Understanding .X files and Cinema4D
Author
Well, my questions are most assuredly simple things that I should be able to find elsewhere but I'm not having a ton of luck.
Do .X files contain more than just coordinates? Do they contain texture info, animations, materials, etc?
The reason I ask is because there's a built in function within Cinema4D, the software my fiance just happens to prefer, that allows a quick export to 'Direct3D'. When I load up the simple model I created in DirectX's mesh viewer, it seems to be lacking animation altogether.
If .X files don't contain animation, is anyone familiar enough with Cinema4D to assist in teaching me how to export a file for animation?
(I'm almost completely new to using external files for anything due to my own lack of skills in 3D modeling, but with my fiance getting into it... we might be able to accomplish something pretty nice between us.)
Author
Ok, .x files contain animation information just the same as materials and texture info.
The only thing I would be unaware of is how to actually extract that information.
If anyone knows of any good tutorials, please point me to them. If they were in VB6 for DirectX8, I promise to love you forever. :P
The only thing I would be unaware of is how to actually extract that information.
If anyone knows of any good tutorials, please point me to them. If they were in VB6 for DirectX8, I promise to love you forever. :P
Conceptually, a .x file can contain anything since it is extensible with user-defined templates.
In practice, I haven't seen anyone that uses custom templates; they just use the standard templates defined by Microsoft.
The standard templates define a texture by filename; the actual texture data is not included in the .x file, only the name of the filename containing the texture data.
For animations, all the information about how to animate a mesh is present in the .x file. You can use D3DX functions to load this information from the .x file into a mesh that you can animate just like the skinned mesh sample does.
I cover all of the business of .x files in Chapter 21. X Files of my book.
In practice, I haven't seen anyone that uses custom templates; they just use the standard templates defined by Microsoft.
The standard templates define a texture by filename; the actual texture data is not included in the .x file, only the name of the filename containing the texture data.
For animations, all the information about how to animate a mesh is present in the .x file. You can use D3DX functions to load this information from the .x file into a mesh that you can animate just like the skinned mesh sample does.
I cover all of the business of .x files in Chapter 21. X Files of my book.
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