Hard Light Productions Forums

General FreeSpace => FreeSpace Discussion => Topic started by: Snail on September 08, 2006, 09:01:02 am

Title: ModelView Request
Post by: Snail on September 08, 2006, 09:01:02 am
I have a request for anyone capable of coding out there. Can anybody create a build of ModelView that is capable of viewing models with .dds format textures? The creator of ModelView released the source code for modelview somewhere, but I couldn't do ****, because I have no programming experience at all. So a plea to all those coders out there. :D
Title: Re: ModelView Request
Post by: Mobius on September 08, 2006, 05:40:21 pm
Geez,I was going to make the same proposal,but I think that our request will be denied.Sorry.
Title: Re: ModelView Request
Post by: Flipside on September 08, 2006, 05:47:52 pm
It's not so much denied as just very very difficult to do from what I understand.
Title: Re: ModelView Request
Post by: taylor on September 08, 2006, 05:53:35 pm
The code is so bad that it needs to be completely rewritten to allow multiple image formats to be supported properly.  The current stuff is so hackish that it's amazing that it works at all.
Title: Re: ModelView Request
Post by: Cobra on September 08, 2006, 06:00:51 pm
you mean the hipoly modelview or the original?
Title: Re: ModelView Request
Post by: taylor on September 08, 2006, 06:12:36 pm
you mean the hipoly modelview or the original?
It's the same.  The hipoly one just has bumped limits.
Title: Re: ModelView Request
Post by: Vasudan Admiral on September 08, 2006, 10:05:27 pm
Bumped by someone with only the most rudimentary programming knowledge at that. :sigh:
Title: Re: ModelView Request
Post by: Mobius on September 09, 2006, 04:47:37 am
So we have no chances,sigh.
woo said that all his new ships will use dds :(
Title: Re: ModelView Request
Post by: Snail on September 09, 2006, 06:12:33 am
So we have no chances,sigh.
woo said that all his new ships will use dds :(

That was one of the main reasons. And also I want to view Nuke's ships in modelview. And in the HTL version of modelview, for some reason I am unable to import shields (I'm trying to get a working version of the SF Chelub).
Title: Re: ModelView Request
Post by: Mobius on September 09, 2006, 06:46:23 am
I have dowloaded Modelview high limits time ago,but I made something wrong because I still can't open HTL models.
Title: Re: ModelView Request
Post by: Speeder on September 09, 2006, 09:56:12 am
Well... I'll tell ya what... If I'll get the newest Media VPs, then I'll convert all the models to something else, that you can view more easily... Like Lightwave or something. But you can convert them to cob with the pof to cob converter, then you can view them with DeepExploration for example, it handles any texture about. Getting the proggy on the other hand... well, good luck :)
Title: Re: ModelView Request
Post by: Vasudan Admiral on September 09, 2006, 10:15:23 am
I have dowloaded Modelview high limits time ago,but I made something wrong because I still can't open HTL models.
With the exception of broken or super overly complex models, the high limits version has opened absolutely everything I've tried it with. I wrote up an installation guide here: http://www.hard-light.net/wiki/index.php/ModelView

Try doing that and see if you have more success, but make sure you have 256 colour PCX textures in a place modview can find them or there'll be nothing to see. I create a dummy FS install containing just a copy of sparky.vp, and the directory "data/maps", and tell modview that's my FS install. Into the dummy maps folder I place batch converted 8bit (256 colour) PCX versions of my real maps folder. Not particularly elegant, but it works fine for quickly displaying models.

That was one of the main reasons. And also I want to view Nuke's ships in modelview. And in the HTL version of modelview, for some reason I am unable to import shields (I'm trying to get a working version of the SF Chelub).
Use PCS for the shield import if it doesn't work in modview. Really you should use PCS for most things - and use modview for the itty bitty things for which PCS is unsuited or can't do, such as locating co-ordinates or entering MOI data.
Title: Re: ModelView Request
Post by: Mobius on September 09, 2006, 12:30:14 pm
Thanks,I'll try it.
Title: Re: ModelView Request
Post by: CP5670 on September 09, 2006, 12:33:49 pm
Modelview works pretty well for me, but it seems to have massive memory leaks and can eat up several hundred megabytes in just a few minutes, especially in the pof editor mode.
Title: Re: ModelView Request
Post by: Getter Robo G on September 09, 2006, 09:34:38 pm
OR just plain old conversion to POF (PCS - BSP recursion error strikes again!)

Once again Modelview to the RESCUE!!! The second EOTP fighter I just converted now appears on screenines in game only because MV exists...

I still needed PCS to finish it off (of course).

 
Title: Re: ModelView Request
Post by: Taristin on September 09, 2006, 11:39:10 pm
Would it be easier to just make a completely stripped down version of the FS Lab and make it standalone, and use that as a pof viewer with DDS support? >..>;;
Title: Re: ModelView Request
Post by: Vasudan Admiral on September 10, 2006, 12:47:47 am
I think it'd be handy, but not particularly practical - depending on how modular the FSO code is now, I expect there'd probably be an _awful_ lot of redundant code to either strip off or pull out. So much so that it could well be quicker to hack in DDS support for modview. :\

OR just plain old conversion to POF (PCS - BSP recursion error strikes again!)
If that error is occuring, it means there's an error in the geometry that should be fixed - not that PCS is less powerful than modview when it comes to converting. In fact, in the few experiments I did, modview's cob-pof generated meshes with very faulty collision data, if it generated any at all.

Modelview works pretty well for me, but it seems to have massive memory leaks and can eat up several hundred megabytes in just a few minutes, especially in the pof editor mode.
Yeah, the memory leak is considerably worsened by the high limits version, but it rarely becomes unusable for me. Does it for you?

(That said, I do have a special separate extra high limits build for just one particular model that will eat up over 1.2 gigs of memory and begin to chug my machine in short order while pof editing.)
Title: Re: ModelView Request
Post by: Getter Robo G on September 10, 2006, 04:04:59 am
So... how much "extra" is that special high limits build???  ;7

I'm sitting on a 50k Deadelus (SGA)...  :lol:
Title: Re: ModelView Request
Post by: Vasudan Admiral on September 10, 2006, 05:14:17 am
Enough for a 62 000 poly monstrosity that now works in game. It comes with a matching memory leak. :p
Title: Re: ModelView Request
Post by: Mobius on September 10, 2006, 06:27:31 pm
Modview high limits doesn't work with most of 3.6.8 Zeta models...
Title: Re: ModelView Request
Post by: Vasudan Admiral on September 10, 2006, 10:29:44 pm
It works for all of them.
Are you sure you followed that installation proceedure properly? Cos it sounds to me like you've not replaced the standard modview EXE with the high limits one.
Title: Re: ModelView Request
Post by: CP5670 on September 11, 2006, 03:10:06 am
Quote
Yeah, the memory leak is considerably worsened by the high limits version, but it rarely becomes unusable for me. Does it for you?

(That said, I do have a special separate extra high limits build for just one particular model that will eat up over 1.2 gigs of memory and begin to chug my machine in short order while pof editing.)

It generally crashes after around 15 minutes of doing stuff with the editor (after using up all 2GB of main memory and the 1GB pagefile) with one model I frequently need to edit. I just make sure I close it quickly before it gets out of control. :p