Max2DTS Pro?
by Tony Peguero · in Torque Game Engine Advanced · 01/14/2009 (5:13 pm) · 5 replies
Hi guys.
I've been having a lot of trouble exporting from Max2009 to DTS. I keep seeing scattered references in the forums and blogs to a pro version of the exporter, but I cannot find any kind of official mention of it, or anything about how it differs from the regular exporter, or a download link, source code, or anything substantial. In fact the only real evidence I can find that it even exists is a Youtube video showing it in use. Can someone please enlighten me? What exactly is it? Where can I get a build of it that will work with Max2009? Is it fully compatible with ShowTool Pro 1.04? Is it fully compatible with TGEA 1.8.0?
And lastly, are there any known issues with the regular max2dts exporter and Max2009?
I wish I didn't have to clutter the forum with such questions, but the search feature still doesn't support exact phrase searching, and all of the individual words I'm looking for are just way too common.
I've been having a lot of trouble exporting from Max2009 to DTS. I keep seeing scattered references in the forums and blogs to a pro version of the exporter, but I cannot find any kind of official mention of it, or anything about how it differs from the regular exporter, or a download link, source code, or anything substantial. In fact the only real evidence I can find that it even exists is a Youtube video showing it in use. Can someone please enlighten me? What exactly is it? Where can I get a build of it that will work with Max2009? Is it fully compatible with ShowTool Pro 1.04? Is it fully compatible with TGEA 1.8.0?
And lastly, are there any known issues with the regular max2dts exporter and Max2009?
I wish I didn't have to clutter the forum with such questions, but the search feature still doesn't support exact phrase searching, and all of the individual words I'm looking for are just way too common.
#2
That last one was apparently just a matter of hiding the bounding box in Max. I don't think any of the guides I found made any specific mention of what should be done with the bounding box except to name it "bounds", so I'll be adding a note to that effect on TDN when it reappears.
Funnily enough, the standard exporter has mostly been well behaved since I posted. I had been following all the instructions I could find, and apart from hiding the bounding box, I'm not aware of anything that I'm doing differently now. There must have been some subtle thing I was doing wrong that was not mentioned in any of the guides or tutorials.
There was one point though, where I was seeing no geometry at all, and I was able to fix it by deleting the marker nodes and recreating them using the "Embed Shape" button. The new ones seemed to be exactly the same as the old, so I don't understand what was going on there.
Anyway, thanks for the info regarding the Pro exporter. I would like to try it if I could, so if anyone knows what is required to compile it against Max2009, please let me know.
01/15/2009 (2:17 pm)
I was seeing a few different issues when viewing very simple static models in Showtool: 1) Geometry appearing, but without textures, 2) no geometry at all appearing, 3) geometry appearing, but not correct (i.e. faces missing, and in wireframe mode there were lines jumping around all over the place, as if some vertex coords were NaN), and 4) geometry possibly there, but obscured by bounding box.That last one was apparently just a matter of hiding the bounding box in Max. I don't think any of the guides I found made any specific mention of what should be done with the bounding box except to name it "bounds", so I'll be adding a note to that effect on TDN when it reappears.
Funnily enough, the standard exporter has mostly been well behaved since I posted. I had been following all the instructions I could find, and apart from hiding the bounding box, I'm not aware of anything that I'm doing differently now. There must have been some subtle thing I was doing wrong that was not mentioned in any of the guides or tutorials.
There was one point though, where I was seeing no geometry at all, and I was able to fix it by deleting the marker nodes and recreating them using the "Embed Shape" button. The new ones seemed to be exactly the same as the old, so I don't understand what was going on there.
Anyway, thanks for the info regarding the Pro exporter. I would like to try it if I could, so if anyone knows what is required to compile it against Max2009, please let me know.
#3
Here is a max file and the resulting dts file, if anyone wants to try and reproduce the problem.
01/15/2009 (4:25 pm)
Hmmm, spoke too soon. I'm still getting problem #3 on occasion. Random faces appear to be missing in textured mode, but in wireframe mode there are lines jumping wildly all over the place. Anyone know what causes this?Here is a max file and the resulting dts file, if anyone wants to try and reproduce the problem.
#4
Long story short, the DTS exporter code is newer than the DTS engine code that GG recieved from Dynamix/Vivendi way back in the day. Unfortunately this causes any mesh that uses skeletal deformation (ie. skin and bones) to render all wonky and messed up :(
Bravetree (who is now a part of GG) wrote a great little utility that helps clean this problem up (and a few other less noticable problems due to this version difference) called UnMessDTS. The file is (previous to the new site) on GG.com, but if you have problems finding it just email me and I will send it over to you.
01/16/2009 (8:33 am)
@TonyLong story short, the DTS exporter code is newer than the DTS engine code that GG recieved from Dynamix/Vivendi way back in the day. Unfortunately this causes any mesh that uses skeletal deformation (ie. skin and bones) to render all wonky and messed up :(
Bravetree (who is now a part of GG) wrote a great little utility that helps clean this problem up (and a few other less noticable problems due to this version difference) called UnMessDTS. The file is (previous to the new site) on GG.com, but if you have problems finding it just email me and I will send it over to you.
#5
However, it seems that that is not the problem in this case. After I saw your post, I decided to give UnMessDTS a go to see if it would help. But I was using a different computer at the time, which has all the same software except 3DS Max. Before I tried UnMessDTS, I just verified that I could use ShowTool to load the same sample model that I linked to above. I could, and it displayed perfectly. I've now double checked it, and can confirm that the same version of ShowTool on my two different machines displays the same dts file differently.
So, whatever the issue is, it is clearly not a problem with the exporter. I'll do a bit more digging, and if I discover anything new I will create a new thread for it, since the title of this one is no longer appropriate.
edit: I'm an idiot. It was just an outdated video driver. Problem solved.
01/17/2009 (1:49 pm)
Thanks for the info Logan. I have the UnMessDTS app, but when I tried to find out what it was for, I found a forum thread that said it was only used to resolve issues with MultiRes, or something like that. Good to know that is fixes other problems too. Maybe it should get a page on TDN.However, it seems that that is not the problem in this case. After I saw your post, I decided to give UnMessDTS a go to see if it would help. But I was using a different computer at the time, which has all the same software except 3DS Max. Before I tried UnMessDTS, I just verified that I could use ShowTool to load the same sample model that I linked to above. I could, and it displayed perfectly. I've now double checked it, and can confirm that the same version of ShowTool on my two different machines displays the same dts file differently.
So, whatever the issue is, it is clearly not a problem with the exporter. I'll do a bit more digging, and if I discover anything new I will create a new thread for it, since the title of this one is no longer appropriate.
edit: I'm an idiot. It was just an outdated video driver. Problem solved.
Associate Jaimi McEntire
King of Flapjacks
What sort of problems are you seeing with the standard Max2DTS Exporter? I've used it to successfully export both biped characters and static meshes, but I'm sure I haven't used everything...