TS3.2 file exports

About Truespace Archives

These pages are a copy of the official truespace forums prior to their removal somewhere around 2011.

They are retained here for archive purposes only.

TS3.2 file exports // TS6 and Older

1  |  

Post by MikeJoel // Jul 18, 2008, 11:16am

MikeJoel
Total Posts: 266
I know ts3.2 is very old but it still does a nice job. The one HUGE problem is that it has very few export features.

I found an old OBJ export plugin but it seems to crash if my model is very complicated.


I have also found that any time I export from COB to just about any other file type (asc, 3ds, X) the poly count about doubles. What is that?


If anyone can give some pointers or help (or know of any FREE cob to other file converters) please let me know.


thanks

Mike

Post by Tiberius // Jul 18, 2008, 11:49am

Tiberius
Total Posts: 19
pic
Back when I had 3.2 I used a free program called Crossroads, try google. I will also hazard a guess at your double polycount: triangulation? If your model is nearly all quads and it had to be triangulated, 2 triangles to a quad, that might account for a near double polycount. Don't quote me on that though :p

Post by MikeJoel // Jul 18, 2008, 12:08pm

MikeJoel
Total Posts: 266
yes that sounds logical....

How would one go about fixing this problem? I mean how would I model in ts3.2 so that when I convert it is reasonable and still looks right?

Post by TomG // Jul 18, 2008, 12:17pm

TomG
Total Posts: 3397
tS doesnt mind "n-gons" (polygons with an arbitrary number of edges), but most other apps, and most 3D formats, don't like them. This means a model gets triangulated on export to many other formats, and since one quad = two tris, then yep, poly count may double, or even more of course if you have a face with 6 sides or 12 sides rather than four, etc.


Ways to ensure it works well on export - manually monitor or even create your triangulation, at least ensure you keep all geometry to quads at the worst, and avoid n-gons :)


HTH!

Tom

Post by MikeJoel // Jul 18, 2008, 2:00pm

MikeJoel
Total Posts: 266
So basically something like I should triangulate my primitives as I go?


Thanks

Post by TomG // Jul 18, 2008, 4:43pm

TomG
Total Posts: 3397
You're ok with quads, since they triangulate cleanly and predictably. Faces with more than four edges may be better triangulated as you go, though sometimes its best to take advantage of not doing that and using the modeling tools (eg you can bevel a single face n-gon, but if its triangualted already, it won't bevel the same). Of course the more you work with it while its not triangulated, the harder it might be at the end of the day to do the triangulation.


Had that problem with a door, was making a nice rounded inset pattern, and due to sweeping and scaling etc I left it as an n-gon. Was NOT fun adding edges at the end to get a mesh that exported nicely though!


BTW, the sort of problems you are looking to avoid are things like "long thin triangles", and "spokes" of lots of triangles heading off to the same vertex. These effects are often done by auto triangulation, and can lead to problems with normals and rendering, and there is usually a "nicer" way to do it if you do it manually.


When I get more time, I might try and show some of that work so you can see what I mean. It's essential if you plan on using an object in another package, especially if you plan on selling it (eg my ship that I sell), as the mesh has to be robust enough to be liked and usable by software.


HTH!

Tom

Post by MikeJoel // Jul 19, 2008, 5:09pm

MikeJoel
Total Posts: 266
Thanks that would be helpful.

I am currently selling some models and while no one has complained about them I want to make sure they going to function well when I export them out of COB format.


Mike
Awportals.com is a privately held community resource website dedicated to Active Worlds.
Copyright (c) Mark Randall 2006 - 2024. All Rights Reserved.
Awportals.com   ·   ProLibraries Live   ·   Twitter   ·   LinkedIn