[size=200]Krakatoa SR Exporter from 3ds Max[/size]
Document Started: 2011/10/11
Document Edited: 2011/10/11
WORK IN PROGRESS
This document describes the features and workflows of the 3ds Max Exporter to the Krakatoa SR Python format available as part of the Krakatoa MX package.
Please note that ALL Krakatoa SR Exporters are currently provided as Reference Implementations and are not part of the Krakatoa SR product. In other words, they are not supported for production use and are meant merely as examples of possible Krakatoa SR connections from different 3D applications.
[size=150]Overview[/size]
The Krakatoa SR Exporter in Krakatoa MX was developed as a Proof Of Concept during the early development stages of Krakatoa SR.
It is quite advanced since it has access to all Krakatoa MX settings in an existing User Interface environment, as well as some Krakatoa MX objects not available elsehwere.
The Krakatoa SR Export mode requires a render output filename to be defined in the 3ds Max Render Dialog. The output images as well as the PY scene files, PRT and OBJ files and so on will be exported to the specified folder and stored in sub-folders.
The Krakatoa SR Export mode of Krakatoa MX currently exports the current frame only. Support for animation sequences is trivial and will be added soon.
For each exported frame, a BAT file is created in the output folder to enable the launching of the frame’s rendering.
[size=150]Supported Particle Sources[/size]
The Krakatoa SR Exporter in Krakatoa MX supports the following particle sources:
- Krakatoa PRT Loaders will be passed to Krakatoa SR as the original PRT sequences including the existing reference paths as long as the particle data is unchanged (no Magma, deformation modifiers or textures). BIN and CSV files will also be passed as is under the previously described conditions. If the particle data is changed in any way, the PRT Loader will be baked to a new PRT sequence in the \PRTs folder of the Krakatoa SR output.
- Krakatoa PRT Hair objects will be baked to a Curve File if there are no Magma, deformation modifiers or textures assigned. Otherwise, the PRT Hair will also be baked to PRT files.
- TODO: PRT Volume objects could be passed as OBJ files to Krakatoa SR if no Magma, deformations or textures are found. Currently, PRT Volumes are always baked to PRT files.
- All other Krakatoa PRT objects including PRT FumeFX, PRT Creator etc. will be baked to PRT sequences.
- 3ds Max Particle Flow, Thinking Particles and Legacy Particle systems will be baked to PRT files.
[size=150]Exporting Only Changing Objects[/size]
The Krakatoa SR Exporter in Krakatoa MX supports tracking for object changes.
For every exported PRT sequence or OBJ file, a corresponding HashCode will be written to an INI file in the output folder, describing the state of all relevant properties of the object. When the scene is being re-exported to the same folder, the current HashCode of the scene objects will be generated and compared to the last exported one. Only objects whose HashCode has changed will be re-exported, providing a significant speed up when exporting large PRT or OBJ files.