Probably a question for Luc-Eric, Brent, Alexandre, Marc-Andre and the other long time Softimage developers who were around back in the day:
I want to write a SAAphire plugin for Softimage|3D to export my old scenes as XML or some other text file format I can conjure up. Since my old data uses Bspline patches, meta clay, and other features not supported by the SI3D –> XSI importer or dotXSI file format, I need to take matters into my own hands by dumping as much data as possible so it can be reinterpreted in a modern day application. Why am I wanting to do this? Mostly to severe ties with having to maintain a computer with with Softimage|3D and older versions of Softimage|XSI, as well as make the data available for my portfolio (such as for job interviews) without having to jump through tons of hoops to show it off. I have Softimage|3D 3.9.2 and associated SDK 1.9.2 installed on a computer running Windows XP (Windows 2000 is available if needed). What I don’t have is an old computer with Pentium III processors. The best I can do is my recently retired Dell Precision Workstation 470 w dual Xeons purchased new in 2004. I can run Softimage|3D successfully on that computer, but not mental ray 1.9 or SI|Particle. Not sure if that’s an issue with the operating system or hardware. My question is – can I successfully compile functional SAAphire plugins on a modern day processor such as a Xeon? If so, must I use MSVC++ 6.0 or can I use a more modern compiler? thanks, Matt
