Tutorial written by Jason Yeung Last Updated on 10-6-2003
E-mail bvw-help@lists.andrew.cmu.edu with any questions.
PREREQUISITES:
You should already have the latest version of Panda 3d installed on your computer (at least installed as a Panda User) as well as Python version 2.2.3 (not Python 2.3). You should also have Maya 5 installed on your machine. If you do not have both Panda 3d and Maya on your machine, you will be unable to use the Maya2Egg plugin.
USING MAYA2EGG:
To get Maya models converted into Panda 3d, you must use the Maya2Egg program. Unlike the MaxEgg.dle plug-in that exists for 3d Studio Max, Maya2Egg must be run from the DOS command prompt.
First, copy both your Maya .mb file and your texture files into a directory. Open them up in Maya to make sure the Maya file still loads the texture. Then close Maya and open up a Command Prompt. Change directory to the directory containing the Maya file and type the following command:
maya2egg –help
This command should print out all the parameters that maya2egg takes. However, for our purposes, this command should be sufficient:
maya2egg myMayaModel.mb myEggModel.egg
The above command should start the maya2egg conversion on a Maya File that does not contain a skeleton. This should yield an egg file that contains a static model. If you wish to get animations, you need to use the –a parameter:
maya2egg –a model myCharacterModel.mb myEggModel.egg
maya2egg –a chan myCharacterModel.mb myEggModel.egg
The –a parameter tells the maya2egg translator that it should look for a skeletal structure in the model. The parameter after the –a tells the translator what should be exported:
| –a model | This tells the translator to export the model and skeleton in one egg file. |
| –a chan | This tells the translator to export only the animation channel. |
| –a pose | This tells the translator to export the pose only. |
| –a strobe | This tells the translator to export a series of posed meshes, one for each frame of animation. |
| –a both | This tells the translator to export both the model, skeleton, and animation channel all in the same egg file. |
USING PVIEW:
Pview is an egg/bam file model viewer that can be used to look at a model after it has been converted into an egg file by maya2egg. This way, you can look at it to make sure that the conversion process was successful.
To use Pview, simply open a DOS Command Prompt and type the following:
pview
If you see a blank Panda window with a blue triangle in it, then pview (and probably Panda) is working on your machine. To view a converted egg model using pview, simply type the following:
pview myEggFile.egg
To view a character model with animations, type the following:
pview myModelEgg.egg myAnimationEgg.egg
You should be able to move around the world using the mouse buttons. There are also a few hotkeys in Pview:
| Left Mouse | Move Up/Down/Left/Right |
| Middle Mouse | Rotate around Origin |
| Right Mouse | Move Forward/Backwards |
| C | Center on the Origin |
| L | Toggle Lighting |
| W | Toggle Wireframes |