[scottb613]

Genma Saotome, on 16 April 2019 - 09:40 AM, said:

Has anyone tried moving the 3dmodel source file into Blender? Perhaps that exporter doesn't have the limit you're discussing.

Over in Sketchup the exporter does not break models at 3k polys... I'm looking at one hierarchy of one right now in Shapeviewer that has more than 5000.

The (now unsupported) SU Make program, version 16 appears to be the last one that the exporter will always perform properly. Thew installer can be found on the web.

SU does not do animations and it's method of doing textures is quite unlike anything else so it's not a good solution for creating a variety of models. That said the menu says it will import Collada, .3ds, .obj models, and surprisingly will also import .kmz and .dem files. I have experience only with Collada so I cannot speak to the fidelity of which it performs any of those imports. Perhaps it could be put to use exported .s files of models created in other programs.

The exporter I'm using is custom, has a couple of quirks to it so I've not released it publicly, but if I can explain what's still goofy i have no problem sharing it.

FWIW, applying LOD's is trivial in SU. The procedure is

• enter the distances you want that will be kept as a reference in the source file, select any number of faces. You may add or delete any at any time.
  
• invoke the LOD function (I set up a shortcut for the letter L)
  
• use your mouse to choose the distance you want from the list you created earlier
  
• click ok.

That applies any one of those values to however many faces you have selected,

Hi Dave,

I haven't - as I don't know Blender - but yeah - I'm pretty sure the MSTS exporter is the only one that does it - it looks like Paul tried to build Shape Fixer into the exporter without the options to set the sizes as desired... We don't have a direct export for Blender - but an interim of "obj" should do the trick which is what Eldorado was getting at...

That does sound easy for LOD's - for us - we simply copy the model and have to adhere to a few steadfast rules to prevent issues with the shape for each subsequent LOD - each LOD has to contain the exact same number of groups as the parent and each group must have at least one face left for each texture used in the parent... The deletes are a manual and tedious process for best results - there is an auto process that has no user defined parameters so it leaves much to be desired...

Regards,
Scott

[scottb613]

Hi Folks,

Just a follow up...

Yeah - started reading through the shape file last night - the divisions are not nearly as clear and concise as I imagined - it will take some real work (trial and error) for me to script a solution to reassemble these pieces/parts...

Also - 3DC doesn't seem to be as nearly as good on import/export as I thought - I tried the OBJ format and when I imported it back to 3DC it looked like the locomotive went through a massive car crusher - I couldn't seem to do an export/import successfully on any of the formats I tried...

Also - as per the 3DC documentation - file format choices are pretty limited (AC3D or Direct X) - if you want the complete model - mapping - mesh - hierarchy - textures - and animation to carry over...

Seems like a quick and easy export to Blender will not work...

LOL - my only hope seems to be Paul's interest level...


3DC Help - Export Formats



Regards,
Scott

[scottb613]

Hi Folks,

Paul kindly responded to my email - I had explained what we're trying to do - unfortunately - I was wrong - Paul had nothing to do with writing the MSTS exporter for 3DC and he doesn't have access to the source code - it was all Richard and Richard's off in never never land... Catch 22 [sigh]...

Regards,
Scott

[Eldorado.Railroad]

scottb613, on 18 April 2019 - 03:08 AM, said:

Paul kindly responded to my email - I had explained what we're trying to do - unfortunately - I was wrong - Paul had nothing to do with writing the MSTS exporter for 3DC and he doesn't have access to the source code - it was all Richard and Richard's off in never never land... Catch 22 [sigh]...

I must second the screwup, when I look at MSTSS.dll it does say the owner is Amabilis (aka Richard). Without going into any details, some effort was put into hiding many details of the exporter, but nothing is impossible.

MIA = Must I Answer?!!

[SD45T-2]

Genma Saotome, on 16 April 2019 - 09:40 AM, said:

SU does not do animations and it's method of doing textures is quite unlike anything else so it's not a good solution for creating a variety of models. That said the menu says it will import Collada, .3ds, .obj models, and surprisingly will also import .kmz and .dem files. I have experience only with Collada so I cannot speak to the fidelity of which it performs any of those imports. Perhaps it could be put to use exported .s files of models created in other programs.

