ConvertXSI can't find vertices, outputs empty mesh file

while I'm looking at your files what program are you using to create these files?

I can export all day long hard points and all but I have texturing problems.

ill get back with you in about an hour its almost 3pm here so around four i might have a solution for yea.

ds

My modeling is done in an old academic version of Maya equipped with an obj, directx, and xsi export tools. For the above files, the modeling was done in Maya, exported to obj, imported to XSI Mod Tool, and then exported as xsi. This allows me to do a history/hierarchy-less transfer from Maya to XSI Mod Tool so that only geometry and UV's get transfered. Unfortunately, this has also failed to work as evidenced by the above files. I don't understand why the problem keeps coming up or why my convertxsi file from the latest modding tools download would be defective.

Since my obj exporter won't spit out skeletal points (not sure if it's possible or not as the option exists, but the points never show up in the obj file) I also have used the directx x file exporter, import to XSI Mod Tool, export as xsi, and then tried to use convertxsi on that too. No luck. Also, files directly spit out by the Maya XSI exporter do not work either. However, for the x file and maya-xsi exporters, I think the issue lies in the fact that scene hierarchy gets exported too (as in the history of all the primitives I used, cameras, and lights gets exported to). That's why I'm giving the x and maya-xsi files their own paragraph here. I haven't been able to wipe out the hierarchy for some reason. I'm pretty sure this is why the x and maya-xsi files won't work with convertxsi.

For your texturing problem, did you try setting up the UV's? I normally just do a quick automatic mapping and then manually lay them out later when it's time for polishing. You might have to lay out the UV's and apply a default material in the case of 3ds (which is what I think I recall seeing you using). This will force the UV's to be recorded in the files you export/import. Then it should be as simple as assigning a triple of dds texture files (just use existing dds files at first and then make your own once your ship is working) and imitating what the developers did. Of course, as I've found out, things that should be simple and straightforward normally don't happen that way.

Well it took a lot less time for me to do this than expected...

here is the link to the files I rar'ed them...

WWW Link

I will write down exactly what I did and how after I finish this post it will take longer to write than do!

as for what I use its all xsi mod tool nothing else.

btw while I was doing this I noticed your ship was 90 deg off on its axis so I shifted it, you would have had a sideways flying ship. I didn't know what scale you wanted so I left that alone its TINY!

any more ideas on the texturing now that you know i use xsi?

Was it really as simple as removing the SI_Light Light?

I'm running some comparison/merging software to compare the xsi file in your rar vs. the one on my system. That's the biggest change I've noticed aside from the 360 to 300 header/version change.

As for texturing in xsi, I'll see what I can find. I don't even know how to build a model in xsi right now, but if you have an xsi file of the mesh you're trying to get textures set up on, feel free to post it and I'll download it, do a pair of file conversions and let you know what the UV's and normals look like and any more advice if I can track something down (might be helpful).

I'm redoing file and not altering it at all right now other than scale and axis and will post it momentarily along with a huge long tutorial as to what i did.

and I'll post Links to all of my woebegone skinless models if you want to use them or skin any one of them it might help me figure out how to do it properly.

ds

I know I'm being really simplistic but I'm writing this for not only you but anyone else that may be having problems.

ok here we go...

first I'm going to show you where I have everything necessary on my pc It may be something as simple as that.

my xsi modtool is installed at...

C:\Softimage\XSI_6_Mod_Tool

when I tried to import your xsi file off my desktop It wouldnt find the file so I had to place it inside the installed directory which for me was...

C:\Softimage\XSI_6_Mod_Tool\Addons\ModTool\Noesis_QS_Database\xsi\MirandaMkII.xsi

I created the xsi folder feel free not to do that but if you are importing files a lot you may wish to do it to keep things clean.

now that we have all that settled on to how I fixed it...

with your XSI 6 modtool open click...

