Author Topic: POF exporter for MAX - Need people with MAX 4, 5 and 6 for testing  (Read 280950 times)

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Offline esarai

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Re: POF exporter for MAX - Need people with MAX 4, 5 and 6 for testing
Out of curiosity, will this plugin work for 3DS Max 8 or 9?
<Nuclear>   truth: the good samaritan actually checked for proof of citizenship and health insurance
<Axem>   did anyone catch jesus' birth certificate?
<Nuclear>   and jesus didnt actually give the 5000 their fish...he gave it to the romans and let it trickle down
<Axem>and he was totally pro tax breaks
<Axem>he threw out all those tax collectors at the temple
<Nuclear>   he drove a V8 camel too
<Nuclear>   with a sword rack for his fully-automatic daggers

Esarai: hey gaiz, what's a good improvised, final attack for a ship fighting to buy others time to escape to use?
RangerKarl|AtWork: stick your penis in the warp core
DarthGeek: no don't do that
amki: don't EVER do that

 

Offline Turey

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Re: POF exporter for MAX - Need people with MAX 4, 5 and 6 for testing
Out of curiosity, will this plugin work for 3DS Max 8 or 9?

Yes for 8, no for 9.
Creator of the FreeSpace Open Installer.
"Calm. The ****. Down." -Taristin
why would an SCP error be considered as news? :wtf: *smacks Cobra*It's a feature.

 

Offline chief1983

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Re: POF exporter for MAX - Need people with MAX 4, 5 and 6 for testing
Dang Turey, you beat me to it.
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"You may not sell or otherwise commercially exploit the source or things you created based on the source." -- Excerpt from FSO license, for reference

Nuclear1:  Jesus Christ zack you're a little too hamyurger for HLP right now...
iamzack:  i dont have hamynerge i just want ptatoc hips D:
redsniper:  Platonic hips?!
iamzack:  lays

 

Offline DaBrain

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Re: POF exporter for MAX - Need people with MAX 4, 5 and 6 for testing
I thought this died off way before that.  I don't think anyone's done updating on this plugin in a long time, and I think this thread only exists for support and a place to get it.

Uhm... Styxx is working on a new version, just give him some time.
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Offline chief1983

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Re: POF exporter for MAX - Need people with MAX 4, 5 and 6 for testing
Oh, my bad then.  Keep up the good work Styxx!
Fate of the Galaxy - Now Hiring!  Apply within | Diaspora | SCP Home | Collada Importer for PCS2
Karajorma's 'How to report bugs' | Mantis
#freespace | #scp-swc | #diaspora | #SCP | #hard-light on EsperNet

"You may not sell or otherwise commercially exploit the source or things you created based on the source." -- Excerpt from FSO license, for reference

Nuclear1:  Jesus Christ zack you're a little too hamyurger for HLP right now...
iamzack:  i dont have hamynerge i just want ptatoc hips D:
redsniper:  Platonic hips?!
iamzack:  lays

 

Offline esarai

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    • Minecraft
Re: POF exporter for MAX - Need people with MAX 4, 5 and 6 for testing
being a total newb to the FS2 SCP, and not yet familiar with the acronyms, could anyone tell me what PCS stands for?
<Nuclear>   truth: the good samaritan actually checked for proof of citizenship and health insurance
<Axem>   did anyone catch jesus' birth certificate?
<Nuclear>   and jesus didnt actually give the 5000 their fish...he gave it to the romans and let it trickle down
<Axem>and he was totally pro tax breaks
<Axem>he threw out all those tax collectors at the temple
<Nuclear>   he drove a V8 camel too
<Nuclear>   with a sword rack for his fully-automatic daggers

Esarai: hey gaiz, what's a good improvised, final attack for a ship fighting to buy others time to escape to use?
RangerKarl|AtWork: stick your penis in the warp core
DarthGeek: no don't do that
amki: don't EVER do that

 

Offline chief1983

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Re: POF exporter for MAX - Need people with MAX 4, 5 and 6 for testing
POF Constructor Suite
Fate of the Galaxy - Now Hiring!  Apply within | Diaspora | SCP Home | Collada Importer for PCS2
Karajorma's 'How to report bugs' | Mantis
#freespace | #scp-swc | #diaspora | #SCP | #hard-light on EsperNet

"You may not sell or otherwise commercially exploit the source or things you created based on the source." -- Excerpt from FSO license, for reference

Nuclear1:  Jesus Christ zack you're a little too hamyurger for HLP right now...
iamzack:  i dont have hamynerge i just want ptatoc hips D:
redsniper:  Platonic hips?!
iamzack:  lays

