I have models in .bam format, with .bam animation files as well. I need to get these into a different format, while keeping the animations. What’s the best conversion method for this(preferably losing little info, and not being to complicated)? I can use any of the following formats for what I need: .fbx .dae .3ds .dxf .obj .blend .max .mb or .ma
Also, is there any way to do batch conversion, or do I have to just do it one at a time with the command line tools? Thanks!
There’s a tool named bam2egg, but it won’t work with animations.
It’s hard to get an animation from an .egg file into any 3d modeling software… with bam files it’s like trying to turn oil back into dinosaurs.
Thanks for the response. Does anyone else have info on how this might be possible, or about the batch conversions? I’m familiar with the whatever2whatever tools, but I really need something that can handle the animations.
bam2egg is your best bet. It is not used frequently (as this is not a type of conversion that comes up often), and features are therefore added on an as-needed basis, but it is the best tool for the job.
I believe it has recently been updated to support animations, so you can try a recent development build of Panda and see which parts are exported successfully, and perhaps modify the source code (and submit a patch) for the features that aren’t.
As for batch conversions, you can simply put a lot of bam2egg commands in a batch script, can’t you?
I’m fairly new to the development scene, so I’ve never actually heard of a batch script. Is that just putting a bunch of commands into the Command prompt?
Also thanks, I’ll check out the development builds and see how that works.
Yes, but instead of putting the commands in the command prompt, you put them inside a file (one per line) that you save out with the .bat extension, and then you can call that .bat file by name on the command prompt.
A thorough manual on the topic can be found here:
en.wikibooks.org/wiki/Windows_Batch_Scripting
Thank you very much, I’ll check it out!
Also, any suggestions on which converter to use after I get them to .egg?
I’m afraid not; there are a range of converters out there, all of them are probably poorly maintained and suffer from code rot. You’d have to try and see which gives the best results for you.
Well thanks for the help anyway.
I downloaded the latest 32 bit dev build, ran the conversion, and basically got this:
C:\Panda3D-1.9.0\bin>bam2egg.exe "input.bam" "output.egg"
input.bam : Bam
version 6.24
:mathutil(error): FFTW library is not available; cannot read compressed
data.
:mathutil(error): FFTW library is not available; cannot read compressed
data.
:mathutil(error): FFTW library is not available; cannot read compressed
data.
:mathutil(error): FFTW library is not available; cannot read compressed
data.
:mathutil(error): FFTW library is not available; cannot read compressed
data.
:mathutil(error): FFTW library is not available; cannot read compressed
data.
:mathutil(error): FFTW library is not available; cannot read compressed
data.
:mathutil(error): FFTW library is not available; cannot read compressed
data.
:mathutil(error): FFTW library is not available; cannot read compressed
data.
:mathutil(error): FFTW library is not available; cannot read compressed
data.
:mathutil(error): FFTW library is not available; cannot read compressed
data.
:mathutil(error): FFTW library is not available; cannot read compressed
data.
:mathutil(error): FFTW library is not available; cannot read compressed
data.
:mathutil(error): FFTW library is not available; cannot read compressed
data.
:mathutil(error): FFTW library is not available; cannot read compressed
data.
:mathutil(error): FFTW library is not available; cannot read compressed
data.
:mathutil(error): FFTW library is not available; cannot read compressed
data.
:mathutil(error): FFTW library is not available; cannot read compressed
data.
:mathutil(error): FFTW library is not available; cannot read compressed
data.
:mathutil(error): FFTW library is not available; cannot read compressed
data.
:mathutil(error): FFTW library is not available; cannot read compressed
data.
:mathutil(error): FFTW library is not available; cannot read compressed
data.
:mathutil(error): FFTW library is not available; cannot read compressed
data.
:mathutil(error): FFTW library is not available; cannot read compressed
data.
:mathutil(error): FFTW library is not available; cannot read compressed
data.
:mathutil(error): FFTW library is not available; cannot read compressed
data.
:mathutil(error): FFTW library is not available; cannot read compressed
data.
:mathutil(error): FFTW library is not available; cannot read compressed
data.
:mathutil(error): FFTW library is not available; cannot read compressed
data.
:mathutil(error): FFTW library is not available; cannot read compressed
data.
:mathutil(error): FFTW library is not available; cannot read compressed
data.
Writing output.eggWhen I ran it on the animated file. When I try to view the model and the animation in pview, I get a twisted up glob. Is this an issue with the converter?
EDIT: Thats a silly question now that I think about it. Unfortunately I won’t be much help in fixing the converter, I hardly know any coding and what I do know is not C++, which is what I believe panda is written in. Thank you for the help though.