Found this nice 3D file format
Blitz3D Forums/Blitz3D Programming/Found this nice 3D file format
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| http://rtx.cluetec.com/ Its basically .ASE (ASCII Scene Export - all text - nice) with support for skin. The best thing about this is you could, in theory, import EVERYTHING in one go - animated cameras, lights, boned characters, hierarchy animations, dummys, the lot! I'm thinking about writing an importer / convertor for Blitz, but I don't have a lot of time. If anybody thinks they can get it done quicker then post here. :) It would be GREAT to build .B3Ds out of this data, and would cut out the need for a .B3D exporter for Max (sorry to say this but I don't think it's ever going to appear - at least not soon). :( |
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| I don't mind helping out where I can. Sounds like a good cause, and if a few of us club together we could finish it in no time. Pop over to the IRC chatroom if you have the chance (it's in my sig). |
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| (sorry to say this but I don't think it's ever going to appear - at least not soon). I beg to differ. I need one soon for my project. I can't wait forever for Rob to finish his. |
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| The licence however is not nice at all: http://crow.riot.org/rtxexport-license.html Wasn't there another ASE variant being developped too? I can't seem to find the link right now... |
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| What a stupid license. Basically "this software is freeware and can only be used to make more freeware, therefore its really not very useful to most people but too bad" |
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| ASE is a very nice format. We used it at Epic for importing static meshes into UT2003 (I wrote the importer). I don't know about animated stuff though as I never had to look into that. But for static geometry pieces, it's really nice. |
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| AAAAAAAAAAAAAARRRRGH! I only saw the first bit of the license with the word Freeware, so I assumed it was ok, and I've wasted half a day writing a bloody convertor. My own fault I suppose. Can you actually do that? I thought if something was classified as 'freeware' it was free - ware ie. free of restriction and charge. This is kind of like 'not-quite-free-ware'. :( |
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| As a code author you can basically set the license you want with any condition you may want, so yes you can do this ... but still you can do freeware! |
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| ...but surely once the data is in Blitz, we could resave it as B3D or whatever we choose, and we would be within the license limitations. Also, the license would be valid for any freeware people produce. Maybe it would be worth just emailing the author and requesting that it be available for Blitz users, perhaps with credit granted? This format sounds ideal for the level making in my game. I would really adore some sort of blitz importer. |
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| It says it can't be used "in any commercial environment". That said, doesn't Max include ASE export as one of its default options? |
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| *checks* Yes it does. However, it doesn't support 'RTX Scene export' which is presumably an extended or improved version of the format. What a gib. Also, as Epicboy said, they used ASE for exporting scenes in UT2003, and then they converted them to their own format. So exporting info via ASE and then converting it to B3D + data once inside Blitz should be perfectly within the license, or at least the original ASE license. It would be strange if the RTX ASE license conflicts with the original version. |
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| the license states it may not be... used... to support any kind of profit-generating activity Which would tend to suggest that even if you converted the files, you are technically in breach of the license if you intend to make any money. In fact, depending on how you define profit, it might be safer not to show anyone the models either. Just in case you accidentally profit from the exposure in some way ;o) |
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| I must say, I find that licensing agreement refreshing. I've released most of my public programs as freeware in the past, usually with source included. Maybe I'm old-fashioned, or maybe I've just never written much that's commercially viable (quite likely! <g>), but I enjoy seeing code/standards released for free that insist that any further use of them must be free as well. Hey, I'm no hippie, but I *am* something of a hacker (in the original sense, not in the "evil cracker" meaning). Read shared code, learn from it, write something cool, and share it for free - that makes sense to me. Now, if it's an app for a bank or something that's clearly just there to make money, sure, charge for it. But if it's just a generally neat idea, I prefer sharing. That's just an ideal: I was quite happy to pay Mark his bargain price for the wonder that is Blitz3D, I eagerly look forward to paying him for BlitzMax, and I've charged for some of my code in the past and may even make money off my Blitz programs some day <g>, but I still like to see such hacker spirit on occasion. |
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| I appreciate the sentiment, but from my own personal point of view I find it frustrating. I regard the Blitz and Darkbasic scenes as 'non-professional', even the titles which are being sold through idigicon. I hope no-one takes offense at this, I don't mean to suggest the games are poor, I just mean that they're not dealt with in the same manner as commercial releases. I personally deal with the amateur comic scene, which I regard in a similar light, and it's nice whenever something comes along which can be of benefit to the amateur communities. However, because a lot of Blitzers hope for their title to be sold upon completion, quite justifiably, it cripples the ability to use a tool with a license such as this. I find this frustrating :) I personally don't intend to make any games to sell for profit, but I realise there's little point in pursuing a file format with such restrictive legal ramifications. Sucks. ^^ |
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