| View previous topic :: View next topic |
| Author |
Message |
Paul-Jan
Site Admin
Joined: 08 Aug 2004
Posts: 3066
Location: Lage Zwaluwe
|
 Posted: Mon Sep 20, 2004 4:01 pm Post subject: 3DS Import Plugin |
 |
|
The 3DS Import Plugin is now available from the Downloads page. It seems to be working fairly well, but often textures are a pain. Either because they are not supplied at all, or because they are supplied in a format DeleD does not support. What I usually do is just have the plugin convert all non-supported files to dummy textures, and replace those one by one using an external image-processing application.
Use this thread for any questions, feedback, criticism, wishes or thoughts you might have, and please report all bugs you might find. If you do find a bug, I will probably ask you to mail me the 3ds file causing the error as well, because it usually makes fixing the bug so much easier.
As a start, I'll post the readme below: |
|
| Back to top |
|
 |
Paul-Jan
Site Admin
Joined: 08 Aug 2004
Posts: 3066
Location: Lage Zwaluwe
|
| Posted: Mon Sep 20, 2004 4:05 pm Post subject: 3DS Import Plugin - Readme |
|
|
| Quote: |
DELED 3DS IMPORT PLUGIN
=======================
Installation
------------
Simply unzip the DLL into the Plugin folder of your DeleD installation. The next time DeleD is started, the plugin will be loaded.
Usage
-----
Invoke the plugin from the DeleD Plugin menu. A file-dialog will appear, allowing you to select a 3DS file to import. Next, a window appears that allows you to set the following options:
- Scale factor: You might want to adjust the scale of the 3DS Mesh so that it matches up with the rest of the scene. There is no generic guideline here, some 3DS files use tiny units, and others are huge. Just experiment. If you want to make the imported object smaller, simply use fractional numbers (0.5, 0.001, etc).
- Textures: Most often, you will want to import both UV Coordinates and Textures. When selecting this option, the import plugin will try its best to import all textures and materials in the 3ds file (see "Materials & Textures"). However, sometimes you might want to just import the UV Coordinates, or have them auto-generated by DeleD. The latter option is very useful for 3DS files that don't contain any material information at all.
- Report: By default, DeleD will after each import show you a detailed report, giving you insight in the things that might not have been imported 100% successfully (materials, textures, etc). However, if you have to import loads of files this feature might become annoying. Simply turn it off then.
The plugin will remember the options you last selected (it stores them in a .ini file).
If you press ok, the import will start. A progress bar will appear showing the import progress. Then, the progress bar will disappear, and after a few moments (DeleD needs some time to process the new data) your imported model should appear. If you opted to import textures, a newly created texturepack will appear as well.
Materials & Textures
--------------------
3D Studio (Max, GMax, etc) uses the concept of Materials (which might or might not contain one or more textures), while DeleD only supports textures. To make things slightly more complex, 3d Studio also supports textures stored in numerous file formats not supported by DeleD. It is the responsibility of the user (that means you) to make sure all textures are stored in the same folder as the 3ds file, in a nice format DeleD can handle. However, when problems are encountered, the plugin tries to cope by generating dummy textures (in the material colour) in the following situations:
- a material is found without a texture (quite common)
- a material texture file cannot be found
- a material texture file has a non-supported file format (.cel, .gif, .tga etc.)
- a material texture file has a non-supported colour-depth (8 bits, 16 bits, etc.)
You can simply replace this dummy textures in your texturepack. If everything else fails, you can always try ignoring all materials and textures, by importing uv coordinates only.
Issues
------
- 3DS files contain triangles only, so don't be surprised if you don't see any quads or other polygons you are used to in DeleD.
- The 3D Studio products might allow you to make huge models, but always keep in mind DeleD is a low-poly modeller. Loading a 5.000.000 polygon object is NOT a good idea.
Source code
-----------
Full Delphi 5 sources are available at http://www.delgine.com. They are free for use in any commercial or non-commercial project.
