Biturn 0.88

I have heard from several people that they have had trouble with Biturn for converting to .ase format. I just downloaded the latest version on the web (http://mirex.mypage.sk/index.php?selected=1 )and didn't seem to have any problems - I've attached the relevant files for reference.

Note that textures never import with the .ase file and I did import the texture before scaling (by 1/10) to get a good scale for Alice.

This was done on a machine with XP and the latest updates - I have no idea whether this will work on a Vista machine or a Mac.

Since the last specific comment (from rich0e0rick) was regarding Anim8or, my personal favorite for making objects, I thought I'd make sure that worked.

See the attached files - everything seemed normal (including default Anim8or scaling being way to large). Also, every texture you asign in Anim8or is imported as a separate sub-object into Alice - a very nice feature if used carefully. (Beyond that, none of Anim8or's rigging will import, unfortunately.)

I've posted some of this elsewhere, but it's probably worth repeating here. Just because you don't get a successful conversion via Biturn for import to Alice doesn't necessarily mean that Biturn isn't working correctly.

Many of the models available on the web have serious problems - either with the database themselves or the version and degree of support of the various standards they adhere too. I've found the .3ds format to be the "safest" - but even so it doesn't always work, and since it is a binary format it's almost impossible to debug.

There are also many, many "game" formats which have gone through several generations of development - often without backward compatibility. Some of these are covered with programs available from the same site as Biturn, but I would suggest if you are working with these, you also look at the MilkShape program, which has very nice file conversion options. (Blender is another option here - but somewhat more difficult to use.)

The .obj export from Anim8or used to have some problems - which could be fixed with some difficulty in a text editor, since the .obj format is a text format. This is supposed to be fixed in the latest version - but I haven't tried it since .3ds export works fine.

In addition to giving a warning (which can be ignored, since the texture wouldn't be used anyway) when Alice can't read a texture file - there are also at least two other "real" errors that can appear when you try to import an .ase format object. You should always check for these if you get a warning/error message when trying to import.

First, Alice doesn't accept blank names (two successive quotation marks) in files. Second, the very common "dot" naming convention (body.arm.hand) is not accepted for some reason. This latter, in particular, makes importing from Sketchup very difficult, even if you can get from the Sketchup format (typically .kmz) to a .3ds file.

Since .ase is also a text format, both errors can be corrected manually with a text editor, but it can get quite tedious.

thank you, the first method worked fine but not all objects,some big are not.
i wonder if there is any application can convert .3ds to .ase
hope we can find soooooon