[origin]

How the heck do you use the collada 1.4 exporter with Blender.  I was having trouble so I made a simple cube, triangulated it, and textured it.  I exported it using the settings from wiki.  I opened it in PCS2 but got only a black screen.  The dimensions are 0x0x0 so obviously it did not import but the texture is in the texture tab, but that is it.

So just for fun I tried to import the dae file into blender and that worked fine - except when I try to render it I am getting a black screen.

My simple mind is befuddled - I assume there is something abvious I am doing wrong but I will danged if I can figure it out.

[chief1983]

There's a python script to aid blender collada exports I think.  Can't hunt it down right now.

[FreeSpaceFreak]

Did you name the cube object detail0 ? The PCS2 DAE importer needs at least a detail0 object, to be the main hull of the ship.

[origin]

Thanks FSF that did it.  Told you it was something stupid!

[z64555]

Well I find this a bit aggravating:

So I manage to get Collada installed to Max, export a .dae model to my PCS2 work folder, Run PCS2 and try to open the .dae, but get nothing!

After some bumbling around and reinstalling the Collada plugin to max, I finally get geometry to show up in PCS2 but the texture is not rendered. The texture name is apparently seen by PCS2, can be selected in the hierarchy, etc., but does not show up in the rendering view.

The object I am making is a non-playable object, that is not intended to move. About the only embellishment it will have is a glowpoint smack dab in the middle, but I want to first make sure the texture is looking ok.

PCS2 when .dae is loaded up:


PCS2 looking at the texture entry in the hierarchy:


Texture is a 1024x1024 DXT1 DDS (Fully opaque DDS, no alpha)

So, what might be causing this? 

[The E]

Are PCS2's texture paths set up correctly?
Alternatively, is the texture in the same directory as the model file?
Are there trailing spaces in the texture name as displayed in PCS2?

Also, be aware that there are some dxt variants that older versions of PCS2 just can't read.

Are you aware that there's a new version of PCS2 out?
Are you aware that you can, and should get it here? (Note: You may need recompiled dlls for this, they can be found here. To install, unpack these files, and copy them to your PCS2 directory, overwriting the old files in the process).

[z64555]

Texture paths look OK:


There are no trailing spaces in the texture name.

I've tried the 2.1a version of PCS2, but still have the same problem.

I'm going to double check to see if the Dxt variant has anything to do with it...

[The E]

What happens if you save it as a pof, and load it up in-game?
What happens if the texture is in the same folder as the model file?

[z64555]

Different DXT settings did not affect anything.

Having the texture in the same folder as the .pof did not affect anything in the PCS2 view.

Have not tried in-game view of the object just yet, will try later today.

[FreeSpaceFreak]

If it doesn't work in-game either, I suggest you upload model and texture here, so we can take a look at it from close by.

[z64555]

Just checked it in the FreeSpace Lab and it looks OK (texture is there, specular highlights and all). The game complained that I'm missing an LOD, but that can be easily dealt with. 

Still not quite sure why the texture won't show up in PCS2 though?

[JGZinv]

Didn't know you were in here Z....

Have you tried opening another similar model (look for the ECM powerup) and seeing if there's a difference?

[z64555]

Hey JG, just trying to get a bit more active in these forums. 

ah, anyway, I just tried loading up the ECM powerup and have the same problem: Textures are not showing up.

[FUBAR-BDHR]

First texture entry should be .\ so it looks in the current directory.  Other directories should be things like c:\games\freespace2\ to get it to look in data\maps under it.  It's always the mod or TC directory not the maps directory.  Normally the first time you run PCS2 it loads all that for you.

[JGZinv]

I've tried resetting the texture directories and not managed to get it to load yet.
I'll have to probably get the newer PCS2 and try again.

[z64555]

First texture entry should be .\ so it looks in the current directory.

Hey, whaddya know, that worked for me, thanks a bunch!

Hmm, I don't remember 100% if that was the way it was set up when I first installed...


...ah, anyway. I checked the texture paths, and saw that PCS2 wasn't looking in that folder. However, when I added a forward slash ( \ ), the thing magically worked correctly! 

[JGZinv]

Sweet peanut brittle, that worked here too. ^_^

[NeoKnight]

Hope this is the right place to bring random PCS2 problems; I'm having some difficulties performing a .blend to .pof conversion. I followed the steps outlined in the wiki but still ran into trouble. Starting with a .blend file, I exported it into the DAE format with triangulated geometry. I can open the DAE in PCS2, but nothing appears in the model display screen. Furthermore, when I attempt to save the file as a .pof, the entire program crashes. I get the infamous "PCS2 has encountered a problem and needs to close" and then it's all over. I don't make any modifications to the DAE model whatsoever before saving it as a .pof, so I'm really not sure what the problem is here. Any help would be greatly appreciated!

[headdie]

Hope this is the right place to bring random PCS2 problems; I'm having some difficulties performing a .blend to .pof conversion. I followed the steps outlined in the wiki but still ran into trouble. Starting with a .blend file, I exported it into the DAE format with triangulated geometry. I can open the DAE in PCS2, but nothing appears in the model display screen. Furthermore, when I attempt to save the file as a .pof, the entire program crashes. I get the infamous "PCS2 has encountered a problem and needs to close" and then it's all over. I don't make any modifications to the DAE model whatsoever before saving it as a .pof, so I'm really not sure what the problem is here. Any help would be greatly appreciated!

1. I still forget about this one from time to time. go into blender and select your the geometry that is supposed to be the main model.  in panel view (defaults along the bottom of the screen in 2.49 and I believe on the right in 2.5) check the name of the object with the panel view in F9 mode, all levels of detail geometry need to have detail# (replace # with the number starting from 0 with 0 = LOD1).

2.  if that is all good then make sure you are using version 1.4 of collada in blender 2.49, I have never gotten 2.5's collada exporter to work with PCS2 but that in itself don't always mean a lot

[NeoKnight]

Hope this is the right place to bring random PCS2 problems; I'm having some difficulties performing a .blend to .pof conversion. I followed the steps outlined in the wiki but still ran into trouble. Starting with a .blend file, I exported it into the DAE format with triangulated geometry. I can open the DAE in PCS2, but nothing appears in the model display screen. Furthermore, when I attempt to save the file as a .pof, the entire program crashes. I get the infamous "PCS2 has encountered a problem and needs to close" and then it's all over. I don't make any modifications to the DAE model whatsoever before saving it as a .pof, so I'm really not sure what the problem is here. Any help would be greatly appreciated!

1. I still forget about this one from time to time. go into blender and select your the geometry that is supposed to be the main model.  in panel view (defaults along the bottom of the screen in 2.49 and I believe on the right in 2.5) check the name of the object with the panel view in F9 mode, all levels of detail geometry need to have detail# (replace # with the number starting from 0 with 0 = LOD1).

2.  if that is all good then make sure you are using version 1.4 of collada in blender 2.49, I have never gotten 2.5's collada exporter to work with PCS2 but that in itself don't always mean a lot

Thanks headdie! This seemed to resolve half the problem. I can now save the model as a .pof, but the mesh still doesn't show in PCS2's display screen. It's also invisible in FRED and in-game. I tried scaling the model to different sizes but to no effect. Not sure how to proceed...