New level editing tool from GreenBriar Studio

#21 Sorry I was posting the most interesting and relevant parts of the email.

Also not having everyone know me by first name is something I very much enjoy.

Specifically those related to torque, I should have mentioned that it was an excerpt and not the entire email.

Ok following the manual I have now attempted to do a poser import and have the Poser path, correctly configured.

However importing my own Poser files causes the following oddness, and I do not see anything about it in the manual.

"Locate GetStringRes(1029,40)"
With a popup file finder box.

What is this asking me for?

I assumed it's asking me where the textures are located at, however that should be completely irrelevant since the file is a .pzz

#22 Another update...
This program does a beautiful job of importing .3ds files as well as 3D Game Studio Files, this is nice since much of our content was developed using Max and Conitecs 3dgs.

He seems to be VERY fast at turning around answers to questions.
I have pestered him at least 10 times in the past 3-4 hours, and always seem to get a response pretty quick. Furthermore he is active here in the forums.

I see this as a very good thing.


Now if we can give this guy some support and help him get his Torque support going strong, I think we will be in business.

#23 GetStringRes(x,x) is Poser internal reference to a string table, usually for language support. This has always been a problem for me, since where in the cr2 or scene file there should be a path and name of an obj file for the geometry, there is this GetStringRes instead. This is mostly used for some of the older included content - skeleton, etc. You can patch these in a cr2 file if you know what the geometry should be.

The new P5 Don & Judy, P4 base figures, DAZ models and all 3rd party models include the object file names. This is only an issue with some of the older Poser included content. Poser pulls the correct obj file name from an internal table. They declined to let me have a copy.


3Ds import was added at the request of a user.


This is my pet project. I had about two years worth of plugin code sitting around, mostly for LW (I finally got my name credited in the new LW8 about box as a contributing programmer for the new morph animation system) and decided there was a lot I wanted to do that required control over the core code, like supporting game style UVs real time in addition to regular uvs, true multi windowing, dual monitor support, things I have always missed in other programs.

An entire 3D editor is a lot of work, and I know if will be constantly evolving. I aimed at two targets - Poser content creators and game level designers and animators, but I'm always interested in new uses. There is a lot of specialized tools/abilities built in that I don't think exist elsewhere. The only game system that is fully supported right now is 3DGS. Torque is in the works and hopefully the export side will be finished soon. (3DGS tools include import and export of their level, terrain and animated model formats.)

I'm happy and willing to add in specialized features for anyone who is willing to work with me and help test and get them working. Some things just take longer than others.

David

#24 Hehe, ya better get that animated torque .dts exporter working good soon. All of my Poser Models are either based off from Don or Judy, taking Poser Models and importing it to Torque would be like the holy grail for my content creators.

In the meantime I'm sure the community at large would be glad to help you get Torque support going. It's gotta be easier than than getting 3DGS support.

Meanwhile, I've got a lot of exporting to try.

p.s. Rule #1 with this program... NEVER double click anything. Especially in the settings box :)

#25 Please send me a new email address, your hotmail is failing even on a short message with no pictures.

I used the dts static export (which has been finished, it exports any number of objects as a static dts file. The animation is what is not finished) to see how big a model dts and torque will accepts. 2,200 points and less works, 14,000 and up fails and I'm trying to find some models to narrow the gap.

I have pics of all the models in Torque but can't get them to you.

David

#26 Not trying to hijack this thread but I'm curious and I think this has some relevance. I've read in other forums that exporting Poser models to other applications (games) is a no-no. The models are intended for static scene rendering. Can someone authoritatively comment on this?

@David; thanks for sending the demo. Very impressive!

#27 Two issues I'm aware of with Poser models

- techniacal - they have to be converted to a texturing and animation method that the game can use and most game engines can't handle models with a high poly count even after conversion

- ownership - most Poser models are sold allowing you to use the images (still or animation) commercially that you generate with the models, but not redistribute the actual model. So if the model is going to be distributed with a commercial game (as opposed to your own home fun game) you would have to negotiate and get a license to redistribute each base model you are working with. Using morphs you can make a lot of different characters from a single model these days. So you could license one good model and make your own variations.

Very good point to bring up - it is not legal to re-distribute actual meshes. If you bought the right to use the model, you can use it in any system you like, but just because you converted it to a new format you still don't have re-distribution/re-sale rights without getting them explicitely from the mesh owner.

David

#28 Right, but poser also allows you to completely create your own from scratch. Also we have a bunch of poser content, that we have bought with the explicit mention to the original author that it would be used for game creation. So using it from a legal sense is all taken care of.

Now what we need to do is get the technical aspects taken care of.

#29 Sounds like your on the ball!
I thought it was food to answer the post since he is right - if you have content that came with Poser or DAZ models, etc, you can't just export them and sell them with a game.

David

#30 Hehe I'm always on the ball, when developing anything for general distribution, always remember SCO's law. If anyone can sue you, they will. And even if they can't they someone will probably try.

#31 Whats the latest status on this tool? I am trying to decide whether to use Toolbox or CS, but this looks like a lot more bang for my buck,

If it actually works, it would be a big win for us IMHO....

Jay