This chapter describes the use and features of the Export plug-in.
Export Plug-In Features
Method of Use
Executing from MAXScript
Errors and Warnings
The Export plug-in includes a feature for outputting intermediate files to a specified folder.
To output data for particular nodes only (including lower nodes in the hierarchy), select the nodes you want to output. When outputting the entire scene, it is not necessary to select nodes.
To display the Options window, run NW4C_ForBanner Export with Setting.
To output the intermediate file, specify the appropriate options and click Export or Apply. Unlike Export, Apply does not close the Options window after output. The option settings used at the time of output are automatically recorded as the current options.
Options related to outputting intermediate files.
Sets the output target.
Specify All to export the entire scene, or Selection to export only the selected nodes and any lower nodes in the hierarchy.
Specify the name of intermediate file. (Omit the file extension.)
Clicking the Scene button to the right sets the current scene name. Clicking the Node button sets the name of the selected node (the topmost node in the selected hierarchy).
Select this option when outputting an intermediate file to a particular folder.
Specify the folder to which the intermediate file should be output in the File Path list.
Texture files are output to the Textures
folder located inside the folder specified by File path.
Select this option when transferring intermediate file data to CreativeStudio. It is not possible to select Output 3D Intermediate Files and Use Creative Studio at the same time.
For details on using Creative Studio, see the NintendoWare for CTR CreativeStudio Manual.
Turn this option on and specify the path of a CMDL file to merge that specified CMDL file.
The following information gets merged:
General intermediate files options
Specifies the magnification ratio by which the model's vertex coordinates and Translate value should be multiplied.
The physique and default skin pose are determined based on the biped figure mode and bone skin pose. Sometimes turning this option on will correctly output data for which skinning cannot be correctly output otherwise.
When using this option, you must set a skin pose for the bones used by the physique and skin and for all associated parents. Even if biped and bone are combined, be absolutely sure to set a skin pose for bones.
Specifies the range of animation to output (that is, the start frame and end frame).
Selecting All outputs the full range of animation in 3ds Max (Animation Start/End).
Selecting Range allows the start frame and end frame to be entered as numeric values. Note: If the entered start frame is smaller than the Animation Start value in 3ds Max, the Animation Start value will be used as the start frame. Similarly, if the entered end frame is larger than the Animation End value in 3ds Max, this Animation End value will be used as the end frame.
If attributes are being animated, the start frame value will be output to the CMDL file.
Select this option to specify the type of intermediate file to be output.
The value of HasSkinningMatrix
in the intermediate file will differ depending on whether the CMDL file and the CSKLA file are output at the same time, or only the CSKLA file is output. This is because vertex processing is omitted in order to shorten the processing time when the CMDL file is not output. Nothing is affected by the different values for HasSkinningMatrix
.
This allows data optimization while outputting data from 3ds Max to intermediate files. Options for this optimization process are set here.
This option is for setting the degree of precision to use for vertex data when converting to binary data.
If a fixed-point number is used, the amount of data is less than when a floating-point number is used, but precision is lowered.
These are model-related options.
Example of valid data: Node configuration on 3dsMax | |
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These are animation-related options.
Select this option to specify the allowable range of errors when animation curve data is optimized.
To input or output the option settings as a C3ES (CTR 3D Export Settings) file, use the NW4C_ForBanner Settings menu item in the Options window.
If Save / Load Scene Settings is selected (the default), the option settings used the last time an intermediate file was output will be saved in the scene data when a scene is saved. When the scene is opened, the option settings that were saved in the scene data are loaded. The current option settings remain if option settings were not saved for the scene data. Furthermore, option settings are loaded when a scene for which option settings have been saved is imported.
If Save / Load Scene Settings command is not checked, the option settings used the last time an intermediate file was output are not saved in the scene data. Furthermore, option settings are not loaded when scene data is opened.
Regardless of whether Save/Load Scene Settings is checked or not, option settings at the time an intermediate file was last output are saved as a default settings file.
In addition, this default settings file is loaded at time of next startup.
The default settings file is saved under the name nw4cmax.c3es in the plug-in settings folder C:\Documents and Settings\[user_name]\Local Settings\Application Data\Autodesk\3dsmax\[max_version]\jpn\plugcfg.
