🔒 Locked

Custom model format question

Started by sempressimo Apr 18, 2003 at 11:33 AM 3 replies 750+ views

Original Post

Apr 18, 2003 at 11:33 AM

Hi, if i want to create a custom file format for 3D Models, so that i can load them in OpenGL, were should i start? And is it hard to write an exporter for 3D Studio or Maya. I know discreet now has the Game Export API, but not much is documented, at least i haven''t found any good documentation. Thanks in advance,

JuNC

Apr 18, 2003 at 2:05 PM

You should start by deciding what you want the model to be capable of. Some starting questions:

Do you want skeletal animation? vertex morphing animation? textures? how many? do you want to support artist generated normals and smooth groups? do you want to store complex bounding information in the file? what vertex format will be best for your engine (this also depends on most of the above questions)? are all the faces triangles or do you need more general polygons? do you have any other special effects that would require per-model data?

Once you know what your model needs, defining the format is (almost) trivial.

Exporters are not exactly 'hard' (as long as you've got a grasp of the SDK you are working with) but they can be tricky.

EDIT:
I thought I'd include an example. The current game I'm working on, I decided I'd like the following stuff for static building models:

1) No animation
2) One texture per model
3) Normals for lighting
4) A 2D perimeter line (drawn using a line primitive in max) used for collisions
5) A bounding sphere
6) Faces are triangles

Once I knew this, I defined some simple structures:

  
///////////////////////////////

// Building Models:


struct NEON_B_Hdr
{
   int numVerts;
   int numFaces;
   float radius;  // bounding sphere

   float p[3];
   char name[32]; // MAX object name

   char texture[64]; // Texture filename (in same directory as modelfile)

   int numPts; // number of points in collision hull

   float height; // height of hull.

   // Immediately following header are numPts * float[2] structures

};

// Then come verts


struct NEON_B_Vert
{
  float p[3];
  float normal[3];
  float t[2];
};

// Then come faces, as int[3] array

So basically the file consists of a header, followed by float[numPts*2] array, followed by NEON_B_Vert[numVerts] array of vertices, followed by int[3*numFaces] which are the vertex indices into the vertex array.

This is an extremely simple format, it means I can just load the verts and faces directly (well, almost) into vertex and index buffers (this is for a DirectX engine but that is irrelevant).

[edited by - JuNC on April 18, 2003 3:10:44 PM]

sempressimo

Author

sempressimo

Apr 18, 2003 at 3:28 PM

thanks for the post. I guess then what i have to do first is understand MAX API so that i can start by exporting some vertices and add more stuff to it little by little. In the end, of course, it will be ideal if the format could have skeletal and all ''standart'' features.

Basiror

139

Basiror

Apr 18, 2003 at 5:17 PM

if you are interested
i have finished a model compiler to compile SMD files into .mdl format(my own format not halflife`s)
you can create SMD files with milkshape which is cheap and available as shareware

it supports

1.) skeletal animtions
2.) multiple bodyparts (helmets, detachable limbs....)
3.) triangle meshes easy to store for use in vertex buffers/vertex arrays
4.) boundingbox( it automatically rescales the model to fit into the defined box
5.) alpha blended polygons

sempressimo

Author

sempressimo

Apr 18, 2003 at 7:36 PM

thanks a lot Basiror,but right now im more interesed in learning how to do code it myself

Topic Locked

This topic has been locked by a moderator. New replies are not allowed.