Hello everyone, I''m new to this page, so I''m probably posting on a subject covered 3 gazilion times, though, I did not see any on 3ds. I have 3ds models that I''d like to read in, and I''d like, in the future, to be able to add full 3d models to my OpenGL game. I have source, that I understand, for scanning and finding 3ds chunks, does anyone have any suggestions of how to get a start on converting that scanned data into OpenGL paremeters? Also, I''m thinking about using the scanner to produce my own 3d file type, that would be faster, and hopefully preserve most of the original models accuracy. If anyone is interested in ANY of this, I''m developing a fully 3d RPG with a partner, I''m on PC, he''s on mac. We''re using OpenGL,and as far as system limited resources go, I''m using DirectSound, Music, and Input. Thanks, Pat Lorton Webmaster of programmingcentral.com

I was in the same position you are only a short while ago. I found that it took quite a bit more work than I expected to convert the chunks into a manageable format. I would suggest planning out the rest of your engine VERY carefully before you write your file format or 3ds reading code, otherwise you will have to do a lot of rewriting. This is from experience =) I''m in the middle of my third rewrite at the moment. Also, the 3ds format stores vertices in a different coordinate system than OpenGL. Maybe we can exchange ideas for reading and storing from the 3ds format via email. By the way, my partner is also on the mac so I''m developing for both platforms at once, so if you would like any tips on doing the same I''d be happy to help.

Hope this helps!
Wraith
BasketQase Software

Just use the MAXSDK to write your own file exporter... Thats what I did and it works Great!

Smeagel, I''ve also been struggling with importing 3ds models to opengl, if the converter you are using is freeware, I''d really appreciate it if you mailed me so i could also get hold of it... I would also appreciate any links you have found on the subject... thanks

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Matt Benic

"Ummm, you mean this aint bubba's-house-of-hillbilly?"

Nate Miller has a 3DStudio .ase importer on his website.

http://nate.scuzzy.net



Paul Groves.
http://home.clara.net/paulyg
OpenGL for Beginners

As far as i can remember, old 3Dstudio was able to export objects into ASC format (utilities>more>ASCII file output), which is VERY readable, with simple text file processing. It can export the objects separately in their own coordinate systems, or in world space.

-kertropp