GMT importer for 3ds max v0.8

gerzson · 07-12-2005, 19:11

Here's a maxscript that imports gmt files into max. (tested only on max 8)
It has some important things missing yet, but I don't think I can fix them in this framework so here goes v0.9.

INSTALLATION(order important):

-install ISI's 3ds max tools
-extract all the files from rFactor's coreshaders.mas into 3dsmax\hardwareshaders
-copy importGMT2.ms into 3dsmax\scripts\startup
-launch max
You can find the importer in Utilities(hammer)\maxscripts\utilities.
You need to have the textures of the gmts in the directory of the gmts, or in the "Additional texture path" in tga or dds format in order to keep the texture names. In the case of animated texture stages(like sky.tga, or *.bik) you can select any tga or dds when prompted, doesn't matter.
IMPORTANT: If you run out of memory go to preferences->MAXScripts, and set the initial heap size to 32mb, and restart max.

KNOWN LIMITATIONS:

-I couldn't import the main material properties like colors, blending modes, however you can see them in the MAXScript Listener(F11), and correct them manually.
-The animation type(like cycle, manual) imports correctly, but during exporting it defaults to 'cycle', so set it manually again.
-Only Triangle lists are supported, strips are a waste of time anyway(on my comp at least)...
-Tested only on Mills and Orchard Lake.
-If something goes wrong usually everything collapses, so be careful

-very slooooooooow because of the stupendous method used for material importing.

This project is open source, so modify it as you wish.

CHANGES since v0.8

-smoothing changes
-fix for blend percent, texture filter
-fix for major bug which caused wrong shader to be selected
-support for triangle strips
-a bit smarter texture searching, bmp support
-only non-default material properties are printed in the Listener
-pivot point, transformation imported
-textures are shown in viewport

Jka · 07-12-2005, 20:19

Cool!

Will try it out...

- Jka -

behzaeh · 07-12-2005, 23:26

Thx.
Even if i do not own 3DSMax, the information about gMotor Files is also very usefull .)

hi · 08-12-2005, 03:11

sweet! Thanks, been dying to see how they did a couple things in the tracks, mine has a couple issues I can't seem to shake, maybe now I can. Hope it works

pholt · 08-12-2005, 04:01

Thanks so much for this tool, it works great. It makes life so much easier than converting to 3ds and then importing. If I'm just importing parts of a track, the speed is good. I'd imagine it might be a bit slow if I tried to import a whole track but I find it easier to work on a part or 2 at a time.

Peter

Maboroshy · 08-12-2005, 11:53

Thank you, gerzson.

elwood · 08-12-2005, 14:56

Thanks a lot Gerzson, soon we'll use extensively.

U R THE MAN

cheers

el

sethro · 08-12-2005, 14:58

ok, i can't get it to work

i tried it on max 7&8 and although it installs ok it throws up a script error when I try to import. I made sure I followed the instructions to the letter. Any ideas? p.s. my max 8 is a virgin install no added files.

sethro · 08-12-2005, 15:16

bit more info

this is the line that causes an exeption in max 8

mat=meditMaterials[1].materialList[newMatID]=gMotorMaterial()

and in max 7 it's

mat.shaderSelect=shaderNames[s]

Tony · 08-12-2005, 15:30

Thanks Gerzon.

I now know where I've been going wrong with applying the materials & textures to cars.

Now I have a field of nice shiny Holdens & Falcons.

It works fine in Max 7.

sethro · 08-12-2005, 16:10

ok i fixed it BUT i think your readme is a bit misleading as I had to extract ALL files from the coreshaders mas not just the GFX ones. Anyway many thanx

gerzson · 08-12-2005, 16:52

I'm pretty sure that only the GFX files are needed, but the main thing is that you got it working

I've updated the importer to v0.81, now the pivot point and the transformation matrix are imported too, so the those cones at Mills are at the right place now. Get it from post nr.1.

p.s. Don't forget to use the listener to get the missing mat. properties.

Just one more thing: the 12th material is used temporarily during importing, its content is wiped out completely, so don't store there anything important.

pholt · 08-12-2005, 18:09

Is it possible to turn the textures on as they are imported? I've found that after importing, I have to go into each material, into one of the texture stages and click 'show map in viewport'. It's not a big problem but it would be nice not to have to do it.

Peter

gerzson · 08-12-2005, 19:50

Yeah that's a good idea.
Fixed it in one line. See post 1 for update. Now the first texture of the dx9 shader is shown in the viewport.

