Is there a working 3DS Max 9 VTA Plug-in?

[Theuaredead]

So I just got done with adding facial animation to a model using a 3DS Max 8 Cannonfodder VTA tutorial, but Cannonfodder's VTA Export for 3DS Max 9 doesn't work for some odd reason, I just get an error on startup (with both Retail and SP2 of 3DS Max 9). So I go to export with Wunderboy's VTA Exporter which said I needed bones.

Is there any VTA Exporter for 3DS Max that works like Cannonfodder's VTA Exporter?
I'm kinda stuck with 3DS Max 9.

[IMG]http://puu.sh/3Rq0m.png[/IMG]
Error that I am having.

[vehtam_osrp]

Had some issues with my max 9 too, turns out that if you ever had earlier version of 3dsm or many max installations your registry gets screwed up for some odd reason and after uninstalling max, doing registry clean with CCleaner, reinstaling service pack 3 for win and installing max again both Cannonfodder's and Wunderboy's vta exporters are working without any problems

Never had that bone message with Wunderboys exporter though..

[Theuaredead]

[QUOTE=vehtam_osrp;41676327]Had some issues with my max 9 too, turns out that if you ever had earlier version of 3dsm or many max installations your registry gets screwed up for some odd reason and after uninstalling max, doing registry clean with CCleaner, reinstaling service pack 3 for win and installing max again both Cannonfodder's and Wunderboy's vta exporters are working without any problems

Never had that bone message with Wunderboys exporter though..[/QUOTE]

Well, the Cannonfodder tutorial was moving around verts and not add bones.
But, I had cleaned my registry with CCleaner, was not able to reinstall 3DS Max 8 and I still get that VTA Error, I also get that error on my laptop.
I'll try cleaning my registry again.

Edit:
Didn't fix it. :(

[Theuaredead]

[IMG]http://puu.sh/3Rq0m.png[/IMG]
here's the error if you are wondering

[CaptainBigButt]

Are you getting the same error with wunderboy's plugin vetham was talking about? I have no idea if it's the same thing you're looking for, but if not here's a quick link:
[URL]http://www.wunderboy.org/[/URL]

I also have no idea how dated cannonfodder's tutorials are, though in case these help at all, here are some links wunderboy was kind enough to send me a while ago as well:
[URL]http://developer.valvesoftware.com/wiki/Flex_animation[/URL]
[URL]http://developer.valvesoftware.com/wiki/Eye_Position_Setup[/URL]
[URL]http://developer.valvesoftware.com/wiki/Character_Facial_Animation_Shapekey_Set[/URL]
[URL]http://developer.valvesoftware.com/wiki/Creating_Flex_VTA_files_with_3D_Studio_Max[/URL]

If you want the flexes to work automatically just as the citizen models do, make the expressions seen in the third link and use the morph modifier with the same names you see listed(if you haven't done all that already).

I have no idea what all you've tried, but a lot of cannonfodder's tools are pretty dated.

Lastly, it's been a while since I used an older version of 3ds max, though if the folder layout is still the same, my plugins are in the "plugins" folder rather than "stdplugs." I'm not sure if that makes a difference, but it's worth a try.

[Theuaredead]

[QUOTE=Dragon52225;41681821]Are you getting the same error with wunderboy's plugin vetham was talking about? I have no idea if it's the same thing you're looking for, but if not here's a quick link:
[URL]http://www.wunderboy.org/[/URL]

I also have no idea how dated cannonfodder's tutorials are, though in case these help at all, here are some links wunderboy was kind enough to send me a while ago as well:
[URL]http://developer.valvesoftware.com/wiki/Flex_animation[/URL]
[URL]http://developer.valvesoftware.com/wiki/Eye_Position_Setup[/URL]
[URL]http://developer.valvesoftware.com/wiki/Character_Facial_Animation_Shapekey_Set[/URL]
[URL]http://developer.valvesoftware.com/wiki/Creating_Flex_VTA_files_with_3D_Studio_Max[/URL]

If you want the flexes to work automatically just as the citizen models do, make the expressions seen in the third link and use the morph modifier with the same names you see listed(if you haven't done all that already).

I have no idea what all you've tried, but a lot of cannonfodder's tools are pretty dated.

Lastly, it's been a while since I used an older version of 3ds max, though if the folder layout is still the same, my plugins are in the "plugins" folder rather than "stdplugs." I'm not sure if that makes a difference, but it's worth a try.[/QUOTE]

[video=youtube;QIlCOqlGKy8]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QIlCOqlGKy8[/video]
This is the tutorial I used for my flexes,
[IMG]http://puu.sh/3RRtE.png[/IMG]
What I get when exporting with Wunderboy (as I said, I didn't do any editing with bones for facial flexes, but moved vertexes, Unless I can still export them.)
I'll see what happens when I move Cannonfodder's VTA Exporter into regular plug-ins.

