#Triangles to quads -How?
8 messages in this thread
I'm working on a game where the target platform requires Quads not triangles.
Have any of you addressed this already? Are there any IPAS filters for this?
I don't want to have to change modelers!
Thanks,
Kelly
Hi Kelly,
<< ..I'm working on a game where the target platform requires Quads not
triangles. Have any of you addressed this already? >>
I've heard rumors of a triangle to quad solution but so far there has been no
solution publically posted here. The recommendation so far has been to reask
this question in the "Go GAMERS" forum. If you find one, please post your
findings here.
jonas[adesk]
>> I'm working on a game where the target platform requires Quads not
triangles. Have any of you addressed this already? Are there any IPAS
filters for this? I don't want to have to change modelers! <<
Boy, the shakeup that the next gen platforms can be felt for miles… this is
a question that has started to appear here on an almost weekly basis. Are
you IPAS developers taking notice?!
One way to approach your problem, Kelly, is to use The Script Extension. It
is an IPAS by KUB available thru Scrieber that lets you access much of
Studio's internal goodies thru a basic-like scripting language. With it, you
could write a program to generate model files with all quads, essentially
writing your own Saturn (?) export function.
– Dan / n-Space, Inc.
(First Party Playstation Developers)
There is a tool called Genesis, an extension to Sense8's WorldToolKit, which
will read an NFF tri-mesh and convert it to an NFF quad-mesh. Syndesis's
program will read and write NFF and 3DS files. There are substantial drawbacks
to this solution, the primary one being cost (you have to buy two software
packages which probably aren't going to be very useful to you unless you do a
lot of VR in-house). Let me know if you're interested and I'll post more
detailed info.
Steve Milligan
Graphic Media Systems
Can you please post the detailed info?
Thanks,
Kelly
Kelly,
The tool is Genesis World Builder, and the contact info is
25 Corsham Street
London N1 6DR
Tel: 071 253 9699
Fax: 071 490 8968
To run it, you also need WorldToolKit, which you get from Sense8 corporatioL
4000 Bridgeway suite 101
Sausalito, CA 94965
Tel: 415-331-6318
These are VR tools, and it seems a little Draconian to buy them just to
convert from tri-mesh to quad-mesh, but it did work when I tried it. You lose
texture mapping information and, I think, smoothing as well, and all color
information except the ambient. WorldToolKit will read 3DS files and write out
NFF. Genesis, which uses WorldToolKit's drivers (and from what I understand
WorldToolKit is trying to decide whether to sue them over it), will then
convert to optimized quad-mesh. I have no idea what it will do when
confronted with, say, an icosahedron, which is already optimized with
triangular faces. If I have time next week I'll do this test.
I haven't tried the Syndesis converter yet, so that's a potential
missing link as well.
Anyway, Dan is right, it's a run-around, and it fails occasionally, and
my reader will accept NFF polys with any number of vertices, so I may be
missing things which would make TSE and Playstation choke.
The Yost Optimizer has to do a lot of the same things a tri-quad
converter needs to do. I wonder if they could be convinced to take on this
task?
Let me know if you find a better solution, and if you decide to go with
the WTK-Genesis solution, good luck, and share the results!
Steve Milligan
Graphic Media Systems
>> my reader will accept NFF polys with any number of vertices <<
_Any_ number of verts?! Are you doing cross-platform development and
spitting out multiple model versions for each platform based on one source?
What does >4 verts buy you in any case? I worked on several Image Generators
while at Martin Marietta that could handle polys with up to 7 verts, but
hadn't heard of anything commercially available that would take advantage of
such tomfoolery.
– Dan / n-Space, Inc.
>> NFF tri-mesh, NFF quad-mesh, 3DS <<
Thanks for the info, but that sounds like more of a run-around than I want to
deal with. Perhaps, one day, I'll have some time to write that quad-output
thingy for TSE and the Playstation.
I am sure that Kelly will want to hear more, though.
– Dan / n-Space, Inc.