FxOgreMaxExporter - New 3D Studio Max exporter

[dpakatheman]

Hi everyone,

Check out FxOgreMaxExporter when you get the chance and let me know what you think.
http://www.facefx.com/page/evaluate

Overview
- FxOgreMaxExporter is 3D Studio max exporter for binary .MESH, .SKELETON files and text-based .MATERIAL files. It is based off of and for the most part mirrors the functionality of Francesco Giordana's Maya exporter. It is released under LGPL.

Key Features
- Unlike other available exporters, FxOgreMaxExporter supports Ogre's use of sharedGeometry which enables a single .MESH file to contain multiple sub-meshes bound to the same skeleton. In other words, it does not require you to collapse all sub-meshes into a single mesh prior to export like many exporters.
- Full maxscript control over all parameters

Todo list (if you want to help, here is where to start)
- Test/Fix bounding boxes (implemented but probably busted)
- Test/Fix vertex animations (implemented but probably busted)
- Fix buildTangents option (compilation errors).
- Fix textures. Wrapping UVs do not work and only a single texture coordinate per vertex is used.
- Implement cameras
- Implement animation file support
- Implement particle support
- Figure out how to avoid conflicts with other OgreMain.dll files in Max's install directory
- Support rigidly skinned meshes

Install instructions
- Copy the included OgreMain.dll into your Max install directory (I don't know how
to prevent conflicts with other plugins):
C:\Program Files\3dsMax9\OgreMain.dll
- Copy FxOgreMaxExporter.dle into your max plugins directory:
C:\Program Files\3dsMax9\plugins\FxOgreMaxExporter.dle
- Copy FxOgreGUI.ms to your maxscript directory
C:\Program Files\3dsMax9\Scripts

Usage instructions
- Run the FxOgreGUI.ms script. Optionally adjust the parameters, click on the export button. If you haven't specified an appropriate filename you will be prompted for the .MESH filename. If .SKELETON and .MATERIAL files are not specified, the filepaths will be created from the .MESH filename. You can also go to File->Export and you will be prompted for a .MESH file. All of the global parameter values will remain unchanged, but .MESH, .MATERIAL, .SKELETON output files, and the texture output directory will be temporarily changed to match the .MESH file selected. If you have any problems, check out the log file. It's well hidden, but on my machine it is here:
C:\Documents and Settings\Doug\Local Settings\Application Data\Autodesk\3dsmax\9 - 32bit\enu

Maxscript instructions
- Check out the FxOgreGUI.ms for example usage
- Before using the functions you must create an FxOgre object:
FxOgreObject = FxOgre();
- The main export function will use all globally stored parameters and is called like so:
FxOgreObject.fxogremaxexport()
- You can restore default parameters with the reset_params function
- You can set / get the lum variable which scales the export uniformly with the get_lum and set_lum functions.
- The following boolean parameters have get and set functions. The get functions expect a string "on" or "off". The function names have "get_" or "set_" prepended to the name.
Examples:
FxOgreObject.set_exportMesh "on"
if(FxOgreObject.get_exportMesh)


Boolean Parameters:
-------------------
exportMesh
exportMaterial
exportAnimCurves
exportCameras
exportAll
exportVBA
exportVertNorm
exportVertCol
exportTexCoord
exportCamerasAnim
exportSkeleton
exportSkelAnims
exportBSAnims
exportVertAnims
exportBlendShapes
exportWorldCoords
useSharedGeom
lightingOff
copyTextures
exportParticles
buildTangents
buildEdges
skelBB
bsBB
vertBB
normalizeScale --not in maya exporter. Removes non-uniform scale since Max implements it differently from OGRE. (Useful with character studio especially)

- The following string parameters have get and set functions. The function names have "get_" or "set_" prepended to the name.
Examples:
FxOgreObject.set_meshFilename "C:\\myMesh.MESH"
messageBox FxOgreObject.get_meshFilename

String Parameters:
-------------------
meshFilename
skeletonFilename
materialFilename
animFilename --unused
camerasFilename --unused
particlesFilename --unused
matPrefix
texOutputDir
outputDir --not in maya exporter. prepended to used filenames


