Admittedly, I´m new to the app, so please forgive me if I´m overlooking anything obvious. My primary interest is in learning how to best be able to render MD2.0 projects in Max. I hope some of you experienced users can clarify some of these issues for me:

1) Am I correct that while you can bring Collada into MD2.0, there is no export functionality? I note that the avatar file inside the program folder is, indeed, a Collada (.dae) file. Is Collada export expected in a future rev?

2) When I import the default avatar file into Max using OpenCOLLADA it looks like she imports nicely with rigging bones. However, Max uses the Z axis as up so she´s flat on her back. Not a huge issue as I can change axis orientation in Max, but I´m curious if there are axis controls in MD2.0 that would allow me to work with my native orientation in Max?

3) Assuming I am correct about the Collada issues, it looks like the only way to get the cloth sim into Max from MD2.0 would be to export an OBJ sequence. Is this correct? I see that there´s a point cache scheme for Maya but I assume there´s no other export tool for Max users, eh? Anybody know what the future plans are in this regard, as it would seem this product would be of great interest to Max users if there was a workflow that allowed them to bring in the sim motion other than the cumbersome sequential OBJ method.

4) For now, the best approach would seem to be to use MD2.0 as a means to create clothing that is imported into Max as OBJ objects that then have the cloth modifier applied to them. Does that sound correct to those of you who work with Max?

3) Assuming I am correct about the Collada issues, it looks like the only way to get the cloth sim into Max from MD2.0 would be to export an OBJ sequence. Is this correct? I see that there´s a point cache scheme for Maya but I assume there´s no other export tool for Max users, eh? Anybody know what the future plans are in this regard, as it would seem this product would be of great interest to Max users if there was a workflow that allowed them to bring in the sim motion other than the cumbersome sequential OBJ method

Max doesn´t accept any of the vertex animation formats? Doesn´t max accept PC2 format?

Tom

http://www.marvelousdesigner.com/forum/the-commons/61/3dmax-how-to-export-avatar-animation-in-max-and-how-to-create-a-movieclip-in-clo3d

clostyle Wrote:

CAMERACAR Wrote:

ah ok:-)

sorry for my bad english i use translate of google hehee

one - i create avatar in max..ok

two - export avatar in clo3d, Yes, you can import the avatar´s joint animation in COLLADA, and vertex animation in PC2. 

tree -create simulation

four-re-import cloth in max

five create a movie

ok? Yes, right

thanks

I appreciate the responses and, by the way, EZ I bought your video training and have appreciated it very much so far.

I guess the work flow is as follows: 1) Import your character and motion from Max into MD2.0 by Collada; 2) build cloth and simulate inside of MD2.0; 3) export back to Max using vertex animation.

I´m not able to get back to my workstation until this evening but I plan to do some tests and will report accordingly.

Ok, I´ve played around a bit and I can confirm that MD2.0 does export the cloth animation very nicely into Max via Point Cache 2. However, it doesn´t look to me that you can export the avatar motion as a point cache file.

Off the top of my head it seems the only approach open now would be to import your avatar motion via Collada, do your cloth sim and then export the cloth motion via PC2. Of course, that raises issues as to whether the vertex animation would match your original motion (something I´m skeptical of based on my understanding of how Collada works). Moroever, I would imagine there would be issues getting the cloth registration to the figure precisely.

I have to be missing something, though, because those "runway animations" on the site are gorgeous and they talk about being able to render with an external renderer. Can anybody help me out to understand this workflow better?

However, it doesn´t look to me that you can export the avatar motion as a point cache file.

No, you can´t.

You shouldn´t need to unless you were wanting to send the animation to a third program. 

You already have the animation in the program it came from.

Of course, that raises issues as to whether the vertex animation would match your original motion (something I´m skeptical of based on my understanding of how Collada works)

If you have doubts, just bring in the animation into MD using vertex animation instead of Collada.

Won´t Max also export to a PC2 file?

Just be sure to use the time scale upon import option to scale the animation if it is not at 30 FPS.

Tom

Ah! Totally elegant. Export as vertex to MD. Hadn´t even thought of that.

