I spent last week installing a 120Gb SSD and setting up the windows 7 from scratch. I had some free time after reinstalling all the applications so I dived into Adobe Configurator and updated my utility panels to CS5:
For download head over to the My Photoshop Panels – CS5 manual.
Download: ExportLayer v1.32
Changes in v1.32:
Changes in v1.31:
Download: ExportLayer v1.3
It exports the selected layer to a file, using the the name of the layer as the filename. It will not export the default camera and the default distant light.
Supports “lazy Unreal collision object naming”. This means that instead of the proper “UCX_$ParentMeshName” style names it’s enough to just name the collision hulls as “UCX“, the script will fix it during export. Just make sure that the collisions are children of the main mesh.
FBX files can be saved with fake Revit signature which makes it possible to link the produced FBX file in 3ds Max 2011 (File Link Manager).
IMPORTANT: Modo 501 SP3 (and possibly earlier 501 versions) have a nasty bug where displaced SDS geometry is frozen without any deformations. The workaround is similarly ugly: I initiate an incorrect file save which makes an error window pop up which forces some kind of an internal update after which the freeze command works properly. So when you see an error popup saying
Scene save was unsuccessful — Not Found File “C:” not written.
well, it’s “normal”… just click OK and wait for the script to finish.
Also, freezing a PSDS surface messes up morphmaps. The workaround for that slows down the export process considerably.
To avoid freezing altogether use the NOFREEZE parameter.
Arguments:
FBX; LWO; OBJ; COLLADA: They define the output format. Default is FBX.
SILENTSAVE: The file will be saved next to the original file. No dialog will be displayed.
NOQUADS: Triangulates the object the exported object.
FBXREVIT: Saves an FBX file and makes it look like it came from Autodesk Revit.
- In this mode NOQUADS and SILENTSAVE are automatically enabled.
- 3ds Max will only recognize an UV if it’s used by at least one image in the shader tree.
NOFREEZE: The geometry will not be frozen.
The 2011 release of Autodesk Motionbuilder is one of the buggiest software I’ve ever used. It’s so full of massive, show-stopper bugs that I can’t comprehend how it got through QA.
Here are the worst issues I’ve encountered so far:
Workaround: The following script sorts the takes alphabetically.
Do NOT use it if any of the takes contain more than one animation layer!
There is a bug in the CopyTake() function which screws up multi-layer takes. I’m trying to find a workaround for that bug but no success so far.
This makes all newly added constraint instantly affect all takes, whether you like it or not.
Workaround: The following script creates 0% weight keyframes for the selected constraint at time 0, in every take. (Existing keyframes are left alone.)
Currently MB saves or loads my 90 Mb scene just under 8 minutes.
Workaround: None available currently.
The best I could recommend is some entertainment. I watched Charlie Brooker’s Screenwipe, 8 minutes at a time.
All in all, Autodesk proved yet again that price and marketing budget has no relation whatsoever to the quality of the actual product.
I’ve just updated my UDK compatible FBX exporter for MotionBuilder:
- There is a simple UI for choosing which takes to export: the current one or all of them.
- A popup window appears after export where you can choose to reopen the original version of the processed scene. I recommend not reopening the scene if you wish to export another single take.
Please note that the processed scene has motions plotted which might mean the loss of manually placed (easy to adjust) keyframe data so be careful not to save the scene!
- Root bone movement is now plotted correctly. (The top most bones in the scene hierarchy are considered root bones.)
I updated IllusTweaks. These are the changes in v1.1:
• Pie menu has item highlighting.
• The pie menu only shows up on the canvas.
• The mousewheel zooms only on the canvas and works as usual everywhere else.
• The mouse does not jump back to its original location if the RMB is released outside the pie menu. (Cancel action.)
Download: IllusTweaks.zip (v1.1)
I extended the IllusNav script with a pie menu. (Also renamed it to IllusTweaks.)
The application now changes Illustrator’s behavior the following ways:
- Middle mouse button drags the canvas.
- Mouse wheel zooms.
- Holding right click invokes a pie menu:
The menu is made in way that allows quick, intuitive gestures for common functions. For example “RMB+a short move up” brings the selected objects forward one level. “RMB+longer up” sends it to the top of the stack, moving the mouse toward the direction of the File menu has the Save and Export functions and so on. With a little practice the pie menu can be used without looking, purely from muscle memory.
Download: IllusTweaks.zip (v1.0)
Extract it to a folder and check out the readme.txt file for more detailed instructions.
UPDATE: Updated the script so it does not exit whenever ESC is pressed.
MyBatchExport.py (v1.3) fixes export of one frame poses: in older versions the FBX files were created but UDK could not import them. The importer threw no error messages or anything, just didn’t create or update anim sequences.
So now aim poses or any kind of other postures can be transferred, making it easier to create a 3D webcomics in Unreal.
Like my favourite, Concerned.
I’ve updated the UDK compatible export script for Motionbuilder.
It is now capable of exporting non-characterized objects (like weapons), has fixes for save path woes and now plots translations for all bones.
Recently I wrote two scripts to enhance a few things in my workflow, but they might be useful for others as well.
I started using Adobe Illustrator and I quickly became frustrated by it’s utterly crap user interface:
#1: In 2010, it’s still not using the middle mouse button. (The mass production of such mice began in 1982. [AutoHotkey.
IllusNav is a short script (along with a compiled executable) which slightly changes Illustrator’s behavior:
- Middle mouse button pans the canvas. (Like SPACE+Left drag.)
- The scroll wheel zooms. (Please note that it hijacks the wheel events and sends keyboard shortcuts instead, so the wheel won’t work in Illustrator’s scrollable lists like the Brushes panel.)
Just start the exe, notice the green “H” icon in the systray and stuff should work in Illus instantly. To stop IllusNav, right click on its icon and choose “Exit”.
The other script is for MotionBuilder: MyBatchExport.py plots and exports all takes in a scene into separate files. The produced files can be imported to UDK unlike the ones which are made by the stock batch export functionality.
At the moment it only exports the first character or the whole scene in case of plain skeletal models (like weapons).
If you have suggestions or ideas regarding these scripts, please let me know.
