Ogre Exporters

Exporting Content Tutorial

1. Install the 32-bit FaceFX Tools.
2. From Max or Maya:
• From Maya, simply go to File->Export All, then select FxOgre Files (*.Mesh)
• From Max, go to File->Export, and select Ogre (*.MESH)
3. Export the .MESH and associated files. 
   
4. Create a .facefx file with the same name as the .MESH file in the same directory. 
   
5. Open the .facefx file in FaceFX Studio to get started.
   

Note: you can change the .MESH and .SCENE files that are associated with a particular .facefx file with the Actor->Change Render Asset option.  The render asset is the name of the .MESH or .SCENE file to look for without the file extension.  FaceFX Studio will look in the .facefx file directory, as well as the My Documents\FaceFX Studio 2009\Ogre\Resources\Meshes and Scenes directories.

Common Issues

• Meshes/Textures do not show up properly. 
  
• The MATERIAL file that is exported may need some tweaking by hand to achieve the correct lighting, transparancy, and UV coordinate scaling/rotation.  It is a simple text file format. 
  
• A common problem from Max and Maya where textures are transparent causing meshes to be invisible can be resolved by removing the "depth_write off" line from the material file
  
• The character comes in oriented incorrectly.  
• The .SCENE file is responsible for orienting the character.  All files exported from Max contain a rotation node like the one below immediately above the node responsible for displaying the character.  Changing the rotation will change how the character is oriented.
  
• <rotation axisX="1" axisY="0" axisZ="0" angle="-90" />
• The lighting is incorrect.
• The .SCENE file is responsible for lighting.  If no lights are found, the default lighting is created. Add, remove or modify lights in the scene file to achieve the desired result.
  

Created Files

• .MESH - A binary file (convertable to XML) that defines the mesh. 
  
• .MESH files must be in the same folder as the .facefx file, or somewhere else in the Ogre path like the .\Ogre\Resources\Models folder 
• The .SKELETON file is referenced by name inside the MESH file, so renaming the skeleton and mesh files will not work.  
  
• .SKELETON - A binary file (convertable to XML) that contains the skeleton and animation data.  No animations are exported by default as there is currently no support for OGRE animations in FaceFX Studio.
• .SKELETON files must be in the same folder as the .facefx file, or somewhere else in the Ogre path like the .\Ogre\Resources\Models folder
• .MATERIAL - Material files are text files that specify the location of textures, material parameters, and even pixel shaders for a group of named Ogre materials. These files can require some tweaking by hand to get the content looking exacly like it does in the source package.  Ogre materials are named and they must be unique or OGRE will fail to load.  For this reason, the FaceFX Ogre exporters prepend the .MESH name in front of the Material name to avoid collisions.  All Ogre materials in all .MATERIAL files in the following locations will be loaded when a .facefx file is opened:
  
• .\Ogre\Resources\Materials\Scripts 
• "My Documents"\FaceFX 2009\Ogre\Resources\Materials\Scripts
  
• The folder that contains your .facefx file.
  
• .SCENE - an OC3 Entertainment XML file with a format very similar to that defined here.  The primary goal is to specify lights and light positions and rotate scene components into view in FaceFX Studio.  Nested nodes are not supported.
  
• Texture Files - Texture files are copied to the export folder.  
• The .MATERIAL files do not specify a location for the textures, so all textures must be in the same folder as the .facefx file or somewhere else in the Ogre path like .\Ogre\Resources\Materials\Textures folder.

Advanced Use

Both the Max and Maya Ogre exporters can be used in conjunction with a script GUI for more advanced use.

License Info

The Max and Maya exporters are both licensed under the LGPL.  The Maya Exporter is (C) 2006 by Francesco Giordana, and it was modified for use with FaceFX and ported to 3D Studio Max by OC3 Entertainment.  Source code to the exporters can be found in the FaceFX Tools Installation directory and is also available upon request.

Using 3rd Party Ogre Exporters

In FaceFX 2009, you need to use an Ogre Exporter that supports shared geometry and export with this option turned on.  Unfortunately, few exporters support this option (only the stock Ogre Maya exporter, and the Max and Maya exporters offered by OC3 Entertainment).  In future versions of FaceFX Studio, you will be able to use any Ogre Exporter you want, including XSI exporters.

The .SCENE file described above is not a standard OGRE file, but it is also not required.  All other files are standard OGRE files.  The Ogre Artist and Content Creators Forum is the best place to learn more about the exporters available. 

Note:  There are lots of ways to create content, and we want to support as many of them as possible.  If your content doesn't export well, please let us know about it.  Even if you find a good workaround, tell us about it and tell us the workaround, too.