Definitely from xsi to x

[Nime]

One question...do u know a way to avoid the need of not having to have normal size fonts in windows? I prefer large ones, at 1280x1024...and xsi requires that reoslution...

Control panel -> screen proprieties -> aspect

In the bottom part of that panel you can set the font size for windows.
In XSI you can use file -> preferences to have a custom interface.

I'll upload new files as soon as I can.

[vermeer]

ehm...hehe. Sorry, I wasnt referring to changing large fonts in windows. I want em.

But some XSI prefs to change so to aovid it require both small fonts in the system neither 1280x1024. But I guess is impossible...

Softimage really needs some flexibility in certain points...While it does not convert it in a less outstanding package...

[Nime]

Here I am!

The problem actually was simmetry skeleton!
My programmer was right (public congrats to him )

Let's go with a step-by-step tutorial:

1- Model a single mesh. Be sure all vertices are well-merged (in some XSI versions like 4.2 or newer you can see them as blue lines when in poligon mode).

2- Map the texture on your mesh.

3- Build a skeleton hierarchy for your mesh. DO NOT use duplicating or skelton simmetry, just build bones "by hand" with the 2D chain function.

5- Put mesh and bones under a Model null object. This way you can store your full-featured mesh in .emdl format to re-use and modify it anytime you want. You can use dotXSI format instead of emdl, it's about the same.

6- Envelope and animate your mesh. You can even use actions! ...but not shape animation and no cloth simulation/plotting.

7- Export time!
These are my setting for the DirectX exporter addon:

File type: text
Animation Type: SRT
Chains: Plot IK to FK
Plot FCurves: Yes
Triangulate: Yes
Export Hidden objects: Disabled (I select the model hierarchy with the mesh and bones before exporting)
Compress mesh: Yes
Set the exporter to save the texture with the .x file (copy option), original size. You need to export textures only once (read point .

8- If you load the model with the MeshViewer, you may notice that the texture is flipped. This is about UV mapping, the one thing you must do is to flip the exported texture top/bottom and you're done. This way you have the original texture for use within XSI, and a flipped texture to load among with your .X file.

Here's my wolf with a quick test animation.
I hope this will be useful to others!

P.S. to Irrlicht staff: You may want to download and host the RAR file attached above, as I'm gonna clean up the server in the next month so the file may become unavaiable from my server.

[vermeer]

Huge kudos, Nime.

BTW, Lol, the only way I know to animate in xsi is 2d chains...and pinning object..it gives me all I need roughly ...

Well, in max I know how to use physics, but I have my xsi learning abandoned :/

DO NOT use duplicating or skelton simmetry, just build bones "by hand" with the 2D chain function.

LOL, big, big LOL....man, I told u that I lost a WHOLE animation set painfully made...as I was beguining animation then, and was done with the poor character fx...(today, is with less power than Anim8or, of course less than Blender, and what can I tell u if I compare with xsi... ) :



You don't imagine the incredible anger I felt...

I had mirrored the skeleton for building...Idid learnt later on it wasn't even adviced when using 3ds Max bones... mirroring a bones is it seems apply a negative scale or something, and it messes the engine or exporter later on..Not only with x files...

In max is also not recommended to scale bones with typical scale...Not the case with Biped, tho.But standard bones.

Now.

Afecelis, mate. Moderators.Bitplane. Odin. Somebody.. Calling to earth...Plizz...sticky this post...and all us *.x Lords would post only useful tips in that thread... I don't mean to sticky this long thread, but one which starts with that post above...I mean , for doing a "general x files support" thread. Including it art tools, but also the code tips for x files...Just obesrving the percentage of questions about it, dunno if reaches 80%, it should be stickied... With total freedom for the moderators to clean it up if garbage comes, or fights, etc, as for it to be useful it must only contain useful info...Of course, I don't mean someone to delete tips and links...like happened once with a previous moderator, hehe, in the tools thread... But yep to keep just for help for x files...all cetralizaed in a single thread about it, would frankly be of *great* help for the comunity as a whole...

I'd certainly post there the links you see now in my sig, and slowly as free time allows, collecting info needed for the different packages, the most common solutions to most common problems and the very weird ones, things to avoid, etc.

What i am not gonna do is explain how I should any more in threads that get buried and later on...let's be frank...people do not search, or simply do not find after searching... I think is a very simple step, but crucial for succesfull irrlicht projects development...and this said by someone that has no sort of interest in any Irrlicht project, nor plans to use it for the sole reason that I am already strongly involved in another engine's project (a very rare engine...)

[vermeer]

btw, nime, the only setting differnt to when I export as x from xsi (and i wasallways succesful exporting from there since I got the grips of it) is compress mesh...I stopped having certain problems deactivating that compress mesh, but each case is a different world...

[vermeer]

Another thing, you can also flip the UVs.

I used to just export from xsi as x, and then flip em in Ultimate Unwrap (yep, it imported correctly, tho is a well know uu issue that for a veiwing glitch, it's seen deformed, but as I know I don't mind, internal data keeps intact)

You can also flip them in xsi, just previous to export as x, but don't save that scn or emdl, save it just before flipping UVs.

The uv editor in xsi, till what I have seen, is very powerful, tho I like more personally UU's one...You can do very easily that uv flip in xsi, I did several times...

[Nime]

Here I am since a little time...
The wolf is definitely working: stand pose, walk, run, attack (death animation is still missing *coff*).
I'm now working on statics, to have a world cel working with the character (wolf) and houses. I want to take trace of development steps, and post useul info every time I find one.
See ya!