File converters

#1 Wow thats a long route :)

For your first step a Lightwave --> Obj exporter is probably a good betsince Maya handles Obj natively and should keep smoothing groups, textures and grouping fine.

I haven't found a way from Maya to Max that keeps any skeletal information I don't think OBJ will export that information.

Now if there was a Maya to DTS exporter :) ....

Oh if your mesh is built in different parts in lightwave and it ends up as one mesh, try creating different groups for each part of the mesh.

Your only other option is splashing out a few hundred $$ on Polytrans which should do everything you need.

#2 try the easy way ;)

www.garagegames.com/index.php?sec=mg&mod=forums&page=result.thread&qt=5769

#3 http://www.thebeaverproject.com/html/free.html has lightwave importer there but it's only for versions 2.5 and 3.0 so there's a chance it might not work. No source so you can't recompile it for 4.0

#4 bah thats too easy ;)

#5 The Lightwave DTS exporter is ncomplete in a few critical ways that have caused our production pipeline to grind to a hault. One option is to wait for it to be updated, and we've been in contact with teh author about that, but it's gonna take time. So we're looking at other options. Bottom line is this... We can model and texture in LW just fine, but animations in it just aren't working in the exporter right. Now, we know how to animate in Maya and can get that done there. As for Max, we don't know how to use it at all. So we'd basically just going there for the exporter, not to actually do any work. So that's the long vesion of our problem. Waiting for the LW exporter to get fixed to our needs is one option, but we're being forced to look at others.

Incidentally, does obj file format really keep the UV data? I wasn't aware of this. What about say dfx format, old autocad I think it's from. Does it keep UV and/or animation data?

Minako

#6 Well i've exported many times from Maya OBJ to max and the UV's have been fine as have the smoothing groups and object groups.

I'm in the same problem here I use Maya to model, I can texture and animate fine in Maya. But I have to get someone to export them from Max for me which means losing any animations.

#7 There's no way to export from Maya to a format Max can read that still preserves animation data? No plugin for Maya to export a 3ds file or anything? Or any neutral file format that preserves all the data that both can read? Gotta be some way to do this. A maya to max file format converter would be easiest, but there's gotta be at least *some* way to do it. :(

Minako

#8 Maya has a 3DS importer but nothing the other way round that i've seen and i've been looking for one for quite some time now.

The easiest way would be a Maya to DTS exporter, a few people have started one but nothing more has been heard from them, which is a shame as their is quite a demand for one.

Obj was the best file format i found but it doesn't store animation, afaik DXF doesn't either, haven't tried it though.

#9 .OBJ and .3DS file formatsa save UV data, DXF does not.
As Steve mentioned before, Polytrans might be a solution.

www.okino.com

#10 What's polytrans?

#11 Polytrans is as Joe said available from www.okino.com costing anywhere up to $800 for a copy. It's a file format convertor between lightwave, Maya,Max and many more.

Out of interest and i'm not a programmer type here but Maya saves it's files in either binary or ASCII format the latter is human readable. How hard would it be to parse that into a file format that Torque understands?

I've put an example cube and textured cubiod up at www.unholy-trinity.co.uk/junk/mayaFiles.rar in case anyone feels suitably interested to have a look.

**edit** Stupid URLS :)

#12 Hey Minako,

I share the same problem. I have the latest beta release of the LW exporter, but it still has some problems with the animation. However, you can still use the LW exporter for non moving or simple animated model without a huge effort, and Lightwave Dave is working hard to make the plugin better. My decision was to learn Max and meanwhile use the LW to create non-animated or simple animated models like guns, ammo, crates, flags, and etc. Regarding learning MAX, it is hard at first, but if you have good background in 3d modeling and animation, it will get better as you spend more time. The philoshophy in using 3dsmax is little different from LW. When you figure that out, you shouldn't take that long to start animating and stuff. I personally don't like all the extra stuff you have to do in MAX to create the dts file. I love LW. ^^

BTW, if you are programmer, you do have access to the source code for the current LW exporter plugin. Good luck.

Daniel

#13 Greetings!

Minako, it's unfortunate that after giving me just a couple of days over the long-weekend to look into your problem, you're bailing on the LW exporter. :(

I've fixed the problem Minako was having, and will see about sending out a new version of the exporter. However, I'll post the details to the usual thread in the Tools section rather than here.

As far as polytrans goes, I've personally used it in the past, and it's a great tool. However, I've never personally tried to export animation with it, so I don't know how that would fare. If you go to their web site, they state that you can import a LightWave scene file with animation, and export a 3ds file with animation. Or, if you own Max, then it would seem that using a plug-in of theirs, you could import a LightWave scene with animation directly. I'd recommend contacting them directly and ask.

- LightWave Dave

#14 Dave, I think you're misunderstanding. Some of your mails gave me the impression that this month is bad for you and the exporter may take quite some time to fix. I'd love to use LW and hope we can with the fixes you've made, but the possibility it might not work had caused a lot of frustration with people here, and as team leader I felt it was my responsability to look into options in case the exporter wasn't ready in time. No offense meant here, I was only trying to look into available options should the exporter not be ready in time, since the feeling we got from your mails was that it may be a month or more for some fixes.

Minako

#15 Greetings.

It's no problem, Minako. I was disappointed by the seemingly short time you gave me to look into the issues. But we've already talked about this in email, and everything's cool.

And there's no problem with looking into your options. That's why I wrote that little blurb about Polytrans above.

And regarding file conversion from LightWave, my only other suggestion would be to search through www.flay.com if you haven't already.

- LightWave Dave

#16 You could also check out Deep Explorer from Right Hemisphere, I personaly haven't tried it but a lot of Max users that I know speak highly of it.

Logan