File type that preserves almost everything...

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minilogoguy18
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File type that preserves almost everything...

Post by minilogoguy18 » 04 Sep 2017, 00:37

I built a biped in Mod Tool 7.5 for an old game I made animations for but someone I know wants it for Softimage 2015. The EMDL (Model) export is disabled in Mod Tool which would preserve the rig for the most part. I'm wondering if there is another format I can use that will preserve all the constraints or am I forced to rebuild it in 2015?

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myara
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Re: File type that preserves almost everything...

Post by myara » 04 Sep 2017, 18:46

I haven't used the mod tool but afaik, you can't export rigs. You could bake your animation and export it as a fbx or dotXSI and rebuild your rig in Softimage if necessary.
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AceMastermind
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Re: File type that preserves almost everything...

Post by AceMastermind » 05 Sep 2017, 10:11

minilogoguy18 wrote:I need constraints and curves if possible. I'm starting to think it's not possible without the EMDL exporter.
You'll probably have to reverse engineer the *.exp format that Mod Tool saves scenes as and maybe make a conversion tool or plugin to support it in Softimage 2015.
The *.exp format is nearly identical to the *.scn format and it can store all of the data you want, *.exp may even be interchangeable with only minor modifications. :-bd

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Draise
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Re: File type that preserves almost everything...

Post by Draise » 05 Sep 2017, 15:19

I have used Modtool 7.5 with SI 2015, directly with *.scn files. Those files were tagged with a student/mod use warning popup into 2015, but exporting models from that scene as *.emdl got rid of that tocken on the scene. Everything kept.

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Re: File type that preserves almost everything...

Post by AceMastermind » 05 Sep 2017, 16:11

Draise wrote: 05 Sep 2017, 15:19 I have used Modtool 7.5 with SI 2015, directly with *.scn files. Those files were tagged with a student/mod use warning popup into 2015, but exporting models from that scene as *.emdl got rid of that tocken on the scene. Everything kept.
Mod Tool 7.5 can neither export or save as *.scn or *.emdl, only open them if the version is lower than 7.5. The *.exp format is Mod Tool's version of the *.scn file and is the only one that stores the data minilogoguy18 wants to transfer. He says he wants the data (constraints etc) to go from Mod Tool to Softimage 2015. This is currently not possible without a custom plugin or conversion tool.

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myara
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Re: File type that preserves almost everything...

Post by myara » 06 Sep 2017, 11:06

Did I miss something ? I swear I saw a few more replies in this thread...


Draise, you may confusing it with the Student Version.
You can user your Student Version data in a Commercial version and it will through you a warning. By the way, your Scene Data will keep the version history inside it's code. Btw, useless info, you can check your versions with printver.exe.

Reverse Engineering ? I don't know much about it, but unless we are talking about thousands of rigs and you having hacking skills, I wouldn't even try.

I'd stick with rebuilding the rig. You already have bones and controllers positions and animations, so It shouldn't take that much time unless you were doing some extremely complicated stuff.
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Draise
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Re: File type that preserves almost everything...

Post by Draise » 06 Sep 2017, 13:06

Ah yeah. I did confuse it with the student version.

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Re: File type that preserves almost everything...

Post by AceMastermind » 06 Sep 2017, 14:01

myara wrote: 06 Sep 2017, 11:06Reverse Engineering ?
Yes, I am referring to how data is stored in the *.exp format, which like I said is just Mod Tool's version of the *.scn format that every version of Softimage XSI is capable of saving to. :)
The two are nearly identical and they both are just archives containing saved scene data. It may be possible with only minor modifications within the *.exp file to convert it to *.scn file.
The fundamentals of the software don't seem to change from one version to the next, so as long as nothing fancy needs to get transfered from old version to new, everything should be good.

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minilogoguy18
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Re: File type that preserves almost everything...

Post by minilogoguy18 » 10 Sep 2017, 00:49

If only the EMDL format could be made as an addon like other formats that were removed from Mod Tool such as .OBJ and .3DS, MT 7.5 can open EMDL though.

Ace, do you really think it is possible to convert the file from .EXP to .SCN? I did look at them in Notepad++ and the file types are almost identical but removing the "DEMO VERSION" info and changing the file extension wasn't good enough. It'd be nice to know of a text editor or something that could view the file to find out where the data that keeps it from being opened in the commercial version so that it can be modified to be opened.

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Re: File type that preserves almost everything...

Post by AceMastermind » 10 Sep 2017, 03:32

Yes I believe it is possible through binary comparisons using a hex editor, a basic sample *.scn and *.exp file from the same version would be the ideal starting point for research.

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minilogoguy18
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Re: File type that preserves almost everything...

Post by minilogoguy18 » 10 Sep 2017, 21:13

That may be tough since finding a installer for the 7.5 Advanced may be a problem. So far just comparing one from Mod Tool and 2015 both with just a simple cube hasn't given me any answers.

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