MshEx Beta 2 - much better

[RepSharpshooter]

What it does:

• Visible mesh (textures, uvs, normals, etc)
• Nulls
• Hierarchy

That's it, don't ask for more.


For XSI Crosswalk 2.6 only. Max's crosswalk doesn't work because of incorrect normal export.

Rules you must follow:

• Make sure you have Crosswalk 2.6 (you probably don't)
• A polygon has to be in one and only one cluster at a time.
• Each cluster must have a local copy of a material (the material name will be italicized = BAD, double click to edit and make a local copy)
• There has to be one and only one texture projection (can someone say how to collapse a lot of them into one explicit uv map?)
• There has to be a null as the parent of everything.
• You cannot use rotation or scale (well you can use them, but remember to freeze transforms before exporting).
• You can only use a max of 5000-6000 triangles (polys times two). If you go over that, you're pushing your luck. ZE will freeze/lock up.

Instructions:

1. Put everything you're going to export under a null (not the scene root).
2. In the scene explorer, middle-mouse click the name of the null.
3. Go to file, crosswalk, export (it should be on 6.0 text when it pops up).
4. Click settings tab.
5. Select a filename/filepath.
6. CHECK "EXPORT SELECTION ONLY"
7. CHECK "CONVERT GEOMETRY TO TRIRANGLES"
8. CHECK "EXPORT XSI NORMALS"
9. UNCHECK "Keep referenced paths relative"
10. Press export.
11. Run mshex in same directory and convert file to a msh. (and if you're really stupid to put it bluntly, this means put the .xsi file in the same folder as mshex.exe and hedr.msh, then double click on mshex. Then type in the .xsi name such as box.xsi)

There! Now start to export beautiful mesh that looks exactly like pandemic rolled it off their exclusive exporter!




Click here only if you read everything. READ EVERYTHING! It'll be your fault when you fail at using it.

[Blade]

Yay, it worked at least for a simple object .

Two things, you said that you can't scale or transform unless you "Freeze Transformations." I erm, kinda need to know what that means so I can export my other models, that have been scaled and transformed. And the other is, when I open the Crosswalk exporter, I don't see anything about "Keep referenced paths Relative."

Aside from these two things, I'm hoping that this will work for the rest of my models

[Taivyx]

No collision?
Ah, well, still worth the bandwidth, as always, superb job Rep

[RepSharpshooter]

Bah stop complaining taivyx! you're so ungrateful

Two things, you said that you can't scale or transform unless you "Freeze Transformations." I erm, kinda need to know what that means so I can export my other models, that have been scaled and transformed. And the other is, when I open the Crosswalk exporter, I don't see anything about "Keep referenced paths Relative."

1. Open XSI. Press F1. Search for "freeze transforms" click on the "Freezing Transformations" article. It explains how to do so. Basically all it tells you is to click on transforms, then select freeze transformations, but the point is that you can arrive at the answer via the xsi help. In some cases, however, I must admit the xsi help is no help.
2. Ah, you do not have the correct version of crosswalk, that may pose future problems. Get crosswalk 2.6 http://www.softimage.com/downloads/Cros ... fault.aspx

[Caleb1117]

2. Ah, you do not have the correct version of crosswalk, that may pose future problems. Get crosswalk 2.6 http://www.softimage.com/downloads/Cros ... fault.aspx

OOOOOOooooh

I have 2.0, that might explain some things.

[1z2x3c]

BRILIANT!!!,it worked.... im so happy...i ... i ... i dno't know how to describe.. other than no sending you .scn to someone who can afford xsi... yay

[theultimat]

Thank You! I worship you, oh great RepSharpshooter!

[Blade]

Oh, sorry, didn't really think about trying the Help (Usually, as you said, the Help things aren't really any help to me...)

Anyway, that seems to have fixed my problems, i think.

[Caleb1117]

Does this version support multiable textures?

[RepSharpshooter]

Yes it does, hence how my building and speeder do.

Just make sure you follow the rules:

• A polygon can only be in one cluster at a time. (and has to be in 1 cluster).
• Each cluster must have a local copy of a material (the material name will be italicized = BAD, double click to edit and make a local copy)

It has been know to do bad things if you don't/

[Frisbeetarian]

Is there a reason that these objects don't show up in 3D Object Converter?

[RepSharpshooter]

I chose not to include a redundant and useless data chunk that 3doc and my import use.

[tsurugi13]

It works! (for me) This is an amazing piece of work. Really, this should be on the homepage.