- The following functions are used to manipulate the various animation clips. After the function name specify what type of clip by adding one of the following:
_skelClipList
_BSClipList
_vertClipList
add
description: adds a new clip, replacing any existing clips with same name.
inputs: name, start, stop, rate
example: FxOgreObject.add_skelClipList "anim_name" 0 60 .03333
return: none
remove
description: removes clip at zero-based index.
inputs: index
example: FxOgreObject.remove_BSClipList 0
return: true on success, false otherwise
get_numClips
description: returns number of clips
inputs: none
example: FxOgreObject.get_numClips_vertClipList()
return: number of clips
start
description: returns named parameter from clip at specified zero-based index
inputs: index
example: FxOgreObject.get_start_vertClipList(0)
return: parameter value
stop
description: returns named parameter from clip at specified zero-based index
inputs: index
example: FxOgreObject.get_stop_vertClipList(0)
return: parameter value
rate
description: returns named parameter from clip at specified zero-based index
inputs: index
example: FxOgreObject.get_rate_vertClipList(0)
return: parameter value
name
description: returns named parameter from clip at specified zero-based index
inputs: index
example: FxOgreObject.get_name_vertClipList(0)
return: parameter value

Build instructions
- Change the include and lib paths to match the location of your 3DS Max SDK files
- Copy the FxOgreMaxExporter directory into your Ogre installation:
Ogre\Tools\3dsmaxExport\FxOgreMaxExporter
- Build morpher.lib in the Max SDK samples and include it in the appropriate directory:
Ogre\Tools\3dsmaxExport\FxOgreMaxExporter\lib\v2008
- Copy wm3.h from the Max samples directory and put it in the appropriate directory:
Ogre\Tools\3dsmaxExport\FxOgreMaxExporter\Inc\v2008

[xavier]

- Unlike other available exporters, FxOgreMaxExporter supports Ogre's use of sharedGeometry which enables a single .MESH file to contain multiple sub-meshes bound to the same skeleton. In other words, it does not require you to collapse all sub-meshes into a single mesh prior to export like many exporters.

I'm not sure about this one -- all exporters sort of *have* to bind all submeshes to a single skeleton, because the skeletons are bound at the mesh level, not the submesh. Unless I misunderstand what you are saying here.

- Fix buildTangents option (compilation errors).
- Fix textures. Wrapping UVs do not work and only a single texture coordinate per vertex is used.
- Implement cameras
- Implement animation file support
- Implement particle support
- Figure out how to avoid conflicts with other OgreMain.dll files in Max's install directory
- Support rigidly skinned meshes

Install instructions
- Copy the included OgreMain.dll into your Max install directory (I don't know how
to prevent conflicts with other plugins):
C:\Program Files\3dsMax9\OgreMain.dll
- Copy FxOgreMaxExporter.dle into your max plugins directory:
C:\Program Files\3dsMax9\plugins\FxOgreMaxExporter.dle
- Copy FxOgreGUI.ms to your maxscript directory
C:\Program Files\3dsMax9\Scripts

Usage instructions
- Run the FxOgreGUI.ms script. Optionally adjust the parameters, click on the export button. If you haven't specified an appropriate filename you will be prompted for the .MESH filename. If .SKELETON and .MATERIAL files are not specified, the filepaths will be created from the .MESH filename. You can also go to File->Export and you will be prompted for a .MESH file. All of the global parameter values will remain unchanged, but .MESH, .MATERIAL, .SKELETON output files, and the texture output directory will be temporarily changed to match the .MESH file selected. If you have any problems, check out the log file. It's well hidden, but on my machine it is here:
C:\Documents and Settings\Doug\Local Settings\Application Data\Autodesk\3dsmax\9 - 32bit\enu

Maxscript instructions
- Check out the FxOgreGUI.ms for example usage
- Before using the functions you must create an FxOgre object:
FxOgreObject = FxOgre();
- The main export function will use all globally stored parameters and is called like so:
FxOgreObject.fxogremaxexport()
- You can restore default parameters with the reset_params function
- You can set / get the lum variable which scales the export uniformly with the get_lum and set_lum functions.
- The following boolean parameters have get and set functions. The get functions expect a string "on" or "off". The function names have "get_" or "set_" prepended to the name.
Examples:
FxOgreObject.set_exportMesh "on"
if(FxOgreObject.get_exportMesh)


