[ART] Exporting A Rigged Model Crash.

[warmacha11]

Ok, we may be getting closer to solving this...

[xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx]

Nope, it crashes with Maya 2010, too. So only thing that could cause it now is the export plugin (I'm using the newest version, maybe that's the problem?)... or maybe the fact that I'm using the 64 bit version of Maya.
But quite frankly - I'd just ignore the stupid Model Viewer. It's just a preview tool after all. As long as your model works in the model editor and the level editor everything's fine, right? ^^

[warmacha11]

I'll check, but doesn't the model viewer make a .ent file? And also the .dea_anim file too?

[xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx]

No, as far as I know the Model Editor does that and the .dae_anim file is how you rename your .dae files that contain animations in order to import animations into what shall eventually become your .ent file. The Model Viewer doesn't even have the option to save or export files. Unless of course, you've been talking about the Model Editor the whole time while I was talking about the Model Viewer - in that case we're screwed

[warmacha11]

No, as far as I know the Model Editor does that and the .dae_anim file is how you rename your .dae files that contain animations in order to import animations into what shall eventually become your .ent file. The Model Viewer doesn't even have the option to save or export files. Unless of course, you've been talking about the Model Editor the whole time while I was talking about the Model Viewer - in that case we're screwed

oh no, i was talking about the model viewer this whole time.... so we're not screwed. i think i once tried renaming the file to .dea_anim but it still crashed in model editor when i tried loading it in. even the actual model i think didnt work either...

ill try it again right now.

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nope still didnt work. i got this exeption reason:

ModelEditor.exe caused an EXCEPTION_ACCESS_VIOLATION in module ModelEditor.exe at 0023:0050B404, hpl::cBinaryBuffer::AddString()+0004 byte(s), d:\hpl2\core\sources\resources\binarybuffer.cpp, line 0362+0004byte(s)

it crashed when i tried to test my .dea_anim file in the model Editor that i made from another persons model...

any ideas?

i think its the collada plugin, it could be either corrupted or the update is bad. maybe if we find a older open collada for maya 2010 it might work....

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[xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx]

Hm... I can load rigged meshes in dae files into the model editor without a problem, both with Maya 2012 and 2011. Haven't tried an animation yet.

[warmacha11]

hmm.... you know what it might be? it just might be because im loading the rigged file through the mesh loader button when i should be loading the model without its mesh but with its rigged model through the open button... what im doing right now is trying to load everything through the mesh loader.

but that wouldnt explain the animation crash.... ill see if this is the case...

[warmacha11]

alright, nothings working, still wont let me load in a model that is rigged, but will let me load a model that isnt rigged. and it wont let me use a .dea_anim file on it.

but they all have something in common. the crash reports Exception access violation all say something about a binary buffer. maybe we should get someone who knows about coding to see what they think, or perhaps you know...
also i tested out importing someones model, then not touching it at all and just exporting it straight out of maya. then loading it in model editor, and it worked... with it rigged and everything... so that must mean that it cant be the exporter...

sadly another problem has sprung up, the mesh seems to have holes in it, or it seems that the poly's are stretching...

[Obliviator27]

Alright, let me give you some basic advice.

When you make your first animated model, export it without animations first (Uncheck the animations box when exporting) as something like model.dae (Whatever you want to name it.

Then, export it again, this time with animations. Name it something different. Model_animated.dae or something like that.(Again, whatever you want to name it).

Now, open the non-animated model in the ModelView.exe. If it crashes, check the ModelView.log file, and it should tell you what went wrong. If it works out okay, proceed to the next step.

Click the add animation button, find your Model_animated.dae file, and choose that. It should apply the animation to the model. From here, a million things could go wrong (HPL tends to hate animations) so if you're lucky, things will go okay.

If you got lucky, then all you have to do is rename the Model_animated.dae to Model_animated.dae_anim. Your computer will likely alert you that you may destroy the usage of the file. Don't worry about that.

From there, you just go into the Model Editor, import your mesh, add the animation, set the speed and whatnot, and set it to whatever entity type you want.

As far as troubleshooting your "Holes and stretched polygon" problems, the issue is likely that some normals are flipped (The missing polygons), so just flip those to fix that. For the stretched polygons, your model is not centered. If you're using Maya, click Modify>Freeze Transformations, then Modify>Reset Transformations.

[xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx]

also i tested out importing someones model, then not touching it at all and just exporting it straight out of maya. then loading it in model editor, and it worked... with it rigged and everything... so that must mean that it cant be the exporter...

This did not work for me. I openend someone elses file (that worked for him) in maya, exported and bäm - crash in model viewer again.

Also thanks for the general advice, but well, that's pretty much what I was doing. ó.ò I made a cube in maya, placed a single joint in it, no animations, nothing, and even that was enough to crash the model viewer. The log didn't tell me anything...

Fuck it, I'm going back to UDK until A machine for pigs brings us the new tools.