Can 3DS MAX files be opened in Cool 3D PS?

[susiegriffith]

Can 3DS MAX files be opened in Cool 3D PS? Or can anyone recommend a free converter program? I found a neat Football show Opening Animation created as a 3ds max 4 ( .max ). I think the price (65.00) is steep....but would pay anyone half the price if they wanted to make/sell me one similiar.

See Link below:
[http://www.turbosquid.com/FullPreview/I ... /238819url][/url]

[rwernyei]

Susie,
COOL3D Production Studio cannot import MAX files. You can use Right Hemisphere's Deep Exploration software. Has huge 3D model support: import, separate, package, etc... Use this software to convert models to .3DS, so COOL3D PS can import them. Use .D3D import option for image texture or .C3D for no texture. Hope this helps.

[Greg]

Rob,
I dowloaded the latest trial of Deep Exploration and am battling a bit, maybe you could point me in the right direction. Loaded a 3ds into DE, manipulated it a bit and saved it. However when imported into Cool3D, it only has the main object, not all the sub objects. Am I missing something, or do I need to export each sub object, import them one by one into Cool3D and rebuild the object there?

Regards,
Greg

[rwernyei]

Greg,

As you are aware, one can unpackage their models in DE. I guess it depends on the project whether to export the full object or subdivide it. To answer your question, to keep the full manipulated object you created in DE, you need to group it before exporting it. Once exported, choose your import 3D model optons in COOL3D PS and you're set.

Hope this helps.

[oldhippie100]

here is what worked for me when your ready to convert the files.what i do is(in DE) click file
batch operastions,conver 3d files,and check the ones you want to convert

[Greg]

There are a number of ways to do it, but what I would like to do, and can see no simple way of doing it, is to import the model into C3D with all the component objects intact, so that I can manipulate movement, textures etc within C3D. This I do not seem to be able to do. My only options are to manipulate the textures in DE(or similar) and import the 3ds into C3D as one object. This gives me the correct textures, but I cannot move sub parts individually. The other option is to export each component from DE one by one, then import into C3D. This is frustrating as each piece needs to be manipulated into place, as well as sized correctly, as no matter what options I use, I cannot seem to get each piece to import at the same scale, and there is no common factor in the import. This results in the process being tedious and time consuming. Any further suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

Regards,
Greg

[rwernyei]

Greg,

When importing your .3ds model into COOL3D PS, make sure the scale to proper size box is checked. This may help or not. All 3D programs are not created equal, which affects importing/exporting objects from one program to another.

It's also a shame that COOL3D cannot subdivide models upon import like higher-end 3D software. This would solve your problem. Unfortunately, importing objects separately into COOL3D PS to manipulate is the only way, otherwise it will come in as a complete model unable to be manipulated as you stated.

I'm sorry I can't help you much further, this is a limitation of the software.

[Greg]

The scale check box does not seem to make any difference, but to be fair, I am not convinced that my export options out of DE are correct, so cannot blame C3D for that one (yet!). The import limitation is a pity, because there are so many other good features in the program. The trick is to plan properly, decide which parts of the model you would like to move seperately, and import those sub parts. The rest of the model, the static parts, must be imported as one, having been textured outside of C3D. This minimises the number of imports needed while still being able to have multi colours and textures.