To delete the option settings saved in the scene data, check Reset Scene Settings command.
To delete the option settings that were saved in the scene data, check Delete Scene Settings command. However, this only works if you uncheck Save / Load Scene Settings and then save the scene data. Unless you save the scene data, the option settings are retained.
Click Save Settings to r3es File to output option settings to a C3ES file. Option settings will be output when an output file name is specified on the file selection window. If the extension of the output file is other than .c3es, .c3es will be added automatically.
Click Load Settings from c3es File to enter option settings from a C3ES file. Option settings will be input when an input file name is specified on the file selection window.
If an error or warning occurs during export, it will be output to the listener window.
Some errors are also displayed in a message box.
The error list as currently implemented is presented below in alphabetical order.
When an error is detected, the Export process halts.
CreativeStudio has not been correctly installed.
CreativeStudio must be installed in the tools\CreativeStudio
folder, which is located beneath the folder that is defined by the NW4C_ROOT
environment variable. If the NW4C_ROOT
environment variable is not defined correctly, correct the definition and restart 3ds Max.
This error occurs when the file does not exist, cannot be opened, or cannot be overwritten.
CreativeStudio has failed to start. Be sure to check CreativeStudio error output.
Nodes affected by skinning are not output. This error arises when Export Target is set as Selection and nodes affected by skinning are not selected, or when no envelope has been assigned to a vertex even though a skinning modifier and Physique modifier are being applied.
This error occurs if the path for the CMDL file to be merged is left blank or if the filename contains illegal characters.
There is no active node to be output.
This error occurs when the output selections for the intermediate file are all unchecked, or when only the output selection for texture data is checked but there is no texture to output.
This error occurs if the Export option Output File Name
is left blank or if the filename contains illegal characters.
This error occurs if the Export option Output Folder is left blank or if the filename contains illegal characters.
More than one vertex color exists for the user vertex attribute of the given number. For example, this error would occur if there were vertex colors with the names nw4cUser0 and nw4cUser0_b for the same single object. Either delete the unnecessary vertex colors or change their names.
A texture has a size whose height and width cannot be handled by CTR. Height and width must both be set to a power of two equal to or greater than 8 and equal to or less than 1024.
The number of mesh vertices exceeeds the limit (65535). If this error occurs, divide up the corresponding mesh to get the appropriate size.
The number of bones used by a polygon exceeds the maximum number of bones that can be referenced by a primitive.
If this error occurs, adjust the Max Reserved Uniform Registers option to decrease the number of uniform registers being reserved.
An value in the invalid range has been specified for the Max Reserved Uniform Registers option.
The setting value must range from 0 to 57 (from 0 to 54 when the Non-Uniform Scale option is ON.
The Warning List, as it is currently implemented, is presented below in alphabetical order.
The Export process will continue, even if a warning is detected.
The specified output range exceeds the playback range of 3ds Max. The output range is changed to fit within the playback range of 3ds Max.
No material has been set for a node being output. A dummy material is output.
The allocated texture does not exist. If a path is included in the file name for the texture allocated for a material, the image saved in the path is referenced during output. This warning occurs when no image exists on the path. Furthermore, if the texture file name does not include a path, images in the directory where the current max file exists are referenced.
This warning occurs if more than three textures are set for a material. Make sure the number of textures used by a material is three or less.
This warning occurs when UV data used to calculate the tangent information used by an anisotropic reflection shader cannot be found.
The channel n map is set in the objects for which a map channel n does not exist.
Because normal output cannot occur in this state, output is performed by forcibly pasting the UV information for map channel 1.
A material name output to the intermediate file was changed because two or more materials had the same name.
This warning occurs when two or more nodes have the same name or when prohibited characters are included in a node name, the node name to be output to the intermediate file is changed.
The texture name contains prohibited characters. Prohibited characters are converted to an underscore (_
) and output as such.
There are two or more texture files with the same file name as the export target, but in different folders or with a different extension. Make sure that there is only one CTEX file to be output.
The only texture maps that can be used are mipmaps, normal maps and composite maps.
A normal vector that has length 0 exists. Lighting effects will not be carried out normally. Fix this using some means like the Edit normal
modifier or a smoothing group.
Billboard settings are not output when the Convert to Model option is turned ON.
CONFIDENTIAL