dunno, if i'm right here, but i'll just post, cause i think it fits best in here... i got some problems loading 3ds files. i've used openFX to create some models & exported to .3ds format. then i wanted to put a texture on some surfaces... but it seems not to work right. rendering within openFX, i see all textures, as i attached them to my object, but after exporting to .3ds, there seems not to be any information in the file about the textures... (didn't find any chunk dealing with textures... in fact the output file was exactly the same with/without textures). then i thought about doing the texture-stuff with some other app & downloaded milkshape3D. ->produced even more trouble ! first of all, ms3d writes a version chunk with a long int version number... my .3ds documentation says, it should be short int... well... ok... no big problem fixing that. but then i also noticed, there was no material group chunk at all... so i still see the model, but it doesn't have any materials attached... what am i doing wrong ? i don't think, milkshape3d would be as popular, as it is, if it couldn't export materials to .3ds... so it must be my fault, right ? next thing i tried, was blender3D... started, quit, deleted ! my gmax download has finished that minute... i'm going to check it out.. maybe that one will work. maybe not... anyone able to help ? [edit] i've just tested gmax & saw, there's no export to .3ds function... so that proggie's also bad for me and again : anyone got advice ? [/edit] [edited by - uNiQue0815 on July 26, 2002 1:55:19 PM]

yep... it has to be some crazy stuff... if only i could figure it out...

and if only i had some good documentation/specification of the .3ds format !

i was told to look for one at autodesk''s website... but didn''t find it...

i already got
3dstuff.txt
3ds2.txt
3ds.txt

from programmersheaven.com (and any other website, you''ll find when googling for "3ds format".

but these docs aren''t more than reeeeally crappy !

mostly the problem you''re dealing with is that .3ds isn''t an open file format. so the only docs around are from people that have reverse engineered the format. which is why .3ds comes with the ability to write a plugin so you can export the file to a format of your own choosing. assuming you''ve paid the requisite $2,000 or so it shouldn''t be a problem. just read through the manual that came w/ 3ds or find some docs on the web about writing formats.

milkshape is good if you''ve pirated 3ds b/c it''s free and has an open file format so should technically be easier to figure out. since you have probs w/ milkshape, there may indeed be funk. there''s a tut by nehe on this site about loading milkshape models that you might want to read through to see if there''s anything you''re doing wrong.

another idea might be to export to md2 or md3 format from 3ds b/c that''s also an open format for which there are plenty of tutorials about loading from.

-me

mmh... milkshape is not really free. it''s about 20 bucks. sure... that''s not very expensive, but i''d like to be able to import models from a file format that''s widely supported & can be edited by completely free editors/modelers. (for example openFX)
i don''t know much about .md2/.md3, but they are best for models, right ? i''d also like to import whole scenes (maybe rooms, or whatever) & convert them to my own formats. they also don''t support skeletal animation, i think.
(correct me, if i''m wrong)

i don''t use 3d studio, ''cause i can''t afford their prices...
the use of their format is free, right ? or do i have to pay license $ ?

mmh... after all those problems... maybe i''ll just code my own model/scene editor that would be much less time-consuming than learning a stupid file format, cross-using lots of editors (there''s never a single one that has all features i need) & failing again & again for some reason i can''t figure out...


!!! FREEDOM FOR ALL INFORMATION & DOCUMENTATION !!!


...

so maybe soon there will be the ultimate editor on market for easy modeling & with a perfect file format