[away3d] ASE Import in Away3d

[Ben]

Hi Folks,

I'm having problems with the ASE loader and I can not figure out
why...

This is the simple code I got from a demo:

// import containers
import away3d.containers.*;
// import core library
import away3d.core.base.*;
// import file format loaders
import away3d.loaders.*;
//import math objects
import away3d.core.math.*;
import away3d.materials.*;

// create a 3D-viewport
var view:View3D = new View3D({x:300, y:200});
// add viewport to the stage
addChild(view);

// start mesh loading
//var fileMat:BitmapFileMaterial = new
BitmapFileMaterial("turtle.jpg" );
var loader:Object3DLoader = Ase.load("cat.ase");
// add the loader object to the scene
loader.rotationX = -90;
view.scene.addChild(loader);

// position camera
view.camera.position = new Number3D(5, 0, 0);
view.camera.lookAt(loader.position);

// every frame
addEventListener(Event.ENTER_FRAME, onEnterFrame);
function onEnterFrame(event:Event):void {
        // rotate loader or mesh around Y-axis
    loader.handle.rotationY = getTimer() / 100;

        // rerender viewport on each frame
        view.render();
}

The important thing is: var loader:Object3DLoader =
Ase.load("cat.ase");

If I use the Max3D or OBJ-Loader it works fine and it loads the mesh
and the texture.
If I convert the 3ds format to ASE by blender + plugin, nothing works
and I get this error:
TypeError: Error #1009: Cannot access a property or method of a null
object reference.
        at away3d.loaders::Object3DLoader/onParserComplete()
        at flash.events::EventDispatcher/dispatchEventFunction()
        at flash.events::EventDispatcher/dispatchEvent()
        at away3d.loaders::AbstractParser/notifySuccess()
        at away3d.loaders::AbstractParser/parseNext()
        at away3d.loaders::Object3DLoader/startParsingGeometry()
        at away3d.loaders::Object3DLoader/onGeometryComplete()
        at flash.events::EventDispatcher/dispatchEventFunction()
        at flash.events::EventDispatcher/dispatchEvent()
        at flash.net::URLLoader/onComplete()

I checked the ASE file with an editor and it looked fine, seems like
the ASE loader is buggy, can someone confirm it?
Otherwise I'd be happy to see a workign example with the ASE loader,
so please provide code and the ASE file to verify...

Thanks