Yea. I actually went and looked at the source code they have (as well as asked around on their forums). I realized that the functionality was actually initially intended to be supported (in fact, a lot of the busywork that needs to be done for it is already in place in the source code).
I won't go into the specifics here (since this really isn't the place for it) but will say that all that really is left is to build interfaces between some of their existing modules.
I asked around on their forums (see here) about what the status was for this feature, but unfortunately, they got back to me saying that they have put it on indefinite hold since they feel it will violate WoW's TOS (which I didn't really understand) and they don't want to risk implementing a feature which will do so.
I went further and asked them if it would be ok for me to build the functionality for them (since a lot of the heavywork is already in place), but they haven't gotten back to me whether they will be able to host such a feature.
Needless to say, if a more permanent solution is required it might end up having to come from your script's end. Either that, or a whole new system would have to be built (perhaps cutting Max out of the loop) which allows us to have a simpler flow.
Given that MAXscript is a cumbersome beast as far as performance is concerned, it may end up being a worthwhile investment. I guess I'll have to start looking into it.
@zzPop: Go
If you're getting extra meshes then they're defined within the model file and not an error with the importer nor WMV.
Yea its definitely not the importer. In fact, I suspected as much. Though I am surprised why WMV doesn't just export out the model that its rendering. It obviously is already plugged into the show/hide flags that you mention, all they would need to do is to pipe that info out to their exporter and voilla, you get a model with only your selected variations included. Meh, but you are right, this is not a script related thing. Maybe I will go to the WMV forums and hound them there to plug their render pipe into their exporter.
That being said, where can I find the documentation for all these filetypes (m2, m3, mdx etc). I would surmise that for people like me (who aren't really going to be using 3ds max for anything other then a middle step, i.e. we wont be doing any model editing) the best flow would come from a separate app (written in C maybe) which will not only be faster, but could be standalone.
I think that if I can get a hold of the documentation, I can at least get started on trying to make something that simplifies this flow. Or at least investigate the issue.
So I'm not sure if its just me or if there is something else going on, but this flow doesn't seem to be working as smoothly with the latest version of WMV.
To be fair, I think its a problem with WMV rather then your script.
It seems that when I try to export something from WMV using your suggested "export textures > export all + export all to TGA" , Wow Model Viewer sometimes just doesn't export the model, period. Or sometimes it exports the model but then exports all the possible textures for the model, i.e. the skins and meshes for variations that I clearly didn't pick or set up. Naturally then, when I import the model into 3ds max, its comes through all garbled looking with all sorts of extra meshes.
Have anyone encountered this issue? Is a WMV specific issue or is there something else I am missing?
Btw, I have tried this with WMV release versions 252 and 268.
By the way, great work overall with this. As soon as this flow is made a little smoother I can't wait to start cracking on importing WoW into SC2 and making an RTS of it all.
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@NiNtoxicated01: Go
Yea. I actually went and looked at the source code they have (as well as asked around on their forums). I realized that the functionality was actually initially intended to be supported (in fact, a lot of the busywork that needs to be done for it is already in place in the source code).
I won't go into the specifics here (since this really isn't the place for it) but will say that all that really is left is to build interfaces between some of their existing modules.
I asked around on their forums (see here) about what the status was for this feature, but unfortunately, they got back to me saying that they have put it on indefinite hold since they feel it will violate WoW's TOS (which I didn't really understand) and they don't want to risk implementing a feature which will do so.
I went further and asked them if it would be ok for me to build the functionality for them (since a lot of the heavywork is already in place), but they haven't gotten back to me whether they will be able to host such a feature.
Needless to say, if a more permanent solution is required it might end up having to come from your script's end. Either that, or a whole new system would have to be built (perhaps cutting Max out of the loop) which allows us to have a simpler flow.
Given that MAXscript is a cumbersome beast as far as performance is concerned, it may end up being a worthwhile investment. I guess I'll have to start looking into it.
Yea its definitely not the importer. In fact, I suspected as much. Though I am surprised why WMV doesn't just export out the model that its rendering. It obviously is already plugged into the show/hide flags that you mention, all they would need to do is to pipe that info out to their exporter and voilla, you get a model with only your selected variations included. Meh, but you are right, this is not a script related thing. Maybe I will go to the WMV forums and hound them there to plug their render pipe into their exporter.
That being said, where can I find the documentation for all these filetypes (m2, m3, mdx etc). I would surmise that for people like me (who aren't really going to be using 3ds max for anything other then a middle step, i.e. we wont be doing any model editing) the best flow would come from a separate app (written in C maybe) which will not only be faster, but could be standalone. I think that if I can get a hold of the documentation, I can at least get started on trying to make something that simplifies this flow. Or at least investigate the issue.
So I'm not sure if its just me or if there is something else going on, but this flow doesn't seem to be working as smoothly with the latest version of WMV.
To be fair, I think its a problem with WMV rather then your script.
It seems that when I try to export something from WMV using your suggested "export textures > export all + export all to TGA" , Wow Model Viewer sometimes just doesn't export the model, period. Or sometimes it exports the model but then exports all the possible textures for the model, i.e. the skins and meshes for variations that I clearly didn't pick or set up. Naturally then, when I import the model into 3ds max, its comes through all garbled looking with all sorts of extra meshes.
Have anyone encountered this issue? Is a WMV specific issue or is there something else I am missing? Btw, I have tried this with WMV release versions 252 and 268.
By the way, great work overall with this. As soon as this flow is made a little smoother I can't wait to start cracking on importing WoW into SC2 and making an RTS of it all.