Stoneytone · 09-12-2005, 03:14

Great tool thanx al lot for your hard work this will save me hours, small issue same as Sethro I had to extract ALL files from Coreshaders now it works great

btw Im using Max7

boblug · 09-12-2005, 04:33

Great tool. I get an error though loading cube maps. I just say ok but then cannot select any cube map references.

Tazz013 · 09-12-2005, 06:24

All coreshader files need to be extracted, because the GFX files make use of all of the PSH and VSH files.

Does anybody know what MAS file has the cubemaps?

pasir · 09-12-2005, 08:01

Quote:

Originally Posted by boblug

Great tool. I get an error though loading cube maps. I just say ok but then cannot select any cube map references.

Yeah, I have the same error. Should there be so many cube maps in objects? I imported one billboard and got the cube map missing error. I don't think this billboard has a cubemap at all (checked with Noonan's tool). So I could not export it back to gmt from 3d max until I removed the cubemap entry from material (This is because I couldn't even put a DDS format cubemap there..why is that?)

But other than that error, this is a great tool

Tony · 09-12-2005, 08:08

Their in the commonmaps.mas in the Locations folder or cmaps.mas in the vehicles folder

pasir · 09-12-2005, 08:40

Quote:

Originally Posted by Tony

Their in the commonmaps.mas in the Locations folder or cmaps.mas in the vehicles folder

Ok, good to know

sethro · 09-12-2005, 11:05

hmm the cubemap issue is a bit more complicated than that maybe, i extracted all the other maps to my folder but still get the error. i asked gjon but even he wasnt sure, some trackside objects in dx9 use the cube map to create a better specular highlight i think.

gerzson · 09-12-2005, 14:40

Guess what, you were right: ALL files need to be extracted from coreshaders.mas, this is official. My script doesn't need that directly, but the gMotorMaterial editor brakes down when only the .gfx files are extracted, the shaders cannot be selected, and in turn this breaks my tool as well...

hi · 09-12-2005, 17:05

yep, mine wouldnt work without extracting all of them. Now it does, and it rocks! Thanks again

Same deal with the cubemaps, lots of materials asking for em.

sethro · 09-12-2005, 19:38

so has anybody managed to find the right cubemap yet?

gerzson · 10-12-2005, 00:26

What's wrong with car_cube.dds or (or any other files in commonmaps.mas that end with _cube)?
OccanXX.gmt from Mills uses these and they load perfectly fine for me.

08-12-2005, 04:01	#5
pholt Registered Join Date: Aug 2002 Location: Australia Posts: 354	Thanks so much for this tool, it works great. It makes life so much easier than converting to 3ds and then importing. If I'm just importing parts of a track, the speed is good. I'd imagine it might be a bit slow if I tried to import a whole track but I find it easier to work on a part or 2 at a time. Peter Last edited by pholt; 08-12-2005 at 04:03.

08-12-2005, 14:56	#7
elwood Registered Join Date: Feb 2003 Location: South Milano Posts: 170	Thanks a lot Gerzson, soon we'll use extensively. U R THE MAN cheers el __________________ MBDevteam old stuff

08-12-2005, 14:58	#8
sethro Registered Join Date: Mar 2001 Location: United Kingdom Posts: 2,293	ok, i can't get it to worki tried it on max 7&8 and although it installs ok it throws up a script error when I try to import. I made sure I followed the instructions to the letter. Any ideas? p.s. my max 8 is a virgin install no added files. __________________ no news is good news

08-12-2005, 15:16	#9
sethro Registered Join Date: Mar 2001 Location: United Kingdom Posts: 2,293	bit more info this is the line that causes an exeption in max 8 mat=meditMaterials[1].materialList[newMatID]=gMotorMaterial() and in max 7 it's mat.shaderSelect=shaderNames[s] __________________ no news is good news

08-12-2005, 16:10	#11
sethro Registered Join Date: Mar 2001 Location: United Kingdom Posts: 2,293	ok i fixed it BUT i think your readme is a bit misleading as I had to extract ALL files from the coreshaders mas not just the GFX ones. Anyway many thanx __________________ no news is good news

07-12-2005, 20:19	#2
Jka Registered Join Date: Jan 2005 Location: 192.168.0.1 Posts: 391	Cool! Will try it out... - Jka -

07-12-2005, 23:26	#3
behzaeh Registered Join Date: Oct 2004 Posts: 140	Thx. Even if i do not own 3DSMax, the information about gMotor Files is also very usefull .)

