Star Trek model to 3ds format

[Ulrik]

Hello all,

First of all: Thank you for a wonderful program!

I have found this beautiful model of the Enterprise-D from Star Trek. Unfortunately it is in .max format.





I have no experience whatsoever with 3D modelling, but I would very much like to know if you think it would be possible to convert it to 3ds for use in Celestia.

It comes with a lot of textures in both .png and .jpg.

The link for the download is:
http://www.lunarhorizon.com/startrekaustraliacom/startrek_meshes/federation/galaxyclass2_max25/galaxyclass2_max25.zip

The download is app. 8.2 mb.

If someone would take a look at it I would be very grateful.

Thanks in advance.

Ulrik

[Guest]

The 3ds is just beside the max for download.

See http://www.lunarhorizon.com/startrekaustraliacom/startrek_meshes/federation/galaxyclass2_max25/

Dan

[Ulrik]

Yes I know, thanks.

But the 3ds zip file is corrupt. However, I managed to unpack all the file except a few texture files. But when opened, the model is screwed up and the maps are all wrong.

I have of course tried to put in in Celestia with the model in Models\ and textures in Textures\Medres\. The ship appears but with Earth texture and the ship parts are upside down and reverse.

Is there anyway to convert the working .max file?

Ulrik

[JackHiggins]

But the 3ds zip file is corrupt. However, I managed to unpack all the file except a few texture files. But when opened, the model is screwed up and the maps are all wrong

Open it up in anim8or, you can rotate it around & stuff, and use the "flip normals" command to stop it being inside out. It won't solve all the problems but it might look ok-ish...

[fsgregs]

Ulrik:

I have no good experience with 3ds modeling, but if you manage to get that model sorted out, please post it somewhere for download. I'd love to add it to my collection of StarTrek ships that are functional in Celestia.

Frank G

[Guest]

Sure I'll make it available if I ever get this thing to work, bit I'm not too optimistic.

I tried to open the 3ds file in Anim8or, but I didn't get it to work. Instead I downloaded a trial version of Deep Exploration that can open .max files and save them as .3ds.

So far so good...

I DID succeed in getting the mesh right . But when opened in Celestia none of the textures are showing. Instead the model has the Earth cloud texture I can actually turn it on and off with the "i" key. When it's turned off, the model is black except for a few parts which are bright orange.

I understand that 3ds uses DOS filenames (8.3 characters) and I have renamed all texture files accordingly and updated all references in the .max file. But with the above result.

Any idea what I'm doing wrong? Please remember that I'm a newbie with 3D modelling.

Thanks.

Ulrik

My system (just in case):
Athlon 2000+ (1667 MHz)
1.25 Gb ram
Gforce4 Ti4400 128 Mb
Driver version 44.10, OpenGL 1.4.0
Celestia 1.3.1pre6

[Ulrik]

The above post is mine. For some reason my name wasn't registered.

Forgot to mention my OS: WinXP pro SP1.

Ulrik

[Cormoran]

Ulrik,

Textures in Celestia, even for 3ds objects need to be sized in powers of 2 (640 x 320, 1024 x 512, 2048 x 1024 etc.) Try using a 2d Graphics package and use the resize commands. I think the mapping of the textures will be maintained, though the appearance of the model may be changed slightly)

Also, ensure each object in the 3ds file has only 1 texture.

(I was caught by this problem too

I look forward to seeing a screen shot of the model when you get it working in Celestia.

Cheers,

Cormoran

[JackHiggins]

If the textures arent mapped on correctly you can use the uv texture thing in anim8or to change where the textures get mapped onto.

[Ulrik]

Phew, there are a little over 100 texture files But I'll sure give it a try.

Thanks for the advise Jack and Cormoran . It's appreciated.

Ulrik

[bh]

I might give it a try...I need the practice..wiil download later.

[Ulrik]

Hello bh,

That would be great

Pehaps I should mail you the modified .max model? (I have no webpage to put it on ) But as I mentioned earlier I have renamed all texture files according to DOS standard and updated the references in the .max file.

Thanks,
Ulrik