Boolean Parameters:
-------------------
exportMesh
exportMaterial
exportAnimCurves
exportCameras
exportAll
exportVBA
exportVertNorm
exportVertCol
exportTexCoord
exportCamerasAnim
exportSkeleton
exportSkelAnims
exportBSAnims
exportVertAnims
exportBlendShapes
exportWorldCoords
useSharedGeom
lightingOff
copyTextures
exportParticles
buildTangents
buildEdges
skelBB
bsBB
vertBB
normalizeScale --not in maya exporter. Removes non-uniform scale since Max implements it differently from OGRE. (Useful with character studio especially)

- The following string parameters have get and set functions. The function names have "get_" or "set_" prepended to the name.
Examples:
FxOgreObject.set_meshFilename "C:\\myMesh.MESH"
messageBox FxOgreObject.get_meshFilename

String Parameters:
-------------------
meshFilename
skeletonFilename
materialFilename
animFilename --unused
camerasFilename --unused
particlesFilename --unused
matPrefix
texOutputDir
outputDir --not in maya exporter. prepended to used filenames


- The following functions are used to manipulate the various animation clips. After the function name specify what type of clip by adding one of the following:
_skelClipList
_BSClipList
_vertClipList
add
description: adds a new clip, replacing any existing clips with same name.
inputs: name, start, stop, rate
example: FxOgreObject.add_skelClipList "anim_name" 0 60 .03333
return: none
remove
description: removes clip at zero-based index.
inputs: index
example: FxOgreObject.remove_BSClipList 0
return: true on success, false otherwise
get_numClips
description: returns number of clips
inputs: none
example: FxOgreObject.get_numClips_vertClipList()
return: number of clips
start
description: returns named parameter from clip at specified zero-based index
inputs: index
example: FxOgreObject.get_start_vertClipList(0)
return: parameter value
stop
description: returns named parameter from clip at specified zero-based index
inputs: index
example: FxOgreObject.get_stop_vertClipList(0)
return: parameter value
rate
description: returns named parameter from clip at specified zero-based index
inputs: index
example: FxOgreObject.get_rate_vertClipList(0)
return: parameter value
name
description: returns named parameter from clip at specified zero-based index
inputs: index
example: FxOgreObject.get_name_vertClipList(0)
return: parameter value

Build instructions
- Change the include and lib paths to match the location of your 3DS Max SDK files
- Copy the FxOgreMaxExporter directory into your Ogre installation:
Ogre\Tools\3dsmaxExport\FxOgreMaxExporter
- Build morpher.lib in the Max SDK samples and include it in the appropriate directory:
Ogre\Tools\3dsmaxExport\FxOgreMaxExporter\lib\v2008
- Copy wm3.h from the Max samples directory and put it in the appropriate directory:
Ogre\Tools\3dsmaxExport\FxOgreMaxExporter\Inc\v2008

Honestly, although I appreciate the effort, we have about 6 different Max exporters right now, and most of them already do all of the stuff on your TODO list -- and none of them need the incredibly complex set of build/install instructions you have listed here.

So I have to ask -- what is the particular problem with the existing exporters that this one intends to solve?

I should also point out that you can't really map particle effects in Max or any other similar 3D tool to Ogre particle systems -- the designs and capabilities are too dissimilar.

Also, there already is an animation file format -- it's .skeleton. Unless you mean something to export the camera pathing/node animations you mentioned, in which case you are in the "dotScene" arena (meaning that it's nothing Ogre itself has any format for, and you should just make one and write an importer for it -- it's just node animations).

And finally -- again, maybe I'm missing something, but if you already have skeletal animation export working, you have rigid skinned meshes exported already -- the definition of "rigid skinned" is "mesh in which all vertices are singly weighted to the same bone".

[dpakatheman]

Xavier,

Thanks for the feedback. Not as encouraging as I'd like, but I guess that's what feedback is for. I'll try to clear some things up here.

I'm not sure about this one -- all exporters sort of *have* to bind all submeshes to a single skeleton, because the skeletons are bound at the mesh level, not the submesh. Unless I misunderstand what you are saying here.

