[The E]

It's truespace (or more exactly, .cob) being utter crap. The only way to get around it is to save as .dae.

[Starman01]

Well, I know that truespace is crappy in that point. but still I mastered that programm after many years, and I don't have the time and energy to learn a new program.

I tell you my problem, maybe you can show me a different way :

In order to bring models into mechcommander, I have to make a few steps :

first I save a truespace cob. But the UV-Coordinates created there, are somehow wrong. So I open in PCS, simply resave as cob, then the UV-Coordinates are fine. Then I open in 3d-Explorer and change the filetype to 3ds.

The thing is, to get my file from truespace into 3ds with correct UV-Coordinates. How to save as *.dae in PCS ? There is no option for it

The gag is, I could change the smooth thing in Truespace again with one simple mouseclick, but then I will save a wrong UV-Cob again

[The E]

Get a recent pcs2 build from here: http://www.cse.unsw.edu.au/~samm/pcs2.7z
You will also need these dlls, place them in the same folder as the pcs2 exe: http://www.cse.unsw.edu.au/~samm/dlls.7z

[Starman01]

And Max is importing *dae ? I'm still using an older version, No. 8 I think. 

[The E]

I have no idea.

[Starman01]

Hm, doesn't seem to work anyway. The new PCS I just downloaded starts, but is crashing immediately when I try to open a cob file 

[PeterX]

Hi all,
I have the problem that,I got the model in to the PCSS2.0.3 as in 2.1 but if i want to save it then i got to read the error message "Array out of bounds!"
Has anyone an idea?
Peter

[Nyctaeus]

Hi all,
I have the problem that,I got the model in to the PCSS2.0.3 as in 2.1 but if i want to save it then i got to read the error message "Array out of bounds!"
Has anyone an idea?
Peter

Data -> Purge BSP Cache

[PeterX]

May be toooooo many polygons? I try it with a low poly first. or can this cache  has been defined ?
Peter

[BlasterNT]

Hi.  3 questions:  What settings and such do I use to export .dae files from 3ds Max 2012 for import into PCS 2?  I've been following http://www.hard-light.net/forums/index.php?topic=63643.0 as a guide so far, but the ColladaMax OSS plugin is out of date, and the newest version does not work with Max 2012.  There is a Collada exporter built into Max, but I'm not sure what settings to use, and when I try to export, it states that nulls are not supported in the Collada format (I'm using helper dummies to position weapon points, like it says to do in the guide).  When I tried to import that into PCS 2, the models do not show up, even though it states the number of faces and everything the subobjects have. 

Also, when I reset Xforms, should I collapse the xform modifier that appears?

Finally, to save time, I cloned nulls and resized them when doing thrusterpoints.  But after reset xforms, they reverted to their original size.  How do I preserve their sizes after a reset xform? 

Thanks

[Droid803]

use OpenCollada.
The Autodesk Collada native to Max does not work.
If OpenCollada doesn't work with 2012, then...well, too bad? Export to FBX (for 2009), and I can convert it fo- wait, no I'm not volunteering to do that. Dangerous. Phew close.

Collapsing the reset X-Form is not necessary.

Before you reset any xforms, make sure nothing is parented to anything (break all links). Only set up hierarchy after resetting X-Form. That should prevent things from being resized/moved/rotated by reset xform (and saving a lot of RAEG).

[zookeeper]

Hi.  3 questions:  What settings and such do I use to export .dae files from 3ds Max 2012 for import into PCS 2?  I've been following http://www.hard-light.net/forums/index.php?topic=63643.0 as a guide so far, but the ColladaMax OSS plugin is out of date, and the newest version does not work with Max 2012.  There is a Collada exporter built into Max, but I'm not sure what settings to use, and when I try to export, it states that nulls are not supported in the Collada format (I'm using helper dummies to position weapon points, like it says to do in the guide).  When I tried to import that into PCS 2, the models do not show up, even though it states the number of faces and everything the subobjects have.

The built-in exporter can't do the job; I'm afraid you'll need to first export to another app (for example, an earlier version of Max) and then export to .dae from there.

I don't know if there's a workaround, but I didn't find one myself. Of course, weapon points, thrusters and such don't need to be dummies, so you could try doing them as boxes or spheres. I use spheres myself for everything that can have a radius, since then I can setup the radii in Max without having to do it in PCS2 (however, it requires you to take note of the scaling thing explained below).

