David on 23/2/2005 at 23:51
Bump!
Ulukai on 24/2/2005 at 08:12
Hmm, if people could bear in mind I still need to update the Material Library section on this, otherwise we're going to have matlib duplication ++ (you can just use the exisiting T3 libraries in Max if you're using the same textures, no need to create a new one)
Oh, and the map thing is wrong (should assign _n textures to normal map, not bump map)
Shadowspawn on 26/2/2005 at 13:17
OK, maybe I'm jumping the gun here, but as one of the object gurus from Thief, I was wondering if the .TIM file is a standard or a proprietary ION Storm format.
Also, (since I don't have 3DS Max), can a .TIM file be opened via 3DS Max, or is it an export only format? It would be instructive (if nothing else) to be able to open existing Thief3 objects and see how things get built.
Ah, I see that DXIW uses the same format. I'll go see if they got anywhere with this...
Shadowspawn on 26/2/2005 at 14:11
While I'm asking, the skeletal meshes are in a completely different format (hey, just like Thief!). Can these be read by 3DS Max or Maya? Or are these export only formats? Any tutorials on importing AI?
And of course, the skeletal animations. Any way to read them? A tut on how to make / change one?
belboz on 26/2/2005 at 18:35
Are epics unreal tutorials for the unreal engine any help in getting things to work in t3ed.
jermi on 6/3/2005 at 11:04
I've tried this with variations but nothing seems to work, it's always a laconic "Export module failure."
* create a box "Box01"
* UVW Map
* collapse to editable mesh (or not)
* assign material (or not)
* max default material or
* Diffuse: Ion Shader with default parameters or some other parameters or
* a material imported from a TDS mlb
* run the collision maker script (or not)
* select
* Box01 or
* HKConvex_Box01 (created by the collision maker script) or
* both
* export selected as .TIM
I haven't obviously tried
all combinations, but I've tried quite a few and the result is always "Export module failure." Or, if I run the BatchExportStaticMeshTimFiles.ms script, it gives me
Code:
---------------------------------------------------------------
Date: 3/6/2005
Time: 11:59:55
---------------------------------------------------------------
Check box settings for material ('default') have been lost.
Turning on maps for you, please verify map channels
are correct.
---------------------------------------------------------------
Check box settings for material ('default') have been lost.
Turning on maps for you, please verify map channels
are correct.
---------------------------------------------------------------
Before failing, the exporter spits out a staticmesh_exp_detail_log.txt file. Looking at it, everything seems ok. There are no error messages in the log and the vertices, normals, uv coordinates, etc. they all seem sane.
I have some problems with the Ion Shader also, but the mesh only includes the material name, which shows up correctly in the log file so whatever the problem is with the shader parameters, it shouldn't cause the exporter to fail, right?
By the way, Ulukai, what do you mean by "The file automatically has the same name as the mesh", the export file doesn't have any name automatically, does it?
Ulukai on 7/3/2005 at 09:10
I mean that you shouldn't have to type a file name......if your mesh is called Box01 when you run the exporter you browse to a folder and your .tim file automatically gets called Box01.tim - iirc, you don't type a filename. I'll verify later if necessary because I don't have 3dsmax on this PC.
Also, check the wiki because I've since updated the version of this tutorial that's stored in there (not to do with exporting, though)
Belboz, I'm afraid you won't find many of epic's tutorials much use, most things in the editor have changed from bog standard UnrealEd except for BSP operations.
jermi on 7/3/2005 at 18:16
Hmm, but I do have to type a filename, the "Select File to Export" dialog (which is a standard Save As dialog with a different title) doesn't go away unless I provide a filename.
Ulukai on 7/3/2005 at 19:04
Ok, yes. You have to provide a file name. But regardless of what filename you use, the exporter will use the name of the actual mesh(es) that you've assigned in max. Note that if you choose "Export" rather than "Export Selected", max exports every mesh in the scene with it's own name, even though you just provide one file name.
So you can type "fiddlesticks" as a filename if you want, it doesn't seem to have any bearing on your actual filenames.
