all.

[atheorhaven]

You can model, map, and render to your heart's content. But you'll need something else to convert it to MOD, is all.

What kind of plugins exist for export though?  I've been converting mackie's stuff for years, and he models in Lightwave pretty well exclusively.. I'm sure that between all of us, someone could take a non-MAX exported object and convert it to .MOD..

[Kreeargh]

single texture bussard animations for ships

.gif files are the easiest to do that with. SFC can't use .gif files though (AFAIK?). Maybe it's something that can be added to EAW once the guys get the source code to compile for them. It "might" also be possible if Bink video files could be applied as textures?

   That can work but lets hope the rest of the code will work with it all.

[FoaS_XC]

Mmmmm, let it be known that this particular line of thought has been noted .

[Kreeargh]

Mmmmm, let it be known that this particular line of thought has been noted .

Gif file textures would be awesome for sfc4 SOOOOOOOOOOOOOO many options could be created for EACH stock ship let alone add on versions.

[FoaS_XC]

APNG: Animated PNG. Good stuff.

Like I said - I've noted this - I dare not say more, but graphical enhancements, while awesome, should take a back seat to more important things (and remember: this is the the Official Xenocorp/Dynaverse graphic design Junkie, talking.)

[Starfox1701]

I like DDS files roo because they can have all the texture LOD stuff in 1 file so it saves time and space. On the animation question I have found some more info of sorts. You guys have stated that it won't work for SFC but I'm also working for A2. This is from the BBOM by Westworld on seting up node trees for the models in max

Command Nodes:
Command nodes are special nodes the modify the export behavior of their parent mesh.
The are any node whose name
begins "c_". Specifically, they are:
"c_tm_[name]" Use the texture material [name].
"c_anim_[identifier]_[playback_offset]_nn" Texture animation.
"c_borg_[texture]" specify a borg assimilation texture for the parent node.

and Achillies posted this on the subject of texture based animations

well, experiment with the ore node and go from there. The mesh animation I covered in the link but texture animation is completely different.

It's basically frame animation and then using a command node to tell it which animation to use. If you need more info just say, I will post a quick how to.... it's never as complex as it sounds.
Like

Now heres my questions

1 would I need 2 C nodes or just the 2nd one to make the animation work?
2 in the 2nd node what would be the identifier and what would be the playback_offset?
Also I am having really bad trouble trying to properly scale the meshes for export in max.

[FoaS_XC]

DDS files are decent, but they use a lossy compression, even if the compression is decent, it's still lossy.

PNGs are my prefered format for anything: lossless compression, support for 32bits per pixel (8 bits for each of 4 channels) or 64bits per pixel (16 for 4 channels). Better than BMPs: smaller file size and greater bit-depth.

[Starfox1701]

New problem Geting these strange black spots on the model after export. Any ideas whats causing them?

[FoaS_XC]

Looks like smoothing errors.

[Starfox1701]

How would I fix them?

[Kreeargh]

How would I fix them?

Check to see if more than 1 vert is in the same place if so weld them.  Im retired now tech advice best proof . Just my thoughts here.

[FoaS_XC]

Check your smoothing groups on the original model - I think I cover them in one of my video tutorials :/

[Centurus]

I've got nothing but smoothing issues with models I make, after conversion attempts that is.  I think it was you Fury that said that SFC doesn't smooth models in a practical way or something like that, when I was having my smoothing issues.