Re: Writing custom loaders for .emdl and .scn files in other apps
.emdl and .scn file formats are not open or published. It's been a gripe of users since day one. To get these files into another application you'll need to import/export using an existing file format, or write your own translator using the SDK and construct your own file format. I have been doing the latter for the past few months to salvage some old work. It's possible. Ability to do it is dependent on your specific needs. If you insist on using the .emdl and .scn file formats natively, you'll need to hack the files to figure them out. What makes the issue more complicated is the file formats use COM/OLE concepts to store data. You'll need to understand COM/OLE to a limited degree to figure all of it out. Years ago Luc-Eric did mention a compound file viewer that could be used to view the contents of .emdl and .scn files, and I remember trying that out, but even with that viewer it was not trivial to understand. Finding someone with expertise in this area, as well as 3D, will be difficult. I would advise writing your own translator, or hiring somebody else to do it for you. Matt Date: Tue, 02 Jun 2015 12:07:58 -0500 From: Tim Crowson tim.crow...@magneticdreams.com Subject: Re: Writing custom loaders for .emdl and .scn files in other apps Let me clarify... obviously I'm not asking about the I/O SDKs for other apps... I'm asking about info on XSI's native I/O formats. On 6/2/2015 11:19 AM, Tim Crowson wrote: Where would I go to find information on writing loader plugins for other apps for loading .emdl and .scn files? Not having much luck in the SDK, unless I just missed it... -- Signature *Tim Crowson */Lead CG Artist/ *Magnetic Dreams, Inc. *2525 Lebanon Pike, Bldg C, Suite 101, Nashville, TN 37214 *Ph* 615.885.6801 | *Fax* 615.889.4768 | www.magneticdreams.com tim.crow...@magneticdreams.com
RE: Writing custom loaders for .emdl and .scn files in other apps
Maybe now that Soft is EOL, the best goodwill gesture from Autodesk would be to actually release the file specs. It serves the purpose for them of allowing people a way forward without having to try and convert decades of stored assets. The digital version of closure. From: Matt Lind [speye...@hotmail.com] Sent: 02 June 2015 09:32 PM To: softimage@listproc.autodesk.com Subject: Re: Writing custom loaders for .emdl and .scn files in other apps .emdl and .scn file formats are not open or published. It's been a gripe of users since day one. To get these files into another application you'll need to import/export using an existing file format, or write your own translator using the SDK and construct your own file format. I have been doing the latter for the past few months to salvage some old work. It's possible. Ability to do it is dependent on your specific needs. If you insist on using the .emdl and .scn file formats natively, you'll need to hack the files to figure them out. What makes the issue more complicated is the file formats use COM/OLE concepts to store data. You'll need to understand COM/OLE to a limited degree to figure all of it out. Years ago Luc-Eric did mention a compound file viewer that could be used to view the contents of .emdl and .scn files, and I remember trying that out, but even with that viewer it was not trivial to understand. Finding someone with expertise in this area, as well as 3D, will be difficult. I would advise writing your own translator, or hiring somebody else to do it for you. Matt Date: Tue, 02 Jun 2015 12:07:58 -0500 From: Tim Crowson tim.crow...@magneticdreams.com Subject: Re: Writing custom loaders for .emdl and .scn files in other apps Let me clarify... obviously I'm not asking about the I/O SDKs for other apps... I'm asking about info on XSI's native I/O formats. On 6/2/2015 11:19 AM, Tim Crowson wrote: Where would I go to find information on writing loader plugins for other apps for loading .emdl and .scn files? Not having much luck in the SDK, unless I just missed it... -- Signature *Tim Crowson */Lead CG Artist/ *Magnetic Dreams, Inc. *2525 Lebanon Pike, Bldg C, Suite 101, Nashville, TN 37214 *Ph* 615.885.6801 | *Fax* 615.889.4768 | www.magneticdreams.com tim.crow...@magneticdreams.com = table width=100% border=0 cellspacing=0 cellpadding=0 style=width:100%; tr td align=left style=text-align:justify;font face=arial,sans-serif size=1 color=#99span style=font-size:11px;This communication is intended for the addressee only. It is confidential. If you have received this communication in error, please notify us immediately and destroy the original message. You may not copy or disseminate this communication without the permission of the University. Only authorised signatories are competent to enter into agreements on behalf of the University and recipients are thus advised that the content of this message may not be legally binding on the University and may contain the personal views and opinions of the author, which are not necessarily the views and opinions of The University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg. All agreements between the University and outsiders are subject to South African Law unless the University agrees in writing to the contrary. /span/font/td /tr /table
