I have a 3D class coming up and I don't want to just use the X files that come with the book, how can I export my own using Maya 2009 I have read so much and tried so many different things and still no luck at all. Anyone please give me a program name that does it I have MilkShape 3D and what a waste that was, it converts to directX 8.0 and when I did that it wouldn't load in the directX view I have vista so I am running DX10. I tried another program to convert obj to x and it kept having problems with parsing or whatever. [Edited by - wicked357 on March 1, 2009 7:28:31 PM]

C'mon nothing at all? I have been doing this for hours today and still no luck!

Did you try following the tips in the Maya Exporting sticky?

Yea I have Maya 2009 Unlimited and I have DirectX SDK November 2008 neither of which have the files specified in the sticky. Non of the directories are there either, that is specified, so I guess it is safe to say I am not able to go about do that. Now what?

A quick search on MSDN shows that their last SDK that shipped with the DCC plug-ins was April 2007. Some FAQS for it can be found here - MSDN.

Why are you wanting to use the .x format in the first place? It kind of well, sucks, and there are better alternatives available now, such as COLLADA and FBX.

The is what is being used, not my choice. I would like to eventually learn how to load better model formats. Does DirectX load other model types besides .x and .fx without writing code out of my learning scope for class? If so, which ones? If not any suggestions to as what I should do here? If I can use a better format I would love to.

If you're wanting info on model loading then pop into the The Beginner's forum and ask there. Not many programmer types browse this end of the forums [wink]

From someone who has worked with the .x format from the art side, I really, really didn't like it. If you must use it though, like I said, you're going to need to grab the DCC plug-ins from the April 2007 SDK. If you want artists to be able to more easily provide you with content, I'd highly recommend going with COLLADA, FBX, or heck even something like MD2.

Quote: Original post by wicked357
I tried another program to convert obj to x and it kept having problems with parsing or whatever.

It is not free, but you should give Ultimate Unwrap 3D a try to see if you can convert your models into X correctly. That application is one of the best converters and comes with a lot of plugins. You would need the Pro version, not the SE version if you decide to buy it, which it's a good investment if you are going to be working with a lot of models and converting.

You can at least download the demo and see if your model loads correctly to be converted. It can't actually save into a new file format, so it won't be useful for that. You will want to export from Maya to a more common format as zer0wolf mentioned (x->obj is fine though for conversion). Actually, you could PM me a model or two and I can send you the resulting .X from the conversion and you can see if it loads correctly. If it does, then that's definitely the tool you'll want to buy [wink] I'm no modeler so if it doesn't work, I won't be able to help you much more past that, but it could be worth a try, your call.

The cvxporter plugin works quite well for us. Unlike to what zerowolf claims XFiles in general work very well for us. Haven't tried FBX, yet, but my experiences with Collada are worse. Collada is a horribly over-engineered pile of needless complexity.

I've never used or heard of cvxporter before. If it works then great! I've just dealt with the Microsoft plug-in, which is horrible. Trying to get .x files out with it was an absolute nightmare. Since struggling with it I've just always worked with other formats since.