Plan for Matt Summers

Now that I have the official ok to post some information about the projects we've been working on here at Dark Industries, I figured its about time to let you folks know that we are still around and still working hard on exporters and other projects.

One of the projects we've been working on is the new 3DS Max 7 DTS exporter. This is a complete rewrite using the DTSSDK+ and includes a complete MaxScript utility that automates all of the DTS settings and features.

The Max 7 DTS utility is divided into separate managers that contain automation tools to help make the DTS setup process as easy as possible. The exporter UI is user resizeable with a built in minimize button that shrinks the UI to a tool bar size to free up screen space.


The UI can also be docked in any max view port and remembers its last size and screen location each time it is opened. There are also quick setup/quick export tools that let you literally export any simple object with one button click in the UI. We will be keeping the Max exporter up to date from this point on, and shortly after Max 8 comes out the exporter will be updated work with it.


Another long awaited update is on our progress with the XSI DTS exporter. The core exporter is feature complete and the exporter is compatible with both XSI 4.x and the newly released 5.0. I am now in the process of porting all of the automation tools from the new Max 7 exporter Utility to work with the Softimage XSI so that the feature set and work flow in both 3d apps will be as close as possible.

Shortly after IGC we will be releasing the beta of the free lite version of the XSI exporter, we are still working out what features will be available in the free version so I will post more information on that when it becomes available.

Also, upcoming builds of both the Max 8 and XSI 5 will be available in 64-bit versions. We are in the process of upgrading our operation systems and compilers to be able to support the 64-bit versions of these 3d tools as well the existing 32-bit versions.


Another project we've been working on is a complete website solution for Indie Game developers that has everything needed to create and edit a professional website for your game company. The website features a full content management system at allows you easily add any amount of content, news, forums, downloads, screen shots, blogs and many other features needed by game developers. I'll be posting more information about the Indy Game Sites CMS system in my next plan.


I finally got to take a vacation this year and a few weeks ago I got back from a road trip with my girl friend. We drove my Miata from Western Wisconsin to Yellow Stone National Park in Wyoming and back in about a week and a half and around 2500 miles round trip. Let me tell ya that is a long drive, but there is some amazing scenery along the way. Anyone who has never been there, go check it out, it is definitely worth the trip...

For anyone who is headed to IGC, Ill be there with the latest builds of both of the new exporters. If you flag me down and have any questions I'll be more than happy to answer them there.