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LoD/MultiRes issues in 3DSMax 2008

by Gary Willhight · in Artist Corner · 10/13/2008 (5:37 pm) · 1 replies

I need some help with exporting LOD objects. The problem I am having is after I export the object ( I'm working with a large building) I load it into TSTP the LOD works if I control levels via the slider in the Detail Level control. The following are the user defined properties.

MULTIRES::DETAILS = 1.0,0.75,0.50,0.25
MULTIRES::SIZES = 64,32,16,8

I have scoured the forums and have found many references that lead me to believe this should be working. However, all the references are based on 3DS Max 6 and earlier.

So I started with a teapot. (dimentions in max are 80m x 50m x 39m)
Then Put a bounding box around it.
I renumbered it.
Then embeded it
I copied the detail64 dummy to make detail32, detail16, and detail8
Then I selected teapot64 object and applied the MultiRes modifier.
I set the Vert Percent to 100 then clicked Generate
Set the Vert% to 75 (generate), and did the same for 50 and 25
I then exported the teapot
I opened TSTP and loaded the teapot.dts

On the initial load it shows
Current DL:0
Detail Size:64
Pixel Size;1032.294
Current Dist: 79.084

If I use the slider, the LoD changed accordingly.
If I uncheck the slider option, the DL changed to 1 (Detail32) at pixel size 141
It changed to DL2 (Detail16) at pixel size 55
It changed to DL3 (Detail8) at pixel size 24.2

As I understand it, it should be transitioning at the detail##. So for Detail32 it should change at pixel size 32.
As I have shown, it is nowhere close to that. I have tried using various detail levels with similar results. Is there a problem, or am I doing something wrong. I have been busting by head on this for a couple weeks and could use some help.

#1
10/15/2008 (1:54 pm)
Ok. I think I got the problem solved.

After the export you needto run unMessDTS.exe

from either the run command or command line
unmesstes.exe object.dts fixedobject.dts

After I ran this on the models I was having problems with the LoD switch at the correct detail level.