Universal Model Converter - Side Development Thread

[Tcll]

just fixing minor issues with VIEWER:


I'm also working on being able to export materials and textures

PlPkNr.dat still crashes the viewer with a GL error
(the display list generator returns a tuple for some reason) >.>
^ it's supposed to return a long-int :/

 

[Tiberious]

so... has this project died?

 

[Tcll]

lol no
I know it seems like it, but it's actually quite active...
check the Repo for the latest commit
https://github.com/Tcll/Universal_Model_Converter_dev4x

I'm actually working on fixing up a bunch of things first (such as improving performance)

that aside, I've got alot hitting me right now with life and all,
and I'm actually kinda taking somewhat of a short break to work on some docs and references for building both dev4x and dev5 ascripts.
(I'm not one to set a project down and not touch it for a while)
I've been wanting to work on some legit docs for some time now actually, and now I can have some fun while doing it publicly:
http://tcll5850.proboards.com/board/42/umc-related
^nowhere near complete >_>

that aside, I've also been working on a bunch of plugins for my forum:
http://tcll5850.proboards.com
(alot of the stuff that should've been done by PB already)

I'm actually alot more active there than here or anywhere else...
(got alot of work to do on my forum, and alot of stuff to re-create because PB messed up on a recovery, invalidating my data)


and even more recently, I've gotten into a game called "Pokemon Generations" which has also been taking it's time away from me...
I'm getting pretty bored with it lately as there's not really too much to do in it currently (just like my project)
but I can't wait for the final update =3

now that I've gotten a little bored with it, I should be hitting my projects a bit more now

as for the MD5 script... IDK... I'd like to and all, but yea...
it overfills the plate by a tad, and has fallen off a few times... (I failed again)

one last thing I'm trying to do is work on a Blender26 MDL0 script...
I've decided to look into the TEVs and settings used by the materials...
Blender's Nodes are able to mimic them precisely:

NOTE: the nodes can also be shared between materials, just like the TEVs in Brbx

EDIT:
I'll be honest...
I'm kinda getting tired of being the only one working on this project... -.-

I'm not stopping, but I do wish I had some help...
for those who do want to help, my active repository is on DropBox,
so you'll need that if you wanna do anything.

the GitHub repo is for backups and working updates from the active repo.

 

[Tiberious]

Well, it's not so much MD5 that I'm looking for, but just some way to get Melee models into Blender with the joints and weighting. If that's through an external format, alright, but it could also be an extension of the Blender plugin. Either of those methods is fine by me. Get kinda frustrated when a mod for these characters has bad rigging or isn't even centered on import, and think a tool like this would let the rest of us make decent Melee mods or just use the models for other purposes.

 

[Tcll]

ah, in that case, perfection takes time, and alot of it
just know that it will come.

that current model of Pichu isn't even worth it's while, it's weighted so horribly >_<
and I still want A GOOD Pichu just as badly as before.
(aside from the fact I'm gonna pull off perfect conversion (in general) anyways)

Get kinda frustrated when a mod for these characters has bad rigging or isn't even centered on import

same, and there's more than quite a few that could be done better >_>

help me out on this (with anything, not just coding), I see that burning passion for this thing.
what are you good at?? I'll make room for you in that area.

EDIT:
if you wanna help out with coding, but can't because you're a noob at it,
I can add you as a commentor on my repo

you'll get to play around with the actual src files of my current dev,
but only to add commenting and information about specific codes for other noobs.

basically, if you find a code that looks important, but isn't commented well enough for you to understand,
ask me, and I'll tell you what it does.
you can then add a comment of what I tell you to that code for others to see.
(so other noobs following your path will have their questions answered)

 

[Tcll]

just so you guys know,
I've just now committed an update that switches the image handling for both SSBM.py and NTDO_TEX0.py over to using a library.

meaning no more seperate image handling (duplicated code) for Nintendo-related scripts
simply place "RVL_IMG" in the library imports and call readimg(Width,Height,Format) which will return UMC-formatted image data for setImage()

