Utilities 2017

[john71]

I would like to start this topic because a lot of older links are dead or they are a little bit chaotic.

Important utilities list (please feel free to post any other important utilities):

1.) CMODview

It can view and manipulate CMOD format 3D objects.

2.) CMODconverter

It can convert 3DS files into CMOD 3D format.

https://celestia.space/utilites.html

[HB]

Do not forget Seldens List of Resources, it's a wealth of information.

https://www.classe.cornell.edu/~seb/celestia/

[selden]

But a lot of its links are obsolete Someday I'll have to locate one of those "broken links" utilities and try to update it.

[FarGetaNik]

Great Idea!

• CMOD export script for anim8or:

http://anim8or.com/scripts/selden/export_cmod_plugin.a8s

• t00fri's texture tools (Normal Maps and Virtual Textures):

http://forum.celestialmatters.org/viewtopic.php?f=6&t=70

[John Van Vliet]

"cmodview" in the source builds just fine
-- my fork
https://github.com/JohnVV/MyCelestiaBuild/tree/master/celestia/src/tools/cmod

it also imports UV maped obj meshes ( including spacecraft ) , so there is no real need for the very old anam8tor or even older blender 2.49 plugin

[john71]

This utility is a DDS batch converter Windows frontend and it is fantastic.

Very easy to use!

I converted all my png normalmaps to dxt5nm format in no time.

png->dds normalmap->you have to batch rename the *.dds extention to *.dxt5nm.

https://vvvv.org/contribution/dds-converter

[FarGetaNik]

I converted all my png normalmaps to dxt5nm format in no time.

The tool works, but is there any benefit in using this format? What it saves on disc space gets lost in lossy compression it seems.

[john71]

I use very big 8k normalmaps. The dxt5nm format made my constant Celestia crashes mostly disappear.

I suspect that the png format causes some kind of graphic crash and the dxt5nm format is somehow more compatible with my graphic card.

At 8k resolution the lossy compression is not a real problem for me.

Also dxt5nm (and dds) mipmaps make a difference in my opinion.

[john71]

Selden's interstellar (intergalactic) route maker software (Windows 10 compatible).

It creates a visible line between two stellar (astronomical) objects in Celestia.

A big thanks for Selden!

Ingenious!

routes.zip

[bh]

Is there a Cmod viewer available for Mac?

I'm on Catalina.

[LukeCEL]

A while ago I compiled the cmodview utility on my computer. I'm not sure if it'll work on macOS Catalina, but I'll post it here.

[bh]

Ah... thanks Luke

Opens in Terminal- then immediately quits.

Oh well...

[Anthony_B_Russo10]

Could always try have a secondary install of Mojave to try it on.

[pedro_jg]

Since the Celestial Matters forums has been down for quite a while, I'm uploading here the latest versions of Fridger's texture tools (2.0pre2). No changes have been made to the original files.

F-TexTools-2.0pre2.zip

(7.48 MiB) Downloaded 729 times

nmtools-2.0pre2.zip

(3.89 MiB) Downloaded 646 times

[John Van Vliet]

pedro_jg

i have a Linux copy
but just wondering if your two zips are MS Windows binaries or source code

[pedro_jg]

Windows, Linux and macOS binaries are there, as well as the source.