My quick Soft to AE tests

[Paul Griswold]

I searched for any Softimage to AE scripts I could find.

First I tested the AECollada plugin.  I exported a test scene from Soft as an FBX, then used the Autodesk FBX converter to output a DAE file.  When trying to import it, After Effects CS 5.5 crashed immediately.  I checked to see if it could be the AD converter by creating a simple sphere with no animation, exporting it as an FBX, converting it to a DAE and then tried to import it to AE as well as Photoshop - it failed.  So it seems that it could be the DAE file's problem.

Next I tried a .PY script that had been posted here a while ago.  It worked just fine, but when I tried lining up my rendered output to the nulls imported into AE, they were totally off.  I'm thinking it might be a camera aspect issue, but out of the box it didn't work correctly.  It's probably worth digging into this one.

I also tried XSI_to_AE_XML and it exported fine, but on the AE side it gave errors and would not import.

Armored Squirrel has a passes exporter, but that exports pass info not 3D data.  I'm much more interested in getting the camera and at least nulls over.

I wish AE could load FBX files...

Paul

[adrian wyer]

we have used the XSI to AE xml stuff, but had to modify the script to get it to work with cs5.5

 

 

i'll have a dig and see if i can put my hand on it

 

a

 

Adrian Wyer
Fluid Pictures
75-77 Margaret St.
London
W1W 8SY
++44(0) 207 580 0829

adria...@fluid-pictures.com

www.fluid-pictures.com

 

Fluid Pictures Limited is registered in England and Wales.
Company number:5657815
VAT number: 872 6893 71

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[Alan Fregtman]

It's worth noting AE imports .ma (Maya ascii) files natively pretty well -- only locators/nulls and cameras with animation -- so it should be theoretically trivial to output the same ascii from a Softimage scene. Just a thought.

[Paul Griswold]

I saw that too.  But how do you get an .ma file out of Soft?

Paul

Sent from my electric telephone machine.

[Olivier Jeannel]

Hi Paul,
XSItoAE works/worked nicely with AE CS2 if I remember well. Now with CS4 it takes much much longer to compute the js script (xml import ?).
There is also this pluggin :
http://www.clintons3d.com/plugins/aftereffects/index.html
I had crashes, and never found time to seriously make it work, but it is supposed to work.

[adrian wyer]

give this a try, haven't tested it myself, but one of the guys here modified it last week to work with cs5.5

 

obviously needs renaming to .jsx

 

a

 

Adrian Wyer
Fluid Pictures
75-77 Margaret St.
London
W1W 8SY
++44(0) 207 580 0829

adria...@fluid-pictures.com

www.fluid-pictures.com

 

Fluid Pictures Limited is registered in England and Wales.
Company number:5657815
VAT number: 872 6893 71

[Alan Fregtman]

With scripting, or install a Maya trial, Crosswalk over to it, then export .ma of your nulls (ahem, locators) and camera from there.

[Fabrice Altman]

That’s the one you’re talking about ? Quickly tried it at some point and looked OK to me. More info bellow.

 

From: Thomas Volkmann [mailto:tho...@heulfritze.de]
Sent: 21 February 2012 12:31
To: soft...@listproc.autodesk.com
Subject: Re: after effects nulls to softimage

 

You can give the attached script a try. Worked for me most of the time...

 

 

# Put the scene-Camera and the nulls that you want to export into a group.
# Select the group and run the script.
# A .jsx script is created that you can run inside AfterFX. It creates a new Comp with Camera and Nulls.
# Loosely based on an old Script from Helge Mathee's Mindthink-tools

 

 

cheers,

Thomas

 

 

[adrian wyer]

try again..... (bloody mail daemon stripping files, grumble mumble)

 

someone here modified the XSI to AE xml jscript so it works with cs5.5

 

http://www.fluid-pictures.com/XSI_XML_import.txt

 

download and change the extension to .jsx

 

a

 

Adrian Wyer
Fluid Pictures
75-77 Margaret St.
London
W1W 8SY
++44(0) 207 580 0829

adria...@fluid-pictures.com

www.fluid-pictures.com

 

Fluid Pictures Limited is registered in England and Wales.
Company number:5657815
VAT number: 872 6893 71

From: softimag...@listproc.autodesk.com [mailto:softimag...@listproc.autodesk.com] On Behalf Of Olivier Jeannel
Sent: 20 March 2012 17:50
To: soft...@listproc.autodesk.com
Subject: Re: My quick Soft to AE tests

 

Hi Paul,

[Olivier Jeannel]

Hello list,
I'm wondering what is the "Simulation Step" for ?
I've seen it here and there in various compounds.
where can I get some infos ? Softimage wiki says nothing about it.

Thank you

Olivier

[Paul Griswold]

Yep.  That one worked the best, but when I tried creating a simple piece of 3D text in AE and parenting it to one of the nulls, it became clear that something was wrong.  The camera motion was similar, but it seemed like the focal length on the camera was wrong, so nothing lined up.