Edit:
I still get the same error as before

[editline]2nd August 2013[/editline]

So I decided to select all and export selected with Wunderboy's VTA Export, I'll see if that works.

Edit:
No, it did not.

[Deunan]

Select the mesh and go to file >•export selected. Not file >•export

[Theuaredead]

[QUOTE=wraithcat;41685120]Select the mesh and go to file >•export selected. Not file >•export[/QUOTE]

That did not work, it exports an empty .vta file.

[CaptainBigButt]

I'm not sure this helps, but I found an old max file with the first set of expressions I tried making. It's a few years old using some dumb expressions I made for a lame face-gen head, but it worked nonetheless.

[url]http://i.imgur.com/KkVMwoD.png[/url]

If I recall, export selected would just have the head and rig on the left selected while the morph modifier carries all the data for the expressions created on the right. I'm not sure if that's what you're already doing or not though.

[Theuaredead]

[IMG]http://puu.sh/3S1Q5.png[/IMG]
Here's what my .max file looks like
*I had deleted the original head edits due to the tutorial requires it and I didn't back it up*
First I turn the morph I want to 100.0
Then I set the animation slider to 10 then press Auto Key
Then Export Selected
But I get nothing with Wunderboy's Exporter
[IMG]http://puu.sh/3S1YS.png[/IMG]

[CaptainBigButt]

I tried the same thing and it exported everything out normally (though I don't know why autokey and keyframe 10 matter). The system is pretty picky about how expressions work though, even with names.

[url]https://developer.valvesoftware.com/wiki/Character_Facial_Animation_Shapekey_Set[/url]

If you have all the expressions here, try matching up the names as well. The first frame I have is called "01_upper_lid_lowerer" rather than "blink." I also don't have a blank first frame, but instead the model itself is named "00_reference_frame."

[Theuaredead]

[QUOTE=Dragon52225;41687258]I tried the same thing and it exported everything out normally (though I don't know why autokey and keyframe 10 matter). The system is pretty picky about how expressions work though, even with names.

[url]https://developer.valvesoftware.com/wiki/Character_Facial_Animation_Shapekey_Set[/url]

If you have all the expressions here, try matching up the names as well. The first frame I have is called "01_upper_lid_lowerer" rather than "blink." I also don't have a blank first frame, but instead the model itself is named "00_reference_frame."[/QUOTE]

the first one is actually "blank" but I'll try this

[CaptainBigButt]

I'd just save it off as a second version and see how it works. I can't say that it's [i]the[/i] issue you're having, but I remember having all kinds of issues until I did everything exactly how it wanted it.

[Theuaredead]

So, I renamed it to 01_upper_lid_lowerer in the .max file and in the .qc file it's upper_lid_lowerer
but it still doesn't seem to work still :\
[IMG]http://puu.sh/3S2Vh.png[/IMG]

[editline]2nd August 2013[/editline]

[IMG]http://puu.sh/3S30i.png[/IMG]
here's it in .max format

[CaptainBigButt]

Oh no, what I meant was to just save this as a separate file, then to remove the blank frame and rename the model and rest of the frames using the same format. Now that it seems to actually be exporting though, the only other thing I can think of is the QC and what you have there regarding expressions.

[Theuaredead]

$modelname "Rin\bakemonogatari\Shinobu.mdl"
$model "Shinobu" "BASE.SMD"{ 
Flexfile "blink.vta"
flex "reference_frame" frame 10
flexcontroller "phoneme" "reference_frame" "range" 0 1
%reference_frame = reference_frame

Flexfile "blink.vta"
flex "upper_lid_lowerer" frame 10
flexcontroller "phoneme" "upper_lid_lowerer" "range" 0 1
%upper_lid_lowerer = upper_lid_lowerer
}

$cdmaterials "models\Bakemonogatari\Shinobu\"

$bodygroup hair
{
studio "hair.smd"
}

$collisionjoints "PHYSMODEL.SMD" {

    $mass 70.0
    $inertia 10.00
    $damping 0.01
    $rotdamping 1.50
    $rootbone "Hero_Spine"
    
    $jointconstrain "Hero_Pelvis" x limit -30.00 12.00 0.00
    $jointconstrain "Hero_Pelvis" y limit -73.00 50.00 0.00
    $jointconstrain "Hero_Pelvis" z limit -73.00 53.00 0.00
    
