August 1, 2001
at 12:00 pm /
#11700
Tips for Active Worlds users
Amabilis Forum: User’s Tips: Tips for Active Worlds users
andnbsp; By Alex Grigny de Castro on Sunday, April 22, 2001 – 09:40 am: andnbsp;
3DC is a modelling program, that exports and imports DirectX X ascii text files from the main File menu. Using two programs I made and Accutrans3D, most objects can be transfered to and from 3DC to RWX files.
RWX (or other files supported by Accutrans3D) to X:
Load your object in Accutrans3D, save it as 3DStudio 3DS file making sure the andquot;avatarandquot; checkbox is NOT checked.
Start my program 3ds2x, select the scaling you want and load the 3ds file: this converts it to the X format that 3DC can import.
X to RWX:
Export the scene (NOT the object by right clicking on it) using andquot;File | Export | DirectX (.x)andquot; menu option.
Start my program x2rwx, load the file, and follow the instructions on screen. You can save the converted RWX file, which can be either used directly or loaded in Accutrans3D for further processing.
NOTE 1: 3DC has a bug when exporting X files: it reduces the precision of vertex positions to 3 significant figures. This is a known issue, hopefully the next version will fix this.
NOTE 2: due to differences between DirectX and Renderware rendering, some 3DC options will not work for us. When texturing, make sure you always use a Flat Wrap (which is no wrapping at all). Cylindrical and Spherical wrappings do not work for us, because no UV information is stored or can be stored (texture boundaries run accross faces). Another good method, if you have the Pro version or have paid for the pluggin, is to use the UV Map Object tool to UV faces: this does store UV information correctly.
NOTE 3: our objects, when imported to 3DC, appear very small on screen. Therefore, when changing from RWX/COB or other to X, you should apply a scaling factor, 10 is usually ok. You can do that in Accutrans or in 3ds2x. Conversely, when changing from X to RWX, scale down your object by 0.1 in x2rwx or in Accutrans, to get it to the right size for Active Worlds. One unit of length in 3DC is equivalent to one Active Worlds coordinate, i.e. 10 metres.
Accutrans3D: [img:1cfsska0]http://www.micromouse.ca/[/img:1cfsska0]
<!– m –><a class="postlink" href="http://www.micromouse.ca/">http://www.micromouse.ca/</a><!– m –>
3DC: [img:1cfsska0]http://www.amabilis.com/[/img:1cfsska0]
<!– m –><a class="postlink" href="http://www.amabilis.com/">http://www.amabilis.com/</a><!– m –>
3ds2x and x2rwx: [img:1cfsska0]http://www.imatowns.com/xelagot/links.html[/img:1cfsska0]
<!– m –><a class="postlink" href="http://www.imatowns.com/xelagot/links.html">http://www.imatowns.com/xelagot/links.html</a><!– m –>
XelaG
(Alex Grigny de Castro)
andnbsp; By Alex Grigny de Castro on Sunday, April 22, 2001 – 09:48 am: andnbsp;
NOTE 4: when texturing, do not flip the textures, because Renderware will flip and mirror them if you do that.