But all of this is my argument for why I really wish AD would just add this right into Soft.  (or Adobe would add FBX import)

Thanks!

Paul

[Tim Leydecker]

I can only speak for the XSI>Maya>AE way, but here it goes.

The AE docs describe the naming conventions for nulls, cameras
and lights in detail, it�s worth having that page open
(Personally, I forget to name things every time).

I would suggest plotting the camera (or a copy) without any nested
hierarchy left and also double check for the camera settings.

You can get stupid missalignment when you don�t set your camera
and renderglobalssettings in Maya to the desired output size,
e.g. make sure you have, ,lets say square pixels, 24fps, 1920x1080 set,
otherwise you may end up opening the file in AE with something
like 640x480 in the AE project settings, which obviously won�t
align nicely, a common mistake is having had HD1280 set for
preview renders and forgetting about that prior to export to *.ma.

Another f*uzz is that AE starts comps at 0, but one most likely baked
from frame 1. Offset easily missed. I tend to set my compstartframe in AE
to 1, but end up double checking with a playblast all the time anyway.

In a nutshell, no hierachies, plot it, name it correctly, set correct target sizes,
check 0/1 frame alignments and double check against playblasts, stick to square
pixels if possible...

Cheers,

tim

On 20.03.2012 19:32, Paul Griswold wrote:
> Yep. That one worked the best, but when I tried creating a simple piece of 3D text in AE and parenting it to one of the nulls, it became clear that something was wrong. The
> camera motion was similar, but it seemed like the focal length on the camera was wrong, so nothing lined up.
>
> But all of this is my argument for why I really wish AD would just add this right into Soft. (or Adobe would add FBX import)
>
> Thanks!
>
> Paul
>
>

> On Tue, Mar 20, 2012 at 2:08 PM, Fabrice Altman <fab...@studioaka.co.uk <mailto:fab...@studioaka.co.uk>> wrote:
>
> That�s the one you�re talking about ? Quickly tried it at some point and looked OK to me. More info bellow.____
>
> __ __
>
> *From:*Thomas Volkmann [mailto:tho...@heulfritze.de <mailto:tho...@heulfritze.de>]
> *Sent:* 21 February 2012 12:31
> *To:* soft...@listproc.autodesk.com <mailto:soft...@listproc.autodesk.com>
> *Subject:* Re: after effects nulls to softimage____
>
> __ __
>
> You can give the attached script a try. Worked for me most of the time... ____
>
> __ __
>
> __ __

>
> # Put the scene-Camera and the nulls that you want to export into a group.
> # Select the group and run the script.
> # A .jsx script is created that you can run inside AfterFX. It creates a new Comp with Camera and Nulls.

> # Loosely based on an old Script from Helge Mathee's Mindthink-tools ____
>
> __ __
>
> __ __
>
> cheers, ____
>
> Thomas ____
>
> __ __
>
> __ __
>
>

[Len Krenzler]

How many times a simulation is evaluated per frame. For example if fast
moving particles go through what is supposed to be a solid surface
adding more steps will help catch that at the expense of simulation speed.

--
_________________________________________________

Len Krenzler - Creative Control Media Productions

Phone: 780.463.3126

www.creativecontrol.ca - l...@creativecontrol.ca

[Stephen Blair]

The length of one simulation sample in seconds.

[Thomas Volkmann]

Hey Paul,

if you can send me a simple test scene with your settings, I can take a look at why it is not working for you. Not before tomorrow morning though, as I luckily don't have any Adobe-stuff at home.

On 03/20/2012 07:32 PM, Paul Griswold wrote:

Yep. �That one worked the best, but when I tried creating a simple piece of 3D text in AE and parenting it to one of the nulls, it became clear that something was wrong. �The camera motion was similar, but it seemed like the focal length on the camera was wrong, so nothing lined up.

But all of this is my argument for why I really wish AD would just add this right into Soft. �(or Adobe would add FBX import)

Thanks!

Paul

On Tue, Mar 20, 2012 at 2:08 PM, Fabrice Altman <fab...@studioaka.co.uk> wrote:

That�s the one you�re talking about ? Quickly tried it at some point and looked OK to me. More info bellow.

�

From: Thomas Volkmann [mailto:tho...@heulfritze.de]
Sent: 21 February 2012 12:31
To: soft...@listproc.autodesk.com
Subject: Re: after effects nulls to softimage

�

You can give the attached script a try. Worked for me most of the time...

�

�

# Put the scene-Camera and the nulls that you want to export into a group.
# Select the group and run the script.
# A .jsx script is created that you can run inside AfterFX. It creates a new Comp with Camera and Nulls.
# Loosely based on an old Script from Helge Mathee's Mindthink-tools

�

�

cheers,

Thomas

�

�

[Olivier Jeannel]

Ok,
Ok, thank you both you :)
I'm not sure I'm getting it right.
I guess Subframe compounds are what is used to increase how many time a

simulation is evaluated per frame.

But unless you don't use a Subframe compound, can the Simulation Step
change ?

