How do I export my model with its weight maps?

Pancho · Post by **Pancho** » 05 Jul 2011, 14:04

I'd like to use the point oven lwo. exporter, but unfortunately this is just a one way ticket. SI imports weight maps, but doesn't export them. How do I do this correctly?

Cheers
Pancho

Pancho · Post by **Pancho** » 13 Jul 2011, 13:16

Is it too simple and I don't get it or so difficult that nobody gets it? So far I didn't manage to export weights (weights, not envelopes) while saving objects as LW files. How do I do this?

Tekano · Post by **Tekano** » 13 Jul 2011, 13:40

or maybe not enough people here export to Lighwave perhaps? Really I wouldn't know how to export weights from within Softimage as they are kind of built in custom, maybe try with vertex maps? will they come across to Lightwave? if so it is not too difficult to convert a weight map to vertex map in Softimage

Pancho · Post by **Pancho** » 13 Jul 2011, 21:37

The confusing thing is they import easily, so I tought they should export easily as well. How do you convert a SI weight map to a vertex map? Actually I need to have a Modo-SI workflow, but in the end that should be the same as LW-SI.

Tekano · Post by **Tekano** » 14 Jul 2011, 11:18

Here is an ICE compound that will do that for you, simply connect it to an object that you want to transfer weightmap > vertex color, if it is red when you connect it to a modelling ICE tree then you need to go into the compound (edit) and connect up the correct weightmap or vertex color map names. Once your vertex map is correct then you can just freeze the object and it will remove the ICE tree and apply the vertex colors for keeps.

hope that helps?

Pancho · Post by **Pancho** » 14 Jul 2011, 14:38

Thanks so much! I'll give it a try a.s.a.p.!

Pancho · Post by **Pancho** » 21 Oct 2013, 08:07

Finally tried it! : )

And it works. But in terms of an easy back and forth workflow it's a bit complicated. Is there no one else who needs to export weight maps (not envelope weights) to LW or Modo? How is this done? FBX doesn't seem to take care of this...

Cheers
Thomas

Pancho · Post by **Pancho** » 28 Oct 2013, 10:45

Nobody an idea to do this easily? I'm really crippled in my workflow, if SI doesn't export weight maps as nicely as it imports them. Really strange.

If I bundle 1 to 3 weight maps in a color vertex map I can export them, but in Modo it seems to be a dead end as I can't convert them back to weights and in LW I didn't find a solution neither yet.

Can't believe that I'm the only one with this problem?! Anybody an idea to get weights maps out of SI and back into Modo or LW (as weights)?

Cheers!!!

Pancho · Post by **Pancho** » 29 Oct 2013, 15:53

I just received an email from the Autodesk Softimage Support, which explains things a bit.

"I can confirm that a non-skin Weight Map is not supported in both .obj and .fbx.
It’s easy to see that this is not being written in the .fbx by simply exporting a sphere with a weight map in .fbx/obj and simply re-importing it in Soft as an .fbx/.obj.
My colleagues from Max and Maya told me that they do not have the ability to use weight maps other than for skinning.

Therefore, it looks like a non-skin WeightMap is something custom to Softimage which is most likely why they are not supported by .fbx or .obj.

Look into converting the map to a Vertex-Map, (same as when you call Property>Color at vertices Map).
Then in the render tree use this map instead to mask your shader.
I tested the export/import of a vertices map created from a weightMap with ICE and it works when exported/imported as an fbx."

A guy from the Modo community said he has once written something to bypass this and reload weights into Modo seperately. Didn't post the scripts though. Anybody an idea? Or how one could convert the vertex color map into weights in either Modo or Lightwave?

Pooby · Post by **Pooby** » 29 Oct 2013, 16:59

Youd need to find out if there is a plugin at the other end or try and persuade or pay someone to make one if not.

How do I export my model with its weight maps?

How do I export my model with its weight maps?

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Re: How do I export my model with its weight maps?

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Re: How do I export my model with its weight maps?

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