    $jointconstrain "ValveBiped.Bip01_R_Hand" x limit -30.00 12.00 0.00
    $jointconstrain "ValveBiped.Bip01_R_Hand" y limit -73.00 50.00 0.00
    $jointconstrain "ValveBiped.Bip01_R_Hand" z limit -73.00 53.00 0.00
    
    $jointconstrain "ValveBiped.Bip01_L_Hand" x limit -30.00 12.00 0.00
    $jointconstrain "ValveBiped.Bip01_L_Hand" y limit -73.00 50.00 0.00
    $jointconstrain "ValveBiped.Bip01_L_Hand" z limit -73.00 53.00 0.00
    
    $jointconstrain "Hero_R_Forearm" x limit -30.00 12.00 0.00
    $jointconstrain "Hero_R_Forearm" y limit -73.00 50.00 0.00
    $jointconstrain "Hero_R_Forearm" z limit -73.00 53.00 0.00
    
    
    
    $jointconstrain "Hero_L_Forearm" x limit -30.00 12.00 0.00
    $jointconstrain "Hero_L_Forearm" y limit -73.00 50.00 0.00
    $jointconstrain "Hero_L_Forearm" z limit -73.00 53.00 0.00
    
    $jointconstrain "Hero_R_UpperArm" x limit -30.00 12.00 0.00
    $jointconstrain "Hero_R_UpperArm" y limit -73.00 50.00 0.00
    $jointconstrain "Hero_R_UpperArm" z limit -73.00 53.00 0.00
    
    $jointconstrain "Hero_L_UpperArm" x limit -30.00 12.00 0.00
    $jointconstrain "Hero_L_UpperArm" y limit -73.00 50.00 0.00
    $jointconstrain "Hero_L_UpperArm" z limit -73.00 53.00 0.00
    
    
    $jointconstrain "Hero_R_Clavicle" x limit -30.00 12.00 0.00
    $jointconstrain "Hero_R_Clavicle" y limit -73.00 50.00 0.00
    $jointconstrain "Hero_R_Clavicle" z limit -73.00 53.00 0.00
    
    $jointconstrain "Hero_L_Clavicle" x limit -30.00 12.00 0.00
    $jointconstrain "Hero_L_Clavicle" y limit -73.00 50.00 0.00
    $jointconstrain "Hero_L_Clavicle" z limit -73.00 53.00 0.00
    
    $jointconstrain "Hero_Head" x limit -30.00 12.00 0.00
    $jointconstrain "Hero_Head" y limit -73.00 50.00 0.00
    $jointconstrain "Hero_Head" z limit -73.00 53.00 0.00
    
    $jointconstrain "Hero_Spine2" x limit -30.00 12.00 0.00
    $jointconstrain "Hero_Spine2" y limit -73.00 50.00 0.00
    $jointconstrain "Hero_Spine2" z limit -73.00 53.00 0.00
    
    $jointconstrain "Hero_Spine1" x limit -30.00 12.00 0.00
    $jointconstrain "Hero_Spine1" y limit -73.00 50.00 0.00
    $jointconstrain "Hero_Spine1" z limit -73.00 53.00 0.00
    
    $jointconstrain "Hero_Spine" x limit -30.00 12.00 0.00
    $jointconstrain "Hero_Spine" y limit -73.00 50.00 0.00
    $jointconstrain "Hero_Spine" z limit -73.00 53.00 0.00
    
    $jointconstrain "Hero_R_Thigh" x limit -30.00 12.00 0.00
    $jointconstrain "Hero_R_Thigh" y limit -73.00 50.00 0.00
    $jointconstrain "Hero_R_Thigh" z limit -73.00 53.00 0.00
    
    $jointconstrain "Hero_L_Thigh" x limit -30.00 12.00 0.00
    $jointconstrain "Hero_L_Thigh" y limit -73.00 50.00 0.00
    $jointconstrain "Hero_L_Thigh" z limit -73.00 53.00 0.00
    
    $jointconstrain "Hero_R_Calf" x limit -30.00 12.00 0.00
    $jointconstrain "Hero_R_Calf" y limit -73.00 50.00 0.00
    $jointconstrain "Hero_R_Calf" z limit -73.00 53.00 0.00
    
    $jointconstrain "Hero_L_Calf" x limit -30.00 12.00 0.00
    $jointconstrain "Hero_L_Calf" y limit -73.00 50.00 0.00
    $jointconstrain "Hero_L_Calf" z limit -73.00 53.00 0.00
    