RE: Writing custom loaders for .emdl and .scn files in other apps
I wish there *was* a spec! On Jun 2, 2015 4:11 PM, Angus Davidson angus.david...@wits.ac.za wrote: Maybe now that Soft is EOL, the best goodwill gesture from Autodesk would be to actually release the file specs. It serves the purpose for them of allowing people a way forward without having to try and convert decades of stored assets. The digital version of closure. From: Matt Lind [speye...@hotmail.com] Sent: 02 June 2015 09:32 PM To: softimage@listproc.autodesk.com Subject: Re: Writing custom loaders for .emdl and .scn files in other apps .emdl and .scn file formats are not open or published. It's been a gripe of users since day one. To get these files into another application you'll need to import/export using an existing file format, or write your own translator using the SDK and construct your own file format. I have been doing the latter for the past few months to salvage some old work. It's possible. Ability to do it is dependent on your specific needs. If you insist on using the .emdl and .scn file formats natively, you'll need to hack the files to figure them out. What makes the issue more complicated is the file formats use COM/OLE concepts to store data. You'll need to understand COM/OLE to a limited degree to figure all of it out. Years ago Luc-Eric did mention a compound file viewer that could be used to view the contents of .emdl and .scn files, and I remember trying that out, but even with that viewer it was not trivial to understand. Finding someone with expertise in this area, as well as 3D, will be difficult. I would advise writing your own translator, or hiring somebody else to do it for you. Matt Date: Tue, 02 Jun 2015 12:07:58 -0500 From: Tim Crowson tim.crow...@magneticdreams.com Subject: Re: Writing custom loaders for .emdl and .scn files in other apps Let me clarify... obviously I'm not asking about the I/O SDKs for other apps... I'm asking about info on XSI's native I/O formats. On 6/2/2015 11:19 AM, Tim Crowson wrote: Where would I go to find information on writing loader plugins for other apps for loading .emdl and .scn files? Not having much luck in the SDK, unless I just missed it... -- Signature *Tim Crowson */Lead CG Artist/ *Magnetic Dreams, Inc. *2525 Lebanon Pike, Bldg C, Suite 101, Nashville, TN 37214 *Ph* 615.885.6801 | *Fax* 615.889.4768 | www.magneticdreams.com tim.crow...@magneticdreams.com = table width=100% border=0 cellspacing=0 cellpadding=0 style=width:100%; tr td align=left style=text-align:justify;font face=arial,sans-serif size=1 color=#99span style=font-size:11px;This communication is intended for the addressee only. It is confidential. If you have received this communication in error, please notify us immediately and destroy the original message. You may not copy or disseminate this communication without the permission of the University. Only authorised signatories are competent to enter into agreements on behalf of the University and recipients are thus advised that the content of this message may not be legally binding on the University and may contain the personal views and opinions of the author, which are not necessarily the views and opinions of The University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg. All agreements between the University and outsiders are subject to South African Law unless the University agrees in writing to the contrary. /span/font/td /tr /table
RE: Writing custom loaders for .emdl and .scn files in other apps
Having file specs only gets you part of the way. You still need to write an importer/exporter to move the data around. The only thing that could be gained at this point is exposure to critical data that isn't accessible in the SDK. There isn't much you can't touch in the SDK. If memory serves from my experience trying the compound file viewer, the .emdl and .scn file formats didn't look very different from what you see in the scene explorer. Mostly just data packed in encrypted ways to be be more efficient on disc. I have been working on an exporter to export from Softimage|3D and import into Softimage|XSI using my own file format as the medium to exchange information. I have used a similar file format for many years to move between newer/older versions of XSI so data is version independent. Most of the file format is structured as you see it in the scene explorer, with some exceptions. Works for most applications. The real question is - what exactly needs to be exported, and where does the data need to go? Matt Date: Tue, 2 Jun 2015 20:11:39 + From: Angus Davidson angus.david...@wits.ac.za Subject: RE: Writing custom loaders for .emdl and .scn files in other apps To: softimage@listproc.autodesk.com softimage@listproc.autodesk.com Maybe now that Soft is EOL, the best goodwill gesture from Autodesk would be to actually release the file specs. It serves the purpose for them of allowing people a way forward without having to try and convert decades of stored assets. The digital version of closure.