I've been importing 3DS files into Sketchup for various reasons, and the results are mixed....

While it can import 3DS files, it's a bit of a mixed bag. Projected textures are turned into very shrunken tiled textures for example. Sometimes faces can be accidentally connected together.

It's a viable method, but it is far from a perfect science.

[scottb613]

Hi Folks,

Yeah - I was kind of hoping Paul would have possibly looked at "Shape Fixer" to provide a solution - but after all he's done for the community - I certainly didn't want to be "pushy"... If it's capable of breaking down shapes - theoretically - it's not that far of a stretch to see it reassemble them as well (based on user provided parameters)... I fully understand he's moved on - though - too bad he didn't Open Source it...

Regards,
Scott

[Guille592]

How about investigating the .geopcdx file format that uses the exporter for Train Simulator? Would that be even possible?

[SD45T-2]

Guille592, on 20 April 2019 - 04:41 AM, said:

How about investigating the .geopcdx file format that uses the exporter for Train Simulator? Would that be even possible?

I don't think that's even possible, because it's such a proprietary format. I don't even recall a mesh viewer being released for the .geopcdx used for Railworks. Wayne Campbell was working on one if I recall correctly, but canceled it due to copyright issues. (Correct me if I'm wrong.)

And to maybe top it all off, Railworks uses separate meshes to load parts, including two bogies(trucks) in the proper spots.

[Eldorado.Railroad]

scottb613, on 17 April 2019 - 05:49 AM, said:

Yeah - started reading through the shape file last night - the divisions are not nearly as clear and concise as I imagined - it will take some real work (trial and error) for me to script a solution to reassemble these pieces/parts...

Also - 3DC doesn't seem to be as nearly as good on import/export as I thought - I tried the OBJ format and when I imported it back to 3DC it looked like the locomotive went through a massive car crusher - I couldn't seem to do an export/import successfully on any of the formats I tried...

Scott,

As Homer Simpson says, "trying is the first step toward failure"!

Yes, Richard's not so cheap program does not work that great. As I recall, you can import an OBJ from Blender into 3DC, at least with the version of 3DC I use which runs under Win XP/7. As for the reverse, I use the .3DS format to export into Blender from 3DC. Some years back I hacked the importers/exporters for Blender to suit my needs. I regularly import .3DS into Blender and export it as .OBJ. Beware, I am using Blender 2.65, because it works for me as intended and only under WinXP (AFAIK). I have not tried fooling around with that version of Blender in Win 7, and forget about Win10.

Richard's absence has kept me from buying any upgrades, such as a Win 7 version of 3DC (and umm...so many complaints about the cryptic "Error 99" go unanswered). Instead I export it to Blender as .3DS from 3DC and return it as OBJ. Richard's importer ignores (at least in my version) all names etc that are clearly visible in the ASCII readable OBJ file. A PITA.

As for the vagaries of the .s file. Try, try again. Try it with something simple and get more complicated as you are more sure of your results. Closed source is bad enough, but when the author has lost interest IP becomes idiotic paucity. Maybe Mr. Gausden might be amenable for a certain monetary figure. As a foot note, Blender used to be payware...YES!...but a few enterprising people bought the source and made it open source ever since.

Happy hacking,
Steve

[scottb613]

Hi Steve,

Yeah - I'm a Steam guy - so I need some format that will retain the animations - reanimating a steam locomotive's running gear - is not something you want to do twice on the same model - or just for fun - LOL...

When I get some time I'll see if I can hobble something together for the shape file - the little chunks really do bother me - lol - how much of a performance improvement eliminating them actually provides - remains to be seen... Honestly - I can't fathom Richard coding the exporter - without options - then again I've made countless - well thought out, documented, and justified suggestions over the years and I don't think he's ever implemented one...

Regards,
Scott