Exporting Mesh/Rig

#1 Heya Greg

That is all correct. So the things I can think of offhand:

Do you have 4 meshes each called whatevermeshanme2 , 32, 64 etc?
Are you using multires?

If you use multires did you run the cleanup program unmessdts? (I think it comes with the TGE tools)

Other stuff:

Do not put Bip01 the root into the skin modifier.
Do not add or remove bones from the skin modifier bone list after you set them the first time.

If you can't solve it, I can give it a look in max8 and tell ye where the problem arises

Cheers

#2 Heya Thak,

I am not using multires, so I need to be for a quick test? Can I use it without multires, and if so, what do I need to remove? I assume I need to remove the details2 etc ?

I believe bip01 IS in the skin mod currently, I just threw everything on there except the nubs. Normally I do not include bip01 in the envelopes, but I forgot ;)

Thanks for your help!

#3 Aye remove the detail dummys except keep "detail2"
then name the mesh "goblin2"
Then export.
It should work but you will probably have some transformation because of the bip01 node.
So afterwards delete the skin modifier and then reskin the model without the bip01. If you only remove the bip01 from the current list, you probably will get assertion errors on your next export, cos the skin modifier gets messed up when removing bones.

#4 Nice. I will do this. I have the rig setup without it skinned right now so I can easily revert and add it without the Bip01. I am really just letting the envelopes do a quick skin on him, not even cleaning up his weights so I can easily readd it, make your edits and re-export.

I appreciate all of your help! I will try this in a bit and get back to you. :)

#5 Heya Thak, so I made the edits:

- renamed the mesh to goblin2
- deleted the details except detail2
- reskinned with the bip01 not in the skin list

And it gives me the same error I always get, which is:
"max2dtsExporter: Assertion failed on skin object"

I am just adding the skin modifier, trying to move one arm, to make sure the skin took effect, then I undo the move of the bone, and try to export. Could it be that some verts dont have weighting and its bugging out?

#6 Hi Greg

Is the mesh a "editable mesh" or a "editable poly"? If its poly, collapse it to an editable mesh then add the skin modifier and rig.
If it was a vert with missing weight info it would tell you "vert1402 or whatever is missing weight" or something allong those lines.

And the mesh is free floating in the hierarchy right? It should not be linked to anything.

#7 Its wierd because it is asseting but I dont see errors in the Dump file?

Its editable poly right now. I will give that a shot as well.

here is a link to the dump file:

www.game-ready.com/temp/dump.dmp

also, I dont even have one LOD in there, should I leave the detail2, or is that just for 'goblin2' ?

#8 Also, when I export, I am going to DTS Exporter Utility, and clicking on Export: Whole Shape, is that right? Heh, getting down to basics here.

#9 Nice, I exported, and it didn't error out on me, and gave me "test.dts" thats only 75kb, does that sound right? ;)

#10 Yes that is correct. - I am sure its the editable poly thats the problem. It has to be an editable mesh before skinning. ;)

EDIT:: Whoops there you go test it in showtool then :D

#11 Nice, I exported, and it didn't error out on me, and gave me "test.dts" thats only 75kb, does that sound right? ;)

#12 Wow, things that are just not in the docs, or I missed them. You were a huge help. Now to try him out to see if he loads in the ShowTool. Can we just load him up in ShowTool, or do we need an animation, and or a CFG file etc?

also, what do you suggest for a barebones cfg that we need?

#13 Good to hear. ;) Yeah ya can load him in showtool ya dont need cs or animation files.

The cfg is used to cull bones on export (it has to reside in the same folder as the max file that you are exporting:

Heres my base cfg I add or remove bones where needed:

AlwaysExport:
Bip01 Pelvis
Bip01 L Thigh
Bip01 L Calf
Bip01 L Foot
Bip01 L Toe0
Bip01 R Thigh
Bip01 R Calf
Bip01 R Foot
Bip01 R Toe0
Bip01 Spine
Bip01 Spine1
Bip01 Spine2
Bip01 Neck
Bip01 Head
Bip01 L Clavicle
Bip01 L UpperArm
Bip01 L Forearm
Bip01 L Hand
Bip01 L Finger0
Bip01 L Finger1
Bip01 R Clavicle
Bip01 R UpperArm
Bip01 R Forearm
Bip01 R Hand
Bip01 R Finger0
Bip01 R Finger1
eye
cam
Unlink
mountpoint
mount0
mount1
mount2
mount3
mount4
mount5
mount6
mount7
mount8
mount9
mount10
mount11
mount12
mount13
mount14
mount15
Ski0
Ski1

NeverExport:
Bip01
Bip01 R Finger0Nub
Bip01 R Finger1Nub
Bip01 R Finger2Nub
Bip01 L Finger0Nub
Bip01 L Finger1Nub
Bip01 L Finger2Nub
Bip01 HeadNub
Bip01 L Toe0Nub
Bip01 R Toe0Nub

When you get to exporting the animations put those max files in a separate folder and put this cfg in there too but cut and paste all the nodes from and including "eye" to "ski1" into the never export list.

#14 Wow, things that are just not in the docs, or I missed them. You were a huge help. Now to try him out to see if he loads in the ShowTool. Can we just load him up in ShowTool, or do we need an animation, and or a CFG file etc?

also, what do you suggest for a barebones cfg that we need?

#15 Nice nice. Thank you for that cfg, thats perfect.

So if I was to export a simple animation (dsg) for him, do I have to remove the mesh from his bones or can I leave it?

#16 I suggest you save your max file with the mesh first, then delete the mesh and export, then undo the delete. ;) You will probably want the mesh around to test the animation in max, however the exporter is much faster when you delete the mesh so it only looks at the bones.

#17 Ahhh, gotcha. Thanks for all of your help man. I really appreciate it. I will definately post back here when we have some things going.

Here is a shot of him in all his glory so far.

www.game-ready.com/temp/gobshot.jpg

#18 Np and he's lookin good. ;)

#19 His texture is not yet complete, but hes getting there ;) Thank you. Hes for a game called "Legendary Kingdom Tactics", which looks to be pretty neat so far.

#20 His texture is not yet complete, but hes getting there ;) Thank you. Hes for a game called "Legendary Kingdom Tactics", which looks to be pretty neat so far.