File/Import/dotXSI

this will pop open a window called ".xsi Import Options" which has a few check boxes I have the first 4 checked and the last 2 unchecked because I tried it and it worked.

click OK and a new window will come up called "Import .xsi -please refer to the user guide" I never have but I assume its neat.

mine always defaults to the wrong place so I navigate to the correct location here is where it defaults to maybe i should have put it here huh?

C:\Softimage\XSI_6_Mod_Tool\Addons\ModTool_Database\dotXSI

so I go to...

C:\Softimage\XSI_6_Mod_Tool\Addons\ModTool\Noesis_QS_Database\xsi\

pick the model you need which in our case is...

MirandaMkII.xsi

then click OK and mine pops in perfectly!

now for the fun stuff..

the first thing I notice is its absolutely tiny! so im going to scale this sucker up.

***** at this point I would like to admit I use the default view of XSI which is found along the top under...

Modes/Mod Tool

if you use another way it may make my references obsolete. *****

ok back to it... I default to the lavender layout if its not lavender change it in the upper left hand corner by clicking on the lavender button it has a real name but i like to call it lavender mode!

NOW, first make sure your model is selected then as i said the model is tiny so I'm going to upscale this ship by clicking on the scale button along the top under transform or just press x.

now that we have done that along the right hand side near the top under transform you will see the first three have values of 1.

I'm going to change them to 6 after that your going to need to zoom out a ways cuse its big now!

second thing I noticed is that your going to have a sideways flying ship if we dont orientate it correctly, there may be other ways to do this but this is how I do it.

right next to the transform button there is another button click it or press "c" and you can rotate it any way you want.

now you have a row of 3 "0's" x,y,z. under the numbers you just changed you can type 90 into the y value or just mess with the rotation icon and hope you get it right. LMAO!

now we have it ready to go for this particulare model we have nothing else that needs to be changed as far as i can see.

before we do anything else I want to freeze this model as is, to do that click the button that says Transform ( above the 6's )...

Transforms/Freeze all Transforms

or just press "f" I believe, now your 6's are all 0's and your 90 has vanished because now this is the default scale and rotation for this model.

this would be a good time to save.

ok thought this entire thing your model should have been selected you can tell because it has a white wire frame work on it.

if it hasn't been you messed up and may need to redo any or all of these steps.

next lets export this baby!

with is still selected click...

file/Export/dotXSI

this will open .xsi Export Options

here are the tricky parts.

first name the model I dont know if its really needed here but I do it.

my name will be all lower case as all of mine are...

miranda_mkii2

next I leave the format Ascii and make sure the version is 3.6!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

if its not you autofail hardcore!

next i dont know if it mater's but I un-check animations and leave everything else as is!

click OK. I always export to my desktop so click the up button until you get there and then rename the file again...

miranda_mkii2 as opposed to what it is called by default "polymesh".

click ok and your done!

next move your new miranda_mkii2.xsi file to your ConvertXSI folder which is what I will expand on next!


I have installed convertxsi at...

C:\ConvertXSI

in this folder you should have 4 files and they are:

msvcr80.dll

XSIFtk.dll

XSIFtkd.dll

ConvertXSI.exe

now I always put my exported xsi file in there making it 5 files lets call mine miranda_mkii2.xsi

ok so your first cmd line should look thus...

C:\Documents and Settings\hp_owner>cd C:\ConvertXSI

hit enter and it looks like this...

C:\ConvertXSI>

now i put convertxsi.exe miranda_mkii2.xsi miranda_mkii2.mesh --nooptimize in the mix...

C:\ConvertXSI>convertxsi.exe miranda_mkii2.xsi miranda_mkii2.mesh --nooptimize

which will make the following file called...

miranda_mkii2.mesh

and add it to your folder making the file count 6.

once again overly detailed but hey I don't want to miss anything.


if anything is unclear please let me know!


ds

you were right I did need to remove the extra material you had in there to do this correctly!!!!

Im not sure why cuse I don't know what it was but it wont import through convertxsi like it was.