 
Re: POF exporter for MAX - Need people with MAX 4, 5 and 6 for testing
Maybe a format exporter that PCS2 can import?  All you would need to do is generate a certain format (POFMAX for example), export the MAX data to that format.  Then have a PCS2 importer that'll read POFMAX and let PCS do all the dirty work   :D

You can already do that. Export as 3DS and use 3DExploration to convert it to COB. :p

I do not know about you, but I would really like to see this plug-in work for Maya.  I don't use 3DS (yet), I use Maya.  With Windows Vista out (which I use), it's been very difficult to convert any models from Maya to 3DS just to export them with the POF exporter.  Additionally, now that FS2 is working with normal mapping (and not bump mapping), surface sampling is insanely easier on Maya.  I believe the only alternative in 3DS was to use ZBrush.  And quite frankly, because Maya and 3DS have different orientations (Y in Maya = Z in 3DS), it's easy to promote a problem.  Finally, now that normal mapping is being used in FS2, hardware rendering (which can show normal mapping results in real time without having to render) in Maya further promote the interest to have the plug-in work in Maya.  But that's just my 2 cents.

Oh, and one more thing.  SCP should seriously consider upgrading the render engine from Normal mapping to Parallax mapping at the least (I would even suggest Steep Parallax Mapping). http://graphics.cs.brown.edu/games/SteepParallax/index.html  I say this because there's now a new mapping tech out called Vertex mapping, which from what I understand, provides the same results found in Steep Parallax Mapping while using 90% less resources which would normally be used in Steep Parallax Mapping.
The big cool ship...

 

Offline Flaser

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Re: POF exporter for MAX - Need people with MAX 4, 5 and 6 for testing
Maybe a format exporter that PCS2 can import?  All you would need to do is generate a certain format (POFMAX for example), export the MAX data to that format.  Then have a PCS2 importer that'll read POFMAX and let PCS do all the dirty work   :D

You can already do that. Export as 3DS and use 3DExploration to convert it to COB. :p

I do not know about you, but I would really like to see this plug-in work for Maya.  I don't use 3DS (yet), I use Maya.  With Windows Vista out (which I use), it's been very difficult to convert any models from Maya to 3DS just to export them with the POF exporter.  Additionally, now that FS2 is working with normal mapping (and not bump mapping), surface sampling is insanely easier on Maya.  I believe the only alternative in 3DS was to use ZBrush.  And quite frankly, because Maya and 3DS have different orientations (Y in Maya = Z in 3DS), it's easy to promote a problem.  Finally, now that normal mapping is being used in FS2, hardware rendering (which can show normal mapping results in real time without having to render) in Maya further promote the interest to have the plug-in work in Maya.  But that's just my 2 cents.

Oh, and one more thing.  SCP should seriously consider upgrading the render engine from Normal mapping to Parallax mapping at the least (I would even suggest Steep Parallax Mapping). http://graphics.cs.brown.edu/games/SteepParallax/index.html  I say this because there's now a new mapping tech out called Vertex mapping, which from what I understand, provides the same results found in Steep Parallax Mapping while using 90% less resources which would normally be used in Steep Parallax Mapping.

FS_SCP doesn't even support bumpmaps, not to speak of normal maps!
Currently, the engine currently undergoes a deep overhaul. Direct3D will be probably ditched, and a more efficient OpenGL code will be implemented. - that will be in the 3.9.1x series.
By 3.7 the main new graphical feature will be a material system, a possibly shader support.

Right now the engine has 4 maps/textures applied to a surface:
-Base/Diffuse map (since glow maps can be turned off, it is recommended, to draw self-lit areas in the base map as if way they were unlit, so lights, etc. will look as if they were switched off.
-Glow map: when the glow map is turned on, the parts on it will be always full bright.
-Shine map: the map tells the color and intensity of white light reflected/glinted from the surface. (Can be used to give a rough/smooth, metalic, plastic etc. feel to the surface, and acts as a rudimentary bumpmap).
-Environment map: reflectivity of the surface.

Preferred format is 32-bit DDS with mipmaps pregenerated.

How these render passes will be implemented in the material system I don't know, however it holds the promise
of a more streamlined and efficient rendering.

PS.: PCS2 (POF Constructor Suit 2) would eventually support an intermediate format with Max and Maya. More details in the relevant thread.
"I was going to become a speed dealer. If one stupid fairytale turns out to be total nonsense, what does the young man do? If you answered, “Wake up and face reality,” you don’t remember what it was like being a young man. You just go to the next entry in the catalogue of lies you can use to destroy your life." - John Dolan

 

Offline Turey

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Re: POF exporter for MAX - Need people with MAX 4, 5 and 6 for testing
FS_SCP doesn't even support bumpmaps, not to speak of normal maps!

