I use NuGraf/PolyTrans... it'll convert anything, but it's commercial.  I've
ran the craziest files I could through it and it hasn't failed once.  If you
want free or cheap shareware though, 3dwin and crossroads are 2 I have heard
of.

--
Doug Eichenberg
www.getinfo.net/douge
dou### [at] nlsnet

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I have a maxscript thats I'm working on that might help, I'd like to turn
into a plug-in and it exports POV-Ray, I can post the unfinished script to
p.b.s-f if your interested. It only exports the mesh though no uv mapping
etc. If I have time this week end I'll see if I can't finish it off.

-- 
Kevin
http://www.geocities.com/qsquared_1999/
#macro _(r)#if(r<12)#local i=asc(substr(
"oqshilacefg",r,1))-97;disc{<mod(i,7)-3,
div(i,7)-1,6>,z,.4pigment{rgb 10}}_(r+1)
#end#end _(1)//KL

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Stephen McAvoy wrote:
>On Fri, 12 Sep 2003 10:56:38 EDT, "richardlbj" <ric### [at] yahoocom> wrote:
>
>>
>>Does anyone have experiences with the registerd version of 3dwin? Will it do
>>what I need?
>
>I've got a registered copy and it works fine especially if you want to do batch
>conversions. But I prefer PoseRay v3.0.2.272 for textures
>http://user.txcyber.com/~sgalls/
>
>I use Poser 4 figures and 3dwin makes them look plasticy (sp)
>
>Regards
>        Stephen
>

I tried 3dwin and PoseRay for converting 3ds max. Have not got any chance to
play with maya yet. PoseRay does not support 3ds max directly. However
3dwin does, using ASE format, which is an ascii file. Do you mind if I send
you a few ASE file to convert to POV-ray with your registered 3dwin, so I
would know how well it converts textrues?

Thanks in advance,
Richard

Post a reply to this message

Doug Eichenberg wrote:
>I use NuGraf/PolyTrans... it'll convert anything, but it's commercial.  I've
>ran the craziest files I could through it and it hasn't failed once.  If you
>want free or cheap shareware though, 3dwin and crossroads are 2 I have heard
>of.
>
>--
>Doug Eichenberg
>www.getinfo.net/douge
>dou### [at] nlsnet
>

Do you use NuGraf/PolyTrans convert to POV-Ray? I downloaded NuGraf demo and
their 3ds max plugin. It converts to povray 2.0/3.0. Many 3ds max features
are dropped since they cannot be converted to those old versions of
POV-Ray. Do you have any knowledge if they will support povray 3.1/3.5 in
the future?

Thanks,
Richard

Post a reply to this message

Kevin Loney wrote:
>I have a maxscript thats I'm working on that might help, I'd like to turn
>into a plug-in and it exports POV-Ray, I can post the unfinished script to
>p.b.s-f if your interested. It only exports the mesh though no uv mapping
>etc. If I have time this week end I'll see if I can't finish it off.
>
>Kevin
>http://www.geocities.com/qsquared_1999/
>#macro _(r)#if(r<12)#local i=asc(substr(
>"oqshilacefg",r,1))-97;disc{<mod(i,7)-3,
>div(i,7)-1,6>,z,.4pigment{rgb 10}}_(r+1)
>#end#end _(1)//KL
>

Are you saying you are going to make uv mapping work? If that's the case, I
would love to try it out when it's ready.

Thanks,
Richard

Post a reply to this message

On Sat, 13 Sep 2003 19:16:43 EDT, "richardlbj" <ric### [at] yahoocom> wrote:

>I tried 3dwin and PoseRay for converting 3ds max. Have not got any chance to
>play with maya yet. PoseRay does not support 3ds max directly. However
>3dwin does, using ASE format, which is an ascii file. Do you mind if I send
>you a few ASE file to convert to POV-ray with your registered 3dwin, so I
>would know how well it converts textrues?

Feel free to email me a few ASE files and I will convert them. If 3ds max can
export *.OBJ or *.3DS  files PoseRay will convert them.

