Several n00b questions... Because I honestly have no idea...

[Zing]

Hi... I'm obviously quite new around here... And I have a few questions, questions that will either make or break the project I am planning...

Simply put, I need to know:

-Can Irrlicht support bumpmapped animated/deforming meshes.. (ie: characters, skeletal or otherwise...)

-Does anyone know a way to get an animated skeletal mesh imported into Milkshape 3D 1.7.8 'from' Maya 7.0?

-Failing MS3D... Does anyone know how to get the .x exporter plugin for Maya 7 working? It shows up in my plugin browser, but it doesnt want to load it...

-Failing the previous two questions, is there ANY way to get animated meshes from Maya 7 into an appropriate format for Irrlicht? If not Maya, how about 3DStudio Max... I may be able to get my hands on that if my beloved Maya doesnt want to cooperate on this project...

I've tried the search system on this forum, aswell as google... Searching for the past 7 hours.. I've found nothing useful... I don't know if the information just doesnt exsist, or if I just suck at using search engines... But I could sure some help... I'd greatly appreciate it..

[rooly]

i can answer part of your first question:
yes, irrlicht does support bumpmaps, and yes, irrlicht can do animations, but i have no clue about either of the two paired with deformations. i have heard of a few people working with deformations, so its definitely possible.

unfortunately, i can't answer anything about your beloved maya. i'm not very keen on using over-priced software, much less proprietary over-priced software with no importer in other programs.

[Luke]

As to can afford Maya 7, to might want to look at Unwrap3d,

It can import and export just about everything (http://www.unwrap3d.com/formats.aspx) including the formats irrlicht loads (x/ms3d/b3d)

[Zing]

So.. Bumpmapped characters are theoretical, but not proven?.. Hmm...
That's a little concerning...

As for Maya, Me? Afford that thing?! AAHHAHAHA!... Thats a good one... Nah... I only have it as part of the "tool kit" I got from my 3D modeling/animation course at college.. Part of my fairly expensive tuition... (that broke me) Only reason i'm considering 3DSmax as an option is because I know a guy who knows a guy who can get me a deal...

Sadly that Unwrap3D doesn't appear to load Maya's .mb or .ma files... Which are what contain its skeleton and animation data... I can import Maya .obj files into Milkshape 3D, but then I have t rig and animate it in there... and well.. I'm not exactly fond of its tools for that... Am I able to directly import animations from .3ds files into Milkshape 3D 1.7.8? I saw the import option sitting there, but I dont currently have 3DS to test it.. (though I 'could' get it shortly.. like.. within 24-48 hours..)

[CuteAlien]

-Failing MS3D... Does anyone know how to get the .x exporter plugin for Maya 7 working? It shows up in my plugin browser, but it doesnt want to load it...

Try another .x exporter plugin: http://irrlicht.sourceforge.net/phpBB2/ ... ++exporter
This one did work for us.

[Zing]

Sweeeeeet...... That freaking RULES...

Thanks!