Help Needed! - Maxscript FBX Exporter and Vertex colors .fx shader

CastorPT · Jan 2012

Hi,

I've been looking around but with no luck so I now turn to Polycount for help

Q1.
Do you guys know where I can get a good (ideally free) DirectX shader for 3Dsmax 2012 that allows me to see vertex color blending textures in the viewport? (a simple black to white vertex colors)

Q2.
I'm doing a lot of Max to Maya FBX export and need to speed up the process.
The steps I do are:

select objects,
apply a edit poly
export as FBX to a specific file
remove edit poly

My maxscript skills are not that great so the best I could do was use the maxscript listener, do the actions and save that to a button. But I still have to go trough the dialogs for the FBX export and confirm overwrite of the .fbx file.
Is there a script around that can do this much faster? If not could you guys help me get this one working?

In case it helps this is what I have atm:

macroScript Macro1
	category:"DragAndDrop"
	toolTip:""
(
	modPanel.addModToSelection (Edit_Poly ()) ui:on
	actionMan.executeAction 0 "40373"
	max file export selected
	max select
	deleteModifier $ 1
)

Thanks!

poopipe · Jan 2012

you need to enable quiet mode when you export - here's an example


--hard code paths because I'm a lazy sod...
exportFolder = "C:\\export_pile"
exportFileName = ("thing.fbx")


-- do some stuff


print (exportFolder  + "\\" + exportFileName)
exportFile ( exportFolder  + "\\" + exportFileName) #noPrompt quiet:true

CastorPT · Jan 2012

Thanks for the help.Is it supposed to look like this then?

(
		--hard code paths because I'm a lazy sod...
exportFolder = "C:\Dropbox\raw_data\misc"
exportFileName = ("temp.fbx")

	modPanel.addModToSelection (Edit_Poly ()) ui:on
	actionMan.executeAction 0 "40373"
	max file export selected
	max select
	deleteModifier $ 1

print (exportFolder  + "\\" + exportFileName)
exportFile ( exportFolder  + "\\" + exportFileName) #noPrompt quiet:true
	

)

I still get the pop up to ask for the folder...like I said, my maxsscript skills are null...

poopipe · Jan 2012

you appear to be exporting it twice

lose the "max file export selected" line and see what happens

CastorPT · Jan 2012

Ok, this is what I got so far. Those 2 lines are the actual export process?

(
			--hard code paths because I'm a lazy sod...
			exportFolder = "C:\Dropbox\raw_data\misc"
			exportFileName = ("temp.fbx")
			
			-- Add "Edit Poly" modifier to selection
			modPanel.addModToSelection (Edit_Poly ()) ui:on
			
			-- Export Selected
			print (exportFolder  + "\\" + exportFileName)
			exportFile ( exportFolder  + "\\" + exportFileName) #noPrompt quiet:true

			-- Remove "Edit poly"
			deleteModifier $ 1
)

CastorPT · Jan 2012

And this is what I get in the listener with the Print command...I wonder if there is something wrong with the way I wrote the folders?

"C:\Dropbox
aw_data\misc\temp.fbx"

poopipe · Jan 2012

you need to escape the backslashes by using a double backslash instad of a single

eg.

"c:\\dropbox\\aw_data\\misc\\temp.fbx"

and yeah - this line does the export. I cant remember if it'll export the whole scene or the selected object(s) off the top of my head - you'll be able to check in the maxscript help to find out for sure.

exportFile ( exportFolder  + "\\" + exportFileName) #noPrompt quiet:true

Eric Chadwick · Jan 2012

For vertex blend shaders, take a look here.
http://wiki.polycount.com/CategoryShaders

Shader FX is the easiest way to get a simple vertex blend shader. They have sample shaders, but you can also very easily make one too. Free for individuals IIRC.

CastorPT · Jan 2012

Thanks for the tip, trying that right now.
As for the Maxscript...I feel so lost, I still cant get it to work and it seems I have to restart max everytime I want to see it run with the new changes, it takes ages to try it out.

I'm not a technical artist and just wanted to have a quick go at doing something that would save me tons of time but its taking a lot longer than I wanted...

This is what I have so far, not sure why its not exporting

macroScript Macro1
	category:"DragAndDrop"
	toolTip:"Export to FBX"
(
		--hard code paths...
		exportFolder = "C:\Dropbox\raw_data\misc"
		exportFileName = ("temp.fbx")
		
		-- Add "Edit Poly" modifier to selection
		modPanel.addModToSelection (Edit_Poly ()) ui:on
		
		-- Export Selected
		print (exportFolder  + "\\" + exportFileName)
		exportFile ( exportFolder  + "\\" + exportFileName) #noPrompt quiet:true
		
		-- Remove "Edit poly"
		deleteModifier $ 1
)

CastorPT · Jan 2012

A friend just told me that I need double backslash for folder, that was the problem!
The script is now exporting but not the selected objects.. it exports everything... any help on that part?

(
		--hard code paths...
		exportFolder = "C:\\Dropbox\\raw_data\\misc"
		exportFileName = ("temp.fbx")
		
		-- Add "Edit Poly" modifier to selection
		modPanel.addModToSelection (Edit_Poly ()) ui:on
		
		-- Export Selected
		print (exportFolder  + "\\" + exportFileName)
		exportFile ( exportFolder  + "\\" + exportFileName) #noPrompt quiet:true
		
		-- Remove "Edit poly"
		deleteModifier $ 1
)

CastorPT · Jan 2012

So I finally got it working, for those interested!

--hard code paths...
		exportFolder = "C:\\Dropbox\\raw_data\\misc"
		exportFileName = ("temp.fbx")
		
		-- Add "Edit Poly" modifier to selection
		modPanel.addModToSelection (Edit_Poly ()) ui:on
		
		-- Export Selected
		print (exportFolder  + "\\" + exportFileName)
		exportFile ( exportFolder  + "\\" + exportFileName) #noPrompt quiet:true selectedOnly:true
		
		-- Remove "Edit poly"
		deleteModifier $ 1

Now for learning shader fx.... any tips on creating the simple black/white vertex colors blend material?

Help Needed! - Maxscript FBX Exporter and Vertex colors .fx shader

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