DTS Exporter not working
by Tom Petrus · in Artist Corner · 02/24/2006 (8:45 am) · 6 replies
< Here is an off topic hint: When making a post and you see the line "Notify me at 'email@email.com' when new replies are posted. (edit email address)" DON'T click edit - you will loose the entire post you made and no browser back button will get it back for you! Dog Gummit! That's how they get you. >
Severely frustrated I will try to explain my issue and process in an articulate manner... I can not export any textures...
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A few days ago I attempted to export a simple model from Blender to a DTS format and found that the Torque export function was missing from the Export menu within Blender.
That seemed strange as it had worked well for some time and I had not made any system changes that I could think of. The script files seemed to still be in place.
I checked GarageGames for some help and noticed a new version of the exporter. I decided to upgrade blender and the plugin since I had some downtime anyway.
I installed Blender 2.41 and it wasn't finding Python. I uninstalled blender and Python. I obtained the new version of Python (ver2.4). I installed Python, then Blender , tested - all OK.
I installed the DTS exporter 90 and opened Blender. No Torque option on the Export menu. All script files seemed to be in the proper place but I manually copied and overwrote the files anyway. Still no export option.
I created and played with the PYTHONPATH variable mention on garage games DTS exporter page -> http://www.garagegames.com/index.php?sec=mg&mod=resource&page=view&qid=4662 <- folowing the instructions referenced there -> http://download.blender.org/documentation/html/c6787.html
Still no export functon listed.
I opened the file "Bpymenus" located in the .blender directory and added the following line. I obtained the information to enter from the "Dts_Blender.py" file.
'Torque Shape (.dts)...' 240 Dts_Blender.py 0 'Export to Torque (.dts) format.'
(I placed this line between 'SoftImage XSI (.xsi)...' and 'TrueSpace (.cob)...' so the list would be alphabetical. :P )
Woohoo! The Torque exporter is listed in Blender and I can now export geometry but it is not exporting any textures or texture information. Aaaargh! (I didn't try to export any animations yet as that mat push me right over the edge. :P )
I can export from Blender to other file types and open those files in other 3D modeling aplications with the expected results.
At this point I have Pyhon 2.4, Blender 2.41 and DTS Exporter 90. ( I also tried ver 091RC2 of the exporter and had the exact same results.)
Is there anyone willing to share some wisdom with a frustrated fool? Should I take an electro-magnet to my PC and go buy some play-dough to model with?
Severely frustrated I will try to explain my issue and process in an articulate manner... I can not export any textures...
------
A few days ago I attempted to export a simple model from Blender to a DTS format and found that the Torque export function was missing from the Export menu within Blender.
That seemed strange as it had worked well for some time and I had not made any system changes that I could think of. The script files seemed to still be in place.
I checked GarageGames for some help and noticed a new version of the exporter. I decided to upgrade blender and the plugin since I had some downtime anyway.
I installed Blender 2.41 and it wasn't finding Python. I uninstalled blender and Python. I obtained the new version of Python (ver2.4). I installed Python, then Blender , tested - all OK.
I installed the DTS exporter 90 and opened Blender. No Torque option on the Export menu. All script files seemed to be in the proper place but I manually copied and overwrote the files anyway. Still no export option.
I created and played with the PYTHONPATH variable mention on garage games DTS exporter page -> http://www.garagegames.com/index.php?sec=mg&mod=resource&page=view&qid=4662 <- folowing the instructions referenced there -> http://download.blender.org/documentation/html/c6787.html
Still no export functon listed.
I opened the file "Bpymenus" located in the .blender directory and added the following line. I obtained the information to enter from the "Dts_Blender.py" file.
'Torque Shape (.dts)...' 240 Dts_Blender.py 0 'Export to Torque (.dts) format.'
(I placed this line between 'SoftImage XSI (.xsi)...' and 'TrueSpace (.cob)...' so the list would be alphabetical. :P )
Woohoo! The Torque exporter is listed in Blender and I can now export geometry but it is not exporting any textures or texture information. Aaaargh! (I didn't try to export any animations yet as that mat push me right over the edge. :P )
I can export from Blender to other file types and open those files in other 3D modeling aplications with the expected results.
At this point I have Pyhon 2.4, Blender 2.41 and DTS Exporter 90. ( I also tried ver 091RC2 of the exporter and had the exact same results.)
Is there anyone willing to share some wisdom with a frustrated fool? Should I take an electro-magnet to my PC and go buy some play-dough to model with?
About the author
#2
Try following this tut down step by step -- a lot of the traps are detailed in there:
www.lowpolycoop.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=180
Try the two things that Joseph listed. Those are the most common problems, but there are thre or four other things that have tripped me up in the past too.
Scott
02/24/2006 (10:11 am)
Hi Tom,Try following this tut down step by step -- a lot of the traps are detailed in there:
www.lowpolycoop.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=180
Try the two things that Joseph listed. Those are the most common problems, but there are thre or four other things that have tripped me up in the past too.
Scott
#3
Now to the meat of the issue...
