Hy everyone, I am looking for information concerning openGL compatibility and Maya objects. I believe that through Maya we can export objects and import them in openGL. Is there a website that guides through the process in order to have a successful import into openGL of those Maya objects. Also is there any requirement from the maya objects prior to exporting them that I should be aware of in order to have less problems in retrieving them in openGL. Thank you. Patrick Saad Comp Sci & Computation Arts Undergraduate Student President - Digital Media Student Association

http://robthebloke.org

check out the Maya API info for writing exporters from Maya (samples included). The OpenGL section has a few *.obj loading tutorials.

It also depends on what you want to do with the model, and how complex is it, and if it has animation or whatever.

Most people just write a plugin to dump the data they need, and have your program use that.

I have an application *which sum1 else made* which exports your may mesh info into an md2 file, it supports skins and animations. Its Pretty cool.

PM and ill send u the details as im 2 lazy 2 search for it now

Quote: Original post by dawidjoubert
I have an application *which sum1 else made* which exports your may mesh info into an md2 file, it supports skins and animations. Its Pretty cool.

PM and ill send u the details as im 2 lazy 2 search for it now

If this is accurate, I agree with it. I use the MD2 file format, and use Milkshape 3d to convert my files from 3ds to md2. Also, MD2 is a highly known format, so it should be easy to find tuts to load and animate such meshes. The disadvantage of the MD2 format is that it uses keyframe animation, not skeletal. And it doesn't support more modern features such as bone attachment(don't know the official words, I refer to attaching a weapon to a bone as another bone with verts).

i believe Maya now supports Deep Exploration by Right Hemisphere.

this will essentially allow you to export your model into an OpenGL display list. 3DS has had this plugin for quite some time. you can go to the Right Hemisphere website and read about everything you can do. in the top right hand corner go ahead and take a look at the formats that are supported.. it will be in pdf format. if you scroll down under 3D files..you will see the OPenGL CPP format that it mentions as an export. This is bascially an OpenGL Display list that retains not only the vertices , but texture and material properties and i am sure more than that.. its been a while since i used it but i was using 3DS at the time.

the price listing for this on their website is US $149

hope this helps!

Quote: Original post by OpenGL_Guru
i believe Maya now supports Deep Exploration by Right Hemisphere.

this will essentially allow you to export your model into an OpenGL display list. 3DS has had this plugin for quite some time. you can go to the Right Hemisphere website and read about everything you can do. in the top right hand corner go ahead and take a look at the formats that are supported.. it will be in pdf format. if you scroll down under 3D files..you will see the OPenGL CPP format that it mentions as an export. This is bascially an OpenGL Display list that retains not only the vertices , but texture and material properties and i am sure more than that.. its been a while since i used it but i was using 3DS at the time.

the price listing for this on their website is US $149

hope this helps!

The only problem with this is the lack of animation.

Quote: Original post by kburkhart84

Quote: Original post by OpenGL_Guru
i believe Maya now supports Deep Exploration by Right Hemisphere.

this will essentially allow you to export your model into an OpenGL display list. 3DS has had this plugin for quite some time. you can go to the Right Hemisphere website and read about everything you can do. in the top right hand corner go ahead and take a look at the formats that are supported.. it will be in pdf format. if you scroll down under 3D files..you will see the OPenGL CPP format that it mentions as an export. This is bascially an OpenGL Display list that retains not only the vertices , but texture and material properties and i am sure more than that.. its been a while since i used it but i was using 3DS at the time.

the price listing for this on their website is US $149

hope this helps!

The only problem with this is the lack of animation.

well you could always add animation in OpenGL couldnt you?

Quote: Original post by OpenGL_Guru

Quote: Original post by kburkhart84

Quote: Original post by OpenGL_Guru
i believe Maya now supports Deep Exploration by Right Hemisphere.

this will essentially allow you to export your model into an OpenGL display list. 3DS has had this plugin for quite some time. you can go to the Right Hemisphere website and read about everything you can do. in the top right hand corner go ahead and take a look at the formats that are supported.. it will be in pdf format. if you scroll down under 3D files..you will see the OPenGL CPP format that it mentions as an export. This is bascially an OpenGL Display list that retains not only the vertices , but texture and material properties and i am sure more than that.. its been a while since i used it but i was using 3DS at the time.

the price listing for this on their website is US $149

hope this helps!

The only problem with this is the lack of animation.

well you could always add animation in OpenGL couldnt you?

You could, but I think it is easier to do in the same program you make the model in or something similar.

If you need animation from Maya, you will need to use one of the following :

* RTG file (bit like 3DS really, but a bit simpler to read)
* FBX - has the bonus of having skinning as well
* Your own exporter & file format.

Don't try and do all animation authoring in OpenGL - That would involve writing your own version of Maya, which is probably a dumb idea. Always extract what you need from your package of choice.