Plan for David "Fulcrum" Wyand
by David Wyand · 11/21/2003 (9:18 am) · 12 comments
Greetings!
Well, it certainly has been a long time since I've posted on the GarageGames' site, and I've realized that I've never created a plan. It's about time I rectify both situations.
So, where the heck have you been?
This past half-year, my day-job as a telecommunications network management consultant has been extremely busy. Given the current state of the industry, it's great to be working! With the client handholding and trips down to Denver, CO, it's hard to have the time or energy to do much else.
During this time, something else has occurred: We've had our first child, a baby boy. Wow, what a life changer! These first few months of his life have been a whirlwind, but I wouldn't change it for anything. Corny, I know...but true none-the-less.
So, with both of those events happening simultaneously, I've had to drop out of the gaming world. I apologize to those that wrote me email and I wasn't able to get back to you.
LightWave DTS Exporter
It sure has been a long time since I released a new version of the LightWave DTS exporter...even longer for the Mac. Well, I hope to change all this in the near future.
I have been able to put in a little time here and there even with everything else happening around here, and have managed to add some significant new features. Here's a screen capture of the latest animation interface:
Some of you will be quite excited to see the new Triggers tab. Just as you'd expect, you are now able to add triggers to your animation sequences. Here come the footsteps! And under the Objects animation tab you're able to setup visibility animations (controlled by an object's dissolve parameter in LightWave).
The final piece I'm working on are IFL Material animations (which will eventually find their way under the Materials tab). To date, this is not fully functional, and may not make it into the next release. Once this last piece is complete, the LightWave DTS exporter will be a well-rounded solution for bone (node) -based animation.
Future Support
I've realized that when I was away from the game scene and people had questions about the LW exporter and were not able to reach me, there really wasn't a centralized place for them to go. Sure, there are the GG forums, but then your requests get mixed in with the rest of the 3D/modeling tools pot.
So, to help remedy this, I'm adding forums to the Gnometech.com site as an experiment. Hopefully this will allow those with questions and the answers to come together. I'll open up the new forums when I release the next version of the exporter.
Near-term Roadmap
Here's what'll happen over the next few weeks:
- Release a new version of the exporter for Windows
- Release a new version of the exporter for the Mac - this very much depends on the availability and willingness of my Mac developer contact
- Release new documentation and sample LW scenes
- Update the Gnometech.com web site, including new support forums
That's certainly enough to accomplish in the near future. After that's complete, I'll be evaluating the possibility of some commercial Torque tools...but that'll have to wait for another plan. :o)
- LightWave Dave
Well, it certainly has been a long time since I've posted on the GarageGames' site, and I've realized that I've never created a plan. It's about time I rectify both situations.
So, where the heck have you been?
This past half-year, my day-job as a telecommunications network management consultant has been extremely busy. Given the current state of the industry, it's great to be working! With the client handholding and trips down to Denver, CO, it's hard to have the time or energy to do much else.
During this time, something else has occurred: We've had our first child, a baby boy. Wow, what a life changer! These first few months of his life have been a whirlwind, but I wouldn't change it for anything. Corny, I know...but true none-the-less.
So, with both of those events happening simultaneously, I've had to drop out of the gaming world. I apologize to those that wrote me email and I wasn't able to get back to you.
LightWave DTS Exporter
It sure has been a long time since I released a new version of the LightWave DTS exporter...even longer for the Mac. Well, I hope to change all this in the near future.
I have been able to put in a little time here and there even with everything else happening around here, and have managed to add some significant new features. Here's a screen capture of the latest animation interface:
Some of you will be quite excited to see the new Triggers tab. Just as you'd expect, you are now able to add triggers to your animation sequences. Here come the footsteps! And under the Objects animation tab you're able to setup visibility animations (controlled by an object's dissolve parameter in LightWave).
The final piece I'm working on are IFL Material animations (which will eventually find their way under the Materials tab). To date, this is not fully functional, and may not make it into the next release. Once this last piece is complete, the LightWave DTS exporter will be a well-rounded solution for bone (node) -based animation.
