Hi, I have a friend who makes models for me in 3DSMax and exports them into the ASE format so that I can load them in xith3d. Now, I’m not a 3D animator, so I don’t know exactly what to do, but how should he animate the models so that the ASE loader can load them and display them animated as well? Say I have a ship model that has glowing lights on it, and then say when the user presses the up arrow I want the ship to start animating fire as well (not using particles, but using animation made within 3DSMax), how would I do this in Xith3D?
use the 3ds loader 
for xith
kev- getting names to work would be tops 
I believe aNt is correct, 3ds currently the best choice for animated models.
It is currently possible to do animation with the ASE loader by applying transformations to various sub groups, and it is quite well suited for this. Frame animation however is not yet supported. I’m sure it would be possible.
Will.
Ok thanks. Now I need to figure out how the 3DS loader works. I know how to load single 3ds files, but I don’t know how to use it for animation or textures. Are there any tutorials, documents, or example code that I can look at that uses 3DS models with xith in this fashion?
If you are doing single mesh or deformation animation, your best bet for Xith is the MD2 file format. The only problem with it is file size – it gets bigger as your mesh gets bigger and as the animation gets longer (every vertex data per frame is stored).
P.S read the TDSTest.java for code that plays animation
well u just animate the stuff u want in 3dsmax or
any app u like that can export 3ds and your sorted.
there is some little things in the 3ds loader that are
strange- one is dont group your objects in 3dsmax or
they wont load with the loader. the other being naming
of object parts. say u have a tank. u would
want to call the parts of your tank different names:
body
turnable
turret
but the names dont come over into xiths ‘getName()’;
- its top stuff mind… and i thank Kev for his skills in making
it for us all… top work dude!
[quote]well u just animate the stuff u want in 3dsmax or
any app u like that can export 3ds and your sorted.
there is some little things in the 3ds loader that are
strange- one is dont group your objects in 3dsmax or
they wont load with the loader. the other being naming
of object parts. say u have a tank. u would
want to call the parts of your tank different names:
body
turnable
turret
but the names dont come over into xiths ‘getName()’;
- its top stuff mind… and i thank Kev for his skills in making
it for us all… top work dude!
[/quote]
Ok thanks, I’ll post back with how it goes!
Is it possible to do ‘multiple’ animations?
E.g I have a 3DS-model standing somewhere,
then I want to trigger him with ‘run’ and I want him to make a run animation, but when I trigger him with ‘crouch’ (of course :)) I want him to crouch.
I don’t want to use any other format than 3DS,
and I know it’s possible.
Thanks in advance.
Alonzo
yes- well its simple realy
ran = frames 0 to 100
walk = frames 101 to 200
idel = frames 201 to 300
jump = frames 301 to 350
…
you get the picture
if u want different parts of the body to do different things
then save them as seperate models. then you can
mix and match…
Edit: Ok, disregard the previous post if you saw it before i edited it. I fixed both problems.
Now I only have one question. I increment the “time” by 0.001, but this is obviously not representing the current frame, in fact, a model.getCurrentFrame() reveals the frame is 0 for some reason, but the animation occurs. So can someone explain to me the system of how the .setTime() function works? (What the last frame is, etc).
Thanks aNt you solved the problem! 
Does anyone have any ideas as to how I could achieve a “glowing” effect on my models? It seems as if the only type of animation the TDSModel can do is basic motion stuff, but it seems to be lacking a lot of features, including the ability to load transparent surfaces, and animating any type of light. Is there any way to get around this?
The 3DS loader is incomplete and I don’t intend to improve or extend the current code base. The intention was a quick solution based off some odd (very dodgy) code for Java3D until someone with more time could get round to clean 3DS support.
When I get time I’ll happily write a new version, however with writing Gravity Battle, getting a new job and normal everyday life I really don’t have the time.
So, I’d suggest a group of folks who have the time get together a produce a loader for 3DS that covers all the feature needs? Or, what might be a better bet, pick up the JME independant model format and add support for that. Should be able to reuse their toolset then
Kev
would it be ok if i tinker with it Kev dude?
Of course, thats what the source is there for.
Kev
[quote]Does anyone have any ideas as to how I could achieve a “glowing” effect on my models?
[/quote]
for glowing effect, try this – duplicate the mesh, scale it out a little more, get the shape and get the shape’s appearance, create and set transparency attributes to the appearance and reduce the alpha to 0.5f
that may do it…
Oh, my fault, though that’s a great idea I’m afraid I wasn’t clear enough on what I meant. I’d like just part of my ship model to have glowing lights. Next time I’m working on my project I’ll see if I can change it by just changing the material… or seriously working on the loader…
I have also placed lights inside a shape which illuminates the nodes material/texture, turn the light on and off