I asked a few questions recently about max2egg conversion (and I have some maya2egg questions coming ), and looking at all the problems I encountered, there is one thing I wonder :
Why doesn’t this great engine that is Panda3D handle Collada models?
I think it would be great to handle this format. It’s a good one, really complete and lots of people handle it (or are trying to). Plus, handling a common format would make things :
- more secure (errors in the different exporters)
- easier to maintain (updates depend on the format, not on the different softwares and associated formats)
- faster for the models conversion process
For an example, at work, we have lots of meshes from our clients and we have to export them so that they can be used in Panda. But there is no easy way to export lots of meshes, especially when the max2egg exporter craches 3dsmax every 1 or 2 exports (try converting 200 models)… And so, dealing with people such as Intel, it’s a shame that Panda slows us down on that point.
Panda is a great engine and maybe Collada will help it to be up-to-date and to extend its popularity.
Collada is a great idea - but it looks like no one in the industry uses it. Atleast the part of the industry i touch. All my 3d artists know nothing of it nor do any of their tools. Collada people seams to be part of openGL and blender fanboys.
Having that said i still think we should support it i have written a limited Collada importer for my earlier 3d engine and it was not that hard. I would probably just rewrite it again so if you really need an importer they are pretty easy to write (having done obj,3do and limited hof (homeworld object format) importers this should not be too hard if you really need it.
Sorry but I have to get back on that. I don’t know which part of the industry you’re talking about, but lot’s of people use Collada in the game industry! I give you some examples ;
As Sony is part of the project, its internal studios use it (Naughty Dog for an example)
It is handled by the Unreal Engine (so lots of potential users)
You can take a look at the last GDC program (San Francisco, 2008 Feb) : Intel had part of its stand dedicated to Collada and to its partners who use it.
I hate to say this but Collada is really usefull now
For example, Google Sketchup Earth Export format is simply compressed collada 1.4 Files.
=> meanings you get >3000 models for free in Google lib
Getting Collada import would open access to nearly all Modeling package out there …
Now we need someone to do it. Personnaly i m ok to work on it but not in C++.
So i would like to know if there is anything regarding Egg creation that C++ allows and can not be done in python ?
Well, you know Panda - everything is already exposed to python. If there’s something we forgot to expose, it’s just a matter of turning it on. I’d be happy to do that for you if it becomes necessary.
However, Panda3D tradition is to distribute file format converters as executables. So it would be much more useful to us if it were in C++. Also, I think both of the collada libraries (fcollada and the collada DOM) are in C++.
I think Collada support is a must for a great engine like panda.
It should support this native. This will make it more easier to use models and it is a panda thing: It is an open format which anyone can use without having to pay licenses. It is a shame that none of this is in the roadmap of panda(is there a roadmap?)
Someone above said that collada is not an indutry standard but that is B.S. All the big companies use it. If people don’t kow about collada they should read more about there industry.
all the great modelling software have great support for this. Next too that world modellers also have this. If you take intel’s offset engine which has great support for collada, especially the world editor… which will all be released as open source. Wow… Then there will be an great open source scene editor which uses collada and damn we could use that editor for panda
Changed me mind.
If nobody offers to write it, I could spend a few minutes per day to write it, but that depends on what I am allowed to use.
If I would write it, would it mean that I:
[] write it in c++ have to write everything from scratch, or
[] write it in c++ and use an xml library and write the rest from scratch, or,
[] write it in c++ and do you allow me to use the collada dom library and hang it to panda.
[] write it in python and use python’s builtin xml doms.
Your opinion, drwr/josh/whoever?
Of course, only if nobody appears and offers to write it.
Absolutely. As long as it’s free software, I’m good with that. Even if it’s not quite free, as long as it’s close enough that I can distribute it legally.
), and looking at all the problems I encountered, there is one thing I wonder :