Future Support
I've realized that when I was away from the game scene and people had questions about the LW exporter and were not able to reach me, there really wasn't a centralized place for them to go. Sure, there are the GG forums, but then your requests get mixed in with the rest of the 3D/modeling tools pot.
So, to help remedy this, I'm adding forums to the Gnometech.com site as an experiment. Hopefully this will allow those with questions and the answers to come together. I'll open up the new forums when I release the next version of the exporter.
Near-term Roadmap
Here's what'll happen over the next few weeks:
- Release a new version of the exporter for Windows
- Release a new version of the exporter for the Mac - this very much depends on the availability and willingness of my Mac developer contact
- Release new documentation and sample LW scenes
- Update the Gnometech.com web site, including new support forums
That's certainly enough to accomplish in the near future. After that's complete, I'll be evaluating the possibility of some commercial Torque tools...but that'll have to wait for another plan. :o)
- LightWave Dave
About the author
A long time Associate of the GarageGames' community and author of the Torque 3D Game Development Cookbook. Buy it today from Packt Publishing!
#2
Triggers and IFL support sound awesome.
Question about the last beta release.
I have a player with armthreads and death animations.
I export the .dsq's and everything is fine. Sometimes however the death animation plays with the ArmThread taking precedence so what you see is the head and arms stay in Armthread position during the death animation while the rest of the body goes into the death animation. Is this a bug? Am I doing something wrong?
Thanks Coz
BTW I will post this in your forums when you have them set up, if you don't see this post.
11/21/2003 (12:52 pm)
Dave Congrats!!! We missed you.Triggers and IFL support sound awesome.
Question about the last beta release.
I have a player with armthreads and death animations.
I export the .dsq's and everything is fine. Sometimes however the death animation plays with the ArmThread taking precedence so what you see is the head and arms stay in Armthread position during the death animation while the rest of the body goes into the death animation. Is this a bug? Am I doing something wrong?
Thanks Coz
BTW I will post this in your forums when you have them set up, if you don't see this post.
#3
We had our first child a month ago (boy also)... life changing indeed :)
It's good to see you getting back into things, and I'm definitely looking forward to the next version of the exporter... Your work is well appreciated!
11/22/2003 (5:01 am)
Congrats Dave!We had our first child a month ago (boy also)... life changing indeed :)
It's good to see you getting back into things, and I'm definitely looking forward to the next version of the exporter... Your work is well appreciated!
#4
Congratulations on your newborn :)
Im really curious about those material things in the exporter.
In my game im really need a ghost-like guy, and the subtractive orc guy looks ok for this. How its possible to make similar with the exporer ?
.
Im so shy to ask, but what is "triggers" in the sooncoming exporter ?
Excuse me, im a lame graphician only ;)
11/22/2003 (7:39 am)
Welcome back David.Congratulations on your newborn :)
Im really curious about those material things in the exporter.
In my game im really need a ghost-like guy, and the subtractive orc guy looks ok for this. How its possible to make similar with the exporer ?
.
Im so shy to ask, but what is "triggers" in the sooncoming exporter ?
Excuse me, im a lame graphician only ;)
#5
11/22/2003 (7:59 am)
@Gabor a Trigger is used by the engine for your player to leave footprint and make the walking sound. Atleast that is what I learned from the threads.
#6
Thank-you for the 'congrats' everyone!
@Eric:
It's good to hear that you're still using the exporter for Trajectory Zone. Perhaps I need to setup a section at Gnometech.com to list what projects are making use of the exporter with links to the project sites.
@Michael:
I noticed you posted your question in the ever-growing LW exporter thread here at GG, so I'll work with you on your issue there.
@Kevin:
Hey, congrats to you too! Look for an email from me in the near future...
