Collada, 3D Studio Max, UnrealED3

[cokecan]

Hey guys

Not sure if anyone on here has messed about with Collada but it's worth a shot (I've also posted this on the Feeling Software forums too)

I'm trying to export my models from 3DS using ColladaMax and import them into the new Unreal 3 engine. My models seem to export ok from Max, but when i try and import them into Unreal i get this error:

ERROR[0]: Cannot find the correct <visual_scene> element to instantiate

I've tried re-installing ColladaMax incase there was something wrong with the exporter, I've tried creating a simple box to export but still get the same error.

Anyone got any idea's on fixes or work arounds??

thanks

BTW, I'm using Max8 with SP3 installed and the latest version of ColladaMax (3.04)

 

[Shoseki]

Hmmm, your the first person I have seen trying to use Collada. No idea about your error I'm afraid... Collada was just one of those projects that I saw about 2-3 years ago and never really liked the look of, despite Sony backing. IMHO XML isn't exactly a great storage medium for large models, prefer using binary formats for large datasets and xml for structuring/referencing.

Anyway, will be watching this thread with interest

 

[cokecan]

Nice to know there are others in here that have an interest in Collada

from the research i've done into it, it seems Collada is a much better option than ASE for exporting and importing from max to the unreal engine, mainly because Collada supports having multiple objects/models in a single scene where as with ASE all the objects/models in the scene need to be connected or attached to form one big model. I guess this could cause problems with texturing as you have to re-apply the textures in Unreal as a material after importing both the model and the texture.

Also I like the idea of having a universal file format that could potentially work in every game engine around as well as 3d modelling tools such as Maya and Max. Collada is supported in Unreal out the box, so I assume they have deemed it to be a worthy container to transport 3d objects between editor's and engines.

Back to my Q, I spent a few more hours messing with it last night and stumbled upon a quick fix. It seems that if you export your model from Max as a .3DS file (this also may work with other file formats, but haven't had time to try it yet), make a new scene in max, import the .3DS file back in and re-apply the texture, then export that scene in Collada as a .DAE file, Unreal will quite happily let you import the Collada file with no errors what so ever!!

It's not the greatest method but it seems to work??? I had a reply from one of the members of the Feelingsoftware forums and he suggest there may be something wrong with the .DAE importer in Unreal and that i should contact them, so i'm gonna try and contact Epic about it and see if they can shed any light onto the problem

 

[lsg1r]

I was going to say it sounded like a mapping issue, have you matched up any directories used for files between all your programs. Usually 3ds max files (.3ds included) need the files being referenced taking with them if they're not standard.

 

[Shoseki]

Well, Collada is definately better than ASE. Its the structure that provides ease of readability, though I wouldn't say that extended to its documentation!

Collada has some nice definitions, things like digital assets etc. I still don't think that the 3D world really takes this very seriously yet.

I myself was thinking of defining (yet another) format idea, by fragmenting the file formats. The problem with the multiple data types within a single data structure (especially if it isn't XML based) is that you have to interpret both the syntax of the encoding as well as the "context" of the encoding.

I'd much have the overall structure in XML, simply with external references, and either, further XML for sub-objects and links to binary data streams for individual pieces. A bit like XHTML links to images etc, doesn't try to actually embed the data into itself.

This also simplifies importing / exporting because you can tightly couple the importer/exporter and file format without having it become a monster that has to try and predict in the future all of the possible extensions etc.

But thats one of the reasons why I didn't like Collada, it became too complex (my same opinion of X3D).

If anything, as XHTML has matured, it has seperated into different types of data (structure, style, functionality) and has greatly simplified. You don't have to learn hundreds of tags any more, web development has matured, become more complex, and yet easier to use.

I am hoping one day that happens with 3D, but you have to remember, 3D is not really used very much, not in every day business, not by regular people. Until that happens, it won't mature. Just my $0.02 anyway.

 

[cokecan]

lsg1r, thanks for the reply. Yeah i tried makin sure the directories were the same throughout for all programs etc, theres even an external referencing option in Collada when you export. though i even tried it with simple box meshes that have no textures etc, so shouldn't have any external references to other files/meshes

Shoseki, Not really that knowledgable with XML or XHTML so jus kinda taking Collada at face value, though you seem to have a pretty good grasp of the whole thing though I can see with what you mean where XML could potentially fail or at least get pretty damn big and messy for Collada with bigger and more complex scenes. Having said that, Collada is def a good step in the right direction, unfortinutly I agree with you that I can't see the whole thing maturing anytime soon either with the pretty small userbase for 3D modelling in day to day business.

I'm using it for my final year project, modelling 13th century nottm castle in max, and importing it into the new Unreal engine to make a virtual tour type system. ASE would probably be fine for this but I thought it'd be good to look into and experiment with other ways of importing/exporting from one to the other