I actually had to fix an issue in COMMON to get the library working for the TEX0 image script... heh
so libraries pretty much work properly now...
the only downside is libraries won't have a header until dev5 (for update purposes)

 

[Tcll]

good news :3

Blender26 has a good src for a VRML 2.0 exporter.
(the format is about just as simple as OBJ with a few restrictions)

so I'm working on that now
(yes, it supports bones)


gawd... UMC makes me SO glad I stopped working on Blender scripts
(you don't need to worry about file handling and data structuring, which takes a good 2/3 of the code away)
^ the last part is UMC's function format was built for simplicity, which also clears up a goos 1/3 of that code

this means UMC scripts use a good 78% less code than Blender scripts.
(suitable for noobs getting into 3D programming or even game development)

but THAT can be cleared up even more by using libraries to handle your data for a particular format.
(that's variable though depending on what the library manages, so it could possibly even add more code)


EDIT:
I've just done some digging, as the Blender26 src is only as good as OBJ...
(I've fully converted the src and dropped a good 60% of the full code)

but yea, so I've done digging and found VRML 2.0 was replaced by VRML97

I know Blender24 has a VRML97 (im/ex)porter, so I'll look into that one instead

 

[Tcll]

updated the OP with the new repos

my real-time public development repo is on DropBox
help me out by giving me space on my repo (join DropBox) (an extra 500MB for both you and me)
I only have 2.3GB total space for both dev4.5 AND dev5.

EDIT:
development has shifted to my forum.
I will most likely not be updating here (nor kc-mm) about UMC anymore.

it was fun while it lasted

feel free to question me on here though
I'm not trying to force anyone to subscribe to my forum.

 

[Tcll]

so I've found out the problem with Melee Pikachu,
and apparently there's a conflict going on with my GPU (because Intel sucks)

my Desktop:


my Laptop:


and yes, Melee Pika's bone structure is almost exactly like Brawl's

 

[Tcll]

well in more recent news, I've finally started work on my official build of UMC dev5

I'm currently working on the sub-systems (currently the data handlers), and have defined some new types.
the bu_() function is no more...
now it's become bu()()

confusing?
not really...
the first parenthesis are the byte-size, and will even work as such:
>>> BU32 == bu(4)
True

this is for the new data management system:

var = bu32()
if type(var) == BU32: #do something

which can also be written:

var = bu(4)()
if type(var) == bu(4): #do something

take note that BU32 IS bu(4) as it's internal definition

this new method can also be applied to strings in structures:
NOTE: not built yet

header = struct(

STRING(4),
bu(4),
BU16,
BU16
)


EDIT: change of plans...
BU32 and such isn't happening due to the layout of bu(4)

so now I'm able to lay it out as:
if type(var) == bu32:

 

[Tcll]

well... sorry for the delay of posts and such...
to all of my supporters, the project is still quite active,
but development on dev4.5 has died down due to some info and inspiration for dev5.

but even still, I've also been working on this:

^no that's not the dev5 script format anymore... that idea died ages ago

UMC_SIDE is a fully automated data parsing system and IDE for UMC scripts of any type of data already supported by UMC.
it's meant to help even the noobest of noobs with developing UMC scripts
(it also helps me because it's fully visual, like HexEdit)

so while I'm not posting many images, I HAVE been working on things

EDIT:
yes, it's my laptop...
my development compy died while I was working on this...
I'm still working on recovering the files, and then have to install Windows again

 

[Tcll]

well, in further news, UMC development might just be moving to Linux.

I've already stated that I refuse to dev on Win7, and don't intend to dev on any future platforms either.
(MS screwed themselves with their sugar-coated monkey poop there)

I'll still keep my XP64 system as a dual-boot, but if it starts to bog down and give me errors, I'm definately gonna start using Linux more.