    $jointconstrain "ValveBiped.Bip01_R_Foot" x limit -30.00 12.00 0.00
    $jointconstrain "ValveBiped.Bip01_R_Foot" y limit -73.00 50.00 0.00
    $jointconstrain "ValveBiped.Bip01_R_Foot" z limit -73.00 53.00 0.00
    
    $jointconstrain "ValveBiped.Bip01_L_Foot" x limit -30.00 12.00 0.00
    $jointconstrain "ValveBiped.Bip01_L_Foot" y limit -73.00 50.00 0.00
    $jointconstrain "ValveBiped.Bip01_L_Foot" z limit -73.00 53.00 0.00
    
    $animatedfriction 1.000 400.000 0.500 0.300 0.000
}
$surfaceprop "flesh"
$eyeposition 0.000 -0.000 70.000
$illumposition -0.782 0.077 28.997
$sequence ragdoll "ragdoll" ACT_IDLE 1 fps 30.00

fyi the blank was edited in as a test

[CaptainBigButt]

I'm not sure where "reference_frame" is coming from entirely unless you renamed the mesh to 00_reference_frame and forgot the first part. I also see you're calling for the vta file twice for some reason.

Here are some useful qci files which should handle most of the process for you. Just copy them into notepad and save them with the appropriate file names:

facerules_xsi.qci
[URL]http://pastebin.com/iZPaFQ7D[/URL]

standardflex_xsi.qci
[URL]http://pastebin.com/h3s4rzf3[/URL]

Just toss those two files into the same directory you have your qc file in. For the qc, you could try a quick clean compile using this to replace lines 2-12:

$model Shinobu "BASE.smd"{ 
 
    flexfile blink.vta{
        $include "standardflex_xsi.qci"
    }
 
    $include "facerules_xsi.qci"
 
}

When you have eyes and such later on:

$model Shinobu "BASE.smd"{ 
     eyeball righteye "ValveBiped.Bip01_Head1" -1.2783 -3.6165 65.0663 "eyeball_r" 1 4 "pupil_r" 0.63
     eyeball lefteye "ValveBiped.Bip01_Head1" 1.2823 -3.6165 65.0642 "eyeball_l" 1 -4 "pupil_l" 0.63

     eyelid  upper_right "female_06_expressions" lowerer 1 -0.2275 neutral 0 0.1475 raiser 2 0.2559 split 0.1 eyeball righteye
     eyelid  lower_right "female_06_expressions" lowerer 3 -0.2879 neutral 0 -0.2046 raiser 4 -0.0462 split 0.1 eyeball righteye
     eyelid  upper_left "female_06_expressions" lowerer 1 -0.2275 neutral 0 0.1475 raiser 2 0.2559 split -0.1 eyeball lefteye
     eyelid  lower_left "female_06_expressions" lowerer 3 -0.2879 neutral 0 -0.2046 raiser 4 -0.0462 split -0.1 eyeball lefteye

     mouth 0 "mouth" "ValveBiped.Bip01_Head1" 0 1 0     // mouth illumination

    flexfile blink.vta{
        $include "standardflex_xsi.qci"
    }
 
    $include "facerules_xsi.qci"
 
}

[Theuaredead]

The model actually lacks an openable mouth and a lot of these flexes would be difficult to make on this model :\

[CaptainBigButt]

I thought you already had all the expressions and such created, but maybe I wasn't paying enough attention. If you're just wanting to test a single expression, you could probably just duplicate the reference frame for the rest of the expressions. If you want a mouth and all expressions though, editing a working mouth on her shouldn't be too hard. As long as you can split her lips and shape them a tad, I can send you a mesh with the inside of the mouth and teeth and such that fit the anime style.

[vehtam_osrp]

[QUOTE=uaredead2020;41678803][IMG]http://puu.sh/3Rq0m.png[/IMG]
here's the error if you are wondering[/QUOTE]

yup, got exactly same error message. Youre missing some dll's files in system32, you can check this with DependencyView program. DON'T download missing files form the net, uninstall 3dsmax, clean registry with CCleaner (its just pushing one button), reinstall service pack 3 for windows xp, install max again. This fixed problem for me, dont forget to restart system after each uninstal/install.

