I recently purchased 2 .3ds files, one for a battleship, and one for the HMS Victory. Unfortunately, when I open them in Bryce, they are completely scattered and a mess. Is there anyone, if I sent them a copy of the zip files, that could fix them so they open in Bryce correctly? Or, is there a way to "easily" put them together in Bryce....I did one once before and it took about 12 hours to fix. If anyone can help, IM me or let me know via email. Thanks- tempest967

Hmmm, that's unusual, I import .3ds almost exclusively into Bryce without problems, perhaps someone more technical could help

I usually don't have problems either.....

Send them to me and Lets see If I can open them in SStudio Max and Re-Save. Roch222@aol.com

Some 3ds files get like that. For instance, I downloaded the San Juan and got cannons turned around and the hatches dislocated. I have no idea why.

sometimes when I import 3DS files, even the ones I make, parts of it are like 50 times the size of the rest, as well as being fragmented as you say. I don't know what causes it, but I do believe that there is a thread somewhere in here about it. I'll do a search and see. bob

I would have said to try running it through grouper or UVmapper, but those only work on .obj files as far as I know. You could try running it through a modeler program (ie: Wings3D) and then exporting it. I'm not sure if it would fix the geometry coordinates but it's worth a shot.

Hummmm, most curious, try grouping or attaching the entire mesh in 3D Studio Max and resaving the file to a different file name, then import it into Bryce.

that would be a great idea if I had 3D Studio Max. Unfortunately, I'm just a poor boy with ambition...8>P

WEll Tempest - Ive tried every god damn thing I can Think of to get the file to import correctly into Bryce - Very Strange I Must Say They Import FIne into other programs, Even when I re-save and import into other programs - no problem - Except Bryce - Now I remember having a similar problem once -- some pieces rae huge and diplaced. Maybe you can contact the person/company you goto these models from and they can shed some light. sorry I tried my best good luck roch222

dont get me wrong - im gonna keep trying - i dont give up this easily and now im just plain old pissed off!!!!

You say you bought them so you should be able to contact the maker and either get them fixed or get your money back. Catlin

Sometimes 3ds files might not be the right flavor for byrce but will work in other programs. If you have poser try importing the .3ds files into that and exporting as wavefront obj. if you don't have poser I think P3 is a freebee(I don't know much about P3's export capabilities but I think it will work P4 definately does) . you might check on that. In the meantime you should try a format converter - if you need some suggestions on that I'll try to post a couple of links later if someone doesn't beat me to it.

I've had this problem a number of times with a lot of different models that I have found on the net and that I have purchased. They will imported exploded, imploded, deploded (no idea, but it sounded good) mangled, destroyed and so on. Sometimes I can reconstrcut them and other times, NO WAY. I inquired once a while back, I think it has something to do with the way that Bryce reads the file information and then interprets it. I have taken those same files, converted them (using Deep Exploration) to OBJ and have no problems. If there is a way to get these 3ds files to work, I would love to know.

I have had absolutely no problem with HMS Victory, importing wise. It opens just fine on my pc in B5 Strange that.

BOOMER, All I know about 3ds is that there is a header followed by what are called "chunks" - if a chunk isn't recognised by the program that is interpreting the chunks it is ignored. A chunk could be anything from a shape to a texture to an orientation - if you are familiar with the 2d tiff file format you know how chunks work. In later versions of 3ds more and more different types of chunks are used. It may not be possable to convert say a version 4 3ds file to a version 3 file as the unrecognisable chunks in the version four file might make a correct interpretation impossable. In my view it is much better to convert to obj format as you have done as it is more easily recognisable by most programs. Bearing in mind that it might not be possable, I had a thought that the FREE Descreet program GMAX with the right script might be the best bet to convert 3ds versions but someone would have to know enough about writing scripts and know the 3ds format specification well enough to write it. Someone already has written a script to export from GMAX in obj format. (bushi turned me on to that trick in a post last year in poser forum.) From what I've seen the architecture of GMAX is very versitile and shows a lot of promise on many levels - wish I had more time to play with it. - TJ

Attached Link: Baument.com

When constructing a model in max that is exported as a 3ds.......... The 'stack' in max contains information relating to the past operations on the model. Some of these operations effect the rotation/pivot locations of the objects and the information will spill forth into the exported model. It will look fine in max but upon export/import the objects explode. Booleans and edit mesh attachments are the biggest offenders that cause this problem. The only real fix for it is to do a 'reset xform' on the entire model before exporting from max. If you paid for it, I'd contact the seller and inform them of the problem. Explain that the author needs to do a reset xform (found in the utilities panel) on the entire model before exporting. This will fix all 'exploding' and rotation/size problems. Hope that helps! Ed

That's most interesting Baument. Do you think maybe collapsing the stack would also have the same results? tempest967, if you'd like, send me the file and I'll also give it a try as well. Quest@cg-quest.com

Quest Im Trying Bauments suggestion right now - But Quest Maybe you can better explain the procedure that you are speaking of (Im a 3dstudio max virgin) roch222

Roch222, in the "modify" panel, right under where it says "modifier stack", under the modifier name window, the last icon on the right, looks like a stack of books, if you click on that, the "Edit Modifier stack" panel appears. Click on "collaps all" option to collapse the stack. Click "yes" then "OK". Then you might also try the XForm reset as Baument suggests and see what happens. I was also thinking that you can go into subobject mode and select all the faces and click "unitfy" in the surface properties panel.

Hummm, better yet, unify faces first then XForm reset then collapse the stack.

just the xform reset didnt work but ill try stack collapse thanks this has become my rainy day quest

The XForm reset that Baument is referring to is the reset in the "utilities" panel...the last panel on the right where the "modify" panel is (the hammer icon). The XForm shown above is the modifier.

tempest967, I've tried everything I could think of to no avail. Sorry I couldn't help you. I tried grouping, attaching, unifying, xform reseting all to no avail. I tried saving it as wavefront obj file from 3D Studio, also tried resaving it as 3ds file, I tried Deep Exploration and Bryce bulked and spit out an error in it's kernal. I tried Crossroads and it froze down tight. I imported to Poser 5 and exported to both, Wavefront obj and 3ds and Bryce could not import it giving up i/o errors. I did manage to import it into Rhino but no textures. I suggest you should take Beument's suggestion and write the seller telling him about your problem. Most interesting though is that Chohole had no problem importing her mesh. Good luck with it and let us know what happens.

To all who tried to fix this problem, a big thanks. If for anything, it was a great learning experience this weekend working for the first time in Vue D' Esprit. Old habits die hard(Bryce), but when you just feel the urge to work with a great model, sometimes you gotta just bite the bullet and work in a new program. Vue shows promise, and seems to handle the models that Bryce can't, so for all of us die-hard Bryce fans, let's hope they continue to work on keeping it a great program as well. Thanks again- Todd aka:tempest967

Tempest, sorry that the problem is still there. Mayhaps the download got corrupted somehow? Let us know how you resolve it. I think the suggestion that you write the author is the only one left. cheers, - TJ

I'm with TJ on this. If anyone finds a fix, short of advising the vendors, I would like to know to. It would save a lot of headaches and make the models useable. John