Hi,

I need some/one people/person who have written .3ds loaders which pull animation data out using any language I don't care which it's irrelevant.

What I need to know is how the 0xB021 position track, 0xB022 rotation track, and 0xB023 scale track are structured so that I can write this section of my loader. It's kind of the important bit. I have everything I need bar this information.

I also need this information desperately. I've been asking everywhere and no-one ever seems to reply, let alone point me at some documentation, a working loader*, etc.

I know it's pretty much a dead format, but it's a uni project and .3ds is set in stone.

*lib3ds - yeh great but it's a mass of horrible looking code, and I can't find the bit that deals with these chunks specifically - if you know where to point me in lib3ds, please do so, it would be massively appreciated.

Praying for help now.

Thanks in advance

it's a uni project and .3ds is set in stone.

I'd love to write the curriculum but I don't. Sorry dude.

Also nevermind discussion on SDK reliance, and Collada's not a great idea - it's a 'game' so I'm looking for a quick load.

Look in the future I'll use FBX I promise, but to be fair the only problem with .3ds is the documentation, other than that it's a great format imo.

Look, I'm not really looking for an argument here.

Given - poor language - and edited. Apologies. Just stress creeping in.

I'm sorry though, I can't use any other format: it's a university project and the title of the project is "Loading a .3DS File using C++". So it's not really a valid suggestion to solve my problem.

Google hits 1-4 use van Velsen documentation which acknowledges but doesn't process these chunks. Hit 5 is this thread, hit 6 is a Gamedev thread no-one got back to on the subject.

Okay 7 is good! I see how rotation works and that's epic - just like you say it did ( I see it's not a quat )!

Google hit 8 is lib3ds*, and 9 doesn't touch these chunks, a la van Velsen :/

10 looks good (a library I hadn't seen) but I can't find any source, I will have a hunt on their site.

Lib3ds has all the answers but is typedef'd beyond all recognition and I don't understand what's going on in the bits of it that do things that I haven't done in my own loader. I'd love to scour the lovely GPL/LGPL Lib3ds for knowledge but it's just so.. Lib3DS-y.

I suppose I've been blindsided by just looking for complete documentation as opposed to scouring forums for info on a given chunk, but fairplay.

You know dude, I've got 19 days to go on this project and I've barely prepped the gfx/render pipeline for animation 'cos I've been doing this loader so long, but what you gave me might save my bacon - I can see how rotation_track is done and if I apply that to the other chunks, with a bit more reseacrh I'm onto a winner. (Google hit 7 - That rotation code on the forum is a perfect help). +1 :)

Google hits 1-4 use van Velsen documentation which acknowledges but doesn't process these chunks. Hit 5 is this thread, hit 6 is a Gamedev thread no-one got back to on the subject.

Weird, hits 2 and 3 for me were the 3DS format documentation (although I admit having to use Ctrl+F to find the chunks, the documents are so huge that it's extremely easy to miss them). Maybe it gave you different results though. Also I mentioned how rotation works because neither document seemed to explain it (one post in another of the hits explained it instead).

Good that was enough though =)

Well it's just that now I know that these chunks contain what isn't subchunks, + this link was in one of the ones from that let me google that for you search:

http://away3d.googlecode.com/svn/trunk/fp10/Away3DLite/src/away3dlite/loaders/Max3DS.as

And that's a friggin beast of a find, so I thank you sir!

Edit: and the rotate info too :)

Just noticed that in the example code given in this link, the code I'm chasing has been commented out, and no reason why is given.

http://away3d.googlecode.com/svn/trunk/fp10/Away3DLite/src/away3dlite/loaders/Max3DS.as

:(

If anyone knows of any other examples please let me know