there are a lot of file formats that Milkshape can import. click File->Import to see what formats are available

Chris Bates
Lead scripter,
Stargate BFM: Freelancer

I don't have milkshape though.

I am trying to see if i could make the models here at work then have someone import them in for me.

"On this ship you are to refer to me as Idiot, not you Captain. I mean... you know what I mean."

it can import most of the popular formats- 3ds is one that I can think of off-hand. I don't have MS3d installed at the moment, so I can't tell you all of them.

Milkshape is free, to download. Download a copy from www.chumbalumsoft.com, and check it out... it really doesn't matter what format you use, so long as it's a major one.

Major 3D file formats (in order of preference- some formats are "more equal" than others):

OBJ
3DS
ASC
MD3
LWO
DXF

Surely whatever you're using can export to one or more of those formats. If not... go get another modeler, because whatever you're using probably sucks

I can export DXF files from my program. How well do they translate to milkshape?

DXF is last on the list... for a reason. If that's the only format your modeler will export... please, get something better. DXF is last on the list for several reasons:

1. DXF exports often contain invalid tris.
2. DXF's exports use quads, which have to be broken up by MS3D's importer... causing 1, above.
3. Invalid tris = worthless model, because using it will cause CTD in FL's 3D engine.

Basically... DXF is a format of last resort. Go get another modeler, please- if DXF is the only thing it'll support, then it probably sucks in other ways.

If you need something cheap/free... get GMAX (www.discreet.com), and download the GMAX export plugins (which can be downloaded from this website- just use Search). GMAX is free, and quite powerful- and with the export plugins, you can export MD3 format models from it, and import them into MS3D.

MS3D is not free. You'll have to pay for that, if you want to export models to FL's CMP format. MS3D is cheap, though, and you'll be supporting one of the best pieces of shareware around

what about stl, parasolid, VRML, step, or iges files? will milkshape take those?

I will be using Unigraphics NX3 for the modeling at work. i don't have time to do it at home.

Edited by - topher on 4/7/2005 2:54:32 PM

Ah, so you're using CAD/CAM.

Hmm. You mean that that software can't export 3DS, even? Pity you aren't using something a little more general-purpose, like Rhino (which is what I use as my primary modeler).

At any rate... no, MS3D doesn't support NURBs representations or IGES surfaces... this is game software, not for engineering... and the requirements are a *lot* different. Game software demands polycount efficiency at the cost of accuracy... engineering software is almost totally opposite. If you're a professional who already uses this every day, I know I'm singing to the choir here, but ... it's important to understand that these are very fundamentally different worlds here.

Your best bet is DXF, if you positively cannot do this at home. But quite frankly, I think you're going to find it extremely difficult to make anything decent at the polycounts required, using a tool like that. Sorry, but to make things, sometimes you need to use the proper tools- and after looking over the product specs for what you're using... it's not a very good tool for this kind've modeling.

I was afraid of that. We have used the VRML format and sent it to a company to create game like animation for a surgical companion for doctors to use during operations. I was hoping that the milkshape3D would be something like that.

Oh well, looks like I'll have to learn a new modeler or give up, eh?

Thanks for your help

Sorry, I was a bit surprised that nobody's made VRML importer for MS3D at this point- it supports a *lot* of file formats.

Perhaps... here's something you could try. If you've got 3D Explorer... it can translate VRML (among dozens of other formats) into whatever you want.

The problem's not just the file translation, however- it's also polycount efficiency. If you've made VRML files for realtime use, though, then you know what you're in for, with the tools you know. VRML is ... probably ... a better choice than DXF, because it's a tri-friendly format.

Overall though... I'd have to say yes, it's time to learn a new modeler. Try out GMAX- it's very easy to use. Or, if you've got the $$$... get Rhino, which will be more familiar to you, unless your software uses a much different workflow than most CAD/CAM software. Rhino's general-purpose, and very, very powerful- it's primarily a NURBS modeler, but with the Bonus Tools released for v. 3.0, it's also a fairly decent mesh modeler, as well, because with a little practice, you can translate NURBS surfaces into high-efficiency meshes... just my $0.02 there, but I really haven't ever used anything as good as Rhino, for pure modeling, and that's saying something.