I will now package up some of my models and let you see if I'm doing something really obvious wrong in my work!

cuse sometimes I'm dumb.

ok here is my little line up of startrek ships, probably not at all close to anything real but what do you expect when im not really a trekkie?

the files for xsi in rar format.

WWW Link

and some glamor shots!

I actually have these ships in game and playable as TEC capital ships ans its been fun balancing them and getting the weapons to work but I've run into some hard coded limits weapons wise so they aren't as done as I want them.

I have modded a missile to work as a torpedo but i need one more weapon slot to use it grrr.

the only reason they aren't black in game is because I cheated and used 3 materials each a different color and applied them after I had them in mesh format, sloppy ugly and really sad looking but they kick ass.

ds

did you export it into 3.0 xsi or 3.6 xsi? I kept getting that error in 3.0

xxx_diresaint_xxx, what I've noticed with your models is that the UV's are completely absent and no UV snapshot can be taken. Those models do not appear to be texture mapped although you have applied different colored materials to certain polygons. When I bring up your models in Maya I get no UV's what-so-ever, and that's a big problem when it comes to texturing time. The game and any modeling software won't know what parts of the texture go into which polygon at what orientation.

For an example of what I'm looking at, this is how that futuristic/upgraded Miranda I made comes up: http://www.personal.psu.edu/zjb105/Stuff/UVTexturemaps.png. The UV's aren't great for it, but they were mapped by me using the automatic mapping feature in Maya as a temporary solution. When I do the same with one of your models I get absolutely nothing in terms of UV's although the grey, red, and blue do appear on the physical model itself. It looks like you're coloring the individual polygons or vertices, which normally isn't done since texture/uv mapping gives you more control and provides better results when rendered.

I did a quick Google search and came up with very little about UV texture mapping in the XSI mod tool. However, I saw several places that there's a hello world tutorial or something like that that goes over texture mapping. I'm honestly not sure since all I know how to do in the XSI mod tool right now is basic navigation. The controls are radically different from what I'm used to.

I haven't been able to try again with the convertxsi tool, but thanks for the help and I'll post here tomorrow if I get things to work.

CanadaMan... I always export via 3.6 anything else does not work.

ZJBDragon... I gave you unblemished files I becaus I did not think you wanted to see my sad excuse for texturing I can try what I think should work and post it.

In fact I will do that but I will drag out my version of Galactica and rar it after I texture it.

it will probably take me a little while but I will have it in an hour or two.

and thanks much!

ds

ok so I dug out my galactica model and its ugly so befor I try a texture on it Im fixing it.

maybe later tonight Ill have it textured?

ds

xxx_diresaint_xxx, are you having a situation where, when properly textured, your model appears partially transparent? Just wondering if that's what's one of the texture issues you're experiencing. I get that in my modeling program, but it doesn't cross over to in game.

Thanks again for the help! >^.=.^<

hey dragon!

no my attempts to texture just look maleformed like i get a landing strip looking good in photoshop elements or paint shop pro X or even windows bitmap and a couple more, and the results are the same when applied, distorted and pixilated no mater the file format, Im pretty experienced in computer graphics ( 2d ) so Its very frustrating.

then when I export it will not apply to the model correctly in game thus my dirty ugly solution.

I can upload a couple examples for you but its ugly!

thanks again!

ds

I was just looking at this picture you posted...

http://www.personal.psu.edu/zjb105/Stuff/UVTexturemaps.png

and If I could even get xsi to generate a uv texture map in one recognizable lump like yours it would help a lot but mine always comes out looking either totally disjointed or in such small chunks you cant do jack with it.

grr

ds

Cool, ever see Wallace and Grommit???

Oh, Seriously though, I found a couple of files on the net that may help (I haven't tried to run them yet):

dotXSICTK...it's a conversion toolkit for xsi files

xsidump13...it's a 6year old file, but might help if it loads current file format

quick3D_Viewer_4...looks to preview 3D files like picture file viewers

Again, I haven't tried any of them yet, but they could help...