AM to Lightwave pipeline

#125

Ejecta wrote :

  1. No matter what modeler you use you of course have to get the model into the .lwo format cause you have to use the plug in Wegg posted earlier. Or if there is AM plug that will import obj then I wouldnt see why that wouldnt work.

You are wrong.
Points are written in a specific order in the file. Considering OBJ format, polygons are drawn referencing the order of the vertices that are written some lines above in the .obj file. So, and thrust me, that points order is VERY VERY different from a 3D software to another. To be more clear, a .obj coming from software1 is not the same as another one coming from software2.
These are not bugs but choices of the developpers. The resulting mesh in AM will be different, and that without taking into account the manner a programmer make its AM plugin importer !

Your conclusion is one I share. Im not sure this would work in a studio of size but for me it’s not so bad that I would consider it an option.

Yes, I agree. Some more work need to be done to find a good and professionnal way.

Wata wrote :

My new plugin is here.MDD Export Plugin

Wonderfull initiative !
But… the three new .hxt files does not load into my AM v11.0p (PC-winXP).
What could I do !!! :drool:

Regards,

Alain

#126

Well I stand corrected. I model in LW and Wegg used Wings so I thought it would work.

I too cant get the new plugins to load in v11

#127

Any word on getting this to work with V11?

#128

Wowa. Very cool. I can’t wait to try it.

#129

Still no word on the update to get these plug ins working on 11?

#130

I agree with what you are saying and another point comes to my mind.

I am a LW user, my purpse for the software was mostly Modeling and rendering realistic stills, and gaming of a non animate type.

As of late I have really taken an interest in building characters and animating them. Knowing LW’s modeler, I find designing Characters quite easy to do with the Powerful tools LW has.

But I find the ANimation not as strait forward as what I see done in AM. SO I have been cotimplating purchasing AM. But, imediately when I begin to explore the modeling of AM, I found myself somewhat intimidated by the process. Thus, I begin searching for a way to bring models from LW to AM so I could use AM’s powerful Animation tools and ease of use.

This brings me here!  I am at an impass, I am starting to lean toward just staying with LW completely and maybe expand it by getting MEssiah Studio, but not sure that is the answer either.

Truthfully, I would much rather use AM because of seems much simpler learning curve on the animation side. But the idea of having to learn to model all over again isnt to desireable.

Havent give up yet on the idea of AM, being a noob to Animating I may be willing to give the modeling in AM a try.

MBStudios

#131

You may not have heard that pmG has lowered their prices - so, messiah:animate is now $239. It’s a great compliment to LW’s own animation tools and works seamlessly with LW’s native object format .LWO. Something to consider, should you stay with LW. But A:M is nice also. :slight_smile:

#132

Sorry to be late.
My new plugins did not work correctly.
I recreated them.
Now you will be able to load the plugins in v10.5 and v11.

LWO Export Plugin
MDD Export plugin

#133

It still does not work for me. I get a message that says “unable to load plug-in [C:\Program Files\Hash Inc\V11.0\HXT\m2l_am10.hxt], The specified module could not be found.” I tried it in 11.1 too. I couldn’t get it to work in 10.5 either. Is anyone else having trouble with this?

#134

I will support this in any way I can! Me and a friend are planning a short movie, him animating in AM and I’ll use LW.
Keeping an eye on this.

#135

I have made the video tutorial available on eggprops that was there a while back.

It demonstrates how to convert your geometry from Animation Master to Lightwave. It discusses all the princaple differences between Hash Patches and Lightwave Sub-D technology and demonstrates how to make them work together.


This is a direct link.

#136

Excellent…you’ll see my order tomorrow. My only question before I order is that in the page you have linked it mentions taking your AM models to LW. I actually want to do the opposite. Is this covered in your tutorial? Thanks

#137

It walks you through the difference between patches and Sub-Ds. . . so that would help. But getting from LW -> AM requires a re-wire of your model’s topology once it is imported. Unless your LW mesh is really really light. . . this can take a long time. Much longer than converting an A:M model to a Lightwave Sub-D model. If a LOT of people are interested in this I could probably do another tute but. . . I don’t think there would be any more than. . . 1 ;). A:M users are “do it myself to see how good I am” type people. Importing a model from another package throws all that thinking right out the window. Ya know?

#138

I just really like how easy it is to animate in AM. LW is not always as much fun to animate, but it is getting better. Do you still model in AM? Do you find it easier to work with hash patches and convert to sub-d’s or just start with subdivision surfaces in any other modeler? Thanks for your help and tutorials.

#139

Personally. . . for me. I love Animation Master’s modeler. . . but I find it is much slower for the “nitty gritty” high detail stuff that I end up doing a lot of. But for building a character. . . A:M is the first app I launch. Well besides the “pencil app” to rough out what I’m thinking. The wall built up between no other apps supporting Hash Patches and Hash not supporting Sub-D objects is something I fight with EVERY DAY. If A:M’s intuative workflow and amazing animation tools werent so damn. . . . amazing. . . it would be easy to drop it and just stick with a “one app” pipeline. And then they had to go show me whats in 12 and my whole damn world is upside down. Bloody hell its frustrating. I feel for ya m8. Hopefully my tutorial will at least help you understand the battle. :-/

#140

Alain -
How is the progress? Is this still on your list of things to do?

#141

Apologies for the delay, but Yes, the converter is still in progress but I had to make many other works before and kept my medical activity too.
Furthermore, I’m certainly not the best programmer even seen, and the goal to give a PC and Mac solution adds some contraints.

I will post in this thread the first results as soon as possible.

Best regards.

Alain :slight_smile:

Note : Mark’s Mdd compiler is fully working, and that is already a great part of the project. Although I do not had tested Weta’s Mdd exporter, it seems to be a very serious piece of work too.

#142

Excellent ! Thanks for the info.

#143

Has anyone had success exporting an animation sequence from A:M of a reasonably complex character into LW for rendering? And if so, would they care to show us the results? :slight_smile:

#144

Was Alain’s AM2LW converter ever finished?