A common requirement is to force people to collapse meshes into a single one before export. You can loose skinning information this way. It appears that tools/3dsmaxExport/MaxscriptExport is the only one that supports this now. An I wrong?
http://www.ogre3d.org/phpBB2/viewtopic. ... ht=combine

incredibly complex set of build/install instructions

copying the plugin to the plugin folder should be easy. And the plugin needs the Ogre DLL...can't avoid that. That's about it for installation, but I'll probably create an installer at some point anyway. The build is complex because it uses some max files from the samples directory, and I'm not sure how to distribute those.

what is the particular problem with the existing exporters that this one intends to solve?

I need an exporter with access to source code, so LEXI was the only choice for me. I wanted to add the shared geometry feature described above to Lexi, but couldn't figure out how to do it. I liked how the Maya exporter was set up, and since I'll most likely be supporting that code for my customers, I figured I'd port that code to Max.

Also, there already is an animation file format -- it's .skeleton. Unless you mean something to export the camera pathing/node animations you mentioned, in which case you are in the "dotScene" arena (meaning that it's nothing Ogre itself has any format for, and you should just make one and write an importer for it -- it's just node animations).

The maya exporter has an option for "exporting animation curves to a .anim file" . I don't have any idea what this is used for, but I am new to OGRE. Since I copied most of the Maya exporter, I listed things that are in there that I didn't get around to.

And finally -- again, maybe I'm missing something, but if you already have skeletal animation export working, you have rigid skinned meshes exported already -- the definition of "rigid skinned" is "mesh in which all vertices are singly weighted to the same bone".

I haven't tested the case where a mesh has a bone as parent but no explicit "skinning" information. This works in Max, and the correct thing to do is to weight all of the vertices in the mesh to the mesh's parent, but there isn;t any code to do this explicitly in the exporter. I think OGRE has a requirement that all vertices need to be weighted to at least one bone, but I'm not sure the correct bone will be picked all the time.

Did you get a chance to look at the plugin? I could use some of that feedback too. [/quote]

[nedelman]

A common requirement is to force people to collapse meshes into a single one before export. You can loose skinning information this way. It appears that tools/3dsmaxExport/MaxscriptExport is the only one that supports this now. An I wrong?

OgreMax does this as well. To do this, you make an object the child of another and set the child's type to "Attached Mesh" in the Object Settings dialog. The child's mesh is then merged into the parent's mesh on export.

[xavier]

I need an exporter with access to source code, so LEXI was the only choice for me.

OgreMax provides source as well.

Also, there already is an animation file format -- it's .skeleton. Unless you mean something to export the camera pathing/node animations you mentioned, in which case you are in the "dotScene" arena (meaning that it's nothing Ogre itself has any format for, and you should just make one and write an importer for it -- it's just node animations).

The maya exporter has an option for "exporting animation curves to a .anim file" . I don't have any idea what this is used for, but I am new to OGRE. Since I copied most of the Maya exporter, I listed things that are in there that I didn't get around to.

Ogre doesn't load those itself -- other code (non-Ogre code) has to parse that and create the node animations from it. So you might as well just create whatever format is convenient for you and go with it.

And finally -- again, maybe I'm missing something, but if you already have skeletal animation export working, you have rigid skinned meshes exported already -- the definition of "rigid skinned" is "mesh in which all vertices are singly weighted to the same bone".

I think OGRE has a requirement that all vertices need to be weighted to at least one bone, but I'm not sure the correct bone will be picked all the time.

[/quote]

Ogre doesn't need vertices weighted to bones -- did I misunderstand your meaning here?

Xavier,

Thanks for the feedback. Not as encouraging as I'd like, but I guess that's what feedback is for.

Sorry if it came off sounding a little harsh, but I couldn't help feeling the same as I did when I saw the tenth "here's another Ogre GUI project!" posting.

[dpakatheman]

Thanks for clearing up things with the .anim file.

With respect to the "rigidly skinned meshes": this is the requirement I am talking about (when using skeletal animation):
"All vertices must be assigned to at least one bone - assign static vertices to the root bone."
http://www.ogre3d.org/docs/manual/manual_43.html#SEC242

Rather than weighting static verticies to the root bone, in some cases it's better to weight them to another bone. For example, let's say you have a character with meshes for eyes. Rather than skinning them to the eye bones (the correct way), you decide to simply make the mesh a child of the eye bone. When the eye bone moves, so does the mesh. It's a nice feature to detect this setup in the exporter and weight the mesh verticies properly to the bone in the MESH file. Then the MESH file behaves like it was intended. I'll take a look at implementing this feature later. I should be able to write most of the code such that it will work for both the Maya exporter and FxOgreMaxExporter.

