Shade 9 Import and Export in Plugin
From ShadeCamp
Shade uses plug-ins to import and export several external file formats. This chapter describes these plug-ins.
Contents |
Formats Supported by Shade Plug-ins
- 3ds import/export
- LWO import/export
- BVH import
- GDL export
- IGES export
- Pov-ray export
- ShockWave3D export
- Viewpoint export
- VRML export
- DirectX export
Note: The plug-ins supporting 3ds, LWO, BVH, IGES and DirectX formats in the above list are included with Shade 9 Professional.
Note: The plug-ins supporting ShockWave3D and Viewpoint formats in the above list are included only in the Windows version of Shade 9.
How to Import and Export
When the plug-ins are successfully installed, you will see the file format names available for import or export listed in the Import / Export submenu under the File menu.
You can import or export a file by choosing a file format listed here.
Export Dialog
This is a typical dialog box for the export plug-ins. We will first look at this dialog box because it has several commonly used features. Where the dialog box looks different, an explanation will be given.
Text File Pull-down Menu
Choose a text format from Mac, DOS and Unix.
Output Pull-down Menu
Choose the target to export, from All Objects and Selected Objects. Only the objects selected in the Browser will be exported when Selected Objects is chosen, while all the objects in the file will be exported when All Objects is chosen.
Surface Subdivision Pull-down Menu
Choose a surface subdivision level for the objects to be exported, from No Subdivision / Coarse / Regular / Fine / Very Fine, depending on the situation. The finer the subdivision, the higher the quality will be, while it will also increase the data size.
3DS Converter
The 3ds converter converts between the Mesh File format of 3D Studio Release 4 (to be referred to as 3ds) supported by 3D Studio Max, and Shade object files.
By using the 3ds converter, direct exchange of object data with 3D Studio Max is possible without first converting the object data into another file format.
3DS File Exporter Options Dialog Box
This dialog box appears when you choose 3DS from Export under the File menu.
Choose a subdivision level in the Surface Subdivision pull-down menu and click OK.
3DS Converter Messages
When you import/export Shade files using the 3ds Converter, the Message window shows the import/export progress. In either case, the process is completed when the message “Finished!!!” appears at the bottom.
Message window for 3ds import
Message window for 3ds export
3ds Conversion Specifications
Objects
All objects are exported as a single mesh object. See the table above for notes of exporting objects from Shade. Objects imported from 3d Studio Max are treated as polygon meshes.
Surface Attributes
Other parameters, textures, and mappings are not supported.
Exporting Surface attributes
Exporting a Shade file as a 3ds file will specify material settings for each polygon which is converted based on the Shade object (such as curved surface, closed line object, revolved object, extruded object, sphere, and disk).
In this case, one material is specified for each object in Shade. In 3d Studio Max, each material is assigned a material number (Material1, Material2, Material3, so on). The original part names and object names assigned in the surface attributes of Shade are ignored.
Master Surface settings in Shade are applied as material for each converted polygon.
Importing Surface Attributes
The Shade Browser shows file names and material names assigned to objects after importing a 3ds file into Shade.
Surface attributes are imported with each of the corresponding parameters described in the table shown earlier.
Texture Mapping
Texture mapping is not supported.
Lights
The 3ds Converter does not support Lights. The Light settings in Shade are ignored when exported.
Joints
Other joints are not supported.
All joints are treated as parts, and although surface attributes applied to joints are also converted, motion settings have no effect.
As the Skin settings are also supported, models posed by adjusting joint values in Shade can be exported as they are.
Exporting Browser Settings
Boolean Operations
All of the Boolean characters in Shade: “*,” “-,” “=,” “\,” “$,” “&,” “+,” “!,” and “^” are supported.
Objects marked with the “#” character are not exported.
When exporting objects marked with the “*” character, the object which is hollowed needs to be solid (that is, it needs to be closed). Refer to the “User Guide” for details about Boolean characters.
Subdividing Surfaces
Other than the setting in the Surface Subdivision pulldown in the 3ds File Exporter Options dialog box, it is also possible to control the subdivision level for the export by adding the “<,” “>,” or “@” characters at the beginning of the names of parts or objects in Shade.
The “@” character gets priority when multiple subdivision characters effect an object. Also, if a character which subdivides an object beyond the upper limit (16 subdivisions between control points) or below the lower limit (2 subdivisions between control points) is used on an object, the resulting object will not be subdivided more than the upper limit or less than the lower limit.
The same restrictions on the number of subdivisions are also applied for cases where subdivision characters and the Surface Subdivision pull-down menu are used together.
Note: The Surface Subdivisions setting in Shade’s Rendering Options dialog box does not affect exported 3ds files. |
