Hello All,
Just got DBPro, and it's blown me away. I am a modeller more than a programmer (My reason for choosing DB) and came accross some big hurdles at first, which I'm sure others have experienced, I appologise for the length of this post in advance, but I simply have to share!
Before I get started, I'd better tell you what I'm using:
DBPro (upgraded to 4.1 + IDE updates)
3D Studio Max R3
DBConv (Stand alone program distributed with DB Classic)
Xout (3DS Max Plugin available from www.3dcafe.com as "Directx Exporter")
The reason for this post should be familiar to any 3ds user. Namely problems loading 3ds models and actally getting DBPro to render them.Stuff that worked fine on DB just won't display in DBPro. Well I found out how to get around all of that and have some other tips to make your models load faster and look more "organic". So here goes.
1, How to get 3ds models to render in DBpro:
"One Rule to Display them all, One rule to find them,..."
You MUST ensure EVERY limb of your 3ds model has a texture applied to it!
Simple eh? The texture doesn't even have to cover the whole limb, just one textured polygon will do, but if there's even one limb without a texture then DBPro won't display anything. Nada, Niente.
This does have a downside when it comes to amimation, as you can no longer use untexturable (is that a word?) items in your models, such as helpers and bones and suchlike, but using simple IK is still possible, so you have no excuses!
2, 3DS models take an 10 times longer to load than X models?
Looks like DBPro converts them upon loading, and once you get any decent amount of models into your program, you'll find you're staring a a blank screen for a Loooooong time before the program actually runs, So:
Download the free trial of the origional Dark Basic (Classic). Were not actually intrested in the compiler here, but a little proggy stashed away in the "Tools" directory called DBconv. All it does is convert any 3DS models in it's directory into x models, complete with animation keyframes. (don't forget to keep your textures with your 3ds file or they'll get lost during conversion).
Et Voila: Your Newly created X models will load superquick and look exactly the same.
3, My models still look a bit, weeeelll,..... Chunky!
I couldn't help noticing that lighting my models shows off every facet on them. This doesn't matter if it's a mechanical object, they're supposed to have corners, but spheres and the like look appalling unless you crank the poly count up to processor choking numbers. The solution is in the Normals:
First go to 3dcafe and download the Xout exporter plugin (Free Stuff->Programs & Patches->Direct X Exporter v0.5beta). Install it into 3ds Max R3 and we're away.
This plugin has a big upside and a big downside. The downside is that it doesn't export animation data, but there are other ways around that. The upside is that it gives you the option to export "Vertex Normals" instead of 3DS's "Face Normals". When displayed in DBPro, this has the effect of smoothing your models edges, giving you a curvey looking object.
If you need to animate your curvey models (remember no keyframes) a bit of creative programming with the HIDE LIMB and GLUE OBJECT TO LIMB commands will open up lots of possibilities (Changing clothes on models, fake mesh deformation ,... Gotcha thinkin' yet?
).
Hope that's of some use to someone, cos It took a lot of effort to suss out. Now I'm off to actually do something with it.
Bye,
Darclyte