Bug Reports and Feedback
------------------------
Found a bug? Got some suggestions? Either post them in the forum or contact me directly, at http://www.delgine.com
|
|
|
| Back to top |
|
|
granada
Team member
Joined: 07 Aug 2004
Posts: 1955
Location: England
|
| Posted: Mon Sep 20, 2004 4:40 pm Post subject: |
|
|
Thanks paul  of to try it now
dave
_________________
AMD Phenom(tm)IIx6 1090t Processor 3.20 GHS
8.00 GB memory
Windows 7 64 bit
Nvida Geforce GTX 580 |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
Jeroen
Site Admin
Joined: 07 Aug 2004
Posts: 5332
Location: The Netherlands
|
| Posted: Mon Sep 20, 2004 8:36 pm Post subject: |
|
|
Excellent work Paul! I've given it a try and it loads my Alien.3ds file perfectly, creating a dummy texture at the same time. The only thing i'd like to mention is that you should use a "9" when specifying the object type, right now it's a 255 i think. Other than that, very good work.  I think I can enhance the .x importer by using some of your techniques. Now i only have to find some time! |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
Paul-Jan
Site Admin
Joined: 08 Aug 2004
Posts: 3066
Location: Lage Zwaluwe
|
| Posted: Tue Sep 21, 2004 6:48 am Post subject: |
|
|
Thanks guys. I will have that fixed somewhere today. I will take a look at that file you sent me as well, Dave! And then I'll finally respond to all that e-mail that has been piling up in my mailbox
On a different topic, I noticed that at for example TurboSquid, there are a lot more .max models available than .3ds models. If there is lots of demand, I could probably add .max support as well in a day or 2. I hear it is very similar to the 3ds format (and even if it is not, I could still reuse a lot of the plugin code). |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
Paul-Jan
Site Admin
Joined: 08 Aug 2004
Posts: 3066
Location: Lage Zwaluwe
|
| Posted: Tue Sep 21, 2004 12:36 pm Post subject: |
|
|
| The new version (1.01) is now available from the download section. |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
Ground0
Member
Joined: 25 Apr 2005
Posts: 6
Location: Switzerland
|
| Posted: Sat Jun 04, 2005 6:06 pm Post subject: |
|
|
Hello
I hope it is the Correct Position...
Is a 3DS Exporter Planed?
With Greetings Ground0 |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
Paul-Jan
Site Admin
Joined: 08 Aug 2004
Posts: 3066
Location: Lage Zwaluwe
|
| Posted: Sun Jun 05, 2005 7:45 am Post subject: |
|
|
Not really, but if you convince us it's a good idea to make one we might
But seriously, for what tool or engine do you require 3ds export? We need to know, because (a) most 3ds readers are rather picky about the contents of file, so we need to know what to test it with and (b) there is usually a better alternative to 3ds, as it is a rather limited file format. |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
Ground0
Member
Joined: 25 Apr 2005
Posts: 6
Location: Switzerland
|
| Posted: Sun Jun 05, 2005 8:36 pm Post subject: |
|
|
Hello
Ok you have see the Tread with MTX? I have a chance to convert with a amabilis tool, but it needs X Format who be exportet from amabilis, but the X Format who DeleD use is not Compatible (Why i don't know) So was my Idea to use a 3DS exporter then it Convert it right i have testet it.... but delgine give me no chance to export it as 3DS and that i need....
Ground0 |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
Paul-Jan
Site Admin
Joined: 08 Aug 2004
Posts: 3066
Location: Lage Zwaluwe
|
| Posted: Mon Jun 06, 2005 6:50 pm Post subject: |
|
|
I don't think writing a 3ds exporter just so you can export to MTX is such a hot idea 
I suggest we take a little shortcut here, and figure out why the .X export doesn't work in the first place. That 'amabilis tool' you are talking about, is it freely available? |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
Father_Chaos
Member
Joined: 11 Jul 2005
Posts: 1
|
| Posted: Tue Jul 12, 2005 3:14 am Post subject: |
|
|
| I would like having a .3ds exporter, I use Blitz 3D and loaded .x files are huge when you load them... so you gotta scale them a lot... .3ds exporter would be very useful! |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
Paul-Jan
Site Admin
Joined: 08 Aug 2004
Posts: 3066
Location: Lage Zwaluwe
|
| Posted: Thu Aug 18, 2005 3:27 pm Post subject: |
|
|
A bit late reply (I must've missed this post somehow), but 3DS and .X files basically use the same unit scale in Blitz (at least, that would make sense). You usually have to rescale files at import anyway, does it really matter how much?
Besides that, a more obvious solution would be to add an 'export scale' to the .X exporter, wouldn't you agree?
It's not that I'd mind writing a 3DS exporter, but if there is a more direct solution to a problem available I'd rather take the easy route |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
Paul-Jan
Site Admin
Joined: 08 Aug 2004
Posts: 3066
Location: Lage Zwaluwe
|
| Posted: Thu Aug 18, 2005 3:31 pm Post subject: |
|
|
| A new version (1.2) has just been released. This version adds support for solid-color materials, as well as alpha-transparent materials. |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
|
FAQ
Search
Memberlist
Usergroups
Register
Profile
Log in to check your private messages
Log in
