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How to Add LOD detail levels to DTS exporter?

by David Mathews · in Torque Game Engine · 09/28/2005 (2:41 pm) · 8 replies

I have added a progressive mesh to my app so I can auto generate LOD meshes (or the user can make their own). I'm now trying to export them. They are in the DTS file but they all always end up assigned to detaillevel 0 (-1 works for the collision meshes).

I have created the extra detaillevel records (they show no polys) and I've tried to link to the object I just created for the mesh for that level.

How do I link detaillevels to meshes? Anything I've tried has failed.

There is no example in the sdks. Only Milkshape2dts refers to the shape detaillevel record at all and it says - not implemented - make them all one detail level.

This is my last item before I'm ready to release the new exporter set. (The morph dts version is finally finished, and I now support multiple collision meshes, multiple textures per object, multiple bones per vertex, discontinuous uvs, dsq file output, multiple animations in both the dts and dsq files, each with cycle and blend flags and can even export unlimited size models, currently testing with over 50K models, so no longer an 11K triangle limit due to the short indexing.)

David
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Associate Chris Robertson
#1
10/07/2005 (4:59 am)
David: Are you using the DTSPlusSDK? Check out the maya/max exporter source code to see how they add detail levels. Or, if you like, I can provide you with the source code to my ms2dtsPlusExporter from which you should be able to see how to do it.

Torque 3D Owner David Mathews
#2
10/07/2005 (6:37 am)
I couldn't find any reference to the shape 'detailLevels' in the max or maya exporters, only the milkshape, but it only makes one detail level.
I have the sdk that come swith TGE 1.3. What is the SDKPlus? Is it something I can check out?
(I have TSE also, but the sdk looks to be about the same as 1.3)

Associate Chris Robertson
#3
10/09/2005 (5:10 am)
The dtsSDKPlus should come with the latest TGE checkout. You should find it a lot more helpful than the old dtsSDK.

Torque 3D Owner David Mathews
#4
10/09/2005 (10:34 am)
It took a little digging, since my last TGE was the bundled up 1.3, but I got a new TGE cvs download and will go check out the SDK Plus.

Thanks!

Torque 3D Owner David Mathews
#5
10/10/2005 (7:01 pm)
Chris,
Would you send me your ms2dtsPlusExporter?
I greped through the new download, and still the only exporter that touches the shape detailLevels is the ms2dts, and that is the same one I have that only does detail 0 and the collision detail.
I built mine by understanding how the ms2dts worked.
I have everything done now, except getting my LOD meshes to be a detail level other than 0!

Thanks,
David

grnbriar@mindspring.com

Torque 3D Owner David Mathews
#6
10/11/2005 (10:37 pm)
This is driving me nuts. I have all but one link done! The mesh to detail level.

I have the detail levels coming in as levels 1 and 2 in show tool pro,
and I have the meshes all attached to root, like detail 0 and collision meshes.
Is that wrong?

I put the object index that the mesh belons to into the detail level, but it seems to have no effect.
I have a single subshape.

What is the link between the detaillevel record and the mesh?
And how should the meshes be parented so they can be detail levels?

The new code is so different, it hasn't been very helpful yet. I've been digging in the SDK plus code but there is only a couple of lines that refer to the detail.

Thanks

Torque Owner Justin Woods (ESAL)
#7
05/15/2006 (9:16 am)
Was this ever resolved?

Torque 3D Owner David Mathews
#8
05/15/2006 (12:31 pm)
No. I have never been able to determine the links to set to make the new meshes appear as detail levels. I can auto generate LOD meshes from models, but I can't export them to the dts format.

David