Question about Gmax 3dsmax and dynamic shine

[Guest Gangi]

hey,as i seen in the post aout dynamic shine there are 2 way to fix it.1. by tweaking the X file.2. 2 by using 3Ds max.Can anyone explain me how to teak the X file? wich numbers? or how to convert from gmax to 3ds max and how to save from 3ds max to X file?Cheers

[Guest]

Hi,The story as I know:I do not know any exporter to convert gmax file to max. That was done so, to avoid any marketing threats that freeware Gmax tool could cause to totally commersial 3DSMax. But may be such tool exist (like the one to decompile mdl-files), but nobody talks a lot about it ;)Tweaking x file is easy as follows:1. Open your x.file with any text editor (I prefer MS word - there exists auto-replace function).2. Using find function - go to section which describes the material you're about to tweak. Normally looks smth. like this: Material fuse_10 { 0.588000; 0.588000; 0.588000; 1.000000;; 70.000000; 90.000000; 90.000000; 90.000000;; 0.000000; 0.000000; 0.000000;; TextureFileName { "fuse_1_t.bmp";for changing specular lighting fx you'll need lines #3 and 4 - 70.000000 - it's a strength parameter, 90.000000 - it's a percentage of glossiness ( I still don't know which one of those three params - but changing all of them to th same value will make necessary affection to model)Warning!!! You'll have to change those figures several times - for each part that uses that material (in my file I could meet this fuse_1 material close to 20 times) - that's why auto-replace is needed.3. Compile with makemdl.Enjoy new cool effect! But remember that you'll have experiment with that variables for a while - to get the most real-looking fx (and each time through hand-editing).

[Guest Gangi]

Cheers,Thanx for the help.. gonna try it now, i will post pic of the resultBut i afraid Word cant open it..

[Guest]

Correction.I got stuck with specular light parameters as well... :(The things turn out to be... strange... The parameter which I addressed to hihlight level (line #3 in the example) actually controls... the size of spot (!) Andd I failed to find a param which would control the level (those three below actually have no impact on specular lighting). Experiments will continue... But I do hope that someone will come up to tell people what the things are in the reality.

[Guest]

Line #3 is the specular power Line #4 is the specular colour power ranges from 0.0 to 1.0 (though 0 to 100 may work)colour ranges from 0,0,0 to 1.0,1.0,1.0 (black to white)use colour to dull the effectChris Filehttp://www.avsim.com/pss/phoenix.jpg

[Guest PhLem]

I must be doing something wrong here. I export my plane as usual, and save the x file. I do not compile it to a mdl. When I rename the file to x file and open it, I only get one single line with about 6 or 7 characters. So I don't see all the lines being talked about. Can someone shed some light on this for me ?? What I get from my x-file is the following line : " OXFFFFFE47 ".Thanks,Udo.:-wave

[Guest]

Thank you Chris. I'll try using these params.2 Udo. You must use middleman + mdl_commander plug-ins to get those x.files exported properly (not sent to memory, but to disk).http://thegreatptmd.tripod.com the site of Chris File, here is mdlcommander plug-in. Read docs included.

[Guest PhLem]

Thank you, I will try that. I know that the x files can be saved without MDLCommander, but probably it is not doing it right.Thanks !!!Udo.:-wave

[Guest PhLem]

I have got the x file. I will will look at it and post some shots later. Thank you once again.Udo.:-wave

[Guest odog]

Hi UDO! :-wave Long time no see!I would love to see a before and after comparison. I've not tried this yet, and would like to see how much of a difference it makes.thanksjoe

[Guest]

Just what is the (x.file)?????

[Guest PhLem]

Hello Joe,Yes, it has been awhile. I have been working my butt of with the Twin Otter, and the started on the next project also. I am going to try things out in awhile and post some before and after shots. Atleast, if I get it to work.Btw, Thanks for your Xmas present. Haven't had time to try it out, but I appreciate the thought.Udo.:-wave

[Guest]

>>> Just what is the (x.file)????? <<

[Guest PhLem]

Greggory,The x-file is a temporary file made by the fs exporter in Gmax. Makemdl uses this file to convert it to the mdl file. Unfortunately if the export has been succesfull the x-file is deleted. There seems to be a lot of stuff in this file which you can tweak. Also you need the x-file when you are making a VC.For anyone else interested, I have done some preliminary tweaking of the x-file. You can see the results below. I still need to work on it some more, to get the surface to be a bit smaller. The first is after, the second before. It's hard to notice the difference, but it's there.Take care,Udo.:-wave

[Guest]

Thanks Gangi for your help.Cant you keep a copy of the x.file after the conversion by checking "Keep Error Log" in Make MDL?Kobie :-wave