Hi guys, after öy many tests with different modeling, texturing and exporting I've finally figured out the best way to use 3d characters in Visionaire. Still can't say that it works %100 but %99 its working now. Here are my steps.1-) I 3d modeled the character with T-pose in 3ds max. (Legs, torso, hands, head, shoes modeled seperatly). IMPORTANT, try not to work very hi-res. 2-) Exported the model to ZBrush for sculpting then export as obj.3-) Unwraped the exported model for texturing and did the texturing in Mari. (Textures are 1024x1024, higher resolutions have issues in Visionaire)* Till now its more or less a standard character development procedure.4-) Then I Imported the model into 3ds max again. In 3ds max, I've merged all the parts (Legs, head, torso etc..) into 1 mesh.5-) Then I used biped for rigging the character.6-) After rigging, I skinned the model and animate it. Now model is ready for exporting, which is the other important part![u]Exporting[/u]7-) I used Alin Direct-X exporter (free-version). Download link: http://www.cgdev.net/download.php[u]Export settings;[/u]* In [b]GENERAL TAB [/b]just select (scene root, material, bone, mesh, skin, animation). Leave all others unchecked!* In [b]VERTEXT ELEMENTS TAB[/b] just select (Textcoords). Leave all others unchecked!* In [b]TEXTURES TAB[/b] just select (Textures and overwrite). Leave all others unchecked!* In [b]MULTIPLE UV SETS TAB[/b]. Leave all others unchecked!* In [b]ANIMATIONS TAB[/b]. Write down your animations. Uncheck [b]keyframes[/b]* In [b]TIME LINE TAB[/b]. Uncheck 3ds max and select custom with the parameter 1.* In [b]STANDARD material TAB[/b]. Uncheck all* In [b]DIRECT X SHADER TAB[/b]. Uncheck all* In [b]COORDINATE SYSTEMnTAB[/b]. Uncheck all (If model looks weird then try to check Right-handed)* X-File format should be text.In Visioanaire Studio, you should adjust the settings for the camera height and angle to match the character angle with your scene.p.s 1, This work-flow work most of the times for me but I think there are some bugs related with 3d in Visionaire. And when I use higher-res models with high-res textures then Visionaire starts to suffer and shuts down :)

About the shader camera... like the earthquake feature it currently pans the camera off screen, so that you can see black on the outside. I'm not sure if you want it to do that or not, but I've asked Simon if he can add me a couple entries in the data structure at some point (when he can) which will allow me to prevent the camera from going off the screen by checking the current scroll position against the game resolution & the scene background width & height.quick example of random value using math.random function...[code]math.random(100) -- will generate a random value between 0 & 100math.random(5, 20) -- generate a random value between 5 & 20 etc...[/code]quick example of random earthquake using shaderPan() function...[code]local pos -- variable which will be used to store current scroll positionlocal tx = 0 -- variable which will store previous time value for xlocal ty = 0 -- variable which will store previous time value for ylocal dx = 0 -- variable which will be used to store random delay value for x panlocal dy = 0 -- variable which will be used to store random delay value for y pan local rx, ry -- variables used to store random offset values for x & yfunction loopQuake() pos = game:getPoint(VGameScrollPosition) -- x -- if tx == 0 or getTime() >= tx + dx then rx = math.random(-10, 10) dx = math.random(1000, 3000) shaderPan(pos + rx, -1, dx, easeBounceOut) tx = getTime() end -- y -- if ty == 0 or getTime() >= ty + dy then ry = math.random(-10, 10) dy = math.random(1000, 3000) shaderPan(-1, pos + ry, dy, easeBounceOut) ty = getTime() endendfunction startQuake() registerEventHandler("mainLoop", "loopQuake")endfunction endQuake() unregisterEventHandler("mainLoop", "loopQuake")end[/code]...I've written this off the top of my head & have no clue if it will work or not. You will need to include the latest version of the shader toolkit script as I've just updated the shaderPan function.To start earthquake, just create an execute a script action part containing...[code]startQuake()[/code]...to end earthquake, same again but containing...[code]endQuake()[/code]Quick explanation of the script I've written above: I've made it so that when you execute the startQuake() function it creates a loop (defined in the loopQuake function) which does all the random calculations & random delay values. You start & end the earthquake with the examples I provided above. The main script should be included as a definition script.

There's actually an earthquake feature already which can be found under the miscellaneous action parts. I believe that it will be improved in the future so that you can control the force & speed of x & y independently.You could also use the new shader camera controls to make an earthquake effect also or if you wanted to shake an object then you could use the new move object action part or the lua script equivalent that can be found on the wiki under workflow functions on the script index page.

https://www.dropbox.com/s/ipa63k1twwdlmn3/test_shader.zip?dl=0Ignore the filename as it's the .ved I've been using to test out the new shader functions, as well as edit & write my own. You will see when you launch the game that it displays a timer using displayed text (background) above the characters head from 1 minute 30 seconds to 0 & then when it reaches 0 it will display a timer finished message.The actions for this are located in the main scene in the at begin of scene actions.

hehe.I found lua script to be a little illogical at first also.First lesson: Lua is not an acronym, or abbreviation. It is simply lua, which means [b]moon[/b] in Portuguese.Once you understand the basics & the syntax of the Visionaire Studio data structure tables then you will find it's a lot simpler than you think. It's certainly no Visual Basic for simplicity, but easy enough to pick up, even if you've dabbled in basic html web code.I liked the phailed.me blog, it has some nice & easy to follow explanations & examples, & it even gives you a list of things to try doing with what you have learned thus far - if you have been going through each section from the first one.If you want complicated then you should look at the openGL code. The documentation for that is very limited & what little there is makes no sense. I get general idea of what some things are for/do, but it's unlikely I'll ever be able to write my own custom shader scripts unless I learn C.If you want a fun & interactive way of learning lua - well sort of - then I suggest installing the löve2d game engine framework, sublime text 3 (paid or evaluation - evaluation is indefinite) & adding the build script listed on their wiki & then have a go at some of their basic tutorials. When you hit ctrl+b or select build in the menu, then it will build whatever you have written into a workable.exe file. It's quite fun.Check it out here: http://love2d.org - there's no IDE like VS for the engine, you have to work in a text editor.Finally: I have begun working on a basic guide to Lua script myself, with simple explanations, code snippets & screenshot of what I wrote in sublime text & what was printed to the console log when I hit build.http://wiki.visionaire-tracker.net/wiki/Basic_lua -- this is old page at the minute & needs replacing with introduction text & an index of what I will be covering, plus links.http://wiki.visionaire-tracker.net/wiki/Basic_lua:_Operators -- this is only page I've written so far & is currently missing the mathematical operators.