Windows users shouldn't need to worry by much as I try to limit myself to multi-platform libraries, so what works on Linux, SHOULD work for Windows.
(same src, just different loaders and interpreters)

 

[Tcll]

so here's an update... anyone remember my last attempt at a GUI update?
well, since then, I've gotten it working on the current src:

as you can see, it still F's up some things

I'm gonna switch the font to an ugly bitmap font because the current interface is really slow.
it doesn't lag on my current compy (a dual-core gaming beast), but my secondary ran it at about 3FPS...
I havn't tried my laptop yet...

 

[MopedOfJustice]

Awesome. Keep up the good work!

 

[Tcll]

broke the fonts again, but got an even more recent GUI update working:
(the most recent one before I scrapped that build)



yes, it still bamfs the Z-order... I have no idea what's causing this... heh

but I've just taken care of a bunch of crash issues... heh
the scrollbars used to work, but they don't now for some reason <.<
and then I need to fix up the fonts using display lists with a textured quad for each character...
(I can easily mod the color then)

 

[Tcll]

woopsies... found a small problem with the hit-defs for the selectbox widget

when resizing the window, the outer hit-defs don't update

thank you BJ for telling me to redo my system to support float(pxWidth),float(pxHeight) instead of 1.0,1.0
though the system is currently putting quite alot of stress on my CPU.
(the thing runs at about 2.5FPS on my primary dev-compy).

that could be a mis-calculation in the layering interface causing it to redraw everything instead of only what's needed.
(I havn't gotten to that part just yet, so fingers crossed)

if it works as expected (better than the old method),
I won't need to do as much conversion math when calculating the quad-sizes, which will REALLY boost performance.
(because the GUI in dev4x is handled via the CPU instead of the GPU)
^ dev4x can't do shaders, which is why I'm building dev5 from scratch.

EDIT: fixed

 

[Tcll]

got another feature working
(had to redo the layering and add a priority to EVERY widget and drawing function to get this working properly)


^uses the same trick as everything else to achieve only 1 alpha layer for the entire GUI

the trick:
1: turn GL_BLEND on
2: draw the FG
3: draw the BG

the result: the FG and BG don't interfere with each other

soon enough I intend to add my own file browser
*M-fingers Tkinter*

my file browser won't need you to verify from multiple scripts using the same filetype

Tkinter doesn't return an ID for the filetype filter,
so prompting for verification via the console was the only means I had. >_<

 

[Tcll]

yay, more crud and broken things :af:

it never ends...

note that the model scrollbar and animations button is hidden.
they show when they're supposed to hide, and hide when they're supposed to show.

and I have no idea what's up with the text textures...
(each letter is it's own textured quad as a display list)

 

[Tcll]

1 little 2 little 3 little errors gone


4 little 5 little 6 little errors gone


7 little 8 little 9 little errors gone


and I've still got a million more to go.


inb4MopedOfJusticelikesthis

 

[MopedOfJustice]

1 little 2 little 3 little errors gone

4 little 5 little 6 little errors gone

7 little 8 little 9 little errors gone

and I've still got a million more to go.


inb4MopedOfJusticelikesthis

Oh my, I didn't know you felt that way...

I was attempting to offer encouragement and boost the Post:Like ratio, given how you post a lot here.

 

[Tcll]

lol you're fine
just thought I'd have a little fun :3

EDIT:

Location: City Trial

^ +1

 

[Tcll]

are you interested in becoming a member of my repo??

just let me know and I'll add ya


EDIT:
note, my repo is not just for development
you can also learn if you wanna do something for UMC

I've actually got someone on who's just in it to learn python for his project.

 

[MopedOfJustice]

are you interested in becoming a member of my repo??

just let me know and I'll add ya


EDIT:
note, my repo is not just for development
you can also learn if you wanna do something for UMC

I've actually got someone on who's just in it to learn python for his project.

I'll get back to you on that.

