I have allways used 3D exploration to export 3ds to obj. But now when i bring a 3ds file into 3D exploration and I export it as an obj it makes all the hidden lines on the figure visable. So all the triangles are visable. Normally when i exported a figure that i worked on to obj format it left it alone leaveing all the hidden lines hidden anyone have any ideas on how to fix this? I have tried all the options i believe. Im using max5 and 3D exploration.

You could always import the 3ds file into Poser and then export it as obj format. Or you could do the conversion in Max using Habware's Max2Obj plugin. As long as you don't use its scale function it works OK. You can then use Objaction Scaler for scaling afterwards.

Maz, Harbware's I/O OBJ Plug for version 4 is fixed! If you use a scale vertex of "1" for Import & Export, you'll be fine! As for 3Dexploration, i only use it for "exotic" ones. Meaning for formats that i don't have the Modeler for, like Lightwave scenes(lwo). I find that Poser does a decent enough job of importing .3ds files. Lady Cherry, Is the .3ds file your trying to convert available on the Net? Cause, i could look at it in Max for you. IM me! Marco

Marco, Thanks for the info, but it always did work with a factor of 1. Obj2Max works with other factors (eg 100 when going from Poser to Max) but Max2Obj doesn't. If you use a factor of .01 (to go back to Poser) you get the vertices OK but it loses all the faces. Unless it has been fixed in the last few days of course. Maz

??? Well, Maz. Which version of max are you using? I know that i had those problems with Max 3. But, ever since i updraged to 4.2 it's been sweet! When i did the "Sewing" for the V3-Hybrid, i used "vertex scale" of 1 for both Import & Export. It worked flawlessly. I'm not arguing with you, Maz. Oh! There is 2 things to not forget: 1- If you're doing Morphs or modifying a figure like Vicky or mike, you must use on export("use Polys"). 2- i always use a presicion of 9 decimals for both mesh & materials(Some will say that such a high number is useless). But, so far i've had a very succeful rate! ;-) Marco

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Where can I get the habware plugin?

it is free at www.habware.at/duck4.htm (or duck3.htm if youre on max3) there is also on objtomax, which is very usefull as well. and they both work on max 5!

Marco, I use 4.2 and occasionally 5 when I can get access. Both show the problem, but I agree the problem doesn't occur as long as you use a factor of 1. I'm surprised you managed to work with a factor of 1 as Poser's scale is so much smaller than Max's it makes it very difficult to do any useful modelling on an imported object. That's why I wrote my Scaler utility. I thought it had become redundant with the scaling ability of the Habware plugin, but because of the habware bug it's still needed. I have informed Habware of the problem but got no reply. Somebody else (PhilC if my memory serves me) also informed them but was told that it probably won't be fixed because Poser's scale is so small.

Yes, i know what you're saying Maz! And i've used your scaler utility on a few occasions! Thanks! And i must admit that i can't figure out why all of the sudden, i can use factor of 1 on Import in Max & be able to work as if it was scaled 10,000 times?? What i used to do was add a "Xform" modifier, then scale using it's gizmo. At the End, i'd simply remove the modifier from the stack & Voila! But, for the past 3 months, it's been behaving as it should! So, i guess i must be the exception to the rule! I Love it when bugs make things work better then anticipated! :-) SO, an apology from me to you. You are correct! Marco