problems with 3ds files

[blueberry]

hello everyone

i am importing a complex 3ds file into celestia for osx and i encounter strange problems with coloring/texturing:

- 3ds file does only show if i assign a texture from the .ssc file in the extras folder.
- if no texture but color is assigned in .ssc nothing is visible
- if i export a 3ds file without a texture tag the geometry appears in white in celeste
- as soon as i add a color or a texture map (with 1024x512px .png texture) the geometry dissapears
- this behaviour both with blender 2.41 aswell as cinema 4d R9, both on mac.

- if i open an existing 3ds, such as hubble.3ds, and save it from cinema, the same happens.

apparently celeste needs a very specific kind of 3ds file... but what is it? i have fabricated the most basic 3ds files, and still celeste won't show colors

has anyone had this problem aswell and knows a workaround (besides defining hundreds of partial geometries in .ssc)?


tnx alot, blueberry

[selden]

The white coloration of a blank model is normal. Usually the color depends on the color of the material defined within the model file. I don't know what might be causing your problems.

There are several people here who design models for Celestia using a Mac (Cham and ElChristou, for example). Maybe one of them will have some suggestions.

Do you have access to a PC or know someone who does? Or you could send your model to someone on the Forum so they could test it for you.

On a PC you might try importing the model into Anim8or and then exporting it again to see if that helps. I've never had problems viewing models in Celestia which were created with that program. Anim8or doesn't support png files, but a jpeg image should work just as well for testing.

Anim8or is a free 3D design program available for downloading from http://www.anim8or.com/
It has much less functionality than Blender.