max2dts and exporer pro help

#1 docs.garagegames.com/artist/
docs.garagegames.com/artist/official/exporter_files/max_exporters/Max2DTS_All_Ve...

#2 Thank you Sir,

Much appreciated. links working perfect.

:-)

#3 Ohh, one more thing, is there such a thing as dts exporter pro??

reason is I was watching a youtube video on how to export to torque and it states its requiered max2dts exporter and dts exporter pro.

anyone have some input on this? or will max2dts is both or is the only thing requiered? i am exporting to mmokit if this makes a diference to mention.

thanks again

#4 dts exporter pro installed ok for me on max 9 BUT it was buggy and caused several malfunctions, and also caused the regular max exporter to malfunction as well.

In the end i had to uninstall dts exporter pro. If you are using Max 9, my recommendation is : DONT USE dts exporter pro. It looks great and is a great concept but just does not work right on Max 9

#5 I should also add that the Max2dts exporter pro did a fine job exporting static meshes with Max 9; the problems came when trying to export animated meshes.

In fact, this thread outlines the problems that I had with the exporter pro:

http://www.garagegames.com/community/forums/viewthread/76848

#6 ..just get the regular dts exporter for your version. ..and stock up on your patience. You'll need it.

#7 whenever i try to export to DTS it says "No bounding box"

What does that mean?

#8 If you are exporting a character, this video helps. just IGNORE the part about dtsexporter PRO being installed.

When you get to the end and are ready to export, just use the regular exporter.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ti7sWZcZUEc
and here is part 2:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zVc2-zaejsI&feature=related

If you are just doing a simple shape, then that's pretty well documented on this site:

docs.garagegames.com/artist/official/3D%20Studio%20Max/Simple%20Shape.html#Expor...

It seems kind of daunting when you first get used to it. It's much harder to get artwork into Torque than some other engines, but in the end it is very rewarding.

#9 thanks man ill check those out.

Edit

hmm i cant get that work. Im using 23s max 2009 :(

#10 I think i got it. One question on collision mesh though. do i just cone the part of the object i want collision detection, and name them appropriatly?

#11 Actually, the problem you were having with the "pro" exporter is 2 fold. The first having both the old and new exporter installed causes export problems because both exporters are rsgistered in Max to handel the .DTS extension Max will use which ever one it decides to use.

This becomes a problem because the original Max exporter and the new exporter have many setup differences. This is the reason the "Jill" file animations do not export. Since the Jill file is setup for the original Max exporter the sequence markers in that file are different than the ones used by the pro exporter. Thus, doing a straight load then export without making the needed changes would result in no exported animation.

The original Max exporter has special sequence marker objects that are added to Max when the old Max exporter is loaded. If you open a DTS scene that has this special nodes and dont have the original Max exporter Max will usually pop up and warning message at load time.

The "pro" exporter sequence markers are just null or dummy objects in the scene named with the word "Sequence_" at the front of it followed by the name of the animation. The sequence dummy object has custom properties on it that are read by the exporter and tell it which frames of animation = what sequence. (the MaxScript DTS utility the comes with the "pro" exporter helps automate creating sequence nodes for the "pro" exporter).

There are many other differences between the exporters as well. The current pro exporter has not been recompiled for newer versions of Max. I have one that is compiled for Max 9, but we havent had access to the Max SDK since version 9 and have not been able to update it.

#12 @Matt

Thank you for spelling it all out. The other guys at GarageGames helped me to see the same thing when I was having the problem with both exporters installed at the same time. (This actually makes the video that I posted very misleading....It tells you to have both the exporter and exporter pro installed, which is an automatic gridlock for you if you have Max 9, and guaranteed at least one hour of wasted time, if not a whole day).

I respect the work that went into making exporter pro. It was a great concept. I would expect that future exporters for Max may use the same approach.

But for the time being we need to make it clear to everyone that if you're using Max 9, use the standard exporter.