Posted By: tompo
Render Monkey - 04/13/07 18:41
How to use exported .fx files from Render Monkey?
Because when I exported .fx file and include all .3ds models from this .fx file... nothing happened. Maybe is somewhere a tutorial?
Posted By: bstudio
Re: Render Monkey - 04/13/07 18:54
first of all the render monkey fx files won't work directly but have to be converted. second of all, fx files are used like this:
Code:
material shader_material
{
effect = "effect.fx";
}
action model_with_shader
{
my.material = shader_material;
}
just assign the action to the model and you're done
Posted By: tompo
Re: Render Monkey - 04/13/07 19:00
THX I know how to attach .fx to material, by thx anyway.
More importand thing... how to convert?!
Posted By: bstudio
Re: Render Monkey - 04/13/07 20:29
for example the world matrix has to be the one used by 3dgs, there is some stuff in the manual at the shaders department
I think there was a great tutorial on Ackenex unlimited...
(about using shaders in GS... canīt remerber if there was specificaly told about rendermonkey, but its a good start)
greetz tgm
Posted By: bstudio
Re: Render Monkey - 04/15/07 17:47
You mean the introduction to shader programming? Yes that is a great starting point for beginning shader programmers. Though converting rendermonkey shaders shouldn't be too tough
yeah... exact.. converting from Rendermonkey is as simple as possible(just have to set the globals...) but u need to have a little idea of what is gooing on inside the shader...(iīm not that a shader guy, but when i fianly understood how they work it was no problem converting some simple tests to GS...)
Posted By: oliver2s
Re: Render Monkey - 04/16/07 20:09
If you use Rendermonkey .fx files, you have to rename the float4x4 variables into 3DGS names (like the MatWorldViewProj matrix).
Posted By: bstudio
Re: Render Monkey - 04/17/07 09:00
well all float4x4 are variables
Posted By: tompo
Re: Render Monkey - 04/17/07 10:17
Maybe liitle example? PLEASE
F.e. code from render monkey and next "fixed" one to use in 3dgs
Posted By: Excessus
Re: Render Monkey - 04/17/07 10:43
There is a list of shader variables in the manual. These are the variables that the engine can send to the shader. If you want to convert a shader, you should just rename the variables to the ones in that list. Usually this is very straightforward. For example, you could see a variable MWVP or world_view_proj, and you'd change that to the 3dgs name: matWorldViewProj. If you've got a little shader knowledge you can also guess the right variable from the way it is used in the shader.
It's not really possible to create a general list for conversion, because every shader (for a different engine/tool) will use different names for their variables. I don't know rendermonkey, but if it uses a single variable naming sheme, you could create such a list or even automate it.
I'd say just give it a try and when you get stuck, ask for help. Generally I rather help someone who has given it a try for themselves, than just doing all the work for them..
EDIT: one more hint for converting: generally, you can recognize a variable that has to be changed by the fact that it is not assigned a value:
float4x4 mwvp; // This is not initialized, so it must be set by the engine -> change it to matWorldViewProj.
float4 baseColor = {0.3f, 0.7f, 0.2f, 1.0f}; // A value is assigned so this variable doesn't have to be changed.
Sometimes, a variable is not assigned where it is defined, but where it is used:
int numTaps;
float4 mypixelshader(inTexcoord : TEXCOORD0)
{numTaps = 4; // Initialized here, this is clearly not a variable that is set by the engine.
blur(numTaps, inTexcoord);
}
Thanks Excessus. This is a very helpful answer. I even did not know that there is a shader variable list in the manual. I have to look for it.
Posted By: Uhrwerk
Re: Render Monkey - 04/17/07 13:35
That's some very usefull information, Excessus. Thank you! Maybe this could be worth an article in the wiki?