Help with LW to 3DS conversion

matmos · February 12th, 2010, 11:47 AM

Hi all,

I found a great model in LightWave (lwo/lws) format. However, I do not have LW. I can only handle .3ds files.

Anybody can help me converting the model?

Cheers,

matmos

February 12th, 2010, 04:41 PM

look up accutrans 3d, $20. it will convert files fairly accurately.
you will lose lights and cameras in the conversion and you'll need to re-apply the textures. also may need to scale the model up. i found lightwave meshes, like poser are very small.
accutrans is about the only program i can think of that'll convert successfully.

matmos · February 12th, 2010, 05:38 PM

Hi Andromeda,

Thanks for your advice. I am using AccuTrans already, but I am not very skilled in handling models in 3d programs - I'm more of a coder guy ... I tried some with AccuTrans, but I never got the nick of applying textures correctly.

Nobody out there having LightWave who could convert the lws file incl. texturing? (I don't even have a clue how much work this might be ...)

Cheers,

matmos

gmd3d · February 13th, 2010, 02:17 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by matmos

Hi Andromeda,

Thanks for your advice. I am using AccuTrans already, but I am not very skilled in handling models in 3d programs - I'm more of a coder guy ... I tried some with AccuTrans, but I never got the nick of applying textures correctly.

Nobody out there having LightWave who could convert the lws file incl. texturing? (I don't even have a clue how much work this might be ...)

Cheers,

matmos

I don´t believe you can convert the scene file only the object

and you would have to apply the textures yourself in what ever program your using .. what model are you looking to convert

matmos · February 13th, 2010, 03:01 PM

I am looking for a conversion of davidkerin_3dmax_rmq-basestar.zip. I guess you know where to find it.

Help with the conversion would be highly appreciated.

gmd3d · February 14th, 2010, 02:00 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by matmos

I am looking for a conversion of davidkerin_3dmax_rmq-basestar.zip. I guess you know where to find it.

Help with the conversion would be highly appreciated.

lightwave cannot use 3dmax files .. you going to need a 3d party converter for that. there are some that are free the last time I used them a few years ago. but some times there are dropped polygon or points.

matmos · February 14th, 2010, 06:02 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Taranis

lightwave cannot use 3dmax files .. you going to need a 3d party converter for that. there are some that are free the last time I used them a few years ago. but some times there are dropped polygon or points.

Bummer: Wrong file name - I need a conversion of file "battlestar_galactica_remake_lw.rar".

gmd3d · February 14th, 2010, 06:49 AM

Do you mean this one
http://www.colonialfleets.com/downlo...php?image_id=1

gmd3d · February 14th, 2010, 07:44 AM

if thats the one you looking for there is another one over at scifi meshes . you have to join first and post a few times before you can download .

http://www.scifi-meshes.com/forums/d...hp?do=cat&id=1
in fact its the whole fleet more or less .. it low poly too made by Coxxon

matmos · February 14th, 2010, 12:24 PM

Thanks for your advice - I'll check it out.

gmd3d · February 14th, 2010, 12:52 PM

no problem ..

tnpir4001 · February 20th, 2011, 01:13 PM

The best way to cross-convert between formats is Deep Exploration. The only thing it has problems with is MAX files. Anything else it can open in its own viewer, and from there you can export to basically any format you need.

Darrell Lawrence · February 20th, 2011, 01:32 PM

I don't have problems with MAX files in Deep Exploration, as long as they aren't above Max 9 (and I do not mean Max 2009)

tnpir4001 · February 20th, 2011, 07:32 PM

@Warrior: if you've had no problems, I'm envious. I have the current version of MAX but it seems like Deep Exploration picks and chooses which ones it will open. I know part of the problem is I have an older machine, but as you said, as long as it's earlier than a certain version it should be fine.

Must just be one of those things...

Darrell Lawrence · February 20th, 2011, 08:31 PM

Is your Deep Exploration MAX plug-in for the latest version of Max?

That's why I specified which Max version I can use in Deep Exploration. The plug-in is for Max 9, and Max 9 is what I have.

If the Max file is Max 10, 2009, 2010, etc then I can't convert it, and won't even try.

Punisher454 · February 20th, 2011, 11:38 PM

I use deep exploration and max, and have always had some problems getting deep exploration and max to work together using the dcom thing. I usually export from max to OBJ,3ds or ASE then goto deepexploration to export that to LWO.

Going from LWO to max is easy. Use deep exploration to convert it to OBJ or 3ds then import that into max.
Thats how I do it at least.

Darrell Lawrence · February 21st, 2011, 03:34 PM

Well... when you're having those problems, consider whether or not the Max version is correct, as well as the plug-in being correct.

borjis · March 29th, 2011, 10:52 AM

I have found .obj to be the best when converting from another app to max.
same for poser. you can set the scaling on import so the figures are not the size of ants.
Also if you export the poser to .obj and the .mtl, if you copy all the textures to the same
folder as the .obj file, max will import the textures already in place.

I did some extensive workflow research some time ago for converting poser
figures to max and rigging them for animation.

Darrell Lawrence · March 29th, 2011, 02:00 PM

OBJ format is the most universal file format, with .3ds coming in a distant second.

I remember back in the day when .dxf was pretty common too.