Creating a Humanoid.X?

[ShreddinPB]

Hey guys.. how do you go about creating the ".X" format file?
I am versed in multiple 3D packages and have seen there are cad files out there for the brackets and such.. but not sure what program you use to create it..

[Merlin]

I was thinking in same way a few weeks ago, in order to develop a way to create new creatures not listed on the CD.
As far I can get (I am a newbie...) each creature or model is defined by two files: the RBT file wich is a text file with the description and ID of the Dynamixels used and a reference to an .X file.

We have discussed this matter with Limor, the Administrator of this forum, and we have concluded the main issue is on the .X files. Some of the ideas from Limor and I was:

Therefore, in order to a new creature showed on Motion Editor,
would be neccesary to create the RBT with a list of devices and also create the 3D models on some software and then export to X format file.

The question is what other data is there in the X file in adition to the
mesh.

The X file probably contains what is called a "skeleton" which is a hierarchy of reference tensors (matrixes) that allow for easy
animation. The names of the "bones" in the skeletal structure
probably refer to the device IDs.

There is a software called Onkio which reads/writes any format. you
can download a limited functionality version from their site
This software will show the skeleton bone stucture and name of every bone.

Also there is another software called FragMotion (also ready to download in limited version) wich reads directly the .X files

Maybe you can give a few try to all of this. Perhaps in a virtual team we can get a way to go further...

Share your findings on the forum, best regards


merlin

[ShreddinPB]

Thanks for the info.. that was very helpfull!
I installed fragmotion and imported the humanoid file, it cant import it correctly. The skeleton comes in upside down while the geometry is right side up.
Searching the okino page I found that a ".X" file, is a directX file format!

You can get a plugin to read and write directX files in Maya, which is the main 3D app I use at work.. so I am going to get the files needed to deal with directX in maya

http://msdn.microsoft.com/library/defau ... plugin.asp

And I will let you guys know!

[Pev]

I have a feeling that the .X files may have been created using AVS Express software
(www.avs.com) but it is only a guess.

Pev

[billyzelsnack]

I never found anything that could load in those files. I even tried the viewer that is included in the DirectX SDK and it crashed out.

I think the trick might be to find old software to open and the file with.

[billyzelsnack]

haha.. Well looky there.. Fragmotion worked. Excellent. Thanks.

[Bullit]

Did you figure out why the skeleton is inverted?

[billyzelsnack]

I was just glad that it loaded in at all.

[shsan]

If you are interested I created a small C++ program to load and display the models.

I can provide the source code too obviously. I have even written a module to convert the X files into the Webot format but that might not be useful for a lot of people.

I can confirm that it is a Direct X file.

if you want to see the code or the program, just send me a message and I'll post it on my website (once I have cleaned a bit the software).

[shsan]

Well I just decided to go ahead and post it.

You can find it there.

http://www.lessieux.com/mywiki/index.php?title=Bioloid

I know the mouse is not working and it's annoying. Try the keyboard, some keys make the model rotate.

[ShreddinPB]

I got polytrans for maya installed and it doesnt open the file correctly. It seems to open the heirarchy ok enough, but as empty groups not as joints.

Back to the drawing board

[ShreddinPB]

Well I just decided to go ahead and post it.

You can find it there.

http://www.lessieux.com/mywiki/index.php?title=Bioloid

I know the mouse is not working and it's annoying. Try the keyboard, some keys make the model rotate.

I cant run it.. I am in Vista and apparently DX10 isnt backwards compatible with previous directX version

[shsan]

that's strange I ran it yesterday on vista without any problem.
It could be a DLL issue or something like that.

And yes DX10 has backward compatibility with DX9.

As for polytrans and Maya, I certainly do not intend to support all format of Direct X. The program did what I needed at the time and I have enough on my plate right now with the customization of my Manoi.

Feel free to look at the source code and modify it as you wish to support it, but I am afraid I don't have the time for that.

Sorry.

(By the way, I have also modified a version of the lastest DxViewer to load the X files from the Bioloid Kit).

[ShreddinPB]

Did you figure out why the skeleton is inverted?

Nope.. I even exported a .BVH file from fragmotion, and imported that into maya. The skeleton comes in upside down there also. There is a bunch of joints that seem to have no meaning, just default names like "Bone64"

Going thru the bvh format tho I lose geometry, so I just have a skeleton

[ShreddinPB]

that's strange I ran it yesterday on vista without any problem.
It could be a DLL issue or something like that.

And yes DX10 has backward compatibility with DX9.

As for polytrans and Maya, I certainly do not intend to support all format of Direct X. The program did what I needed at the time and I have enough on my plate right now with the customization of my Manoi.

Feel free to look at the source code and modify it as you wish to support it, but I am afraid I don't have the time for that.

Sorry.

(By the way, I have also modified a version of the lastest DxViewer to load the X files from the Bioloid Kit).

I was sure DX10 was suposed to be backwards compatible.. I just seem to be running into lots of issues with it. Here is the error I get..

"The D3D device has a non-zero reference count, meaning some objects were not released"

could be the crappy video card in my laptop lol

No need to be sorry, thanks for posting the program