 

[Tcll]

anyways... here's a few more errors I get with UMC:


- scrollbars don't work
- selection box text defaults upon video resize
- the middle selection box had to be hacked to update upon state-change

I know it doesn't look like much has changed other than a few additions,
but the entire interface for this has been completely rebuilt.
(old interface didn't support layering and was near impossible to support fonts)

layering is the result of what's happening to the widgets in the middle panel.
(they're still being drawn behind the anim panel BG)

that aside, I'm finding I can up the interface logic even further to make things even faster and put even less stress on the CPU...
but that's alot of support to add, so not now...

 

[Tcll]

You have been awarded a trophy: I Like It a Lot

@ MopedOfJustice : thanks

I hope you're not just liking them JUST to boost the post-like ratio,
you could get in trouble there... >.>
plus, yea, it's kindof annoying when you post something extremely pointless, and see it get liked, when it's not even worth liking
(not saying you've done that yet, but it's for future notice)

may I ask that you mod your like ratio a bit
I know all of my posts are cool (I purposely do that) XD
but mod it to like the stuff that's overly cool. =)

I'm just afraid of you getting in trouble, otherwize I don't mind 1 bit.
(because some people like to like just to like and don't care about the content)

 

[Tcll]

take note that I am an idiot:


see:


the article where it happened:
http://www.opengl.org/discussion_bo...em-with-fonts-and-abusive-transparency-layers

 

[MopedOfJustice]

Thanks for the advise, but I'm not just boosting.

I'm also liking to show support for the content of the posts, which is a legitimate use of the feature.

Besides, even f it was indiscriminate and doing so would cause trouble, MorbidAltruism would have been banned years ago.

 

[Tcll]

btw, if anyone wants to mod the currently released src for UMC... feel free

and when I make the release here, do what you like
because dev5 will automatically update with the option to downdate if needed

these pics are all from an incompatible system... even the interpreter is outdated (python 2.7.3)
dev5 will use python 2.7.5


dev5 is completely rebuilt to use Modern GL...
by rights, I should be selling that while making this the free version...
but:
- I hate money
- I want users to have the best of what I can offer (both knowledge and usage)
- I want to uncover what most don't want you to know

I have nothing I want to make money from... (including my game system)

basically... I want to change the world...

I'll open a paypal account when I make my release for those of you who want to help out by other means
(because our current system of life is stupid)

 

[MopedOfJustice]

btw, if anyone wants to mod the currently released src for UMC... feel free

and when I make the release here, do what you like
because dev5 will automatically update with the option to downdate if needed

these pics are all from an incompatible system... even the interpreter is outdated (python 2.7.3)
dev5 will use python 2.7.5


dev5 is completely rebuilt to use Modern GL...
by rights, I should be selling that while making this the free version...
but:
- I hate money
- I want users to have the best of what I can offer (both knowledge and usage)
- I want to uncover what most don't want you to know

I have nothing I want to make money from... (including my game system)

basically... I want to change the world...

I'll open a paypal account when I make my release for those of you who want to help out by other means
(because our current system of life is stupid)

The like button needs a multiplier.

 

[Tcll]

used a crummy method to fix it:

it just works

hopefully I won't need to change the color of that quad behind the text... >.>

gonna work on fixing that 1 px overlap on the widgets

EDIT:

The like button needs a multiplier.

ROFL!
indeed man! =3

 

[Tcll]

looking more like a GUI now :3

no more overlapping :3

the final GUI is gonna be alot prettier and rounder with alot more effects
but that's dev5+

the CPU wouldn't be able to handle all those effects per frame...
granted I could do a bit better on this GUI and make it even faster...
(the hidden stuff is still drawn because the panel is expanded)

so now to work on fixing a few final things before making this even better :3

after 'm finished, you'll start to see scroll-boxes for widget implamentations...
I'll switch the toggle-buttons and a few selection boxes to that...

I also wanna start work on the options and model panels, and work on a few tools such as inversing and (re)calculating the surface-normals.

 

[Tcll]

you know... I think I'm just gonna delete the scrollbar widget and use scrollboxes instead...
since that's basically what I need to make everything easier :3

I'll worry about the motion issue once I've built that

but right now I've got yet another issue getting in the way of things >_<
the selection box text changes to it's default on a video resize event... D:

EDIT:
alright... fixed that issue... selection box text is now proper, and the key5 hack also works properly.