Regards
        Stephen

Post a reply to this message

Stephen McAvoy wrote:
>On Sat, 13 Sep 2003 19:16:43 EDT, "richardlbj" <ric### [at] yahoocom> wrote:
>
>>I tried 3dwin and PoseRay for converting 3ds max. Have not got any chance to
>>play with maya yet. PoseRay does not support 3ds max directly. However
>>3dwin does, using ASE format, which is an ascii file. Do you mind if I send
>>you a few ASE file to convert to POV-ray with your registered 3dwin, so I
>>would know how well it converts textrues?
>
>Feel free to email me a few ASE files and I will convert them. If 3ds max can
>export *.OBJ or *.3DS  files PoseRay will convert them.
>
>Regards
>        Stephen
>

Stephen,

The file is about 2.5 mb so I uploaded to
http://members.cox.net/multisync.develop/ase.zip

There are 5 simple modeles and I included my results using the demo 3dwin.
If you can convert them and send me the output POV files, I would
appreciate it greatly. If it works well, I am going to register it.

Thanks a million,
Richard
ric### [at] yahoocom

Post a reply to this message

On Sun, 14 Sep 2003 23:51:09 EDT, "richardlbj" <ric### [at] yahoocom> wrote:

>
>There are 5 simple modeles and I included my results using the demo 3dwin.
>If you can convert them and send me the output POV files, I would
>appreciate it greatly. If it works well, I am going to register it.

Well Richard, mixed results. Converting directly to Povray INC files gave very
poor results. Only the Rhino had a workable mesh and its texture needed a lot of
work. Converting to OBJ files then using PoseRay was better but the Men and
Bishop did not convert properly. The best option was converting to 3DS files
(doesn't MAX have an option to export 3DS?) then using PoseRay to convert them
to Povray INC files. Even then I had to play with the Diffuse, Ambient and
Highlight colours, not a problem.
	As I said before I normally use 3DWin for it's batch properties then use
the textures from PoseRay, which is free. The converted files are zipped into a
4.6 Meg file and I've uploaded it to my Yahoo Briefcase. I have added your Yahoo
name richardlbj to the list of friends so you should be able to download it from
there. I think you need a Briefcase to do this. If you have any problems drop me
a line and we will work something out. 
http://uk.f1.pg.briefcase.yahoo.com/bc/mcavoys1/lst?.dir=/Graphics/Shared&.order=&.view=l&.src=bc&.done=http%3a//uk.f1.pg.briefcase.yahoo.com/

or

http://tinyurl.com/nedd

This is a short report. BTW since I use Moray there are UDO files in the zip but
you can ignore them. Example 
#include "men_moray.inc"
object { Men } 

Direct conversion from ASE to Povray INC files using 3DWin

Men:	3DWin does not convert properly; Texture index out of range in Mesh2
Rhino:	No texture.
Bones:	3DWin does not convert properly; Texture index out of range in Mesh2
Bishop:	3DWin does not convert properly; Texture index out of range in Mesh2
Apple:	3DWin does not convert properly; Texture index out of range in Mesh2

PoseRay
I converted all the ASE files to OBJ files with 3DWin  then converted them to
PovRay files with PoseRay

Rhino:	Adjusted the Diffuse, Ambient and Highlight colours.
Men:	Model does not have vertices or faces.
Bones:	OK
Bishop:	Model does not have vertices or faces.
Apple:	Adjusted the Diffuse, Ambient and Highlight colours.

I converted all the ASE files to 3DS files with 3DWin  then converted them to
PovRay files with PoseRay

Rhino:	OK.
Men:	Adjusted the Diffuse, Ambient and Highlight colours. No eyes in PoseRay
Bones:	OK
Bishop:	Adjusted the Diffuse, Ambient and Highlight colours
Apple:	Adjusted the Diffuse, Ambient and Highlight colours.


Regards
        Stephen

Post a reply to this message

Stephen McAvoy wrote:
>Rhino: OK.
>Men: Adjusted the Diffuse, Ambient and Highlight colours. No eyes in PoseRay
>Bones: OK
>Bishop: Adjusted the Diffuse, Ambient and Highlight colours
>Apple: Adjusted the Diffuse, Ambient and Highlight colours.
>
>
>Regards
>        Stephen
>

I got the files and will take a close look tonight. I guess you were right
from the beginning. PoseRay does let you do more than just converting. It
seems that textures need to be worked on either way. In that case PoseRay
is better. 3ds max does export in 3DS but it drops stuff like eyeballs. It
does not export OBJ.

Thanks again for your help,
Richard

Post a reply to this message

On Mon, 15 Sep 2003 15:00:00 EDT, "richardlbj" <ric### [at] yahoocom> wrote:

>3ds max does export in 3DS but it drops stuff like eyeballs. It
>does not export OBJ.

I'm glad you got the files.
When I converted "man" to 3DS the eyeballs were lost as well.
If you need anything else converted let me know.

Regards
        Stephen

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