wrong bump map name

[fael097]

what would a 'correct' bump map be?
i named my textures box_1_T_Bump.dds but when i go to 3ds max and try to export my model, i hit verify and it says that i have a incorrect name for my bump maps.

why?
running max 2008 btw

 

[hcornea]

Wow ... I thought you could name it whatever you wanted, so long as the file it relates to is there, and a dds of the same name exists in the FSX directory.

For a Bump map I usually use a greyscale .bmp for the modelling program,

and the "blue" version in the FSX texture folder.

The exporter will ignore the file type specified in the Max material editor (so it can be tga, bmp etc)

 

[n4gix]

what would a 'correct' bump map be?
i named my textures box_1_T_Bump.dds but when i go to 3ds max and try to export my model, i hit verify and it says that i have a incorrect name for my bump maps.

why?
running max 2008 btw

Certain letters are "reserved flags" for specific use by the sim. In this case, the letter "T" is one such "reserved flag" left over to allow for FS9 backward compatibility. In FS9 modeling, the "T" character is a "flag" to tell FS to use the Alpha channel for "Transparency."

Use "box_1_bump.dds" instead.

 

[fael097]

i see, but thats not it.
i tried all possible filenames, i only came up with that name after trying to copy from working fsx stuff, but no deal aswell.

your suggestion:

i think its not the bump maps themselves that are wrong, probably something else, but what? how should i name lods, or what are lods, as i asked on the other thread? lol

 

[hcornea]

ACES documentation suggests that the LOD should be nmaed relative to the filename ... this would appear to be unnecessary.

Rename the non-attachpoint part entries to add _LOD_100 to the end of the part names.
** Don't rename platforms or Attachpoints

Make sure that the model hierarchy makes sense when you do this ... ie all part attached to a single parent node (or similar arrangement)

As for the bump map issue .. perhaps create a .bmp (greyscale) and reference that in your Max file (save the dds file for FSX)

 

[fael097]

the LOD name fixed my lod problem.

bump map persists.
if i remove any bump maps, i can properly export and convert to mdl.
otherwise, if i export with the bump map errors, i get a 0kb file when i convert to mdl. btw, i have to use xtomdl.exe from max7 plugins folder, as the xtomdl.exe that comes in max9 plugins folder isnt working (crashes as soon as it starts) for some reason.

still looking for a proper fix for the bump map names.
i tried converting to grayscale, .png, .bmp, nothing worked, same messages.

 

[fael097]

lol this is so messed up... someone must know the reason, cmon

 

[hcornea]

Do you want to post your file and we can see if it's something related to your setup. Or a more generic problem.


Sent from my mobile .. words substituted by iPhone at will.

 

[fael097]

hey, i will post them later on (currently at work)

thank you so much

 

[fael097]

here it is, hcornea. i believe i saved that max file without bump maps assigned, cant confirm since i dont have max on this computer, but if thats the case, try manually assigning the bump maps to the bump slot on a material, then verify using the lod tool

thanks!

 

[hcornea]

OK .. cool had a quick look.

Firstly, your Max units need to be configured properly, everything needs to be set to metres:

Customise | Units Setup

Choose Metric (Meters) ... the first option
Click on "System Units Setup" and set 1.0 unit = 1.0 metre (currently set to inches)

The materials as setup didn;t have the bump map ... and the X file exports ok (no errors, apart from the scaling one)

I added the bump.dds to the bump slot and box_1.dds to the spec slot and it compiles fine.

There must be something in your SDK that is making things unhappy.

My 3DSM9 SDK is slightly modified:

three files renamed (removing the Max9_ prefix)
modeldef.xml added in (but as Bill points out you could more elegantly add the \bin directory to the 3rd party System paths also)
The 3DSM9\Plugins folder manually added to the 3rd party system paths (otherwise you get an ACES tools error on startup under Win 7 )

Not sure why there should be a problem ... sorry.

 

[fael097]

sigh... yes, i knew from the start, when gmax wouldnt run properly, that it should be a sdk problem. i'll send you a PM

this is really lame isnt there some sort of support from microsoft? damn it, i have no idea what could be the problem...

 

[n4gix]

It should be self-evident that, aside from the few things already mentioned, the SDK isn't "broken."

There are literally a thousand or more of folks happily using Max7, Max8, Max9, Max2008, and GMax v1.2 for it to be anything more than a local configuration and or user issue.

I'll readily confess that when I first tried to get Max8 and later Max9 setup, it took me several weeks of (often frustrating) effort to get everything just right, and that was despite me having had nearly ten years of experience with GMax, beginning with FS2002!

