I am going to download RenderMonkey and check out the format that they use. Maybe something like a code converter would do the trick... or make my tool have the ability to import RenderMonkey shaders. I'll check it out and get back to you all.

@bupaje, I was actually thinking of doing a wizard to accompany it that would driectly insert your created shaders into your wdl file, and then come up with a list that lets you choose which actions have which shaders. Just an idea..

all of the above sounds excellent...to me shaders are the holy grail, but with no programming experience its out of reach... I am working on getting some shader professionals I work with into it, like I did with Newton...

I've been playing around with render monkey abit,it exports .fx files and then I use the c-script command
effect_load(material,string name);
"Loads an effect file in Microsoft .fx format from the work folder into the given material
Example:
effect_load(mtl_bump,"specularbump.fx");"

But it has errors because of the naming conventions used in render monkey I assume. Heres an simple .fx file exported from it.
Code:

---

//**************************************************************//

//  Effect File exported by RenderMonkey

//

//  - For this version, exporting to FX file is not perfect. 

//    There are many informations doesn't get exported. 

//    Currently, exporter does not try to resolve naming conflicts

//    ( functions, variables etc )

//    Please fix these issues before using this Effect file

//**************************************************************//

//--------------------------------------------------------------//

// Effect Group 1

//--------------------------------------------------------------//

//--------------------------------------------------------------//

// Effect 1

//--------------------------------------------------------------//

matrix matWorldViewProj;

string  ModelData = "G:/Programming/ATI Technologies/RenderMonkey/v1.0/Examples/Media/Models/ElephantBody.3ds";



//--------------------------------------------------------------//

// Single Pass

//--------------------------------------------------------------//

struct VS_OUTPUT 

{

   float4 Pos:     POSITION;

};

VS_OUTPUT vs_main( float4 inPos: POSITION )

{

   VS_OUTPUT Out;



   Out.Pos = mul(matWorldViewProj, inPos);



   return Out;

}



float4 ps_main( float4 inDiffuse: COLOR0 ) : COLOR0

{

   //  Output constant color:

   float4 color;

   color[0] = color[3] = 1.0;

   color[1] = color[2] = 0.0;

   return color;

}



//--------------------------------------------------------------//

// Technique Section for Effect Group 1

//--------------------------------------------------------------//

technique Effect_1

{

   pass Single_Pass

   {

      VertexShader = compile vs_1_1 vs_main();

      PixelShader = compile ps_1_1 ps_main();

   }



}  

---

It would be great if someone could make a program to seemlessly convert these files so they could be loaded right up, with the effect_load() c-script command.

Quote:

---

all of the above sounds excellent...to me shaders are the holy grail, but with no programming experience its out of reach... I am working on getting some shader professionals I work with into it, like I did with Newton...

---

That sounds cool. Whether you go that route, or someone cranks out a Rendermonkey convertor..the future seems bright for all of us that can't wrap our noggins around this. I took an Assembler class a few years ago so it isn't totally Greek to me, but this looks 10 times more complicated than that basic junk.

I'd like to see more of a collaberation between the 'artist types' and 'programmer types' -not that they are mutually exclusive but there are some people that are more comfortable in one camp than the other. I for one can see myself spending lots of time creating shaders as that is just the side of my brain I favor. Working together I could see a large library of quality shaders, along with an easy way of implementing them in 3DGS which will benefit all levels of the community and the product as a whole.

Please take this poll. Would you rather have the tool made in 3dgs or programmed from scratch with C++?

Benefits:
3DGS:
-The shader will be native to the shader program, thus showing you exactlly what it will look like in game.
-I am more familiar with wdl, allowing me to make it more advanced and as many features as possible, plus more current updates.

C++:
-A more professional look




Thanx!

How do you want your shader GUI? single choice
	Made in 3dgs - Like fourX particle generator
	Stand alone utility - Made in MSVC++ for example
Votes accepted starting: 04/10/04 11:45
View Results

Just for clarification are you speaking about a product that is free standing as opposed to a converter for RenderMonkey?

Still deciding, though a 3DGS specific tool would be funner.

If you are williong to put the time into it.. a 3dGS tool would be more helpfull than a rendermonkey converter.. for one thing, render monkey and all its examples are geared toward directX9 i think... in any case having our own shader program would also be a way to distribute shaders develoed by the people in the community...

What I wonder is if a RenderMonkey tool wouldn't allow us to benefit from what Doug suggests is rapidly becoming an industry standard; in other words there are likely to be many site's producing free and commercial shaders among a user base that will be many times larger than 3DGS. I guess there is no reason why you couldn't produce what you prefer and maybe have room later to have a converter added as I think I read somewhere in the RenderMonkey documentation that all shaders can be exported in an XML format that can be easily parsed by the free MS XML parser.

By the way on a side issue when I try to view a sample shader I get

ATI RENDERMONKEY
Compiling pixel shader API(D3D) /Fire Effects/Fire/Single Pass/Pixel Shader/ ... success
FAILED to create 'Fire/Single Pass/Pixel Shader' pixel shader, selected compile target isn't supported by user's hardware.
The maximum pixel shader target that your hardware supports is 0.0
Compiling vertex shader API(D3D) /Fire Effects/Fire/Single Pass/Vertex Shader/ ... success

and don't see anything. I have DX9.0b installed so does this mean my hardware doesn't support this? Haven't found an answer in the documentation yet ....