I've been able to successfully convert maya 6 models into .x files using the maya 6 plugin however when I try to substitute these files for the .x file in the basicHLSL sample it fails when loadMesh calls computeNormals. All the .x files from the samples media folder work fine but anything that I create myself fails. These files work fine in the .x viewer.
Is there something I should know What is the difference between these files Any help would be appreciated.
Problems with maya x-file converter.
Jason Cheung
aprag
I haven't yet experienced the other problems you mention Raven. RenderMonkey also fails to load .x files exported from Maya; it seems as though the Direct3D Viewer is the only program that can load them. I have recently discovered though that I can get the files to work by manually altering them. If you delete all the extra info that isn't present in the sample .x files then they will work.
Since the sample .x files and the ATI RenderMonkey .x files are all in the same format there must be someone out there that knows how to export from Maya in that format. I have tried adjusting the export paramaters in the maya exporter but nothing seems to get it in the right format.
Regarding your texture and shader problems Raven, I know that you have to use the special directX material that is provided with the directX maya plugin. Ordinary maya shaders will not get exported.
I only just discovered RenderMonkey; it's an awsome utility for writing shaders in HLSL.
Tumnus123
I've experienced a whole host of issues with the Maya DirectX Exporter in 5.0 and 6.0
First issue I have is that the format seems completely incompatible with anything bar the current version of D3DX that is being used. In-fact the best I've been able to do is get a mesh loaded, all of the other stuff like Textures, Shaders, etc. are non-existant and I've had to write internal code just to get these things back and resave the file in a viable format... especially as for some reason until you manually alter the data and reload it you can't change anything and it locks the shader system.
Second issue is the directx view plane is USELESS, i'm just cluttering up my desktop in order to see my objects textured. Often I have to create multiple materials for one object and constantly switch.. just so that I have one which I can edit to taste in Maya and one I can see how it'll look in Direct3D... which to me seems like it's adding pointless bonus time to the development cycle (something which was already overloaded by the shader pipeline in the damn first place!)
Another issue is the way that animations seem to end up being lost or mistranslated between the two api. Again once I have a viable animation in maya often I have to code up a reasonable skeletal system just for it to animate without being all jittery (especially when using shaders!)
Need I go on Wouldn't mind if they actually set-up a seemless system for switching between.