3DS Max SMD Exporter Update – version 1.6.Thu, April 14th, 2011 @ 11:22
As I hinted at in my previous post, I’ve made some changes to my 3DS Max SMD Exporter in collaboration with Shawn Olson and Hunted Cow Studios. This is not a game-changing update but it adds a few features that were specifically asked for.
Here’s a list of what’s new.
- Fixed issues with the options dialogue and added tool-tips to help explain features.
- The exporter will use the name of the material applied to the mesh if no diffuse texture is loaded.
- Meshes flagged as un-renderable will export their node but not their mesh. Useful for CAT rigs.
- Keyframe only and Bookend modes for specialised animation exports.
- Re-wrote the MaxScript interface from scratch. Example in the MaxScript folder.
Note: This update does not work with 3DS Max 2012! Support for that version is coming very soon. Promise!.
- 3DS Max SMD Exporter version 1.6
And with that, I’m off on my holidays. Tootle pip!
3DS Max 2012 SMD plug-ins.Mon, April 11th, 2011 @ 15:43
So 3DS Max 2012 has been released for about 3 days now and already I’ve had at least a dozen emails pointing out that my SMD plug-ins don’t work with the newest version.
I know.
Almost every other release of 3DS Max changes enough in the plug-in API that compatibility is broken with other versions. That requires a new version of the Max SDK, maybe a new version of Visual Studio and often a good couple of man hours re-writing sections of code to work with any changes. For me it’s often more work still as I have a single code source that cross compiles for all versions and I need to know that a change for one version of Max won’t break the others and of course test them.
When will the plug-ins be updated? Well I don’t work a company with an Autodesk subscription license any more and an upgrade to 3DS Max 2012 + Visual studio will cost me about US $2500 – and who has that sort of money lying around? So we’ll have to wait and see. I would certainly recommend you don’t upgrade to 2012 if you’re doing any Valve based modelling right now and if you try the trial, don’t save over your files as you can’t open a 2012 file in an earlier version.
There will however be an update to one of the SMD plug-ins coming soon but only for Max 2011 and earlier. I’ve been expanding some features to the SMD Exporter on behalf of Shawn Olson and Hunted Cow Studios. For most users the upgrade won’t be necessary unless you want the tidier GUI or unless you’re using Shawn’s excellent Wallworm tool.
As for where I’ve been for a year?
Getting a new job, buying an Xbox, getting a girlfriend, travelling the world, working on other projects and generally getting a life :)
Related posts
Yes I’m still here…Thu, April 22nd, 2010 @ 13:32
Err Hello,
It’s been over 6 months since I last made a post here. I’m assuming most people had assumed I’d been crushed by stampeding moose.
Actually since last August it’s mostly been two things keeping me from doing more updates – a new job which keeps me extremely busy and I’ve been working almost entirely on Ham and Jam which I hope we’ll be able to release soon.
Regarding the plug-ins and other modding projects, there are some things going on but a lack of free time has meant that updates aren’t as rapid as usual.
A couple of “ongoing” things:
- I’ve been looking into adding XBox360 support to VTFLib/VTFEdit.
- I’ve tested the VTF extensions with Windows 2008R2 (people asked for support) and need to update the installer.
- I’ve been adding support for multiple meshes in the VTA exporter. It’ll make face/mouth cavity animation easier.
- Still trying to figure out a good algorithm to try and recreate smoothing groups in the SMD importer. I’m thinking edge/normal matching and neighbour trees.
All the above are “when I can find the freetime” so don’t hassle me about it please.
Finally people have been asking about versions of my plug-ins for 3DS Max 2011 – just use the 2010 versions. They’re compatible.
TF2 Heavy Bear – VTA plug-in for the win!Tue, May 26th, 2009 @ 23:03
Got an email from “superaldo” over at the Steampowered forums telling me he used my 3DS Max VTA exporter plug-in to make new face flexes for his custom player model for TF2.
You gotta check this out. :)
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3DS Max VTA exporter release!Wed, May 20th, 2009 @ 00:57
Thanks to those who volunteered to test-drive the beta of my VTA exporter. No bug reports came back and all said they had successfully managed to get their face animations working so I figure we’re good for general release!
I’ve written up some rough instructions on how to use it here but basically it’s exactly the same as Cannonfodder’s exporter. The main difference is that you don’t have to delete a lot of stuff before export – just make sure you have the bones and morphed mesh selected and off you go.
Feel free to email me any pics/demos of any models you got working with it! :)
- 3DS Max VTA Exporter version 1.0
