Hi guys.
A couple of days ago, I started using Prefab 3d to create some characters and weapons for a flash game. At the begging I didn’t have any problems at all creating the characters IDS states, but when i began to create the weapons (i’m using 3ds max 2013 and an obj exporter to create the obj sequence for the states of the animation), which are animated single objects with editable mesh modifier an error occurred. I created 2 out of 3 states with no problem, but when i started the 3-th one the program just said: the loaded file doesn’t hold the same amount of vertices, and the file just doesn’t load (there are 10 frames in every single ids state, only 3 loaded and the rest didn’t for that 3-th state). Every animation for the weapons contains 3 states - stay, fight and damage. the damage state is the tricky one
Since the file is a single mesh, no other objects are in the scene and i didn’t delete nor created more vertices on this mesh, why is this happening, I’ve even open every single frame from the sequence, and 3ds max shows that the polygons and vertices are exactly the same amount in every single frame.
So can any of you guys help with this, I will be very grateful.

you may have used smoothing, weld, explode.. etc… these are ways to get same mesh appearance, same amount of faces, yet not having the same amount of vertices stored.
You must have changed something…

open each of your state with prefab, not to animate but inspect them, go to mesh panel, open their specs and notice the vertices count displayed (vertices, not faces).

oh and forgot to say: happy to hear the vertexeditor is being used like this

i’ve checked every one of the frmes with prefab and the acount of the vertices are differnt. i don’t know this happed, id 3ds max all of the 3 states are in the same scene - 2 frame ot stay state, after this 10 frames for fight and 10 frames for destroy state, no smooth is added, no explode, weld etc. the animation of the states is very simple, the attached objects ar just rotatet and moved to to create the animateion, nothing else is done.
And i forgot to mention that in the fight state , when the weapon is shooting, it’s moving like it is from jelly, and this is after I\ve saved the animation, before that was stable as a rock.

Prefab would not display the error if it wasn’t the case…
You check your faces/vertices in max using what exactly? your max file or the obj’s? if you check with max project file and there is in the export to obj something that alters the vertice count, you will never know.
You also could try to export using another format.

i have even cheked the obj files, and they have exatly the same amount of vertices and faces in 3ds max.
and what about the jelly effect that is happening to the rest of the animation with perfectly normal obj files?

Jelly effect? Can you develop a bit or send me your Prefab project at fabrice3d at gmail.com

i send you the file and the sequence

Ok, the good news is that all is ok technically. However the bad news is: your models are not the same, the “jelly” animation is due to variations into your md2’s. Look at the pict, one of the wheels where once played the anim shows the “jelly distorsion”. The engine does the work as it is expected to.
It is clear on the image that you have moved the vertices.
The image was builded by importing all the md2’s at once in AC3D and set to outline.

Back to drawingboard

ok, how is this possible, i have manually export every single md2 frame. if you open the sequence that i sent to you frame by frame in prefab you will see that the frames are exactly at the same place as the previous one. i’m 100 % sure that the problem is in prefab 3d program. check you e-mail to see the 3ds max file if it’s moving or not and then tell me that i’ve moved the vertices.

’ i’m 100 % sure that the problem is in prefab 3d program.’

Well it’s not. But to make sure, as I surely want to fix eventual bugs/problems, that’s exactly why I opened your files all at once in a third party app such as ac3d.
The pict that you see is not Prefab, it is ac3d. I loaded your keyframes as they are all at once. no edit no nothing.

You can cleary see on the pict, (and I saw all the jelly problems on other locations of the mesh too) that all what is experienced as a “wrong” animation, is actually exactly what you give to the animator and it stupidly plays the data exactly as you gave it.

Looking at the data, you easily can load all your models, at onces, and select snap each vertices where you have the “jelly” problem. and reexport them one by one. Looking at it again, you have like 1 hour or less to go to fix all the artefacts. So it’s not really a desaster.

i’ve sent you all the files that i’ve got for this, how can you not see that the problem is not in 3ds max file or the sequence? Ok you created the program but just admit that is buggy that’s all.

I find your reaction a tiny childish. I spend time to help you, I pin point your pretty obvious modeling issue and now you blaim Prefab to be buggy?

I can understand your frustration, yet it’s not very fair. If there was a bug, I’m the first who want fix it, hence why I wanted to test your files.

Good luck!

just see the video that i’ve sent you, that’s all. i’ll use some other program that works fine with 3ds max, not this one