dts exporter crashing and my model is only 7K
by Nmuta Jones · in Artist Corner · 02/12/2010 (1:01 am) · 7 replies
I've been using this exporter for two years and never have had a problem with it.
But this model is different.
#1. The model has two maps.... both of them are 256 X 256.
#2. The model is one mesh. But it was created by four pieces that I attached all together, so a total of 4 UV maps originally, but only two textures total. In other words, head and weapon. both used one texture, and hair and body only used one texture.
So --> I modeled head. put texture map ONE on it.
I modeled the weapon. put texture map ONE on that one too.
I modeled body. put texture map TWO on that.
I modeled hair. put texture map TWO on that also.
I used attach to fuse all four parts together. The model is an editable MESH, not editablepoly.
the total model is about 7,000 triangles. NO BONES YET.
I can't figure out what it takes so long to export (30 seconds) , and why it crashes max half the time , and why there is spiking in my model !
What's weird is that this problem ONLY existed after I shrunk the model down from being oversized. There are no bones in it. But that's when all hell broke loose. Before that, this same model exported perfectly to .dts with no problems, but it was waaay too big for the engine. so I had to shrink it. that's when the problems began. I just hit the scale tool and shrunk the whole model down.
But this model is different.
#1. The model has two maps.... both of them are 256 X 256.
#2. The model is one mesh. But it was created by four pieces that I attached all together, so a total of 4 UV maps originally, but only two textures total. In other words, head and weapon. both used one texture, and hair and body only used one texture.
So --> I modeled head. put texture map ONE on it.
I modeled the weapon. put texture map ONE on that one too.
I modeled body. put texture map TWO on that.
I modeled hair. put texture map TWO on that also.
I used attach to fuse all four parts together. The model is an editable MESH, not editablepoly.
the total model is about 7,000 triangles. NO BONES YET.
I can't figure out what it takes so long to export (30 seconds) , and why it crashes max half the time , and why there is spiking in my model !
What's weird is that this problem ONLY existed after I shrunk the model down from being oversized. There are no bones in it. But that's when all hell broke loose. Before that, this same model exported perfectly to .dts with no problems, but it was waaay too big for the engine. so I had to shrink it. that's when the problems began. I just hit the scale tool and shrunk the whole model down.
About the author
Lead Developer for MediaBreeze Multimedia
#2
2 textures? no problem for the max 9 exporter on my system.
7,000 polys? no problem.
BUT you can't have both of those things together. You can have 7K polys but not with 2 textures.
or you can have 2 textures but not with 7K polys.
the fix :
I made one composite texture of 512 X 256 and I re-mapped my entire character UVs to fit that composite texture.
Then I slapped that composite texture on my model and Voila....now it works.
that's a tedious workaround but I think I learned an important lesson here.
02/12/2010 (2:53 am)
Well, I found a workaround, but first, here is what I can surmise from this problem:2 textures? no problem for the max 9 exporter on my system.
7,000 polys? no problem.
BUT you can't have both of those things together. You can have 7K polys but not with 2 textures.
or you can have 2 textures but not with 7K polys.
the fix :
I made one composite texture of 512 X 256 and I re-mapped my entire character UVs to fit that composite texture.
Then I slapped that composite texture on my model and Voila....now it works.
that's a tedious workaround but I think I learned an important lesson here.
#3
02/12/2010 (6:10 am)
how were you using the "2 materials" ? as 2 multi/subobject materials or as 2 materials ?
#4
02/12/2010 (11:14 am)
Oh wow...I forgot abouto multi/sub. I have not used that in a long time. No, I was using 2 materials.
#5
02/12/2010 (1:18 pm)
By the way, using multi/sub there are no longer any errors when using two separate textures. Thanks for the heads up and the reminder.
#6
03/22/2010 (9:41 am)
what is multi/sub? is that a Max thing? 
#7
05/13/2010 (5:12 pm)
A bit late to the party, but I figure I'll answer Jay's question in case anyone else stumbles in and wonders the same thing. A Multi/Sub material is basically a collection of materials, numbered 1-10 (or however many you specify-not sure of the max) You can alter each numbered material the same way you could any other material (with diffuse/bump/displacement maps...etc) and name them individually. This allows for many textures to be saved into one material slot. You can then set material IDs for different faces on a mesh (like #1 for the walls, #2 for the floor, #3 for ceiling) and apply this one material and the numbered materials will map to the corresponding numbered faces...Hope this helps! 
Torque Owner Nmuta Jones
1. When I apply one flat shader to the entire model, it exports quickly and no error.
2. When I add just ONE texture (mind you, these textures are only 256 X 256 each) ... then I get a clean .dts model with no spiking still. Takes forever to export, which I don't understand, but it works.
3. When I add the second texture, that's when I get the crash.