[KewlToyZ]

 
OK I'm new to modding for Freespace, I'm missing a few peices of the puzzle.
The Rhino use site is gone, as near as I can find is using dxf from Rhino to MAX.
I have Max 4.0 but the pof export doesnt seem to make any objects available in the pof when I try to view it with PCS 2.

I used 3ds as the Rhino export, but with Max 4 I was not sure of the dxf version best suited to export/import with.
I have R12, R14, R2000 available as choices. Importing into Max 4 with R2000 is taking a ton of time so I wonderd if this is a version issue with dxf as well.
I noticed MAX allows for the layer names to split items up. So back to my point, is there a list of item names I need to follow?

[KewlToyZ]

Well I got Max 4 to read R12 dxf format well and the layer/object names translated well.
I just need to know what the format of those object names need to be for a successful POF.
Things like the main hull, wings (right top or left), and the detail levels of the models ( I have reduced poly count versions of each item degrading for distance modeling. Also damage models.

[blowfish]

Your objects need to be in a tree, like this:

+detail0
    +turret01
    +turret02
    +turret03-base
        +turret03-arm
    +turret03-destroyed
    +debris01
    +debris02
    ...

Not sure weather other LODs should go under detail0 or not.

[KewlToyZ]

Thanks for the prompt response.
I wanted to know how restrictive the names were.
Let me reference what I am looking at first with what you posted so I have a clear idea:
+detail0
    +turret01
    +turret02
    +turret03-base
        +turret03-arm
    +turret03-destroyed
    +debris01
    +debris02
    ...
I have a model of the Space Park I'm trying to convert:
Object/Layer Name  - LowResVersion - DamagedVersion
_________________________
MainHull - L_MainHull - D_MainHull
MainDrum - L_MainDrum - D_MainDrum
Ring - L_Ring - D_Ring
Strut1 - L_Strut1 - D_Strut1
Strut2 - L_Strut2 - D_Strut2
Strut3 - L_Strut3 - D_Strut3
Strut4 - L_Strut4 - D_Strut4

Do I need to rename MainHull to Detail-0 and the other parts to turret-0?
And do I join all of the compinents I want to rotate as one poly mesh for the sake of animation?
Your depiction above had me panicking whether I needed to create items as XREF's instead of groups in the drawing for 3DS too.

[blowfish]

You should make all of the rotating components one object.  Since this has no turrets, it should look something like this.  And BTW there is no "damaged" version, only a destroyed one.  But the hierarchy should look something like this:

+detail0 (normal)
    +spinnythinga (normal)
    +spinnythingdestroyed (destroyed)
    +detail1 (low rez)
        +spinnythingb (low rez)

(again not sure if detail 1 really goes under detail 0, and everything in parentheses is not needed obviously)

[Water]

OK I'm new to modding for Freespace, I'm missing a few peices of the puzzle.
The Rhino use site is gone, as near as I can find is using dxf from Rhino to MAX.
I have Max 4.0 but the pof export doesnt seem to make any objects available in the pof when I try to view it with PCS 2.

I used 3ds as the Rhino export, but with Max 4 I was not sure of the dxf version best suited to export/import with.

DXF is ok if you are going to UV map the model in Max and not Rhino. Otherwise 3ds and Obj are better export formats as they retain the UV mapping.

A non UV mapped mesh  may be hard to see in PCS2. (Dark grey on black background)

[Vasudan Admiral]

Here's a general object hierarchy general guide that might help.
http://www.hard-light.net/forums/index.php/topic,52726.msg1065742.html#msg1065742

About the names, blowfish is correct, but neither PCS2 nor FSO is very strict about names overall. Ie, capitalisation isn't required and there are no special code switches beyond the following 'special' cases:
1) LODs are typically called "Detail#" and it doesn't matter if they're children of Detail0 or not. (I usually make both LODs and debris children of detail0 though so it's easier to move everything around at once in the scene)
2) Turrets are called "Turret##" for single-part turrets and "Turret##-base" & "Turret##-arm" for rotating aiming turrets.
3) Destroyed versions of subobjects are called "<OriginalObjectName>-destroyed"
4) Debris chunks are "Debris##" and don't need to be children of Detail0.

And those are all the ones I can think of ATM.

[KewlToyZ]

 
Thanks for your help everyone!