In BZ2ME (Threed) What does the setting BZ2 Animated mean?

[BNG Da BZ Fool]

It's accessable in the hierarchy tree after selecting an object and right clicking it. Does it do something useful for editing the frame/object?

My second question would be does anybody out there have an old Softimage copy that supports BZII for sale. What version is it? Where would be a good place to search for information about buying older software titles like the SI modeler used to create the original BZ models. I know there's an old copy laying around somewhere just collecting dust on some dark shelf...come out come out where ever you are.

[bigbadbogie]

i think that bz2 animated is for treads and stuff like that - not too sure

lizard made the fleshstorm models in SI so ask him

[Nielk1]

I looked on ebay and everywhere else, even tge taboo illegal sites.

I can't find Softimage 3d v3.9.1 or lower (within reason, so mabye v3.8 or 3.7)

[bigbadbogie]

bad nielk1 bad!! go to your room

i looked for SI 3.7 and 8, even on the softimage site there is no trace of it. spooky - maybe it never existed and the original bz2 models were created in a later version. ooooOOOOOOOOOOO
WWWW

[Nielk1]

Na, Lizard has one of em.

[bigbadbogie]

or.......so........he........claims - na he probably does

[Lizard]

I don't think versions of Softimage3D older than 3.8 will work on windows, the software was originally developed for use with silicon graphics workstations .


I'm not sure but I think it's against the license agreement to sell copies of Softimage second hand, so even if you could find a copy on Ebay or somewhere it would be no more legal than a pirated copy - or so I understand it .



it seems odd to me that Avid don't support older versions of their own file format, I think the oldest version of the format supported by Softimage|XSI is 3.0 or something like that whereas for BZ2 models you need 1.1 - 1.3 ( I believe). I've not even been able to find a 3rd party plugin or anything like that which is not surprising really this community is probably the only one with a need for such an old version of DotXSI .

[BNG Da BZ Fool]

Tanks for the heads up on the version info about the compatible SI version for BZII. Back to my first question about the BZ2 animated thingy in BZ2ME. Does it serve any useful purpose? Does it work with the animated textures on tank tracks and such? Used on work stations huh. I wonder if that SI version dates back to the 95 OS. Strangely enough I've heard that legally the CD really should be destroyed to avoid it falling into unsavory hands like mine or some other lucky BZ modeler.

Does anybody have a clue if any other video games of the time that also use the same XSI version? OM, you may be our only last hope with your B3D exporter. Remember, the fate of the entire civilized world hangs in the balance now OM. Happy holidays everyone. PS: Do anti piracy laws cover such obsolete software too?  You'd think by now it would have become available through public domain by now. Bummer.

[mrtwosheds]

Um...Thinks...maybe...it does things like thrusters animation?
that funny blue stuff drawn on a mesh that always goes backwards, despite the fact that I would like it to go down....

[Nielk1]

Any chance we can just make BZ2's 1.3 use a higher version of the XSI format aswell?

I would go in the private beta thing and sugest this, but I don't like being laughed at. There would also be the whole licensing issue.

[OvermindDL1]

The old 1.1/1.3 format really sucks though compared to the 3.0+ format; I can see why they dropped it.

And we could make BZ2 use the new format, but the new format is vastly more capable and all of the new capabilities would be worthless.

[Nielk1]

I found something interesting trying to get my 3DS Max to export animations for the XSIs (my version just makes blank animation frames). The .x format I export is very similar to the xsi (as we already know). The animations were easy to convert to the XSI, but then, when I tried to play it, all the pivots were off and in strange directions. It was a complicated animation so I got very confused.

Anyone think they can look into making some sort of converter for just the animation portion of the .x to .xsi? It seems the points might not be in teh right order, might be inverted, or worse, might be based on a difernt pivot angle, so If anyone can figure this out, say so.

Wow, this thread has deviated from the topic hasn't it.

[bigbadbogie]

lol -- thats what forums are all about


can 3dsmax export .x files??? are they a newer version though?

[mrtwosheds]

The .x format I export is very similar to the xsi (as we already know). The animations were easy to convert to the XSI, but then, when I tried to play it, all the pivots were off and in strange directions. It was a complicated animation so I got very confused.

Anyone think they can look into making some sort of converter for just the animation portion of the .x to .xsi? It seems the points might not be in teh right order, might be inverted, or worse, might be based on a difernt pivot angle, so If anyone can figure this out, say so.

There is no pivot data in the animations as such, just the position of the data columns in the animation data matrix.
When I make (.3ds)units in lithunwrap I make the front of the vehicle the +y axis and the top is -z. this is clearly not what is intended for .3ds models, but they work fine after conversion to .xsi and animate correctly.

Before exporting the finished model from lith I must place any component that will use a pivot centered where the pivot will be, a tanks turret for example winds up inside the tank body. In the xsi the pivot will always be at coordinate 0,0,0, so you must make the component in exactly the right place and at the right orientation (which does differ between formats)

[Nielk1]

What i ment by pivot is I fear I may have to turn [a, b, c, d] into [b+43, d-21, a+54, c+90].

Math AND reordering.

The horror!