 

[Tcll]

ugh... here's something fun...
another GL related issue 9_9

displays perfectly when there's no fonts on the screen:


but as soon as a font is displayed, the texture updates:


all I know is it's a priority issue in GL... not sure why the texture gets redirected here... >.>

a few more shots:
options panel:


updates panel:

^note, the update system will never be completed here... this is only to give users a feel of the interface action for the dev5 update

 

[Tcll]

well guys...
I'm quitting DropBox...
I just got an email this morning about their updated TOS...

it's been fun using them, but now they're becoming even more affiliated with the gov't.

I've found something better that doesn't use a server to store your data.
BitTorrent Sync is P2P for transferring your files.
so I can use that for my repo...

if anything happens, I'll prbly be using 4Shared for downloads.
if you create a 4Shared account, you won't have to use their downloader, so there's no risk of adware infection
and unlike MF, 4S doesn't delete your files for inactivity.

I'd switch to Mega, but they don't support Opera 12, and the newer versions of Opera still need a bit of work.
they're slow anyways... (but that could be for american users seeing as what our gov't did to MU causing them to do this)
I don't blame them for wanting to get a little pay-back. :3


also, for those of you interested in becoming part of my Repo, I'll no longer need your email.
since BTS is entirely local, you'll need to get BT Chat so I can securely share my folder keys with you.
"BitTorrent Chat taps P2P network for secure, NSA-proof messaging"

the only thing the NSA can do to me now is tap my computers through my network directly. >:3

 

[MopedOfJustice]

the only thing the NSA can do to me now is tap my computers through my network directly. >:3

Which is far from unheard of.

 

[Tcll]

Which is far from unheard of.

it's possible if you can break through the global network protocols, and then crack the local windows network protocols of another compy.

it wouldn't surprise me if the NSA already knew how to do that...
I assume they've practically re-designed the entire internet already...

I may not know alot about the network, but I do know how atrocious the linkage is between compys on the global network... heh

besides, BitTorrent is already doing it in a way...
though it requires the other end to have their program installed.

getting rid of that linkage IS possible, just a huge mess to code, which is why nobody does it...

might I say I'm designing my own type of internet that gets rid of all this DNS and ISP garbage...
(it's because of this the networks are so slow)
^ excluding the fact it takes time for electric current to travel long distances across wires >_>

 

[MopedOfJustice]

it's possible if you can break through the global network protocols, and then crack the local windows network protocols of another compy.

it wouldn't surprise me if the NSA already knew how to do that...
I assume they've practically re-designed the entire internet already...

I may not know alot about the network, but I do know how atrocious the linkage is between compys on the global network... heh

besides, BitTorrent is already doing it in a way...
though it requires the other end to have their program installed.

getting rid of that linkage IS possible, just a huge mess to code, which is why nobody does it...

might I say I'm designing my own type of internet that gets rid of all this DNS and ISP garbage...
(it's because of this the networks are so slow)
^ excluding the fact it takes time for electric current to travel long distances across wires >_>

That's much too complicated for their tastes.

 

[Tcll]

new plan...
one of my members is making me reconsider my idea of a real-time repo...
BTS isn't really working out due to time, and another member can't even install the client...

so we're considering moving everyone to an alternate GitHub repo for both repos...
however, even that's being reconsidered and we may move to just using the existing repos...

originally I wanted each update on them to be a working update... however... that may change...
(I was using it for working backups)

seeing as how UMC has undergone numerous edits since the last release and STILL has yet to be releasable,
losing our work now would be a catastrophe... so I may start using GitHub normally.

 

[thebaum64]

Yes, I am sorry I can not get it working just won't work :/ sorry man.

 

[Tcll]

wait till the next release... there's alot that'll be much improved

you'll get first-hand play anyways, once you get on my repo ;D