This exporter generates a Softimage dotXSI 3.0 file.

Notes:

1.  If this is your first installation then...

	(a) Install the new .dle plugin in your 3dsMax ...\plugins folder.

	(b) Install the XSIFTK.dll in your main ...\3dsMax directory (where the other .dll files are).


2.  If you installed the previous version, delete the old plugin ( XSIExport_v1.8_Max6_betaR1.dle ) from your plugins directory and drop in new plugin (dotXSIExport.dle).  Leave the original XSIFTK.dll where you have it installed-- the DLL did not change and you do not need to re-install it.


3.  The original code, and this plugin, expect the root skin pose to be Frame 0. Otherwise the output may not be as expected.


4.  3ds Max to Softimage Coordinate Transformation:

	(a)  This plugin fixes the coordinate transformation from 3ds Max (+Z up) to Softimage (+Y up) using the "Re-orient scene (rotated 90)" export option.  3ds Max and Softimage coordinate systems are both right-handed, but differ by a 90 degree rotation about the X-axis.  This plugin properly calculates 
the 3dsMax-to-XSI coordinate transformation using the following formula:


/            \  /               \  /            \-1   /                  \
| 1  0  0  0 |  | x1  y1  z1  0 |  | 1  0  0  0 |     |  x1   z1  -y1  0 | 
| 0  0  1  0 |  | x2  y2  z2  0 |  | 0  0  1  0 |     |  x3   z3  -y3  0 |
| 0 -1  0  0 |  | x3  y3  z3  0 |  | 0 -1  0  0 |  =  | -x2  -z2   y2  0 |   
| 0  0  0  1 |  | Tx  Ty  Tz  1 |  | 0  0  0  1 |     |  Tx   Tz  -Ty  1 | 
\            /  \               /  \            /     \                  /

  (+90Xrot)	(3dsMax Matrix3)  (Inv +90 Xrot)     (XSI CSIBCMatrix4x4)


	(b)  If you then re-import your dotXSI in Softimage or Softimage ModTool... then you will see the results just like in your 3dsMax scene.  If you choose not to reorient then you'll find your model rotated 90 degrees laying face down as explained above.

	(c)  If you re-import your dotXSI back into 3ds Max using the Softimage dotXSI Importer for Max6, then your mesh may appear as the original, however, all of your bones will retain their XSI coordinate systems and thus be incorrect from your original scene bones by a 90 degree X-axis rotation.  So be mindful of this.  This warning also applies to importing the Raven released dotXSI animation assets-- they are only imported correctly, matching the original Raven skeleton, when using the original Max 5 dotXSI importer. 

	(d)  Care was taken to ensure that, when using the original Raven Max5 Skeleton, this exporter will generate a proper dotXSI file that is correctly compiled into a Ghoul2 animation file using the Raven released tools (Assimilate/Carcass).


5.  Using Export Selected:

	(a) In this version I fixed the "Export Selected" feature... as a consequence if you attempt to export a subset of your skeleton (torso only, legs only, etc.), and you omit nodes that are directly in the bone chain hierarchy, then your resulting animation will be messed up.  You must select all objects in a bone chain (from root bone to nub bone) in order for the selected bone chain to animate as expected.

	(b) Export Selected will work as expected only if your animated Control Objects reside outside of the direct bone hierarchy.  This means... Do not link your bones directly to control objects!  You should constrain your bones to your control objects using constraints, special controllers, parameter wiring, etc.  If you do embed your Control Objects directly into the bone chains then they must be selected as well (see 5.a above).


6.  This plugin uses a different Class ID from the original Softimage Co. plugin.  That means that you can have both plugins, as well as the Crosswalk Plugin (Max 8+ Only), loaded in your 3ds Max installation.  To find this plugin in the drop-down list of exporters, look for:  Softimage dotXSI 3.0 Export (*.XSI).  This plugin specifically mentions version 3.0, whereas the original Softimage Co. plugin does not.


7.  The Export Options Dialog Cancel button now functions properly to cancel export without leaving an empty file behind.


8.  The ProgressBar Cancel button may be used to abort a single file export or batch processing job.  In both cases an abort will leave behind an empty file of size 0Kb.  For batch processing, the batch processing log will annotate at which file the process was aborted.  In either case, if you re-export (and use the same file name for single file exports), the aborted file will be automatically overwritten.  Additionally, the ESC key may also be pressed to abort either a single file export or batch processing job.  It's behavior is identical to pressing the Cancel button.  Should you choose to cancel, a new dialog window will pop-up asking you to confirm... at this point you can abort or, choose "No" and the export will resume. 


9.  Regarding hidden scene objects:  If you have objects that are hidden, they will still be exported when doing a standard File -> Export.  So keep this in mind... it would be best to clean up your file before exporting to dotXSI.  Alternatively, you can do an "Export Selected" only for your skeleton and mesh objects.  See warnings in note 5 above regarding omitting objects from your hierarchy during an "Export Selected" job.

10.  Support for Raven Software's Ghoul2 .SKIN file has been incorporated into the plugin using the XSI_CustomPSet template.  For this to automatically create the character's Ghoul2 .SKIN file using the game compiler (Carcass.exe)... you must rename your Material Editor slots to the relative texture path to your character's textures, for example, rename (without quotes):  

"01-Default" to "models/players/your_character/body.tga"

Do this for all your materials in the material editor that are applied to your character.  If you don't compile assets for the Ghoul2 format you can disregard this feature... even though it will still create the XSI_CustomPSet data in the output for mesh objects with materials.

11.  An "About" dialog has been added.

12.  Modified code so that bones and helpers no longer get an SI_GlobalMaterial assigned to them during export.


13.  If you have any questions, or to report any bugs, please feel free to contact me at:  

	archangel35757@yahoo.com



Thanks,

Michael