#Saving ASC
9 messages in this thread
When I save a 3ds editor file as Ascii I can convert it to another ray tracer.
But suppose I use the keyframer to warp some geometry…like move the fingers
of a hand. Can I save that keyframe info, e.g. can I save a certain frame of my
keyframer in an ASCII file? If not that means I would have to make all my
manipulations in the editor, which means no hierarchy and pivoting of joints
that I am doing in the keyframer, right?
Thanks,
Mitch
Mitchell,
no you cannot export keyframes, so you'd have to do the pseudo-keyframing in
the editor and save an ascii file for each "pseudo-keyframe" – sounds like a
sure way to get a big headache <g>.
There is a way to copy the positions of a single frame of the Keyframer into
the Editor–as long as you don't have any instances in the Keyframer. (Caution:
This is a special-case procedure, and it messes up your Keyframe and Editor
setup, so make sure you save your .3ds file under a different name after
performing this.)
Move to the frame in the Keyframer that contains the positions that you want in
the Editor.
Right-click on the Track Info button to display the Track Info dialog box in
World mode. Use the Add button to add keys for all tracks of the frame that
you're on.
Use the Copy button to copy those keys to frame 0, and then delete all the
remaining key dots in the animation. (You might not need to do the key-dot
deletion, I'm not sure.)
Now, unlink all of the objects in the Keyframer. When you go to the Editor, the
objects should be in the same position as you just left them in the Keyframer.
– Jack
Thanks Jack. I will get brave and try that soon. I have actually mucked up
somehow using the keyframer and discovered my geometry all twisted in some
bizarre way, so I figure I have some experience now 🙂
Mitch
Try it with something small first, to build up your confidence. <g>
– J
I assume that you're talking about 3ds2pov. If you get the latest version from
GRAPHDEV (v1.6) you can export both the geometry and the keyframer data and
have 3ds2pov generate the animation. Morphing isn't in 1.6 but it is in the 1.7
beta.
Thanks Steve! Are you saying that I can now tell 3ds2pov to render just a
particlar frame to a POV file? If that is what it does that would be wonderful.
Mitch
Yes, you can generate a POV file for a single frame or you can generate a whole
animation. Just a warning, the animation support works with 3DS r1.0 and r2.0
but not with r2.01. It looks like I'll have to do the conversion directly from
the .3ds files to get it working with r2.01.
Oh boy that is a great solution compared to what I would have to do to fix it
in 3DS. Thanks! Gosh I have 2.01 I believe.