[Blade]

It Doesn'twork! (for me) This is an amazing piece of work. Really, this should be on the homepage.

(I added in Blue)

While I agree with the last two parts, I'm still not getting it to work... When I placed them (my models) in ZE, I got errors about "expecting a bracket (req.), but none was found for castle.msh" (that's not exactly what it said, check the Modding forum if you want the whole list). I'm still thinking about downloading foundations' 30-day trial. I'll get back to you on what I decide. (By the way, Rep', please don't take this as whining. MshEx is an amazing idea and put together well, I just can't get it to work, so I'm frustrated )

I'm really hoping this doesn't affect my availability for the DMI, but if I can't get my models to export correctly... eh, we'll cross that bridge if we have to.

[RepSharpshooter]

Make sure you follow these rules:

What it does:
Rules you must follow:

• Make sure you have Crosswalk 2.6 (you probably don't)
• A polygon can only be in one cluster at a time (and has to be in at least 1 cluster)
• Each cluster must have a local copy of a material (the material name will be italicized = BAD, double click to edit and make a local copy)
• There can only be 1 texture projection (can someone say how to collapse a lot of them into one explicit uv map?)
• There has to be a null as the parent of everything.
• You cannot use rotation or scale (well you can use them, but remember to freeze transforms before exporting).
• You can only use a max of 5000-6000 triangles (polys times two). If you go over that, you're pushing your luck. ZE will freeze/lock up.

When in doubt, export your model as an obj, delete everything in the scene, and re-import the obj. (Make a backup .scn first though, or make sure you don't overwrite it). This'll make it better for mshex to handle. Also delete any excess materials/material libraries. There must be something funky you're doing, as it's worked for me and others.

[Blade]

- A polygon can only be in one cluster at a time (and has to be in at least 1 cluster)
- Each cluster must have a local copy of a material (the material name will be italicized = BAD, double click to edit and make a local copy)

These are the two that I'm unsure about... I'll use the Help thingy this time, , to see if I can figure out what the bloody [D.Dp] I'm doing wrong... if I can't figure it out that way, I'll try exporting and then reimporting.

Again, I really hate to be a pain, thanks for all the help you've already given.

[elfie]

For some reason It didn't work for me but the tool itself looks excellent. It is probably because I am horrible at navigation in XSI and trying to find where everything is. If someone could just explain to me where I could find these things I would be greatly appreciative.

Put everything you're going to export under a null (not the scene root).

How do I put it under a null?

In the scene explorer, middle-mouse click the name of the null.

Where is the scene explorer?

UNCHECK "Keep referenced paths relative"

This was the other thing I couldn't find.
Sorry to sound Like a pathetic noob, guys but I would really appreciate anyone's help.

[Crazy_Ewok]

1 and 2. Go to create>primative>null. Then press 8 and the scene explorer will come up. Click on the name of your model(it will probably be polymesh) and drag it over null.

3.If you don't see "Keep referenced paths relative" you probably don't have crosswalk 6.0 or you've already tried to export and your crosswalk options were saved with the scene. If that happened, press 8 and look for crosswalkexportoptions. Delete it and try to export again.

[elfie]

Thanks Crazy Ewok. Unfortunatley I realized why it doesn't say keep refrenced paths relative is because it says Crosswalk 2.05 on the dialouge box when I don't have 2.05 installed I have 2.6 installed strangley enough. I wonder how I could fix that...?

EDIT:
Praise Be it showed up In Zeroeditor!!!!!!!! all hail repsharpshooter!!!!!! ALL HAIL!!!! THANK YOU!!!

[redgroupclan]

Alright, just back from vacation and I get to try this out!


Although I dont really understand everything...
¤A polygon has to be in one and only one cluster at a time.
¤Each cluster must have a local copy of a material (the material name will be italicized = BAD, double click to edit and make a local copy)
¤There has to be one and only one texture projection (can someone say how to collapse a lot of them into one explicit uv map?)
There has to be a null as the parent of everything.Does this mean drag all objects under dummyroot?
You cannot use rotation or scale (well you can use them, but remember to freeze transforms before exporting).
You can only use a max of 5000-6000 triangles (polys times two). If you go over that, you're pushing your luck. ZE will freeze/lock up.


I dont understand most of that...

Things in red I fully dont understand
Blue = I think I may have an idea but Im not sure
Normal=I dont really care

Try to get past my terrible comprehension lol. Still new to XSI

Please try to clear things up for me.