RE: Writing custom loaders for .emdl and .scn files in other apps
oh Lordy! From: Luc-Eric Rousseau [luceri...@gmail.com] Sent: 02 June 2015 11:29 PM To: softimage@listproc.autodesk.com Subject: RE: Writing custom loaders for .emdl and .scn files in other apps I wish there *was* a spec! On Jun 2, 2015 4:11 PM, Angus Davidson angus.david...@wits.ac.zamailto:angus.david...@wits.ac.za wrote: Maybe now that Soft is EOL, the best goodwill gesture from Autodesk would be to actually release the file specs. It serves the purpose for them of allowing people a way forward without having to try and convert decades of stored assets. The digital version of closure. From: Matt Lind [speye...@hotmail.commailto:speye...@hotmail.com] Sent: 02 June 2015 09:32 PM To: softimage@listproc.autodesk.commailto:softimage@listproc.autodesk.com Subject: Re: Writing custom loaders for .emdl and .scn files in other apps .emdl and .scn file formats are not open or published. It's been a gripe of users since day one. To get these files into another application you'll need to import/export using an existing file format, or write your own translator using the SDK and construct your own file format. I have been doing the latter for the past few months to salvage some old work. It's possible. Ability to do it is dependent on your specific needs. If you insist on using the .emdl and .scn file formats natively, you'll need to hack the files to figure them out. What makes the issue more complicated is the file formats use COM/OLE concepts to store data. You'll need to understand COM/OLE to a limited degree to figure all of it out. Years ago Luc-Eric did mention a compound file viewer that could be used to view the contents of .emdl and .scn files, and I remember trying that out, but even with that viewer it was not trivial to understand. Finding someone with expertise in this area, as well as 3D, will be difficult. I would advise writing your own translator, or hiring somebody else to do it for you. Matt Date: Tue, 02 Jun 2015 12:07:58 -0500 From: Tim Crowson tim.crow...@magneticdreams.commailto:tim.crow...@magneticdreams.com Subject: Re: Writing custom loaders for .emdl and .scn files in other apps Let me clarify... obviously I'm not asking about the I/O SDKs for other apps... I'm asking about info on XSI's native I/O formats. On 6/2/2015 11:19 AM, Tim Crowson wrote: Where would I go to find information on writing loader plugins for other apps for loading .emdl and .scn files? Not having much luck in the SDK, unless I just missed it... -- Signature *Tim Crowson */Lead CG Artist/ *Magnetic Dreams, Inc. *2525 Lebanon Pike, Bldg C, Suite 101, Nashville, TN 37214 *Ph* 615.885.6801tel:615.885.6801 | *Fax* 615.889.4768tel:615.889.4768 | www.magneticdreams.comhttp://www.magneticdreams.com tim.crow...@magneticdreams.commailto:tim.crow...@magneticdreams.com = table width=100% border=0 cellspacing=0 cellpadding=0 style=width:100%; tr td align=left style=text-align:justify;font face=arial,sans-serif size=1 color=#99span style=font-size:11px;This communication is intended for the addressee only. It is confidential. If you have received this communication in error, please notify us immediately and destroy the original message. You may not copy or disseminate this communication without the permission of the University. Only authorised signatories are competent to enter into agreements on behalf of the University and recipients are thus advised that the content of this message may not be legally binding on the University and may contain the personal views and opinions of the author, which are not necessarily the views and opinions of The University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg. All agreements between the University and outsiders are subject to South African Law unless the University agrees in writing to the contrary. /span/font/td /tr /table table width=100% border=0 cellspacing=0 cellpadding=0 style=width:100%; tr td align=left style=text-align:justify;font face=arial,sans-serif size=1 color=#99span style=font-size:11px;This communication is intended for the addressee only. It is confidential. If you have received this communication in error, please notify us immediately and destroy the original message. You may not copy or disseminate this communication without the permission of the University. Only authorised signatories are competent to enter into agreements on behalf of the University and recipients are thus advised that the content of this message may not be legally binding on the University and may contain the personal views and opinions of the author, which are not necessarily the views and opinions of The University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg. All agreements between the University and outsiders are subject to South African Law unless the University agrees in writing to the contrary. /span/font/td /tr /table
RE: Writing custom loaders for .emdl and .scn files in other apps