@Gabor:
The exporter supports all of the material properties that the TGE allows. Here's a picture of the various properties:
To get the same effect, you'll want to check out the Using Surfaces section of the documentation. Essentially, you'll need to add the TorqueDTS_MaterialAttributes shader to the surface you'd like to change the transparency on. Then, open its interface and choose additive or subtractive. That should be it!
Of course, if you want varying amounts of transparency, you'll want to make sure you apply an image to the surface that contains an alpha channel.
I hope that helps!
- LightWave Dave
11/25/2003 (9:22 am)
Greetings!Thank-you for the 'congrats' everyone!
@Eric:
It's good to hear that you're still using the exporter for Trajectory Zone. Perhaps I need to setup a section at Gnometech.com to list what projects are making use of the exporter with links to the project sites.
@Michael:
I noticed you posted your question in the ever-growing LW exporter thread here at GG, so I'll work with you on your issue there.
@Kevin:
Hey, congrats to you too! Look for an email from me in the near future...
@Gabor:
The exporter supports all of the material properties that the TGE allows. Here's a picture of the various properties:
To get the same effect, you'll want to check out the Using Surfaces section of the documentation. Essentially, you'll need to add the TorqueDTS_MaterialAttributes shader to the surface you'd like to change the transparency on. Then, open its interface and choose additive or subtractive. That should be it!
Of course, if you want varying amounts of transparency, you'll want to make sure you apply an image to the surface that contains an alpha channel.
I hope that helps!
- LightWave Dave
#7
I had just about given up on you and was about to start my own LW exporter. :) Though I haven't had much time to devote to Torque as of late, work has also kept me busy.
I'm glad to hear you're working on it. It's nearly there; Add in triggers and fix some issues with Torque's engine expecting certain things in the .dts files, and this will be a rock-solid plugin. Plus, it is about a million times easier to use than Torque's native 3Ds Max exporter.
I am eager to help you in anyway I can. I've been able to confirm one bug with the exporter and Torque. While my info is a few month's out of date, I can collect data on it and make sure the latest HEAD hasn't changed things.
11/29/2003 (10:26 pm)
Hey, while it's un-cool that life has kept you busy, it's great to hear you've got a new addition to the family!I had just about given up on you and was about to start my own LW exporter. :) Though I haven't had much time to devote to Torque as of late, work has also kept me busy.
I'm glad to hear you're working on it. It's nearly there; Add in triggers and fix some issues with Torque's engine expecting certain things in the .dts files, and this will be a rock-solid plugin. Plus, it is about a million times easier to use than Torque's native 3Ds Max exporter.
I am eager to help you in anyway I can. I've been able to confirm one bug with the exporter and Torque. While my info is a few month's out of date, I can collect data on it and make sure the latest HEAD hasn't changed things.
#8
As im just browsed the older LW releated topics im found an iteresting thread
http://www.garagegames.com/mg/forums/result.thread.php?qt=7711
where you are said about a "theoretically" LW2DIF addition or standalone LW plug. In the last few month our biggest problem was tricky trip on "how to get DIF from LW", but we are still failed But believe me, we are take a very BIG circle around the topic, nearly all the programs available. !
So, i think its would be (not would, it already is) a MUST to
get it to every LW user.
My question is that, -as now are you back to the TGE scene- is there any plans or maybe a working prototype on it ? :)
12/02/2003 (4:56 pm)
Hello David.As im just browsed the older LW releated topics im found an iteresting thread
http://www.garagegames.com/mg/forums/result.thread.php?qt=7711
where you are said about a "theoretically" LW2DIF addition or standalone LW plug. In the last few month our biggest problem was tricky trip on "how to get DIF from LW", but we are still failed But believe me, we are take a very BIG circle around the topic, nearly all the programs available. !
So, i think its would be (not would, it already is) a MUST to
get it to every LW user.
My question is that, -as now are you back to the TGE scene- is there any plans or maybe a working prototype on it ? :)
#9
I made an animated DTS (non player, only an environmental object, without bones), and the
original modell have an environment mapping on it. On the converted animating file there arent any, its looks like env mapping not working on animated DTS. Maybe i did something wrong, but i dont think so.. :) Is there something special in the conversion method if i use env map on them ?
