Realtime viewer with shading + effects?

[ChrRambow]

Hi,

I got a question that i got since i've joined the dwar2.

I would like to know if there is a realtime viewer in what i can
load my model (maybe as .obj) and that can show the object
with applied normal maps and realtime ogl-effects like shadows,
bloom and DOF? A ability to set lighting manually would be great.

I am using cinema 4d ... and there is no way to get some delicious
realtime preview. :(

[poopinmymouth]

Right now your best bet is to get it into an engine. Roboblitz can be purchased off steam and is the UE3 engine. You could also try to implement it in Source, or Doom3. I would love a standalone viewer like you're talking about, but it seems like right now we're limited to max/xsi running FX files just on the object, or using the Xnormal viewer which doesn't have enough bells and whistles for my tastes, but you might want to check that out, Jogshy's done a great job with it.

www.xnormal.net

http://www.mr-chompers.com/images/poop.gif (http://www.poopinmymouth.com)

[ChrRambow]

Wow thank you for the fast reply and hints.

It seems that at this time i can not avoid using an engine.
I will check Roboblitz.

Another similar ... but engine related is the "Garrys Mod" for
the HL2 source engine.

Let's hope there will be a simple and fast solution for viewing
models with beauty effects in near future. I really miss such
a tool.

[ChrRambow]

I just bought it over steam ... and the game seems to be interesting too. :)
Thank you.

[Frozan]

yeah i bought it also im using the editor but currently dont have a thing to test normals in it. time to get to work. post a screen if u get it going with something of urs in it :)

[EVIL]

the blitz Unreal engine 3.0 tools are fantastic absolutly dead simple importing a model with textures

[ChrRambow]

Yes there seems to be a seperate model viewer ... so you can see your assets seperate ... i will go more indepth when i got some more time after work.

[ChrRambow]

I can not get any textured mesh into this editor ... maybe it's my fault because i do not understand the architecture of those editors?

I've exported the mapped mesh from c4d as obj then converted it with blender to an ase so i can import it ... and there is the problem ... sometimes it is looking
weird because some polygons are missing ... even with correct normals.

*is now sitting in a edge and crying* :(

[EVIL]

No you can't just export a textured mesh, you need to import the mesh and textures seperatly and then create a material from the textures wich you then apply to your mesh
the holes in the mesh sound like an exporting problem. Here is a trick I used for 3ds max when that happens.. so I guess its usefull for any package with exporting problems.. try saving it as the naitive editor format and then download "wings 3d" - free 3d modeler -, import it, then export it from wings 3d as a .obj

If that doesnt help then I don't know

[ChrRambow]

Ok i managed to load in the model and create materials from textures.

When creating the material with the node based material-system.
you can connect your normal-texture to the normal channel.

The engine crashed after i could do some screenshots. I've saved the whole scenefile but it seems that i had so save the objectlibrary from the generic
browser too. :(

It is great that it is working now.... but it is too time consuming for just testing and viewing models in realtime.... maybe i need to figure out easier ways... and a way to keep the smoothing groups.

Now i wish i am a 3ds max user .... because of the great export options ;)

[george.vas]

Not sure if you have access to it or not but… Maya 8.0+ has the capability to override its standard viewport with a plug-in display engine. Autodesk provides OpenGL and Direct X versions. This allows artists to see exactly how a model will look in a game engine as it is being built or manipulated.

[Jido]

The OGL and D3D Viewport plugins you have to compile them yourself from the devkit folder in the maya directories. I don't know enough C++ to be tinkering with the code, so I compiled them 'as is'. I got them to load, but I still have yet to get any decent results. I really don't know what I'm doing with real-time rendering.

[ChrRambow]

I've managed to got the model in with a lot less trouble and time.
The only thing that bothering me are, that i've lost my smoothing groups.

The normalmap is not a real one ... it's just the specularmap converted with
crazybump. But as you can see ... normalmaps seem to work really well.

http://www.art-3d.com/ga_temp/normal_uedit.jpg

[Frozan]

interesting. someone should post a tutorial on using the editor or even using maya with those plugins to figure out how we can get the reasl time look we all want..

[ChrRambow]

That already exist :)

Importing a static mesh:
http://www.roboblitz.com/RoboBlitzEditorWiki/index.php/Importing_a_Static_Mesh

Importing texture and applying material:
http://www.roboblitz.com/RoboBlitzEditorWiki/index.php/Creating_and_Applying_Materials_to_Static_Meshes

The main obstacle for me was how to convert the mesh to ase ...
My workflow... export as obj from C4D ...with riptide (<- a plugin) because
the export options in C4D are really bad and buggy.

Then i am importing the obj into Blender and export it from there
with a python-ase-export script.

Then i get the ase and can finally import into the editor.

I wish there would be a better solution ... but at the moment
i like it ... just need to figure out how to apply dof and the
basics of unrealedit. :)

[Frozan]

ive been using a thing called actorx for well all max and maya. its exports from those perfectly fine its nice. anywho yeah. i used it for UT2004 when i was adding meshes and textures.

[george.vas]

... just need to figure out the basics of unrealedit. :)

I recommend Mastering Unreal Technology The Art of Level Design (http://www.amazon.com/Mastering-Unreal-Technology-Level-Design/dp/0672326922) that is pretty much my UnrealED Bible. Also visit Unreal Developer Network (http://udn.epicgames.com/Main/WebHome.html) that is my online Bible. That book is a little friendlier than the site but once you know what your doing you will probably reference the site more as it goes much deeper into the rabbit hole. :D

[Frozan]

yeah i bought that book. probly the only book i have thats well that thick! haha its a great book indeed!

[wallasaurus]

3dsmax can offer 'scene effect' fx shaders (accessed by a utility in the utiity panel. (version 9 i think)

so as well as having dx shaders on models, you can have blooms and blurs and DOF etc. as scene effect shaders.

only problem is, can be a bit flakey. maybe better off in UED or some viewer as mentioned by the others. :)