1. Are you sure that your textures are power of 2 sized? Being off by even one pixel can cause them not to show up in showtool and TGE sometimes.
- I had used the same texture file in the past without an issue. To be certain I opened the file in Paint Shop Pro to verify the properties. The file is a 128x128 png file.
2. Are you sure that your material is named the same as your texture (sans extension)?
- hmmm... I originally left the texture named 'tex' and the material named 'material'. I had renamed the texture to the name of my texture file 'testbox.png'. That didn't help. I then renamed my material to the name of the file as well and now I see my texture in ShowTool.
I am left with just a few questions. . . (Sorry, if these are stupid questions, My brain hurts... )
- I don't remember matching up my tex/mat names in the past, is this new in this plugin version?
- You are saying that my material and texture need to have the exact same name and extension?
- Does the name I use for the material and texture have to be the same as the actual image file?
In other words, if I use the image file "testbox.png" my texture name would have to be "testbox.png" and the material that is the textures parent in the Outliner view have to be "textbox.png"
- Oh, and maybe off topic, sometimes an export of a model creates a .mtl file and sometimes it doesn't. I'm kinda new to Torque modeling (Like you haven't noticed.) I had assumed this is a material file by the extension.
For testing the 'fix' I made a simple cube with one texture and just applied the UV to the entire object - no texture mapping on my part - and it did not make the mtl file. I guess it really doesn't matter much to me as long as the models work but I was curious about the file type mtl - when are they created and how/when to use them/how they work.
Are there any resources I could be pointed to that might help me better understand? If my question even makes sense... again, my brain hurts... :P
EDIT: Scott posted while I was typing this long winded TY and reply to Joseph.
I'll check out the link from Scott to see if it answers my Torque 101 questions :P
Thank you guys! I am impressed by the quick, friendly and informative responses! (I have gotten blasted for asking 'stupid' questions on other internet forums and was nervous about asking for help.) Thank you!!!!
02/24/2006 (10:32 am)
Wow, thanks for the quick reply! Yeah, it is very strange to me why the exporter is not showing up on its own - I actually installed it on a different PC and had the same issue. It hasn't been my week (year) :P Now to the meat of the issue...
1. Are you sure that your textures are power of 2 sized? Being off by even one pixel can cause them not to show up in showtool and TGE sometimes.
- I had used the same texture file in the past without an issue. To be certain I opened the file in Paint Shop Pro to verify the properties. The file is a 128x128 png file.
2. Are you sure that your material is named the same as your texture (sans extension)?
- hmmm... I originally left the texture named 'tex' and the material named 'material'. I had renamed the texture to the name of my texture file 'testbox.png'. That didn't help. I then renamed my material to the name of the file as well and now I see my texture in ShowTool.
I am left with just a few questions. . . (Sorry, if these are stupid questions, My brain hurts... )
- I don't remember matching up my tex/mat names in the past, is this new in this plugin version?
- You are saying that my material and texture need to have the exact same name and extension?
- Does the name I use for the material and texture have to be the same as the actual image file?
In other words, if I use the image file "testbox.png" my texture name would have to be "testbox.png" and the material that is the textures parent in the Outliner view have to be "textbox.png"
- Oh, and maybe off topic, sometimes an export of a model creates a .mtl file and sometimes it doesn't. I'm kinda new to Torque modeling (Like you haven't noticed.) I had assumed this is a material file by the extension.
For testing the 'fix' I made a simple cube with one texture and just applied the UV to the entire object - no texture mapping on my part - and it did not make the mtl file. I guess it really doesn't matter much to me as long as the models work but I was curious about the file type mtl - when are they created and how/when to use them/how they work.
Are there any resources I could be pointed to that might help me better understand? If my question even makes sense... again, my brain hurts... :P
EDIT: Scott posted while I was typing this long winded TY and reply to Joseph.
I'll check out the link from Scott to see if it answers my Torque 101 questions :P
Thank you guys! I am impressed by the quick, friendly and informative responses! (I have gotten blasted for asking 'stupid' questions on other internet forums and was nervous about asking for help.) Thank you!!!!
#4
From my experience, the .mtl file is a material file that exports when you create an .obj file. I have not seen it in relationship to any torque files but that's just me probably.
Scott
02/24/2006 (10:39 am)
If your image file is named testbox.png, then your material in Blender should be called testbox. Make sure it is right next to your .dts file when you open it in the show tool.From my experience, the .mtl file is a material file that exports when you create an .obj file. I have not seen it in relationship to any torque files but that's just me probably.
Scott
#5
That must be why some of my DTS files have MTL files with them - I must have exported those blends as objs to test in another app.
This ordeal has me all confused but Scott hit the nail on the head with mtl - I will delete those now - my bad.
02/24/2006 (10:44 am)
Ah, OK. Makes sense. I was testing some models by exporting to other 3D apps. (To make sure Blender was OK when I was having issues.) That must be why some of my DTS files have MTL files with them - I must have exported those blends as objs to test in another app.
This ordeal has me all confused but Scott hit the nail on the head with mtl - I will delete those now - my bad.
Torque Owner Redacted