(surface reflection is 50% of course on the object and the png have an alpha channel with 256x256 size, if i converting a non-animated version from the bject its working well with env map, and its disappearing if its animated.)
12/03/2003 (8:24 am)
Another day, another question.I made an animated DTS (non player, only an environmental object, without bones), and the
original modell have an environment mapping on it. On the converted animating file there arent any, its looks like env mapping not working on animated DTS. Maybe i did something wrong, but i dont think so.. :) Is there something special in the conversion method if i use env map on them ?
(surface reflection is 50% of course on the object and the png have an alpha channel with 256x256 size, if i converting a non-animated version from the bject its working well with env map, and its disappearing if its animated.)
#10
David Grace:
Please pass along any bugs you've found. Is there something else other than the GroundFrames issue you've pointed out in the exporter thread?
Gabor:
A LW2DIF exporter would certainly be a large project. I thought I'd seen a LW2MAP exporter floating around on the net, although it wasn't Torque specific.
The main problem is that LightWave isn't setup to handle the type of structure that a DIF (or MAP) is expecting. While it should be possible to build a LW2DIF program, I don't feel the end result would be as optimized as if the DIF were built in Quark et al.
The short of it is that I don't feel I have time at the moment to even investigate such a tool.
Now, as for your problem with an environment mapped, animated object, I can't think of why it would work as a static and not when animated. Would it be possible for you to send me your LW object and scene file?
- LightWave Dave
12/10/2003 (2:51 pm)
Greetings!David Grace:
Please pass along any bugs you've found. Is there something else other than the GroundFrames issue you've pointed out in the exporter thread?
Gabor:
A LW2DIF exporter would certainly be a large project. I thought I'd seen a LW2MAP exporter floating around on the net, although it wasn't Torque specific.
The main problem is that LightWave isn't setup to handle the type of structure that a DIF (or MAP) is expecting. While it should be possible to build a LW2DIF program, I don't feel the end result would be as optimized as if the DIF were built in Quark et al.
The short of it is that I don't feel I have time at the moment to even investigate such a tool.
Now, as for your problem with an environment mapped, animated object, I can't think of why it would work as a static and not when animated. Would it be possible for you to send me your LW object and scene file?
- LightWave Dave
#11
The LW2MAP exporter is a commercial stuff, its 50 bucks, but if its working then its cheaper than cheap :)
The link for the plugin is here : http://www.greenbriarstudio.com/3D/GameLW.htm
Anybody have got experiences with this exporter ?
I think thats necessary to work out a LW->DIF workflow. Ok, no DIF exporter directly, but
with David Matthews` exporter theoretically its possible right now.
02/08/2004 (7:00 am)
Hello and welcome.The LW2MAP exporter is a commercial stuff, its 50 bucks, but if its working then its cheaper than cheap :)
The link for the plugin is here : http://www.greenbriarstudio.com/3D/GameLW.htm
Anybody have got experiences with this exporter ?
I think thats necessary to work out a LW->DIF workflow. Ok, no DIF exporter directly, but
with David Matthews` exporter theoretically its possible right now.
#12
For simple shapes it works great, but setting up a complex scene can get really messy with a lot of errors exporting, and you would wind up fixing in in quark or whatever anyway.
There is a thread or two around in the forums that have more info on it.
03/07/2004 (2:31 pm)
I purchased the LW-Map plugin a few months ago. It works better then I expected it to, but imo not good enough for prime time use. For simple shapes it works great, but setting up a complex scene can get really messy with a lot of errors exporting, and you would wind up fixing in in quark or whatever anyway.
There is a thread or two around in the forums that have more info on it.
Torque 3D Owner Eric Forhan
Good to hear there's further work on the exporter coming. Without it, Trajectory Zone could not have been made.
Good luck with everything!
-Eric F