Also, when I reset Xforms, should I collapse the xform modifier that appears?

Well, I always do. It needs to be collapsed at some point, and the exporter probably does it if you don't, but I see no reason not to, as you can't revert the reset by deleting the modifier anyway.

Finally, to save time, I cloned nulls and resized them when doing thrusterpoints.  But after reset xforms, they reverted to their original size.  How do I preserve their sizes after a reset xform?

Actually, you don't need to reset XForm on subsystem/thruster dummies: when imported to PCS2, an unscaled dummy will result in you getting an orb with a radius of 1m, and a dummy scaled 200% will get you 2m, and so on. AFAIK the physical size of the dummy doesn't matter, only the scaling factor.

So, if you want to setup a thruster/subsystem orb radius in Max, all you need to do is create a sphere with a radius of 1m and then scale that up or down until it's the size you want. If you don't reset its XForm, it should show up in PCS2 having the exact same size. Unless I forgot something, that is.

[Droid803]

You can just adjust the orb radius in PCS2 anyway. Just make sure its placed right.
Faster that way IMO.

Then again, this is coming from the guy that places all POF data in PCS2.

[zookeeper]

I posted a script which I use for scaling thrusters, subsystems and docking bay paths. Maybe you want to use it, maybe not.

You can just adjust the orb radius in PCS2 anyway. Just make sure its placed right.
Faster that way IMO.

Then again, this is coming from the guy that places all POF data in PCS2.

Yeah, I on the other hand very much prefer to setup everything possible in Max; in fact, my workflow in PCS2 nowadays is: import the .dae -> calculate MOI -> export the .pof. Docking paths, subsystems, LODs, detail boxes, weapon points, turrets, eyepoint etc, all doable in Max nowadays (of which I am ever so grateful to Wanderer and Spicious, and anyone else who's helped achieve that).

[BlasterNT]

Thanks for all the advice!  I'm going to try and get the OpenCollada plugin again.  Meanwhile, I tried exporting the Max model to Blender to see if I could do anything there, using .obj, but a couple of issues popped up there-first of all, it appeared as if the only texture image being transferred was the normal map, being displayed as the diffuse map.  I suspect that this is a result of using .obj, but would other formats work any better? 

Edit:  Well, I got the object sucessfully imported into Blender by bypassing Max entirely and importing from 3d coat (sigh, time to rerig), but I'm wondering where to put the textures so that they'll load into PCS 2.  I assume the data/maps directory?  Would I have to change the location of the textures in Blender?  Again, thanks for all the help. 

[bobbtmann]

Hi! Does anyone know if anything came from this, or if there's a solution? I've got an intel graphics card so pcs2 crashes every time I click on anything. I'm trying to rig a ship in 3ds max, which would circumvent the need for editing in PCS2. But it still means I have no idea if the conversion works.

http://www.hard-light.net/forums/index.php?topic=65680.msg1294984#msg1294984

[z64555]

What's a good method to apply a multi-texture to an object (so that PCS2 can actually see the mesh)?

I've used the search function have found anything right away. Hopefully I can get to do some more digging in the forums tomorrow... (no internet at home =  )

[pecenipicek]

I posted a script which I use for scaling thrusters, subsystems and docking bay paths. Maybe you want to use it, maybe not.

You can just adjust the orb radius in PCS2 anyway. Just make sure its placed right.
Faster that way IMO.

Then again, this is coming from the guy that places all POF data in PCS2.

Yeah, I on the other hand very much prefer to setup everything possible in Max; in fact, my workflow in PCS2 nowadays is: import the .dae -> calculate MOI -> export the .pof. Docking paths, subsystems, LODs, detail boxes, weapon points, turrets, eyepoint etc, all doable in Max nowadays (of which I am ever so grateful to Wanderer and Spicious, and anyone else who's helped achieve that).

pretty much the same workflow, only in Cinema4D in my case.

[z64555]

I managed to get a multi-texture material into PCS2 (as per http://www.republicofcode.com/tutorials/3ds/texture_stealth/), but it only shows one of the textures...

[The E]

There's a very strict rule for models in FSO (and, by extension, PCS2). That rule is one (1) texture per submodel. A "Texture", in this case, means the diffuse, normal, glow and shine maps.