08-12-2005, 03:11	#4
hi Registered Join Date: Jun 2001 Posts: 399	sweet! Thanks, been dying to see how they did a couple things in the tracks, mine has a couple issues I can't seem to shake, maybe now I can. Hope it works

08-12-2005, 11:53	#6
Maboroshy Registered Join Date: Aug 2005 Location: Moscow, Russia Posts: 272	Thank you, gerzson.

08-12-2005, 15:30	#10
Tony Registered Join Date: Mar 2001 Location: Sydney, Australia Posts: 117	Thanks Gerzon. I now know where I've been going wrong with applying the materials & textures to cars. Now I have a field of nice shiny Holdens & Falcons. It works fine in Max 7.

08-12-2005, 16:52	#12
gerzson Registered Join Date: Dec 2003 Posts: 93	I'm pretty sure that only the GFX files are needed, but the main thing is that you got it working I've updated the importer to v0.81, now the pivot point and the transformation matrix are imported too, so the those cones at Mills are at the right place now. Get it from post nr.1. p.s. Don't forget to use the listener to get the missing mat. properties. Just one more thing: the 12th material is used temporarily during importing, its content is wiped out completely, so don't store there anything important. Last edited by gerzson; 08-12-2005 at 16:58.

08-12-2005, 18:09	#13
pholt Registered Join Date: Aug 2002 Location: Australia Posts: 354	Is it possible to turn the textures on as they are imported? I've found that after importing, I have to go into each material, into one of the texture stages and click 'show map in viewport'. It's not a big problem but it would be nice not to have to do it. Peter

08-12-2005, 19:50	#14
gerzson Registered Join Date: Dec 2003 Posts: 93	Yeah that's a good idea. Fixed it in one line. See post 1 for update. Now the first texture of the dx9 shader is shown in the viewport.

09-12-2005, 03:14	#15
Stoneytone Registered Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: Isle of Wight, UK Posts: 175	Great tool thanx al lot for your hard work this will save me hours, small issue same as Sethro I had to extract ALL files from Coreshaders now it works great btw Im using Max7 __________________ Keep it Real Stoney http://www.core-team.org/

09-12-2005, 04:33	#16
boblug Registered Join Date: Jan 2003 Posts: 295	Great tool. I get an error though loading cube maps. I just say ok but then cannot select any cube map references.

09-12-2005, 06:24	#17
Tazz013 Registered Join Date: Sep 2005 Posts: 97	All coreshader files need to be extracted, because the GFX files make use of all of the PSH and VSH files. Does anybody know what MAS file has the cubemaps? Last edited by Tazz013; 09-12-2005 at 06:44.

09-12-2005, 08:08	#19
Tony Registered Join Date: Mar 2001 Location: Sydney, Australia Posts: 117	Their in the commonmaps.mas in the Locations folder or cmaps.mas in the vehicles folder

09-12-2005, 11:05	#21
sethro Registered Join Date: Mar 2001 Location: United Kingdom Posts: 2,293	hmm the cubemap issue is a bit more complicated than that maybe, i extracted all the other maps to my folder but still get the error. i asked gjon but even he wasnt sure, some trackside objects in dx9 use the cube map to create a better specular highlight i think. __________________ no news is good news

09-12-2005, 14:40	#22
gerzson Registered Join Date: Dec 2003 Posts: 93	Guess what, you were right: ALL files need to be extracted from coreshaders.mas, this is official. My script doesn't need that directly, but the gMotorMaterial editor brakes down when only the .gfx files are extracted, the shaders cannot be selected, and in turn this breaks my tool as well...

09-12-2005, 17:05	#23
hi Registered Join Date: Jun 2001 Posts: 399	yep, mine wouldnt work without extracting all of them. Now it does, and it rocks! Thanks again Same deal with the cubemaps, lots of materials asking for em.

09-12-2005, 19:38	#24
sethro Registered Join Date: Mar 2001 Location: United Kingdom Posts: 2,293	so has anybody managed to find the right cubemap yet? __________________ no news is good news

10-12-2005, 00:26	#25
gerzson Registered Join Date: Dec 2003 Posts: 93	What's wrong with car_cube.dds or (or any other files in commonmaps.mas that end with _cube)? OccanXX.gmt from Mills uses these and they load perfectly fine for me.