How do we create cfg, vzf and ive files

[luakt]

I am new to WorldViz.
Can someone tell me how to create cfg, ive and vzf files for animation? What are the software tools used?

[Jeff]

Sorry we did not answer this sooner. There has been a lot going on over here.

Vizard uses the Cal3D format for avatars. A .cfg file is a configuration file that is used to load an avatar which is in this Cal3D format. There are many other files that are associated with that same avatar. All avatars that are included with Vizard or purchased from Worldviz already have this file. Otherwise, you can export an avatar into this format from either Max or Maya with the Cal3D exporters that are available on the Worldviz downloads page.

When exporting a model to the OpenSceneGraph format there are two options, .osg or .ive. Both are part of the OSG format, but an .ive is a compiled version and loads much faster once you bring the model into Vizard. It can even have all the image data stored directly in the file. The drawback is that if anything within the file needs to be changed, a new file must be exported. OSG format, on the other hand, is not compiled. It loads slower and images must be stored in an accompanying directory. However, if you want to manually edit the file, you can simply open it in Wordpad. Furthermore, you can edit individual images without having to export your model again. An OSG exporter for Max is also available on the Vizard website.

To create .vzf files you will need to use PeopleMaker,a program which prepares custom, morphable 3D heads for Vizard avatars. PeopleMaker should be in the bin folder of your Vizard directory.

[luakt]

Thank you!

My problem is that both 3ds Max and Maya are very expensive and difficult to learn. Can you recommend some other low end software (both cheaper and easy) for us to create our own animated characters?

I am now testing on Blender, 3D GameStudio, Poser, Life Forms (Credo), MilkShape, 3D World, Character Shop and etc to see if I can generate an animated character to import to WorldViz and program their parts (head, limb, leg etc) for animation.

Of course, it would be much better if WorldViz can provide this type of information. Otherwise, we will need to spend a lot of money to purchase 3ds and Maya and even that, we are not sure if we can start programming WordViz in a number of months to come. We want to spend our time and resources in WorldViz but not so much in other software.

[Veleno]

Hi Luakt,

Internally, we use 3ds Max for creating all our assets. Blender is probably the most powerful program you can get for free, and from what I've seen it's on par with max and maya in quite a few areas. However, it also appears to be just as complex. Blender has exporters for both CAL3d and OpenSceneGraph: http://www.blender.org/download/pyth...import-export/

VZF is a vizard-specific avatar head format put together using a program called Peoplemaker, which ships with Vizard. The program allows custom heads to be added to existing avatars without needing to have the source files for that avatar. If you use it and follow the tutorial, note that the autoscale button is currently still set up for our previous avatar set, so some additional movement and tweaking will be necessary to get the head to look good on the VCC bodies.

[luakt]

Thanks. I will treat to experiment the export from Blender.
Best wishes.

[luakt]

Sorry, I cannot find the CAL3D export from the Blender export manual. Perhaphs some python files are used to do the export. However, I do not know how to instal the python files. After all, what are the export files?

[Veleno]

I'll download blender and see if I can find more information on the CAL3d Exporter.

[mspusch]

Hi All,

Just to be clear again, WorldViz uses and supports the workflows thu 3DSMax and Maya.
We know from some users that there is a workflow thru Bender, but we don't actively use this ourselves, which is why we don't keep track of the status of things.

Blender is an open source project, and not backed by a commercial company with support engineers. This is why we recommend against using it if there is a need for a commercially supported animation / 3D development tool.

For academic institutions or programmers, blender might be a very interesting and strong alternative to commercially supported products, but if you are new in the field and need commercial support and well documented workflows, it's generally not a good idea to start with a tool that requires programming background and ability to do development on your end.

hope that helps.

[luakt]

I discovered that Blender only support cal3d export in their version 2.4.4. This verison comes with the book "The Essential Blender".

[luakt]

I am using 3DS Studio Max (trial version). But I cannot find either CAL3D or CALLADA export. Please help!

[Veleno]

Hi lukat:
Cal3d installer for max 6 to 2009, from the downloads page:
http://www.worldviz.com/download/fil...0.0Install.exe

[luakt]

Thank you very much.

After installing the installer, the cal3d export does not appear in the export menu of the 3ds studio max 2009 (I already asked for him from other thread. This is just for your information).

Would you please tell me what cal viewer can be used to view the outfiles generated (a viewer to view .cfg). I use the miniviewer from the cal3d website. But when I used it for viewing worldviz cfg files (from resources), nothing can be seen.

Kindly assist me!

[Veleno]

Hi Lukat, if this is the version of the miniviewer you used, it worked fine on my computer.
http://download.gna.org/cal3d/source...ies-0.10.0.zip

You can also view the files in Vizard. If the name of your character's file is myChar.cfg, then you can use a script like the following:

import viz
viz.go()

char1 = viz.add('myChar.cfg')

Hit run and move back a little, and you'll see your avatar.

As a basic way to view an animation, you can then add:

char.state(2)

Where "2" is the second animation in your cfg file's animation list. You can also see a numbered list of animations on an avatar in the resource window by expanding that avatar's name, and then "animations." (This will appear after running the script once)

[Brett Lindberg]

I'm trying to use the openscenegraph osgconv utility to create IVEs from OSGs. It creates them, but Vizard doesn't recognize them, although other applications do.

I'm using the osgconv as part of osg 2.8.1: is that conflicting with Vizard's OSG modules?

[Brett Lindberg]

Never mind: found the older version on the downloads page.