Just shows the real value of user forums like this. My thanks to MD.com for supporting the community with this board.

That takes care of my workflow issues. I´ll do some tests tonight and post the results!

Ok, here´s the current report in my attempt to develop a usable workflow between MD2.0 and Max. I´ve tested and am satisfied with the vertex animation export from MD2.0 (using Point Cache 2 as the export format). Thus, the missing element is the ability to bring an animated character into MD2.0 from Max to be able to do the cloth simulation.

See the screenshots below: 1) I opened a character in Max and applied simple animation using character studio. I then applied the Point Cache modifier and recorded the motion. To verify that the PC2 file was intact I stripped everything away except for the original character and then re-animated by applying the PC2 file. Everything worked. So far so, good. I exported the character mesh as an OBJ file.  2) When I attempted to import the OBJ file into MD2.0 I get nothing. Nada. Blank screen. I tried various scale factors just to be sure. 3) To test the integrity of the OBJ file I imported it into POSER PRO. Voila. The file comes in perfectly. 4) I then EXPORTED the file from inside Poser using the OBJ export again. 5) This time when I import the file that was exported from Poser into MD2.0 she comes in just fine (I did apply the 262128% scale factor recommended by the MD2.0 manual for Poser files. 6) I thought I was finally golden until I attempted to import the vertex motion and got nothing. I suspect something in the process of re-exporting the model from Poser must have affected the vertex descriptions so that the motion didn´t get applied.

For the moment this leaves me stymied in my quest for a MD2.0 / Max workflow. I´ll keep at it, of course, but if any of you have experience or suggestions, please contribute!

Mark

vislaw Wrote:

I appreciate the responses and, by the way, EZ I bought your video training and have appreciated it very much so far.

 

 

 

thank you.

when you imported the .OBJ did you try the auto scale option?

on the far upper right in the object browser will let you know if it really loaded even if you didn´t see it,

may have been to tiny to see.

another thing once you find the right scale factor if you do it manually it may not be the same in the next version of marvelous designer.

OBJ have no joints/rigging so you wont be able to animate it in marvelous designer,

you need .DAE

To see the options click the triangle to the right of the show avatar green man icon

ezbrush Wrote:

when you imported the .OBJ did you try the auto scale option?

on the far upper right in the object browser will let you know if it really loaded even if you didn´t see it,

may have been to tiny to see.

OBJ have no joints/rigging so you wont be able to animate it in marvelous designer,

you need .DAE

Yes, EZ, I tried auto scale to no avail (hey, that rhymes!).

I also am aware OBJ objects have no joints/rigging. The whole idea was to apply motion via Point Cache 2 (vertex animation). The way MD2.0 is structured means that you will not get precise animation using either their vertex morphing or Collada (joint transform) methods described in the manual. IF it is possible to be able to animate vertices precisely using a PC2 file, that would solve the whole issue. Unfortunately, I haven´t been able to get it to work from Max yet.

Looking at other forum posts it appears that my desired solution DOES work for people who are LightWave users (I´ve seen posts indicating that the MDD file (LightWave´s point cache format) works well in MD2.0. From the manual it also appears that the implementation of Maya cache works decently too. I´m trying to find a workaround that will let me render effectively using Max. Getting the avatar motion into MD2.0 and back out to Max is the issue.

Otherwise, I´ll have to use MD2.0 to create clothing and simply animate in Max using the cloth modifier - something I´d rather avoid if possible.

I´m going to keep trying and eventually I´ll either figure something out or I´ll just have to make a feature request.

By the way, if you are still reading this far, EZ, can you comment on the animation editor? Unless I´m missing something, it´s pretty much not usable for character animation. Again, I´m new here and may be off base, but according to the manual it´s basically an interpolater between poses. I would have to think the developers are going to eventually add a better animation system along with the ability to import MoCap files. Is there more to the animation editor than I´m seeing in the manual?

For the moment this leaves me stymied in my quest for a MD2.0 / Max workflow. I´ll keep at it, of course, but if any of you have experience or suggestions, please contribute!

I would guess that it´s still a scaling issue. make sure and check the object browser window to see if the avatar is actually there or not.

Tom