Hi there dear community, i have been searching about this for a while but i have not managed to import the vertex animation from modifiers or by manually tweak the vertices in 3ds max to MED.

I have tried by exporting as FBX and 3DS. I have also set up my FBX exporter correctly. If i try to scale the model why autokeying its working. But not vertice animations.

So please help me with this ppl! :-)

Regards, Danbannan.

Create you model in 3ds Max in “T” pose.
Texture your model and add the bones and envelopes so the model is ready for animation. (Your model must be a single mesh).

First Part: 3ds Max work flow.

1 - Select your model (Just the model not anything else like lights or cameras or whatever extra things in you scene).

2 - Go to File/Export Select and save your model as a *.3DS file. Example: Hero.3ds

3 - Save your Max model with a different name. Example: Hero_anim.max (This is optional. You can continue working in your scene in Max if you want to.)

4 - Animated your model inside Max for example: from frame 2 to frame 10 animate your walk frames, from frame 11 to frame 20 your attack animation, etc.

5 - Now that the animation process is done with the model selected (the model must be selected) we need to go frame by frame selecting the desire key frame of animation that we are going to export with the proper name:

Your frame #2 in 3ds Max is the frame #1 in your animation cycle. With the model select we go to File/Export Select and we saved as a *.3DS file example: walk00.3ds.

We need to do the same with every frame that we need in the final model of the game until we have all the necessary frames that our model is going to use. Always remember: Max key frame saved as the animation name key frame.


Second Part: MED work flow.


Now we have all our frames and model exported from 3ds Max as *.3DS files.
1 - Lunch MED and go to File/Import/Model from 3DS now select the first model that we export from 3ds Max (Hero.3ds).

2 - Once again go to File/Import/Append Frames from 3DS and this time select all the animation frames that previously export from 3ds Max.

All the frames are going to be added to your model as the key frames of the animation with the correct name.

3 - Now we need to correct the size and the position in our model so go to Edit/Select All.

4 - Once again go to Edit/Scale model global and scale the model to the correct proportion.

5 - Once again go to Edit/Transform model global and position the model so the center of the model is aligned with the gravity point in MED.

Well that’s all. I hope this could help you. Unfortunately this is the only way I know.

Best Regards.

Lol that's such a pain workflow

all you have to do is export the scene in 3dsmax as ascii and then import in med as 3dsmax ascii and your vertex animation works perfectly, I do this with simulated stuff such as cloth animation that are then baked into the timeline as vertex animation.

Well dude, It looks like you have everything cover.

Any ways. Thank for the info. I'll try that when I get home.

why not export to FBX? then you can have bones exported and imported in MED too...

Edit: sorry, read the post wrong... you already tried, but It worked for me before, so i dont know why that shouldnt work then...

Enduriel: Thanks, that was what i was after, i struggled with the vertex animations for a while but ascii works well! :-) I have some questions about the accuracy of the animation, how can i wenhance it? I have a 60frames animation, but when it is imported to MED it is 22frames and less accurate.

3dworld: Thanks for the instructions but i knew this already, it was vertex animation information export/import i was after :-)

I sorted it out with playing around with the export setup :-)