[xavier]

Gotcha -- yeah, that should be simple to do in the exporter.

[dpakatheman]

In case it's useful to anyone, you can get source code and binaries to our completed Max and Maya Ogre exporters here.

The Maya exporter just has a few tweaks: we support a File->Export All option, multiple blendshape deformers, rigidly skinned meshes (meshes with bones as parents that aren't skinned otherwise), and a .SCENE export option that gives us what we need for lights in FaceFX Studio. Beware that blendshapes will have names like blendshapedeformername.blenshapename (as opposed to just blendshapename in the standard Maya exporter).

The Max exporter might be a bit more useful if anyone needs an LGPL'd Max exporter with source code that works. It's essentially a port of the Maya code to Max.

A word of warning, our installers will prompt you to overwrite the OgreMain.dll file in your Max/Maya directory if that file exists. If you are using another exporter that relies on that file, it will be overwritten by our DLL (which is version 1.61).

[madmarx]

Thanks, I take it as a very good news.
It's a good news that it is lgpl.

[dpakatheman]

FYI, we've posted our newest Ogre exporters with the FaceFX 2010 evaluation:
http://www.facefx.com/page/no-save-evaluation

Included are LGPL'd 32 & 64-bit versions of Ogre 1.71 exporters with source for the last 5 releases of Max and Maya (2011-> Max 9 and 2011-> Maya 8.5).

We're also announcing $199 commercial versions of our FaceFX plugins:
http://www.facefx.com/story/facial-anim ... unched-199

[Cid]

Hi, all.

Who tried to compile latest FxOgreMaxExporter under 3d Max 2009 SDK, MSVS2005 SP1?
I got the following error:
'd:\sdk\3ds max 2009 sdk\maxsdk\include\maxscrpt\Value.h(530) : error C2365: 'empty' : redefinition; previous definition was 'function'
C:\Program Files\Microsoft Visual Studio 8\VC\include\ivec.h(826) : see declaration of 'empty''

when compiled FxOgreMaxExporterMaxScript.cpp.

[dpakatheman]

Sorry, can't help with MSVS2005. We've been using MSVS2008 exclusively now for a while.

On a different note, we've fixed an issue with morph targets being exported incorrectly. Now we disable skin modifiers prior to morph export and it works with more content now.

A new installer is available here:

http://files.facefx.com.s3.amazonaws.co ... s_2011.exe

[shadowfeign]

great exporter.it even managed to do a good job exporting a rig that I wasn't able to with other exporters.

[StudioMaxCat]

great exporter.it even managed to do a good job exporting a rig that I wasn't able to with other exporters.

Huh! I didn't know the program was capable of doing that. I'll have to give it a try. As I mentioned in previous posts, I'm very new to 3D design, so please do forgive me for my naivete. I think having backwards compatible 3D programs (or programs that can open up a variety of files) is a wonderful thing. It's especially good for my architect -- who uses Maya and who may have to throw his files onto another program if I end up hiring a NYC remodeling contractor. Remodelers have a tendency to use a plethora of modeling programs to reconstruct stuff. One of my former remodeling contractors (back in Jersey) used this program here (http://www.homedesignersoftware.com/remodeling/). Have any of you 3D designers/architects used it?

[cin]

It can be compiled to 3DS MAX 2012 64?

[shadowfeign]

It can be compiled to 3DS MAX 2012 64?

If that fails or you want to wait for someone else to release a compiled for 2012, saving your file to a previous version may be an option(as long as you have access to an earlier version of max anyway) max can now save to previous versions, back to 2010. just find it in the dropdown as file type in the save as dialog.

[SpeCter]

Just download the latest FaceFX Package, it contains a new Version of the exporter which is compatible with 3dsmax 2012, we use it(eventhough we slightly changed some things )

[bubusurubu]

Hi !
I am new to Ogre 3D and I need to tell you (as a newbie) that this is the easiest to use exporter that I could find. I tried out a couple of others and I failed to install them ... this one is the most user friendly for an Average Joe ... I have to admit that other exporters crashed Max and I had to uninstall them to get Max working again.

Ty !