PLUGIN: Maya file-format import/export

[robicd]

I'd like to import a few 3d model which I've made with Alias Maya, but I can not find any good converter tool.
So I wonder if there's someone working on a AC3D-File Exporter Plugin for Maya or on a Maya-File Importer Plugin for AC3D.

What I need is to convert a few Maya 3d models (I don't care about surface shading by now) in AC3D file format.

Is there any chance I will get it to work? :-)

Roberto

[Andy]

Export as obj from Maya?

Andy

[robicd]

The WaveFront .obj exporter does not do a very good job in Maya; I tried that too but without much success. Easy objects get exported without a glitch but complex ones have really awfull results and sometimes Maya freezes too.

That's why I hope something is going on to bring a native framework for exchanging 3d models between Maya and AC3D. Best scenario would be a AC3D-FileFormat exporter for Maya and a Maya-FileFormat exporter for AC3D.

[Andy]

Perhaps try another format (3ds?).

AFAIK the maya ascii and binary formats are more like scripts that geometry descriptions i.e. very Maya specific.

[robicd]

Well, there's a 3DStudio import plugin for Maya but not a 3DS exporter plugin.

And yes, there's a Maya ascii file format which uses a subset of MEL scripting language. There's a Maya Developer Toolkit with examples for compiling a plugin but that needs C skill which I really don't have :-(

[Dennis]

Andy is correct that the Maya file format gets interpreted as a script (not unlike max files).

Writing an importer for Maya files would be ugly work at best --- you're hard pressed to find free or built-in solutions for importing script based geometries like Maya's --- I've personally never seen such solutions that didn't work as a plugin within Maya.

A Maya exporter from AC3D is possible. However, it seems that would require that the author have a licensed copy of Maya to get it working (i.e., the author should probably be a Maya user).

Are there any other file formats to which you can export that may be supported by AC3D? It seems like most Maya users rely on OBJ for exports; sorry to hear you're having probems with that - have you tried any Maya discussion forums to see what might be happening when you're exporting?