So, I'm not at all surprised that you've encountered some stumbling blocks along the way.

However, I'd strongly suggest that you try to be a bit more methodical in your approach. I know it's frustrating, but several of us are trying to help solve your issues, and we simply can't suceed if the target keeps moving!

 

[fael097]

yeah yeah, i apologize, this is the only thread that i'll keep open (for now, until this issue gets solved)

when i said sdk has problems, i meant im my end, probably the instalation, or some configuration, but i dont seem to be able to figure out. i bet if you check the file i attached, you'll be able to assign the bump map without further problems, but im not, for some reason it wont accept the "names" wich i assume the script is returning that names message because it cant identify whats the real problem, but im sure its not related to the names of the files.

i have quite some experience with 3ds max, plugin installation, all that kind of stuff, now im on max 2011, trying to get 2008 working just for FSX dev'ing, but this is something i havent seen before.

as i said, i'll try to reinstall when i get home.
thanks bill

 

[hcornea]

Bill ... I searched for this bit of info on the forums and found it

Just a thought here. Have you renamed the files Max9_FSModelExp.dle, Max9_MaxUtils.gup and Max9_MaxXML.gup to FSModelExp.dle, MaxUtils.gup and MaxXML.gup? As this is required for the Max9 sdk to work.

David

Is this necessary? I have done it and all works well ... not sure if it needs adding to your wiki article.

It may also be worth mentioning that Windows 7 truncates (and hence invalidates) the path selection in Max 9 / Max 2008 ... so you need to add a dummy folder or manually edit the plugins.ini

 

[fael097]

i did that renaming, and it didnt fix my problem
btw, you dont need a dummy folder. selecting a file instead will work and properly select the path

now everything works, EXCEPT this weird bump maps message!!

 

[fael097]

wait, i managed to get it working somehow. i'll do some more tests, and see if im able to reproduce a scenario where the bump name bug doesnt happen.

what in the world can this be?

 

[hcornea]

Well hopefully it will now go away, and you can use Max 2008.

So far I have found it very good ... just waiting on my permanent license key from Autodesk (not to mention the 2011 packaging and key)

Here in Aus it all costs 30-40% more than in the US.

 

[n4gix]

Is this necessary? I have done it and all works well ... not sure if it needs adding to your wiki article.

It may also be worth mentioning that Windows 7 truncates (and hence invalidates) the path selection in Max 9 / Max 2008 ... so you need to add a dummy folder or manually edit the plugins.ini

No, I have not. In fact, over the course of the three weeks it took me to sort out all of the problems I encountered, I found that by reverting everything back to default and carefully working my way through the steps I've outlined that it works "as designed..."

The more "clever" I tried to be, the more unexpected things would happen! Since the Max9 scripts rely on many of the Max7 scripts as well, editing the Max9 scripts proved to be a point-source failure opportunity, since variables set in a Max9 script would suddenly be unexposed to the dependent Max7 scripts, et cetera.

Here is the contents of my ..\3DSM9\Plugins folder:

 Volume in drive E is Data Disk
 Volume Serial Number is B8D1-C98E

 Directory of E:\FSX_SDK\SDK\Environment Kit\Modeling SDK\3DSM9\Plugins

02/05/2011  11:09 AM    <DIR>          .
02/05/2011  11:09 AM    <DIR>          ..
09/26/2007  02:16 PM            40,960 BaseTypes.dll
09/26/2007  02:12 PM           107,008 Managed_CrashTree.dll
09/26/2007  02:12 PM           304,640 Managed_Lookup_Keyword.dll
09/26/2007  02:12 PM            41,472 Managed_RiffMapper.dll
09/26/2007  02:18 PM           352,768 Max9_FSModelExp.dle
09/26/2007  02:17 PM            16,384 Max9_MaxUtils.gup
09/26/2007  02:17 PM            36,352 Max9_MaxXML.gup
09/26/2007  02:16 PM            28,672 MdlScan.exe
08/22/2007  02:27 PM             2,127 MdlScan.exe.config
08/29/2007  09:02 PM            13,437 SetupAcesRoot.ms
09/26/2007  03:25 PM           238,656 XToMdl.exe
              12 File(s)      1,182,476 bytes
               2 Dir(s)  93,603,606,528 bytes free

 

[fael097]

guys, apparently, the problem occurs when i assign 2 materials to the same object. well, how am i supposed to assign 2 different maps if not with 2 materials?