Exporting player.max
by Robert Rose · in Torque Game Engine Advanced · 01/29/2008 (3:09 pm) · 8 replies
I'm trying to take the player.max that came with TGE and re-export it myself. If I follow the tutorials to the letter the export does _not_ work, not even in ShowTool Pro.
To get the character to work I discovered I have to run it through UnMessDTS.exe. Only then does it work in ShowTool Pro.
However, even after UnMessDTS, none of the animations work. And without the .max files for these animations I can't re-export them to see if it's some crazy export conflict problem.
I've tried exporting in both max 8 and max 9, max 9 crashes when I try to export, and the "dtsexportplus" plugin appears completely broken for exporting characters.
Has anyone out there gotten TGE_1_5_2\example\demo\data\shapes\player\player.max to re-export properly? How do you do it? :)
To get the character to work I discovered I have to run it through UnMessDTS.exe. Only then does it work in ShowTool Pro.
However, even after UnMessDTS, none of the animations work. And without the .max files for these animations I can't re-export them to see if it's some crazy export conflict problem.
I've tried exporting in both max 8 and max 9, max 9 crashes when I try to export, and the "dtsexportplus" plugin appears completely broken for exporting characters.
Has anyone out there gotten TGE_1_5_2\example\demo\data\shapes\player\player.max to re-export properly? How do you do it? :)
#2
01/29/2008 (9:47 pm)
ShowTool pro should tell you why the .dsq (animation files) don't load if you try to. (It will give you the error, probably in red, in the console. Press the ~ key).
#3
According to the dump file it's finding the player.cfg file stored at TGE_1_5_2\example\demo\data\shapes\player
> you could just export the player with collapse transforms unchecked
I tried that, it doesn't seem to make a difference.
> ShowTool pro should tell you why the .dsq (animation files) don't load
Sorry, I should have been more clear. The dsq files do load and they animate the character, but the result when you play the animation is bogus--the bone weights appear completely incorrect--the player squashes and stretches all over the place.
01/29/2008 (10:44 pm)
> Its probably an issue of needing a cfg fileAccording to the dump file it's finding the player.cfg file stored at TGE_1_5_2\example\demo\data\shapes\player
> you could just export the player with collapse transforms unchecked
I tried that, it doesn't seem to make a difference.
> ShowTool pro should tell you why the .dsq (animation files) don't load
Sorry, I should have been more clear. The dsq files do load and they animate the character, but the result when you play the animation is bogus--the bone weights appear completely incorrect--the player squashes and stretches all over the place.
#4
01/29/2008 (10:45 pm)
I haven't seen anyone post anywhere on the forums that they've successfully exported the TGE player.max file and got it to work in TGEA or ShowTool. Can someone verify this? Please? :-) 
#5
As for the stretches of the player - this is a problem from the skin modifier. Probably you haven't adjust correctly the vertex weights.
01/30/2008 (4:37 am)
Robert, actually there is no clear information here at GG (TDN and all tutorials at all) how to export a character with skeletal animation. Everyone meets these problems when the time for character export has come. So I recomment you to read everything here torque.smdlabs.com/3dsmaxAnimationSetup.htm and to watch every single video tutorial there to answer your questions. This link gives enough information for almost everything. I have one rule: If player.max doesn't export then the exporter doesn't work.So first of all find that exporter does its job and then try to export your character. As for the stretches of the player - this is a problem from the skin modifier. Probably you haven't adjust correctly the vertex weights.
#6
02/02/2008 (12:15 pm)
I can successfully export player.max 
#7
With regards to the animations distorting your mesh. My guess would be that its to do with the scale and sizes of the bones that you are using. While most animation in torque is handled via additive blending, if the bone lengths and positions do not match between the DSQ and your DTS you can get some wacky looking distortions going on. As such the only solution is to ensure that your rig for your DTS exactly matches your rig for your animations (bone length, scale, positions, etc).
If you are using the default torque DSQs then you should use the exact same biped rig that the orc is using with little to no adjustments (or on the flip side, use your rig data such as a biped figure file, to load onto existing biped animations that you have to adjust them to match your custom biped).
Logan
02/04/2008 (8:41 am)
I dont have a problem here either, but then I do not use the "Pro" exporter and have stuck to the tried, tested and true "regular" one.With regards to the animations distorting your mesh. My guess would be that its to do with the scale and sizes of the bones that you are using. While most animation in torque is handled via additive blending, if the bone lengths and positions do not match between the DSQ and your DTS you can get some wacky looking distortions going on. As such the only solution is to ensure that your rig for your DTS exactly matches your rig for your animations (bone length, scale, positions, etc).
If you are using the default torque DSQs then you should use the exact same biped rig that the orc is using with little to no adjustments (or on the flip side, use your rig data such as a biped figure file, to load onto existing biped animations that you have to adjust them to match your custom biped).
Logan
#8
02/04/2008 (8:49 am)
What version of Max are you running and what's the checksum on the exporter dle you're using?
Torque 3D Owner Adam deGrandis
Adam deGrandis