3ds Max 2012 Bible - Kelly L. Murdock [53]
The new OBJ import and export workflow is much smoother and automatically gets the right materials and textures for the object. The dialog box for importing OBJ files is shown in Figure 3.13. Notice how each of the individual objects is recognized and displayed in a list. This gives you the option of importing only specific objects. You also have control over how normals are handled, the ability to convert units, and several options for dealing with materials. The small green and red lights to the left of some options indicate whether the option is in the OBJ file. Green indicates that it exists, and red means it doesn't exist.
FIGURE 3.13
The OBJ Import dialog box provides another excellent choice for transporting files from other packages.
A similar dialog box of settings appears when exporting a scene to the OBJ format, as shown in Figure 3.14.
FIGURE 3.14
The OBJ Export dialog box lets you export Max scenes to other packages.
The OBJ Export dialog box includes presets for most common 3D apps including Amapi Pro, Blender, Bryce, Carrara, Cinema-4D, DAZ Studio, Deep Paint, Hexagon, Lightwave, Maya, Modo, Motion Builder, Mudbox, Poser, Realflow, Rhino, Silo, Softimage XSI, UV Mapper, VUE, Worldbuilder, and ZBrush.
Clicking the Map Export button lets you specify the export map path where the textures for the scene are saved. You also can automatically convert the maps to a specific size or format. For each map format, you can configure the bits per pixel and any compression settings.
If you click the Presets button in the OBJ Export dialog box, then the export options for each format are shown in a table, like the one in Figure 3.15. Each of these settings can be quickly altered using this dialog box.
FIGURE 3.15
The Edit OBJ-Export Presets dialog box lets you change the settings for multiple formats quickly.
Exporting to the JSR-184 (M3G) format
The JSR-184 export option lets you save a scene to a format that can be viewed on mobile devices that support the Java 2 Micro Edition standard interface, such as mobile phones and PDA devices.
Because wireless devices have such a limited bandwidth, the JSR-184 Exporter dialog box, shown in Figure 3.16, includes several options for optimizing the exported scene. This dialog box lists the Max scene hierarchy, the JSR-184 scene hierarchy, and the parameters for the selected scene object. Using the toolbar buttons at the top of the dialog box, you can change the hierarchy that is to be exported.
FIGURE 3.16
The JSR-184 Export dialog box lets you choose which resources to export.
Before a scene can be exported, the Max scene must include a camera, and you must specify an Active Camera in the JSR-184 Exported dialog box. When a material map is selected from the JSR-184 hierarchy list, the Texture Tool icon on the toolbar becomes active. Clicking this button opens the Texture Tool dialog box, shown in Figure 3.17, where you can precisely control the size and format of the exported maps.
FIGURE 3.17
The Texture Tool lets you specify the exact size of texture maps to be exported for mobile devices.
To view the exported M3G files, the default installation of Max includes an M3G Player, which can be found along with the other Max programs in Start⇒Programs⇒Autodesk⇒3ds Max 2012⇒JSR Viewer. To use this player, the Java Runtime Environment needs to be installed. You can install it from the Max setup disc.
Note
The JSR Viewer application is built using Java. If you're having trouble with the viewer, try installing the latest Java version from the installation DVD. •
Exporting to the DWF format
The Design Web Format (DWF) is an ideal format for displaying your textured