Question for TEST/Divison or anyone really

Sraika · Mar 9, 2020

i mean, not that i can think of but it's mighty nice of you to offer :)

Deroth · Mar 9, 2020

Hopefully they'll have APIs setup for pulling information as the alternative is exceptionally less efficient and can bog down all impacted systems.

DirectorGunner · Mar 10, 2020

What about this?
It'd be for much older SC builds but would still be awesome
https://testsquadron.com/threads/any-python-scripters.9981/
Most useful would be a script for Blender that parsed the old SC prefab XMLs, and search for the equivalent DAE or OBJ files we have from MarkEmps conversion tool.

Vavrik · Mar 10, 2020

DontTouchMyHoHos said:
Question, my next job i need to pick up a programming language and im starting out fresh. Does test need anything automated to help out that you know off the top of your head? Even if it isnt for test i want to help you guys out if you want something scripted/automated so it gives me something to do. Im not a needy person so its hard to think of things i want, lol.

It's about need, not needy... hard to explain but it's difficult to come up with ideas for yourself. I'm going to kind of echo @DirectorGunner and say learning Python would be a good place to start if you're not a programmer now, but need to learn a programming language for work. It has characteristics that give you a lot of the skills you'd need to learn other programming languages as well.

Deroth · Mar 10, 2020

DontTouchMyHoHos said:
@DirectorGunner

Questions I have for this, based on the github and things for me to research as well. Kinda creating a list for me as well. If you have the knowledge of some of these cool, it will help establish a baseline for me to start learning if not that is perfectly fine as these are things based on what i've read to help me full understand what you need to do.

1. What is considered relevant data to you

2. What do you mean by que/list and re-position imported objects.

3. How to get python to execute riptide pro plugin, also research wtf that is.

4. Integrate plugin to coding

5. Import file "Xml"

6. Wtf is absolute position and rotation mean for XML

7. Error logging, should be simple .doc exporting

So from my understanding you want to grab a .xml file from a data base of compiled .xml files to grab shit from it to import to riptide plugin and do some absolute position and rotation shit then continue on into a que list. It seems you want to gui for this as well? To be able to create this que list and i'm assuming multiple people will be able to access this?

Also what is the objective of this project for. It seems you are just looking to pull pictures and have them show up in Cinema 4d correctly? Are you looking to pull the rendered models with the .xml?

For logs it is typically better to use either .LOG or .TXT in one of the separated formats. .DOC has more overhead so the files are larger and requires an application in addition to the OS to read them.

Deroth · Mar 10, 2020

Python and C# are both solid programming languages that're fairly easy to pick up, which to go with is a personal preference, but some areas one is more popular than the other. So you might want to research which is more prevalent where you work/live, then go with that one (example: when the company I work for was deciding which to go with they found that in parts of Texas and some areas in California C# is more popular, but here on the East Coast Python is by far more prevalent in both developers and companies using it.)

Deroth · Mar 10, 2020

DontTouchMyHoHos said:
I'm going to start off with C++ since that is a low level language and simply understanding it will benefit and give me a good foundation.

C++ is extremely powerful and not likely to go away anytime soon, but is harder to learn for many people than Python or C#.

DirectorGunner · Mar 10, 2020

To be clear, I've wrote stuff before in excitement, as I was learning.
I am not an expert, I am not a coder, and I fumbled into 3D modeling and 3D animation as a hobby.
In other words, I've asked for things before which just don't make sense,
so I will clarify each question now since I am less of an idiot as I was in prior years (thanks to LSAT training I think kicking my mental ass)

DontTouchMyHoHos said:
@DirectorGunner
1. What is considered relevant data to you

Sure,
So important things are:
#1 Object and object path.
#2 Positional data.
Here's an example excerpt from the Deluxe Hangar prefab XML file, I don't remember which SC build this is from as I didn't label the folder but I think it was from 2019.

XML:

<PrefabsLibrary Name="deluxe_hangar">
  <Prefab Name="deluxe_hangar.t19.deluxe_hangar_t19_stock_mainfloor_a" SubLibrary="" Id="{D1EB4672-895B-42C4-9895-6F21B1EC30D4}" Library="deluxe_hangar" LibFolders="" Footprint="72,136,1" Description="" Category="">
    <Objects>
      <Object NoStaticDecals="0" Name="Light-3194" CastShadowMinspec="8" RenderNearest="0" LayerGUID="{CE7EBA88-0545-452E-B4FE-56B7425A5FC2}" ShowEnergyLinks="1" Rotate="0.70710671,0,0.70710683,0" Layer="BaseGeoExpLA" CastShadow="1" OutdoorOnly="0" RecvWind="0" Type="Entity" DirtAmount="0" ColorRGB="65535" ShowEntityLinks="1" EntityClass="Light" LodRatio="100" ShowLinks="1" FloorNumber="-1" ManualGridTransition="0" ShowInteractionLinks="1" Pos="23.82220458984375,100.01458740234375,1.0610198974609375" HiddenInGame="0" ViewDistRatio="35" LinkedGlowInProbes="0" WearAmount="0" Id="{D521E91D-BF70-4CD4-999C-704C1DC3B5FF}">
        <Properties _bCheapLight="0" bForceDisableCheapLight="0" bActive="1" Radius="0.1" _nVersion="0">
          <Audio audioRTPCLuminanceRTPC="" audioTriggerStopTrigger="" bEnableAudio="0" bIsManagedAudioObject="1" audioTriggerPlayTrigger="" />
          <Color fTemperature="6600" bLinkIgnoresColor="0" fSpecularMultiplier="0" bUseTemperature="0" clrDiffuse="1,1,1" fDiffuseMultiplier="25" />
          <Options fShadowUpdateRatio="1" nCastShadows="0" fFlareFOV="360" bIgnoresVisAreas="0" bShadowCasting="0" fShadowResolutionScale="1" nLightImportance="1" bDeferredClipBounds="0" bAmbient="0" fShadowUpdateMinRadius="10" bAutoDetectClipBox="0" flare_Flare="" fShadowBias="1" fFlareScale="1" fMaxShadowCastDist="0" bFlareEnabled="0" bFakeLight="0" bSoftBulb="0" bAffectsThisAreaOnly="1" fShadowSlopeBiasMultiplier="1" fAttenuationBulbSize="0.05" />
          <Projector bFocusedBeam="0" fProjectorNearPlane="0" fProjectorFov="180" texture_Texture="" />
          <Shape fPlaneHeight="0.2" fSoftness="1" vFadeDimensionsLeft="0" vFadeDimensionsNear="0" fPlaneWidth="2.4" vFadeDimensionsBottom="0" vFadeDimensionsTop="0" bAreaLight="1" vFadeDimensionsFar="0" vFadeDimensionsRight="0" />
          <Style _fTimeScrubbed="0" bRandomAnimationPhase="0" bAttachToSun="0" nLightStyle="3" lightanimation_LightAnimation="" bTimeScrubbingInTrackView="0" fAnimationSpeed="1" nAnimationPhase="4" />
        </Properties>
      </Object>

See
Pos="23.82220458984375,100.01458740234375,1.0610198974609375"
and
Rotate="0.70710671,0,0.70710683,0"
?
Those give you not only the position of this particular floor object in relation to building the hangar but also it's rotation/orientation.
This particular object doesn't have a data file path, so I assume it's like a brush/CryEngine engine object or something, but hopefully, someone will chime in to clarify.
It's like Minecraft but more complex in that you can spin an object in a number of axes.
I am not sure why there are 4 coordinates for rotation. But I hope someone else can chime in and explain that here?

DontTouchMyHoHos said:
@DirectorGunner
2. What do you mean by que/list and re-position imported objects.

You can disregard that, I have no idea how blender imports an object, in that I question if it import at a specific coordinate and rotation or just imports an object at 0,0,0 and then the Blender script would have to move the newly imported object into position. I am just speculating how it might work, but I do not actually know.

DontTouchMyHoHos said:
@DirectorGunner
3. How to get python to execute riptide pro plugin, also research wtf that is.

Yea please ignore all that, sorry.

DontTouchMyHoHos said:
@DirectorGunner
4. Integrate plugin to coding

Can ignore, sorry.

DontTouchMyHoHos said:
@DirectorGunner
5. Import file "Xml"

So the XML's are all encoded into Dataforge thingy and have to use Alluran's dataforge tool to make them human-readable XMLs.
I have Alluran's HoloXPLOR.DataForge260.exe but I would guess he's made an updated version since then, but the version I have still works to convert the XMLs.
This is something each person should do BEFORE using your Blender script. IMO.

DontTouchMyHoHos said:
@DirectorGunner
6. Wtf is absolute position and rotation mean for XML

Sure,
like shown in Number 1,
Here's an actual object file with path the prefab XML for Deluxe Hangar has.

XML:

    <Object Prefab="Objects/buildingsets/hangar/deluxe/deluxe_floor_8x8_08.cgf" NoStaticDecals="0" Name="deluxe_floor_8x8_08-058" NoAmnbShadowCaster="0" CastShadowMaps="0" LayerGUID="{B7385F29-9291-4045-A1A3-6DF788B07B46}" Rotate="1,-0,0,-5.165802e-008" RndFlags="536870912" OutdoorOnly="0" RecvWind="0" Occluder="0" Type="Brush" AIObstacle="0" Hideable="0" ColorRGB="16777215" LodRatio="140" ShowLinks="1" SortFar="0" NotTriangulate="0" FloorNumber="-1" Material="Objects/buildingsets/hangar/deluxe/hangar_deluxe_kit_starfarer_grey" Pos="48,0,0" ViewDistRatio="45" ShadowLodBias="0" Layer="BaseGeoExpLC" RainOccluder="1" Id="{62498630-834F-44E0-BCDC-95D10A31AFB1}" NoDynamicWater="0">
        <CollisionFiltering>
          <Type collision_class_soft="0" gcc_rigid="0" collision_class_wheeled="0" gcc_missile="0" gcc_ai="0" collision_class_living="0" gcc_vehicle="0" collision_class_articulated="0" gcc_player_capsule="0" collision_class_particle="0" gcc_vehicle_interior="0" collision_class_terrain="0" gcc_player_body="0" gcc_ragdoll="0" gcc_projectile="0" />
          <Ignore collision_class_soft="0" gcc_rigid="0" collision_class_wheeled="0" gcc_missile="0" gcc_ai="0" collision_class_living="0" gcc_vehicle="0" collision_class_articulated="0" gcc_player_capsule="0" collision_class_particle="0" gcc_vehicle_interior="0" collision_class_terrain="0" gcc_player_body="0" gcc_ragdoll="0" gcc_projectile="0" />
        </CollisionFiltering>
      </Object>

Object Prefab="Objects/buildingsets/hangar/deluxe/deluxe_floor_8x8_08.cgf" is the game file path. Which is important that I referenced in #1 above.
But It's the responsibility of the person using your blender script to already have converted all these files to be useable in Blender.
So the file path will stay the same more or less but the extension will likely be DAE or OBJ.

DontTouchMyHoHos said:
@DirectorGunner
7. Error logging, should be simple .doc exporting

Well, doesn't have to be .doc and I have NO idea why I asked for that....
txt file of verbose results of the whole conversion while script is running would be great so users of the script can troubleshoot if something went wrong.

Does any of this help? Do you need a copy of a converted prefab XML for example?

Bambooza · Mar 10, 2020

DirectorGunner said:
Those give you not only the position of this particular floor object in relation to building the hangar but also it's rotation/orientation.
This particular object doesn't have a data file path, so I assume it's like a brush/CryEngine engine object or something, but hopefully, someone will chime in to clarify.
It's like Minecraft but more complex in that you can spin an object in a number of axes.
I am not sure why there are 4 coordinates for rotation. But I hope someone else can chime in and explain that here?

Homogeneous coordinates - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

"Homogeneous coordinates are ubiquitous in computer graphics because they allow common vector operations such as translation, rotation, scaling and perspective projection to be represented as a matrix by which the vector is multiplied. ... Modern OpenGL and Direct3D graphics cards take advantage of homogeneous coordinates to implement a vertex shader efficiently using vector processors with 4-element registers. "

IE it makes the math easier when doing vector calculations.

DirectorGunner · Mar 11, 2020

DontTouchMyHoHos said:
What about the parts after the numbers?

AFAIK everything else seems like engine related stuff such as on/off flags, and I don't know what all of it does.
Sometimes material/texture setups and files are referenced in the XML,
but for the most part, everything else is probably not useable outside the engine.

Bambooza said:
Homogeneous coordinates - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

"Homogeneous coordinates are ubiquitous in computer graphics because they allow common vector operations such as translation, rotation, scaling and perspective projection to be represented as a matrix by which the vector is multiplied. ... Modern OpenGL and Direct3D graphics cards take advantage of homogeneous coordinates to implement a vertex shader efficiently using vector processors with 4-element registers. "

IE it makes the math easier when doing vector calculations.

Wow, I am trying to wrap my head around that.
Good stuff!

Bambooza · Mar 11, 2020

DontTouchMyHoHos said:
I'm going to start off with C++ since that is a low level language and simply understanding it will benefit and give me a good foundation.

Lol, low-level language...

While the learning curve is rather brutal at first if you stick with it the information that you learn will give you new insight into what the other newer languages were attempting to accomplish as well as their strength and weaknesses.

DirectorGunner said:
AFAIK everything else seems like engine related stuff such as on/off flags, and I don't know what all of it does.
Sometimes material/texture setups and files are referenced in the XML,
but for the most part, everything else is probably not useable outside the engine.

Correct they are just enabling how the object interacts with the game world.

DirectorGunner said:
Wow, I am trying to wrap my head around that.
Good stuff!

I honestly wouldn't worry about it unless you were trying to make your own graphic tool or game engine. It's one of those things that are asked on tests and diabolical interview questions along with making your own algorithm and calculate its computational cost.

Vavrik · Mar 11, 2020

DontTouchMyHoHos said:
What's funny about C++ being a low-level language?

Well, C++ isn't a low level language. Assembler is... that's fun to learn in a "I have diarrhea and a stomach ache" sort of way.
BTW depending on what your objective is, C++ is a great language to learn but it's a heavyweight.

Question for TEST/Divison or anyone really

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