[Theuaredead]

[QUOTE=vehtam_osrp;41687856]yup, got exactly same error message. Youre missing some dll's files in system32, you can check this with DependencyView program. DON'T download missing files form the net, uninstall 3dsmax, clean registry with CCleaner (its just pushing one button), reinstall service pack 3 for windows xp, install max again. This fixed problem for me, dont forget to restart system after each uninstal/install.[/QUOTE]

I'm running Windows 7. So that doesn't have much of a use for me and my laptop is slow as balls. :S

[QUOTE=Dragon52225;41687850]I thought you already had all the expressions and such created, but maybe I wasn't paying enough attention. If you're just wanting to test a single expression, you could probably just duplicate the reference frame for the rest of the expressions. If you want a mouth and all expressions though, editing a working mouth on her shouldn't be too hard. As long as you can split her lips and shape them a tad, I can send you a mesh with the inside of the mouth and teeth and such that fit the anime style.[/QUOTE]

I have the flexes I thought would be enough (excluding the jaw drop, because of the mouth)

[CaptainBigButt]

[QUOTE=uaredead2020;41687924]I have the flexes I thought would be enough (excluding the jaw drop, because of the mouth)[/QUOTE]

Yeah, you're in the same situation I was in when I first tried to do this. If you're making flexes for a head to work the same way the citizens do, it's very picky. It wants you to follow the format here:
[url]https://developer.valvesoftware.com/wiki/Character_Facial_Animation_Shapekey_Set[/url]

Essentially create the expressions you see here and use the same names where 00_reference_frame is the name of the model rather than an expression itself. If you don't care for making a mouth on her, you could just copy the default head reference for any of those expressions so they "exist" but don't actually manipulate her mouth. Other than that though, as far as I know it wants all of them there and to use the necessary names, but it'll handle everything automatically in-game if you spawn a citizen using that head.

[Deunan]

[QUOTE=uaredead2020;41685521]That did not work, it exports an empty .vta file.[/QUOTE]

So your morph target setup is bad, or your selecting wrong stuff.

[Theuaredead]

[QUOTE=Dragon52225;41688010]Yeah, you're in the same situation I was in when I first tried to do this. If you're making flexes for a head to work the same way the citizens do, it's very picky. It wants you to follow the format here:
[url]https://developer.valvesoftware.com/wiki/Character_Facial_Animation_Shapekey_Set[/url]

Essentially create the expressions you see here and use the same names where 00_reference_frame is the name of the model rather than an expression itself. If you don't care for making a mouth on her, you could just copy the default head reference for any of those expressions so they "exist" but don't actually manipulate her mouth. Other than that though, as far as I know it wants all of them there and to use the necessary names, but it'll handle everything automatically in-game if you spawn a citizen using that head.[/QUOTE]

but I've seen models that have completely different flexes than the citizens
like this:
[url]http://www.garrysmod.org/downloads/?a=view&id=107491[/url]

[vehtam_osrp]

[QUOTE=uaredead2020;41687924]I'm running Windows 7. So that doesn't have much of a use for me and my laptop is slow as balls. :S[/QUOTE]

check whats missing using DependencyWalker program, it has something to do with system updates :). To get rid of this i just googled what's the missing dll file and from what program i can obtain it again - for me it was windows service pack which i thought was installed correctly. "the specified module that can't be found" refers to something missing from your windows system directory i think.

P.S. Dragon52225, i was looking for such facial reference post on valve wiki for two god damned weeks and couldn't fine any, THANK YOU!

[Deunan]

[QUOTE=uaredead2020;41687373]So, I renamed it to 01_upper_lid_lowerer in the .max file and in the .qc file it's upper_lid_lowerer
but it still doesn't seem to work still :\
[IMG]http://puu.sh/3S2Vh.png[/IMG]

[editline]2nd August 2013[/editline]

[IMG]http://puu.sh/3S30i.png[/IMG]
here's it in .max format[/QUOTE]

a) why do you have a ref frame after 10 frame as opposed to on the first or second
b) why is the influence set yo 200% as opposed to 100?

[Theuaredead]

[QUOTE=wraithcat;41692374]a) why do you have a ref frame after 10 frame as opposed to on the first or second
b) why is the influence set yo 200% as opposed to 100?[/QUOTE]

a) The tutorial had it on 10.
b) probably over moved it

[Kabatsuki]

haha, go use blender. it's better.

[Theuaredead]

[QUOTE=Kabatsuki;41693955]haha, go use blender. it's better.[/QUOTE]

No it's not.
Not at all.

[Kabatsuki]

[QUOTE=Rinfect;41694105]some people perfer 3dsmax while others perfer blender

this thread is about 3dsmax and he obviously needs help in /3DSMAX/ not /BLENDER/

see the difference?[/QUOTE]

It's a better 3d modeling program and you run into less errors 102% of the time.