Need Mdd Info

[detbear]

This is a puzzle for me and I really need the answer. Concerning mdd import export.

 

When you import an .mdd file, does it only work on an .obj model import.......as a prop for instance.

 

Or can you import an mdd and have it work on the hash model.

 

This is what I use to think:

 

1. In exterior App I can export a model as an obj and import it into hash via the obj import wizard.(results in a hash model version)

 

2. In exterior App also export an mdd file with motions.

 

3. Import the mdd file onto the new hash model created in step 1.

 

HOWEVER....I can't get this to work.

 

What's more puzzeling is that I can export an mdd from a Hash model in A:M. But then I cannot get the mdd to import back onto the same hash model.

 

Can anyone clarify how this import functions in A:M??

 

cheers & many thanks,

 

William

[Rodney]

When you import an .mdd file,

 

 

Where exactly are you trying to import the MDD file?

The only place I'm aware we can import MDD files/data into A:M is in an Action.

[John Bigboote]

Dang- I have never imported an mdd... I know they EXPORT fine as long as you keep the .obj and .mdd together as a group... an mdd will not work on other models like an bvh would. PERHAPS the problem upon importing the obj as a prop is that props are not 'live' within A:M, thus un-animateable... and if you convert it to a .mdl there is most likely a re-numbering of the vector points(CPs) which would cause disconnect to the mdd. To tell the truth, I did not even know A:M imported mdd files at all, where do you find that option?

[detbear]

Yeah... There is an option to import and export mdd sequences in both an action and a choreography.

 

The trick is you must right click on the character name in the PWS and select wizards/export or import.

 

That will give you the option.

 

BUT when I import mdds....even the one created on a model in A:M..........it turns the model to spaghetti moosh.

[John Bigboote]

BUT when I import mdds....even the one created on a model in A:M..........it turns the model to spaghetti moo

 

Sounds like the importer utility is wreaking havoc with the CP numbering data, which can never change or you get spaghetti. Does it say who wrote it?

[detbear]

You mean the code for the plugin?

 

Not sure. If it is an mdd importer/ exporter it should be able to import it's own creation back into A:M I would think.

[Fuchur]

I think it was Steffen with some help of the Soulcage Department...

 

See you

*Fuchur*

[strato]

It would seem that import/export of an MDD file and its coresponding OBJ file should work, but my experience is that even in all the other programs out there you may still find that the point order gets

messed up and even in Lightwave which invented the format has multiple readers of which not all are able to read a Hash MDD file.Stepping on Ice here, knowing that mentioning other Software could invoke

the Inquisition, but one export import that works well is the Riptide Pro Plug in to C4d and the standard blender plug in, but I never had success with point oven for XSI. Honestly I am not sure why You would want to import an OBJ and its MDD, it makes a lot more sense the other way with AM being a great animation program than sending the point information to a program of choice for dynamics, painting and rendering.

[robcat2075]

 

Honestly I am not sure why You would want to import an OBJ and its MDD, it makes a lot more sense the other way with AM being a great animation program than sending the point information to a program of choice for dynamics, painting and rendering.

 

I believe the desire was to be able to recreate the morph targets and other deformations that characters rigged in other programs have so they can bend at joints.

 

If one could get that altered shape into A:M and turn that into a pose, then you would not need to re invent all the point weighting.

 

that's the plan.

[Rodney]

knowing that mentioning other Software could invoke the Inquisition

 

 

Mentioning other software isn't the problem*... feature orgies, baseless comparison and promotion of competing products... those will surely run afoul of forum rules and common sense. As long as common sense prevails we can explore A:M in ways few ever imagine.

 

Here's a tip: The key to a discussion that 'mentions' another program is to keep the focus on A:M.

If the focus is on the other program then it should probably be posted in a forum dedicated to that program.

 

*I do have to chuckle a little every time someone goes to extraordinary lengths to circumvent forum rules that have never existed.

Then I sigh as I realize that folks do take that silliness seriously.

 

(We now return you to your forum topic already in progress)

[strato]

Rodney, thanks for the tip. Obviously import/export functions will have to deal with other Software, and I have seen seemingly harmless threads being eliminated.

But back to MDD. I think the purpose for it was not to just import export deformed models and their morphs but the frame by frame model change of each vertex of an

animation. Morph targets or Muscle poses are often part of the model, but MDD exports these models in animation. In other programs a deformed copy of model

can be turned into a muscle pose (morph), I don't think thats possible in AM. But maybe You are saying that that is the goal to import an MDD back into AM, I am

not clear on that. On another note, I think that MDD is a perfect way to use all of AMs animation qualities and than make previews with another background renderer.

I actually have an MDD exporter that was written by a japanese animator (Watanabe) for V10.5-12.