Bolt

In the FBX file, ac_unit_02 has negative scaling in its node transform (-1,-1,-1). Don't use negative scaling for mirroring or anything else. In fact, I would say use of negative scaling or non-uniform scaling is bad for hierarchy transforms. Just get rid of it before exporting your models to FBX. Problem solved.

It's a vertex-weight issue. Not all of the vertex weights sum to 255 after conversion, so the vertices get deformed incorrectly. There's a float-to-byte conversion routine when exporting weights. Perhaps some accuracy is lost after the conversion, so the converted sum doesn't add up to 255 anymore. GMF Vertex Dump: [4192] bweights: 133, 121, 0, 0 (sum: 254) [4193] bweights: 216, 18, 18, 1 (sum: 253) [4194] bweights: 104, 90, 55, 4 (sum: 253) [4195] bweights: 110, 94, 49, 0 (sum: 253) [4196] bweights: 156, 94, 4, 0 (sum: 254) [4197] bweights: 143, 66, 44, 0 (sum: 253) [4198] bweights: 111, 103, 22, 16 (sum: 252) [4199] bweights: 127, 91, 33, 1 (sum: 252) ... Even a small discrepancy of 1 or 2 will cause distortion. All converted weights must sum to 255. I added a fix to my GMF exporter, and everything looks ok now. The fbx2mdl converter will have to be updated too. Note to Josh.

How are you getting "colour materials" without using textures? A custom shader? What I'm saying there are no material colors stored inside a MDL file. MDL files are only setup for textured surfaces.

Just FYI, MDL models only support textured materials. They won't display colored materials. Without a texture, no shader will be found. But, regardless, those materials should not be dropped. That wasn't intended. This issue can be fixed.

[edit] I think I found the problem. Some materials might get dropped if they don't reference a texture. Your model has 3 materials. But, none of these materials have textures. This might be a bug.

Josh, can the prune bones feature be disabled as a switch? Maybe leave it on by default, but turn it off by a switch, like -pboff ? Something for advanced users who know what they're doing.

Not a bug. This is intended behavior. The fbxmdl converter will automatically prune empty leaf bones. This is intended to optimize the bone count by removing useless bones. To keep the bones, you can assign vertices to them, as you mentioned. So, this issue is not related to Leadwerks. The bones have already been pruned away in your MDL file. If you want to keep these bones, then you should make a case for it. Explain why it's important to keep them.

If you want to batch convert multiple FBX files to Leadwerk's MDL format, you can create a simple MSDOS commandline batch file (.bat), such as: for %%X in (*.fbx) do fbx2mdl.exe "%%X" Of course, your DirectX files need to be in FBX format first.

Is your model using a shader combination of diffuse+normal+specular maps? I downloaded the LE3 demo a while ago, and noticed that the barbarian model that comes with the Darkness Awaits demo has some UV/texture corruption too. I can see this in both the Map Editor and Model Editor. I assumed it's either a bug with the Editor or perhaps my older graphics card (only OpenGL 2.1) doesn't support the shaders being used. Here's a screenshot of the demo running on my computer. Notice the UV/texture corruption on the face and shield. To test my guess, I edited the barbarian.mat, and changed it to a diffuse only shader: //shader="shaders\dynamic\diffuse+normal.shader" shader="shaders\dynamic\diffuse.shader" texture0=".\barbarian.tex" //texture1=".\barbarian_dot3.tex" //texture2=".\barbarian_spec.tex" Ran the Editor again, and the UV/texture corruption went away. So, I would say something is happening with the shaders being used and my graphics card. Nothing is wrong with your converted file. This is the LE3 Demo from April, so I don't know if it's already been fixed or not.

Just FYI, the fbx2gmf.exe tool does not automatically create .MAT files. .MAT files are necessary for animation. And the .MAT file must specify a skin shader. The latest GMF plugin for Unwrap3D will automatically create .MAT files for you. It will detect whether you're using a static or skinned mesh, and write out the appropriate shader. The fbx2gmf tool is better in the sense that it will preserve the original FBX mesh hierarchy. The Unwrap3D plugin will not preserve mesh hierarchies. It will combine all meshes into one mesh. For animated character models, you would probably prefer a single skinned mesh. But, if you have something like a vehicle with wheels, then you might prefer keeping the mesh hierarchy in tact. As you might want the wheels to rotate about their own axes, which is not possible with a combined mesh.

If you're exporting from 3dsmax, and need to preserve smoothing, then I recommend FBX over all other formats. I wrote a short tutorial on how to export FBX smoothing groups from 3dsmax: http://unwrap3d.com/u3d/quicktip_smoothing.aspx If you don't export smoothing groups, then that's exactly what you'll get in Unwrap3D. A model without smoothing information (picture #2). And, if for some reason, all you have is a FBX file without smoothing information, Unwrap3D can create it for you. Unwrap3D has a tool called AutoSmooth Faces that works similiarly like the AutoSmooth tool found in 3dsmax. See 3D Tools -> AutoSmooth Faces.

It's not a bug, it's by design. Currently, there are no tools in Unwrap 3D to edit the vertex normals separately, so Unwrap 3D will calculate its own vertex normals based on how edges are connected. So, if all edges belonging to a vertex are connected, it will look smooth. The default box primitive is fully welded, so all vertices will look smooth. This is by design. But, to overcome this limitation, Unwrap 3D has many tools to unweld edges. The best tool is AutoSmooth Faces, which works exactly like the AutoSmooth tool found in 3dsmax. It unwelds sharp edges, while keeping flat edges smooth. This is especially useful for models that have curved surfaces, such as barrels, poles, cylinders, or cones. If there were tools in Unwrap 3D to edit vertex normals, it would probably work like Maya. In Maya, you can make an edge hard or soft, and this will change how the vertex normals appear at that edge. Hard edges appear sharp, and soft edges appear smooth. I would prefer implementing this method over 3dsmax's smoothing groups, as I see it as being easier to use and understand. Now, if you're wondering what happens to vertex normals when exporting to a GMF file, you can be assured, that they won't change. The same vertex normals you see in Unwrap 3D are the same vertex normals that are exported to GMF. So, what you see is what you get, in terms of vertex normals. I hope that helps.