AM to Lightwave pipeline

#21

ok here is the command line version:

www.ef9.com/ef9/Files/MDDcompiler1.0.zip

To use it, you first need a sequence of LWO’s. It is my understanding that you can export these easily from AM. Then open up a command prompt, and drag the .exe into the command prompt window. type a space then -h after the path to the .exe and hit return. This will display the command help and an example of what to do. If your object sequence is called MyObject_001.lwo etc and has 100 frames at 30 frames per second, then your command line should look like this:

C:>C:\MDDcompile.exe -m “C:\MyNewMDDFile.mdd” -d “C:\ObjectSequenceDIR” -b “MyObject_” -n 3 -s 0 -e 100 -f 30

This will write out an mdd file called MyNewMDDFile.mdd which you can then load into LW by loading the first LWO, in this case MyObject_001.lwo. Then apply the md_plug displacement plugin in object properties, open its interface and specify the mdd file to load.

Hope it works for ya.

Mark
www.ef9.com

#22

You can? Did I miss something?

#23

DrReiger knows how, personally I have never used AM.

Mark

#24

Just install this classic lwo exporter :
Masashi Watanabe
and right-clic on the desired item in the PWS you want to export.
If you choose a Model, just one file is exported.
Choosing an action or a choregraphy will export a lwo sequence file.

have fun

Alain :slight_smile:

#25

I’ll upload a command line version when I get home tonight, a few hours yet :frowning: I’ll build an interface for it to make life easier in a while.
whoah ! Keep us posted on that! Thank you for your research and work.

Just so we’re clear here (or so I’m clear anyway) - we’re talking about taking a model and animation created in A:M, exporting via the aforementioned plugin, running through the new plugin that Alain and Mark have created, loading into LW and then render? One step I’m not clear on is the rigging. Is the rigging captured in this process somewhere or do we have to rig the model in LW?

I’m very much looking forward to rendering in LW. Yowsa.

#26

loading into LW and then render?

Yes this is for the moment what we have in mind.

The first version of this final conversion utility will not take into account bones. (animation is only done in AM). Next version, probably… I think this not impossible :slight_smile:

Alain

#27

DrRIEGER, just one additional question. Will the converter be free, or shareware…and how much will it cost if it’s not free.

Martin
cybersign

#28

The converter will be probably shareware.
Some parts will probably free.
I have not well tought about that. But I want to stay in the goal of Martin Hash (easy 3D for everyone). When the release will come, I will ask users what amount of money they could spend for it.

#29

So this would allow me to import a lightwave model into AM. Rig it, animate it. . . and export an .mdd file that would work with the model in Lightwave? Wow. Can someone test it on something? Puttydude?

#30

So this would allow me to import a lightwave model into AM. Rig it, animate it. . .

you could already do that before Mark’s ‘compiler’.

Rig it, animate it. . . and export an .mdd file that would work with the model in Lightwave? Wow.

Yes, but the .mdd file only contains mesh datas. There will be no way to animate the resulting mesh in lightwave unless using Mark’s MDDEdit plugin for LW Modeler. You have a excellent video demo of what this plugin can do : MDDEdit plugin Video Demo

Alain :slight_smile:

#31

I understand that. I have been using Messiah for years. I’m just very interested in seeing it for myself. There are so many weird things that happen between AM and Lightwave. The difference in scale is a huge issue. Lightwave models imprted into AM usually have to be scaled up 1000% before they are even managable. Is there some method to deal with this?

#32

Arrrghhh…can’t get Mark’s MDDcompile to run…okay I know 99% user error.
Oh I hate command line input …
Okay try it again (lwo sequence export was fine…btw).

Martin
cybersign

#33

And this thing has been around for over a year and I never knew! I’ve got to play with this when I get home tonight.

Thanks!

#34

Hi Guys,

Sorry, I screwed up on my compiler settings so the exe crashed, nice. :wink: Anyway, I’ve fixed it and this version should work ok:

www.ef9.com/ef9/Files/MDDcompiler1.0.zip

BTW, if you guys bought Point Oven you could load your mdd mesh animation file into not just LW but Maya, Max, Messiah, and soon XSI for rendering.

Laters,

Mark

#35

Yeah, that LW exporter has an option for scaling. Very, very cool to see all these parts coming together!

#36

Hello :slight_smile:

Mark’s compiler is now full working.

Somes notes to the users that hates command lines:

  1. open a Windows MSDOS prompt
  2. to go back to your C: harddrive root enter : cd c:\
  3. Drag the .exe file into the window.
  4. Example : considering you save a lwo sequence for wich every lwo is written ‘Copt_xxx.lwo’ and considering the lwo sequence is saved into the ‘lwo_sequence’ folder of the ‘test’ folder of C:, your command line must be this one :

c:>C: est\LWO2MDD.exe -m “C: est\copter.mdd” -d “C: est\lwo_sequence\” -b “Copt_” -n 3 -s 0 e-120 -f 24

  1. then Hold down Enter key !
  2. The copter.mdd file is generated.

As a visual example, I’ve put on this website two movies (divx codec) showing a Flying Copter with Rotating Blades : first made in AM, second made in LW using Mark’s compiler.
Download the two movies in this rar file .

The movement of blades was done in an Action in muscular mode. But there should be no changes if they are animated with bones. Note that only the lwo file has been loaded as this, no camera datas ( and we can see the differences between the movies).

I will be absent for few days, so have fun :slight_smile:

Regards,

Alain

#37

thanks DrRIEGER, and naturally thanks to Mark…

Martin
cybersign

#38

With all of this talk of getting A:M animation into LightWave… I’ve got a question about rendering in LW. Can anybody list some specific reasons why I’d want to render in LW? It’s been a loooong time since I’ve worked with LW (v5 I think) so I’m sure lots of things have improved since then.

A project I’m working on is going to be rendered in HD, so I’m really interested in things like render speed and the quality of anti-aliasing.

Thanks!

#39

…hm where to start, where to end. HDRI, Radiosity, Subsurface Scattering, Hair,
Skytracer etc. The renderer is very easy to handle and the learning curve isn’t so hard as it is for mental ray for example. So…animation is much easier in A:M, but LightWave’s renderer is fast. And if you need some real time rendering, use FPrime with LightWave.

Martin
cybersign

#40

Wow wow wow. . . Don’t be too hastey to dismiss AM’s now renderer. It is now JUST as fast as Lightwave’s in the tests I have done on complex scenes using “area light” type shadows. With AM’s renderer you NEVER get polygon artifacts. And I get them all the damn time in Lightwave. I HATE them. AM’s fur is now just as powerful as Sasquatch which is saying a lot because Sasquatch kicks ass. . . and overall. . . A:M is a 1000 times more intuative to use. Both of them suck in different ways. . . but Lightwave’s renderer in my mind is no substitute for Mental or Renderman or any of these other industrial strength, constantly updated highly suported renderers. If your a hobby/small studio user of AM and you never have to deal with any other studio using Lightwave. . . all this AM->Lightwave stuff is just an interesting read. Where things DO get interesting though. . . is the fact that these .mdd files can be used in Max and Maya. And THOSE applications allow you to interface directly with Mental and Renderman. So it is possible in a round about way to use AM to animate. . . and ANYTHING to render. Just. . . dont’ get hung up on Lightwave being more than it is or dismiss A:M’s new mutipass rendering solution. . . K?