Easy Ogre Exporter        

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Author: Bastien Bourineau / Arkeon

Contributors: Nir BenDavid / BJoe, Pulas, Bauer

Project: Easy Ogre exporter for 3ds Max

Type: Plug-in

Supported Versions: 3DSMax 9 to 3DSMax 2020

Documentation:

Sources: Scol projects SVN / Github Mirror

Binaries: Plugins

Setup: Install for Max 2011 to 2020

Status and bug reports: EOE Redmine

Forum thread: OGRE Forums Thread



Concept

The objective for the Easy Ogre Exporter is to be the most simple as possible but with a lots of direct conversions from max scenes, and sure to be free and LGPL.

Current Version

Current version is 3.2.2 Released on December 1 2019

Features

  • Mesh format from Ogre 1.0 to 2.0
  • One click export from the Max export menu > Ogre scene
  • (DotScene|.scene) export
  • Manage all Ogre versions
    • exports node hierarchy
    • exports node animations
  • Mesh binary export for each objects in the scene
    • shared or Dedicated geometry option
    • vertex Colors
    • normals
    • multiple UV sets
    • tangents
    • edgelist
    • poses from the max morpher
  • Skeletons
    • multiple Skeleton Animations
    • multiple root bones
    • standard structures and biped
  • Animations
    • animations from the main track separate bt time tags or from the motion mixer if available
    • nodes animations from the main track or from the motion mixer for each node in the dot scene
    • poses animations from the main track or from the motion mixer
    • morph vertex animations from the main track or from the motion mixer
  • Materials
    • Standard materials conversion
    • Architecture materials conversion
    • Mentalray Arch / Design materials conversion
    • ambient, diffuse, specular and self illumination colors
    • specular level
    • animated textures from IFL files
    • multi textures
    • multi uv
    • support of composite texture (one layer with mask)
    • transparency level
    • material options like "double sided" or "wire"
    • Shaders (CG and GLSLES) automatic generation for pixel lighting and normal / specular maps / ref cubemap
    • Automatic basic technique for non supported hardware when shaders are used
    • export the textures files
    • optional textures conversion to DDS format with size optimization
  • Lights and cameras
  • Automatic unit conversion to meter
  • Automatic LOD generation
  • Small dialog interface for a minimum of setting like the Ogre version for meshs, prefixs, directories, and some advanced options


What coming next :

  • Setup for quick installation

How to Contribute

Gives some feed back if you found some mistakes on the materials or animations conversions.
If some developers with an experience on the Max SDK want to participate please do.

FAQ

1 How to install the exporter ?

  • For Max versions from 2011 to 2015, download the setup from here and follow the instructions.
  • For older max versions, chose your max version from the SVN directories and copy the "EasyOgreExporter.dle" file in your max "plugins" directory and restart 3ds Max.
  • Be sure to have the visual studio 2010/2012 redist installed for your system.
  • vs2010 redist x86
  • vs2010 redist x64


2 How to export my scene ?

  • Just select the "Export" command in the Max menu and choose the "Ogre Scene(*SCENE)" format
  • To export only the selected objects use the Max menu "Export selected"


2 Which Scene parameters are exported ?

  • The scene ambient color and background color are exported in the dot scene file


3 How can I change the units setting ?

  • The units are taken from the max System Unit Setup, and converted to meter.
  • To get 1 max unit = 1 ogre unit then just change the max system unit to 1 Unit = 1.0 meter


4 Which objects user properties are available ?

  • Objects attributes can be added from the Object property dialog in Max
  • renderingDistance, this attribute is exporter in the ogre scene file, it define the visibility distance of a mesh
    • ex : renderingDistance=10.5
  • noLOD, override the LOD generation for the specified object
    • ex : noLOD=true
  • userData, this export a userData markup in the dot scene xml
    • ex : userData=my data


5 How can I manage the alpha textures on materials ?

  • The alpha is used from the diffuse texture with a PNG or TGA bitmap
  • To disable texture alpha use the "Alpha source" texture setting and set it to NONE
  • To change the alpha rejection just disable "PreMultiplied Alpha" option on the diffuse texture with an alpha channel (ex: usefull for folliages)


6 What extra material setting can I use ?

  • on standard material you can use :
    • the "Wire" option to render your material in wire mode
    • the "Faceted" option to render your material in flat mode
    • the "2-Sided" option to render your material on both face sides


7 On which material texture should I set my lightmap ?

  • you should use the ambient texture on standard materials


8 Which max materials are exported ?

  • The "Standard material" is the most supported and permit to control the ambient, diffuse, specular, self illumination and bump textures (with shader generation)
  • The "Architecture material" and "Mentalray Arch / Design" only support the material colors and diffuse texture


9 How can I set the animation intervals ?

  • This can be defined from the Max Motion Mixer by using clips.
  • The animations can also be defined directly in the track line using time tags (the time tag interface is on the right bottom of the track line).
  • how it works ?
    • add a time tag on the first key of your animation with the desired animation name
    • add a time tag relative to the first tag to set the last animation key


10 How can I use the vertex animations ?

  • Vertex animation with any mesh modifier like "Edit mesh", "Ripple", "Noise"...
  • The "Edit poly" modifier is now also supported.


11 The exported Mesh appear in black or with a bad pivot, what can I do ?

  • If your model is a simple mesh, apply the "Reset X-Form" tool on your object. This will update the object with the correct transformation, normals and uv maps for the Max exporter interface.
  • You should apply the "Reset X-Form" tool every time you modify the content of an object, and absolutely before you apply any hierarchy or modifier like the skin or the morpher.
  • Since the EOE V0.999 this is less necessary but don't forget that Max need a reset X-Form in some case.


12 I forgot to apply the "Reset X-Form" tool before making the skinning of my object. How can I correct that ?

  • You can correct this mistake as follow:
    • In the skin modifier, save the envelope setting in a file.
    • Remove the skin modifier
    • Apply the "Reset X-Form" tool on your object
    • Collapse the modifier stack or apply the "Collapse" tool
    • If it is needed, realign the pivot and redo the "Reset X-Form" and collapse tools
    • Align the skeleton model correctly to the mesh
    • Add the "Skin" modifier
    • Add the same bones as your previous "Skin" modifier setting
    • Load the .env file saved before and match the bones by name
    • Now your skinned mesh should work better in max and export the animations correctly.