I went through a bunch of posts here, but every single link to a tutorial other than IdDevNet was broken, so I'm left with alot of questions.

All I want to do is get a static box mesh from Maya to D3, and if I can do that, I can figure out the animated models from other sources.

So far I've found:
1. Must be in triangles.
2. Delete history
3. Freeze transformations
4. export to .ase by use of a plugin
5. maya import dll in Doom3 directory

Here's where I hit a barrier. I need a .def file for the object I think, but cant find any explanation of where this should go (I think base\def), or what it should look like. I've perused the def files in the game paks, but I'm unsure of what I need in them.

Can someone post a simple def for an object like a box, and tell me where to put it? Or better yet have a working link that describes def files in depth.

After that I simply start D3 and then it should show up in the model browser?

Sorry for repeating this Maya question, but after hitting so many dead links its frustrating

If you can export to ASE or LWO, you should be able to use the models outright without the need for some DLL.

The only Maya related DLL that I'm aware of is the one needed to export MD5 meshes and animations. But MD5 is only used for animated models. So that DLL isn't applicable to static meshes.

And no, you don't need an entity definition for a static model. You can simply throw a func_static in your level and assign it your custom model via the entity inspector.

However, if this model was something you intended to use quite often, you certainly could write an entity defintion to streamline the process.

It's relatively easy. You simply decide what entity type you'd like to base your custom entity off of and then assign it a model key/value pair that points to your custom model.

For instance, let's say I have a model called foo.ase and I want to make a func_static entity that uses it...

Code:

entityDef foo_static {
   "inherit"   "func_static"
   "model"      "models\custom\foo.ase"
}

it's a kind of a mix what you've found so far in the list you mentioned.
there are different methods between static and animated models.

for static models you could download the ActorX plugin for maya
http://udn.epicgames.com/Two/ActorX/Act ... 70_244.zip

which exports your models to the ase format just fine. Read the documentation below for install instructions.
http://udn.epicgames.com/Two/ActorXMayaTutorial
when installed you only need to use the "axmesh" command in the Maya command line.

Keep in mind that in the end your models are triangulated and you only export 1 model. Exporting more than 1 model and/or more textures is a different story. You don't need a .def file for static models...this aplies for animated models/physics.

goliathvt made a very nice tutorial for doing animated models
http://www.doom3world.org/phpbb2/viewtopic.php?t=6882

the rest is just another good search on this forum.

Ah thanks for the info.

I do have the ActorX plugin, and have exported to ase with no problem. I should have figured out the func_static... so simple and I missed it, probably because I figured it needed something more due the complexity of animated model importing ( I did read that tutorial).

I'm a long time coder, trying my hand at art and modelling, and I appreciate the help.

Looking at the files in D3:ROE, the engine apparently also supports .MA files (D3 1.3 I suppose).

PLEASE! May someone help me?

Some time ago I installed the actorX plugin , but never managed to let it work.

When I just export a low poly mesh, DooM will read it fine. The problem is for High poly meshes. When I save an HI poly .ase file to let DooM renderbump it, the result of the process is a white image.

The only thing I thought can be the cause of my problem, is that Maya assign a default uv projection to every mesh, and those results in the hipoly.ase file. As you know DooM3 renderbump HATES hi poly meshes with UV coordinates (never worked for me).

Do someone have an idea? Some hints? I'm really SICK AND TIRED to model stuff in maya, then PASS my models to another package, RE-SAVE my work and so on..Lots of files for the same model, plus I have to wait to have Lightwave available (it's not all the time for me ) to save my work, plus it takes time.

Please... Uff.. sorry for the rant

i also couldn't get the doom 3 renderbump to work with ase files from maya. I use maya's own normal map tool which works fine (maya only flips the green channel of the normal map). Maybe an option for you to look at. At least you could then stay in one package.

if you use maya's normalmapping you do need an uv map on your high poly model as far as i know.

@ der_ton .ma files are just maya ascii files.. very usefull for switching between maya versions.

Thank you squill for your interest...

As you can see here when I'm @ work I optimize my workflow doing stuff with surface sampler... But only for flat renderbumps... The way maya create full "out of uv's" normal maps it's too bad next to doom3 renderbump...

By the way, if you got Maya 7.0, can you try this plugin and let me know if it does work for you?

nice tutorial :wink:

you made me curious about for machinima project.

looks like doom's renderbump is still superior to any other package. Unfortunatly we can't get it to work (with ase). But so far i haven't had any bad results with the surface sampler, but it's still not perfect.

i've already tried that ase exporter you pointed out a few times before. Won't do the "thing" for me. I though it also would help me in getting the two-sided planes to work (which now works in quake4).

Just wanted to go on record here: please, please, don't waste your time on .ase exports. D3/Q4 and .lwo are all over each other like white on rice.

parsonsbear wrote:

Just wanted to go on record here: please, please, don't waste your time on .ase exports. D3/Q4 and .lwo are all over each other like white on rice.

You've not got much option if Maya can;t export to LWO (can it?)

Well, other programs would be used, that read maya files and write lwo's.

I've been using modo to do this, and I can't believe I wasted all that time in the past opening those .ase's to rewrite surface names, only to have it mysteriously work- or not.