Modeling , animating , exporting ........easily ?

#1 maybe I can help explain. . . .are you using max or milkshape?

#2 Max 4.0 us .

#3 There really is no trick or difficulty involved in setting up a scene to export to DTS in 3DS Max.

Your best bet is to go to the DTS Exporter Documentation found in the documentation section of the GG site and start from the very beginning.

Joe Maruschak has written up a very extensive document on everything you possibly need to know about the subject, along with a lot of theory and extra information that is quite useful. There is no other document out there that covers exporting to a DTS shape (especially from Max) better.

If you have troubles with your models, you should check out the Max Exporting FAQ that I have submitted into GG (found in the FAQ section of the site), as it covers most of the common errors that people run into and how to solve them.

If you have any other questions or comments please ask them. All of the resources that you need are right in front of your nose.

Logan

#4 mmmm.........Maybe i should have started with this :
My problem is in fact this message :
"skin found on linked node"nameofthemodel"skin must be unlinked .
If i unlink , the animation dissapears.
An information leaks.Wich one ?

And the thing i asked first was for checking the shematic view , to understand how it works .
Help me !

#5 I took this right out of the entry I gave GG for the Max FAQ section of the site months ago...

Quote:I received this error :"Skin found on unlinked node "Cylinder01" -- skin must be unlinked"

"Skinned objects should not be linked as a child to any other object in your scene, they should only be linked to other objects that are necessary to make the skeletal deformation occur correctly. Unlink your skinned object from its parent."

If you do not understand what that says, in very simple terms it means do not have your mesh (the one with the skin modifier on it) linked as the child to any other object in your scene. Your mesh with the Skin modifier should located in the root of the scene as its own root node. If you look in your schematic view, or even your track view, you can quickly see if your mesh is the child of any other object (which it should not be).

If you look at the screenshots and sample files from the DTS Exporter Documentation you will also see that this is the recommended method of setting up your scene with a object that uses the Skin modifier.

If you like I can post a screenshot from one of my characters that I have that uses Skin and a bones skeleton.

Logan

#6 Yes , please send me the photo of your shematic view .
I don't understand how the mesh with the skin can be at the root of the shematic view , knowing that the mesh being at the root means not linking to the start dummy and means "no data to export".My lack comes from the shematic view .How does this really work ?
I found a tutorial(and actually im doing what is written inside)which said that must be
a dummy called "shape" at the top(root),
below linked a dummy called "start",
linked to "start" the mesh called "name100" for example
and a dummy called detail 100 linked to the shape dummy.
This stops working when use skin .

#7 The root dummy node can be called anything that you like. All of the detail markers, bones/biped, misc nodes, and the bounds object are linked to this root node.

Your character object (the one with the skin) and the LOD or Multires objects are their own root node.

I suspect that the error message that you get when you unlink the Chracter mesh with the Skin modifier is probably caused by you not having your details markers and your character mesh setup correctly.


Also can you please take some time to review the messages that you type, it is very difficult to understand what you are trying to say, so please take the time to write out your messages clearly so that I (and others) can help you out better.

#8 I am not sure :
For exporting a model (done),
*first we make a file in what the model has no skin on it , bush the bone and nodes (eye ,cam)are present , floating at the root ,and export has a dts file , and it will be the shape,
*second we make a file in what the model has a skin , for checking if the bones works well on it and animating it ,then hook the bones to the top dummy like in your schematic view ,then export it as an animation dsq ?(Because with your shematic view , exporting a dts give nothing )
Tell me if is it right or wrong .So i can try again ......

Greathan "the dummy of the day"

#9 I can barely understand what you typed, so I hope that my answer suits what you were intending to type.

First, that "schematic view" image does work, it is from the character of Captain Zap which is currently working fine in Phil's software engine.

This is how the file works out

Control_Pivot = my root node for my scene, I also use this node to control the position of the character in my Max scene
->Bone_name = these are the Max Bones that i setup to perform the skeletal deformation on my character mesh
-->Eye = Where the player sees from in 1st person view
-->Mount0 = Where the gun will go
->Details# = These are my level of detail markers
->Unlinked = no one knows what this does but you need it
-->Cam = camera node for 3rd person
Root = my root sequence animation for DSQ export
Zap_body = my character mesh with skin modifier
->Multires:Zap_Body = the multires LOS modifier

Hope that this help you out more. If you need more let me know

Logna

#10 I have made this shematic view for one of my models.
I exported it as a model ".dts".When i load the model in torque , it is invisible.
I tried to export the green alien model (the model used with torque tutorials on dts exporter) who has a same shematic view , and it is invisible too.
hem , where is the error ?
thanks for the help.

greaythan

#11 Does the DTS file load and show properly in the showtool? Once again are you certain that you have correctly setup the LOD on the mesh? Have you looked in the Dump (DMP) file to ensure that your mesh isn't being ignored by the exporter because you have not setup your Details markers correctly? Have you checked the DMP file for any other errors or problems?

I don't mean to be rude, but perhaps you should read over Joe Maruschak's DTS Exporter Documenation again. I know that it is a very big document, but everything that is needed to get your model to export properly is in there, so it is well worth the time you spend reading it.

If you are still having problems after that perhaps you can upload your file to a website so that I can look at it?

Finally, once again for future reference and so that you can have a good experiance in the GarageGames community I emplore you please use proper grammer, spelling, and sentence structure when sending messages to the forums. You will find that your involvement with the community will be much better once people can understand what you are trying saying to them.

Logan

#12 After re-reading joe M. docs i've seen that i have forgotten something .(oops):the thing for the L.O.D..
I try to get this to work and send it to you(because it will not work :)
...Sorry for the pseudoenglish , i don't know how to raise my english level .
Oh i have a question :
At the end of the page 2 of JM's docs (Torque Docs - Section II Exporting Characters.htm) , JM is talking about a tool called unmessDTS.exe.He says that you must type something in the command line . When i try to open the program , it closes after an half of a second.Is it normal ?

#13 You can't just double click the unmessdts.exe and have it load. go to the command line, change directories to where you are keeping the unmessdts.exe and type it in by hand.

#14 Thank you .Now my model works .I'm going to animate it now .