No comment. :nervous:
Creator of the FreeSpace Open Installer.
"Calm. The ****. Down." -Taristin
why would an SCP error be considered as news? :wtf: *smacks Cobra*It's a feature.

 
Re: POF exporter for MAX - Need people with MAX 4, 5 and 6 for testing
Nice. For the record, i'm learning how to use 3DS Max 9.

How long does it usually take to use it efficiently? How long did you guys use it before you started pumping out ships and models that are of the quality we see now?

 

Offline Turey

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Re: POF exporter for MAX - Need people with MAX 4, 5 and 6 for testing
Nice. For the record, i'm learning how to use 3DS Max 9.

How long does it usually take to use it efficiently? How long did you guys use it before you started pumping out ships and models that are of the quality we see now?


Hate to burst your bubble, but this plugin only works with Max 4-8. I have both 8 and 9, and it never worked with 9.
Creator of the FreeSpace Open Installer.
"Calm. The ****. Down." -Taristin
why would an SCP error be considered as news? :wtf: *smacks Cobra*It's a feature.

 
Re: POF exporter for MAX - Need people with MAX 4, 5 and 6 for testing
Nice. For the record, i'm learning how to use 3DS Max 9.

How long does it usually take to use it efficiently? How long did you guys use it before you started pumping out ships and models that are of the quality we see now?


Hate to burst your bubble, but this plugin only works with Max 4-8. I have both 8 and 9, and it never worked with 9.

So I wont be able to create FS2 SCP models with 3DS Max 9 at all?

 

Offline gyp5sy

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Re: POF exporter for MAX - Need people with MAX 4, 5 and 6 for testing
Nice. For the record, i'm learning how to use 3DS Max 9.

How long does it usually take to use it efficiently? How long did you guys use it before you started pumping out ships and models that are of the quality we see now?


Hate to burst your bubble, but this plugin only works with Max 4-8. I have both 8 and 9, and it never worked with 9.

So I wont be able to create FS2 SCP models with 3DS Max 9 at all?

I can do little but share my experiences with Max 9 and FS2 modeling.  Since the plugin works only with previous versions with max, I converted my stuff to .3ds so I could place all the lights and stuff with truespace.  This caused some kind of texture problems for me and I needed to use a third program (like 3d exploration or LU) to fix these texture problems.  Maybe there's a different format I could have used to export my model....  I don't know.

The problem I then had with TS was that the smoothing values would get all messed up.  I then threw up my hands and switched to Max 8 and have been very very happy.  I haven't encountered anything I could do in 9 that I couldn't do in 8.  The plugin works (not perfectly every time for me) beautifully for me (when it does), and I much prefer it to using TS and doing PCS conversion.

edit: BTW, I know I'm not the most experienced modeler by any stretch of the imagination, but due to the extensive tutorials that are bundled with every version of Max, it only took me a week to really start to feel comfortable.

 
Re: POF exporter for MAX - Need people with MAX 4, 5 and 6 for testing
Thanks for the tip fellas, managed to refund the program and get 3DS Max 8   :D

 

Offline chief1983

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Re: POF exporter for MAX - Need people with MAX 4, 5 and 6 for testing
Have fun with it then!  Hope it was even cheaper for you!
Fate of the Galaxy - Now Hiring!  Apply within | Diaspora | SCP Home | Collada Importer for PCS2
Karajorma's 'How to report bugs' | Mantis
#freespace | #scp-swc | #diaspora | #SCP | #hard-light on EsperNet

"You may not sell or otherwise commercially exploit the source or things you created based on the source." -- Excerpt from FSO license, for reference

Nuclear1:  Jesus Christ zack you're a little too hamyurger for HLP right now...
iamzack:  i dont have hamynerge i just want ptatoc hips D:
redsniper:  Platonic hips?!
iamzack:  lays

  

Offline Styxx

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Re: POF exporter for MAX - Need people with MAX 4, 5 and 6 for testing
Just to let you guys know, I'm still working on the plugin, but rebuilding the lost code is a pain. :p
Probably away. Contact through email.

 

Offline Nuke

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Re: POF exporter for MAX - Need people with MAX 4, 5 and 6 for testing
keep up the good work. and this time keep a few backups :D
I can no longer sit back and allow communist infiltration, communist indoctrination, communist subversion, and the international communist conspiracy to sap and impurify all of our precious bodily fluids.

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Re: POF exporter for MAX - Need people with MAX 4, 5 and 6 for testing
Not to be critical but I hope this new version doesn't crash 3ds as much. Good luck on the new plug in!
I have created a masterpiece.

 

Offline ANARKIA777

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Re: POF exporter for MAX - Need people with MAX 4, 5 and 6 for testing
the best is of works with 3DS 8 and plugins? or PCS2? or Model View?