Exporting Lightwave *.MOT files

[phrick]

Hi.. I received DFX+ a couple of days ago and have finally installed it. ( WOW! )

To the problem...
I've tried several times to export a path to a Lightwave .MOT file, but when I try to load the motion file in Layout, it just hangs.

I compared the file generated by DFX+ with a file generated by Lightwave. They look a bit different.


This is an excerpt from the MOT file generated by DFX+

LWMO
1
9
40
0,017187 0,065625 0 0 0 0 1 1 1
0 0 0 0 0
0,017236 0,066406 0 0 0 0 1 1 1
1 0 0 0 0
0,017334 0,067139 0 0 0 0 1 1 1
2 0 0 0 0
0,017383 0,067969 0 0 0 0 1 1 1
3 0 0 0 0
0,017480 0,068701 0 0 0 0 1 1 1
4 0 0 0 0
0,017529 0,069531 0 0 0 0 1 1 1
5 0 0 0 0
0,017578 0,070215 0 0 0 0 1 1 1
6 0 0 0 0
0,017578 0,071143 0 0 0 0 1 1 1



And this is how a MOT file generated by Lightwave looks:

LWMO
3

NumChannels 9
Channel 0
{ Envelope
6
Key 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0.10987284 0
Key 0.11000001 0.23999999 0 0 0 0 0.10846154 0.12653847 0
Key 0.23500001 0.51999998 0 0 0 0 -0.032307692 -0.027692307 0
Key 0.050000008 0.75999999 0 0 0 0 -0.28749996 -0.28749996 0
Key -0.33999991 1 0 0 0 0 -0.19499996 -0.19499996 0
Key -0.33999991 1.24 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Behaviors 1 1
}



Am I doing something wrong or does it not work? Any tip would be appreciated!


/Martin

[phrick]

Could someone please just try to export a MOT file from DFX+ and then import it in Lightwave? Just to see if it works...

[Doug Nicola]

I believe that DF exports the old LW mot format.

I think you might want to look at this site:

http://www.ats-3d.com/index.html

Scroll down to the TransMotion Utilities Pack. I haven't used this, but have read great things about it. I think this should allow you to import the old version mot files into LW. TransMotion looks useful for several formats. You can download it and see if it works before you pay for it ($25 US).

[phrick]

Thanks!

I downloaded the demo, but I haven't been able to get the motion import to work (yet).

I must say it's a bit disappointing to find out that you'll need commercial 3rd party plug-ins to import an older Lightwave motion file.

Eyeon, are you listening? Consider this a feature request (Import/export of Lightwave [7+] motions).


Well, I'll keep on trying with Transmotion to see if I can make it work.


Thanks again, Doug!

[Doug Nicola]

I hope it works for you, phrick. Please post your results good or bad because I might have to get this myself sooner or later.

One thing to note is that it says the demo of TransMotion3D is limited to 30 keyframes. I don't know if that might be causing you trouble if you are unaware of it...

Yeah, I agree, DF should be exporting/importing the current LW MOT format! Especially considering how close NT and eyeon seem these days.

Any comments on this possibility, eyeon?

[Doug Nicola]

Also, it looks like with TransMotion3D you probably should export a polyline file (.dfmo) from DFX+ and then use TransMotion to import that format into LW. (if that's not what you are already doing...)

[phrick]

Yes, I tried using a .dfmo file as well (with no luck)...

I keep getting the same error in TransMotion: Line 905/Line 855, illegal arithmetic operation on data type

I've tried different lengths, more and less than 30 keyframes, but the error still remains....

Dang.

[Doug Nicola]

Hmmm, no fun! Maybe you could try writing Al Street at al@ats-3d.com

Also try the pigsfly fusion list. That list seems great for questions like this! www.pigsfly.com

[phrick]

Oooh, sorry for the late answer. I'll see what I can do.

Thanks a lot for the help!

[Doug Nicola]

Hi again,

Just one last tip... You might want to try posting a question on the df_openchat forum on Yahoo. I've seen Al Street posting there.

[phrick]

I contacted Al Street (http://www.ats-3d.com/) and he found the solution to my problem in no time!

The problem was in my regional settings in Windows. The decimal symbol on my system was set to "," (since I'm in Europe). I changed it to "." instead, and now everything works like a charm!

The "," character obviously forced DFX+ to generate the motion file with faulty time (keyframe) data. This a definately a bug in DFX+.

I would never had come to this conclusion myself, so thanks a lot Doug (and Al!)