Hi Matt Back when I was still in the corporate world when we had identified that a client needed some kind of data migration that wasnt simply database to database, we would set up meetings to lay the ground work for whatever import / export spec needed to be created. Your last sentence was pretty much verbatim what we used to ask them at the first of those meetings ;) From: Matt Lind [speye...@hotmail.com] Sent: 02 June 2015 11:58 PM To: softimage@listproc.autodesk.com Subject: RE: Writing custom loaders for .emdl and .scn files in other apps Having file specs only gets you part of the way. You still need to write an importer/exporter to move the data around. The only thing that could be gained at this point is exposure to critical data that isn't accessible in the SDK. There isn't much you can't touch in the SDK. If memory serves from my experience trying the compound file viewer, the .emdl and .scn file formats didn't look very different from what you see in the scene explorer. Mostly just data packed in encrypted ways to be be more efficient on disc. I have been working on an exporter to export from Softimage|3D and import into Softimage|XSI using my own file format as the medium to exchange information. I have used a similar file format for many years to move between newer/older versions of XSI so data is version independent. Most of the file format is structured as you see it in the scene explorer, with some exceptions. Works for most applications. The real question is - what exactly needs to be exported, and where does the data need to go? Matt Date: Tue, 2 Jun 2015 20:11:39 + From: Angus Davidson angus.david...@wits.ac.za Subject: RE: Writing custom loaders for .emdl and .scn files in other apps To: softimage@listproc.autodesk.com softimage@listproc.autodesk.com Maybe now that Soft is EOL, the best goodwill gesture from Autodesk would be to actually release the file specs. It serves the purpose for them of allowing people a way forward without having to try and convert decades of stored assets. The digital version of closure. = table width=100% border=0 cellspacing=0 cellpadding=0 style=width:100%; tr td align=left style=text-align:justify;font face=arial,sans-serif size=1 color=#99span style=font-size:11px;This communication is intended for the addressee only. It is confidential. If you have received this communication in error, please notify us immediately and destroy the original message. You may not copy or disseminate this communication without the permission of the University. Only authorised signatories are competent to enter into agreements on behalf of the University and recipients are thus advised that the content of this message may not be legally binding on the University and may contain the personal views and opinions of the author, which are not necessarily the views and opinions of The University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg. All agreements between the University and outsiders are subject to South African Law unless the University agrees in writing to the contrary. /span/font/td /tr /table
Writing custom loaders for .emdl and .scn files in other apps
Where would I go to find information on writing loader plugins for other apps for loading .emdl and .scn files? Not having much luck in the SDK, unless I just missed it... -- Signature *Tim Crowson */Lead CG Artist/ *Magnetic Dreams, Inc. *2525 Lebanon Pike, Bldg C, Suite 101, Nashville, TN 37214 *Ph* 615.885.6801 | *Fax* 615.889.4768 | www.magneticdreams.com tim.crow...@magneticdreams.com
Re: Writing custom loaders for .emdl and .scn files in other apps
Let me clarify... obviously I'm not asking about the I/O SDKs for other apps... I'm asking about info on XSI's native I/O formats. On 6/2/2015 11:19 AM, Tim Crowson wrote: Where would I go to find information on writing loader plugins for other apps for loading .emdl and .scn files? Not having much luck in the SDK, unless I just missed it... -- Signature *Tim Crowson */Lead CG Artist/ *Magnetic Dreams, Inc. *2525 Lebanon Pike, Bldg C, Suite 101, Nashville, TN 37214 *Ph* 615.885.6801 | *Fax* 615.889.4768 | www.magneticdreams.com tim.crow...@magneticdreams.com -- Signature *Tim Crowson */Lead CG Artist/ *Magnetic Dreams, Inc. *2525 Lebanon Pike, Bldg C, Suite 101, Nashville, TN 37214 *Ph* 615.885.6801 | *Fax* 615.889.4768 | www.magneticdreams.com tim.crow...@magneticdreams.com /Confidentiality Notice: This email, including attachments, is confidential and should not be used by anyone who is not the original intended recipient(s). If you have received this e-mail in error please inform the sender and delete it from your mailbox or any other storage mechanism. Magnetic Dreams, Inc cannot accept liability for any statements made which are clearly the sender's own and not expressly made on behalf of Magnetic Dreams, Inc or one of its agents./
Re: Writing custom loaders for .emdl and .scn files in other apps
AFAIK .scn and .emdl are not open formats so likely you won't be able to. Eric T. On Tuesday, June 02, 2015 1:07:58 PM, Tim Crowson wrote: Let me clarify... obviously I'm not asking about the I/O SDKs for other apps... I'm asking about info on XSI's native I/O formats. On 6/2/2015 11:19 AM, Tim Crowson wrote: Where would I go to find information on writing loader plugins for other apps for loading .emdl and .scn files? Not having much luck in the SDK, unless I just missed it... -- Signature *Tim Crowson */Lead CG Artist/ *Magnetic Dreams, Inc. *2525 Lebanon Pike, Bldg C, Suite 101, Nashville, TN 37214 *Ph* 615.885.6801 | *Fax* 615.889.4768 | www.magneticdreams.com tim.crow...@magneticdreams.com -- Signature *Tim Crowson */Lead CG Artist/ *Magnetic Dreams, Inc. *2525 Lebanon Pike, Bldg C, Suite 101, Nashville, TN 37214 *Ph* 615.885.6801 | *Fax* 615.889.4768 | www.magneticdreams.com tim.crow...@magneticdreams.com /Confidentiality Notice: This email, including attachments, is confidential and should not be used by anyone who is not the original intended recipient(s). If you have received this e-mail in error please inform the sender and delete it from your mailbox or any other storage mechanism. Magnetic Dreams, Inc cannot accept liability for any statements made which are clearly the sender's own and not expressly made on behalf of Magnetic Dreams, Inc or one of its agents./