Excuse the noob question ^^

Olivier

Le 20/03/2012 20:06, Stephen Blair a �crit :

[pet...@skynet.be]

Something you might have seen the simulation step being used for is to
calculate the future position of a moving particle.

particle position + [ velocity x simulation step ] = position where the
particle is going to be when simulation is calculated. (unless things
intervene, like collisions and forces that alter its velocity.

If you have particles following other ones this can give you more precise
tracking.

[Stephen Blair]

Hi

Simulation Step = time in seconds between samples
Subframe sampling = number of samples per frame

http://download.autodesk.com/global/docs/softimage2012/en_us/userguide/files/GUID-04F54DC8-7FB3-4034-B563-53412C86908-929.htm

-----Original Message-----
From: softimag...@listproc.autodesk.com [mailto:softimag...@listproc.autodesk.com] On Behalf Of Olivier Jeannel
Sent: March-20-12 3:23 PM
To: soft...@listproc.autodesk.com
Subject: Re: Simulation step ?

Ok,
Ok, thank you both you :)
I'm not sure I'm getting it right.
I guess Subframe compounds are what is used to increase how many time a
simulation is evaluated per frame.
But unless you don't use a Subframe compound, can the Simulation Step
change ?

Excuse the noob question ^^

Olivier

[Rob Chapman]

so at 25fps its 0.04 

[Olivier Jeannel]

Thanks Stephen and Peter,

completly missed the userguide@autodesk....

Thanks a lot !

Olivier

Le 20/03/2012 20:34, Stephen Blair a �crit :

> Hi
>
>
>
>
> Simulation Step = time in seconds between samples
> Subframe sampling = number of samples per frame
>
>
>
>
> http://download.autodesk.com/global/docs/softimage2012/en_us/userguide/files/GUID-04F54DC8-7FB3-4034-B563-53412C86908-929.htm
>
>
>
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: softimag...@listproc.autodesk.com [mailto:softimag...@listproc.autodesk.com] On Behalf Of Olivier Jeannel
> Sent: March-20-12 3:23 PM
> To: soft...@listproc.autodesk.com
> Subject: Re: Simulation step ?
>
> Ok,
> Ok, thank you both you :)
> I'm not sure I'm getting it right.
> I guess Subframe compounds are what is used to increase how many time a
> simulation is evaluated per frame.
> But unless you don't use a Subframe compound, can the Simulation Step
> change ?
>
> Excuse the noob question ^^
>
> Olivier
>
>

> Le 20/03/2012 20:06, Stephen Blair a �crit :

[Olivier Jeannel]

Exactly, in a custom spring compound !
Now that makes a lot of sense,
Thank you Peter :)

Le 20/03/2012 20:30, pet...@skynet.be a �crit :

[Len Krenzler]

Oops, had those two mixed up :) Thanks Stephen.

On 3/20/2012 1:34 PM, Stephen Blair wrote:
> Hi
>
>
>
>
> Simulation Step = time in seconds between samples
> Subframe sampling = number of samples per frame
>
>
>
>
> http://download.autodesk.com/global/docs/softimage2012/en_us/userguide/files/GUID-04F54DC8-7FB3-4034-B563-53412C86908-929.htm
>
>
>
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: softimag...@listproc.autodesk.com [mailto:softimag...@listproc.autodesk.com] On Behalf Of Olivier Jeannel
> Sent: March-20-12 3:23 PM
> To: soft...@listproc.autodesk.com
> Subject: Re: Simulation step ?
>
> Ok,
> Ok, thank you both you :)
> I'm not sure I'm getting it right.
> I guess Subframe compounds are what is used to increase how many time a
> simulation is evaluated per frame.
> But unless you don't use a Subframe compound, can the Simulation Step
> change ?
>
> Excuse the noob question ^^
>
> Olivier
>
>

> Le 20/03/2012 20:06, Stephen Blair a �crit :

>> The length of one simulation sample in seconds.
>>
>> -----Original Message-----
>> From: softimag...@listproc.autodesk.com [mailto:softimag...@listproc.autodesk.com] On Behalf Of Len Krenzler
>> Sent: March-20-12 2:57 PM
>> To: soft...@listproc.autodesk.com
>> Subject: Re: Simulation step ?
>>
>> How many times a simulation is evaluated per frame. For example if fast
>> moving particles go through what is supposed to be a solid surface
>> adding more steps will help catch that at the expense of simulation speed.
>>
>> On 3/20/2012 12:31 PM, Olivier Jeannel wrote:
>>> Hello list,
>>> I'm wondering what is the "Simulation Step" for ?
>>> I've seen it here and there in various compounds.
>>> where can I get some infos ? Softimage wiki says nothing about it.
>>>
>>> Thank you
>>>
>>> Olivier
>>>

[christian]

byron nash posted his scripts here about 3 weeks ago when i was struggling with a simple export like that. think the old export script didn't export camera FOV that's why your stuff might not line up. with the new updated version it seems fine.

xml import into AE still seems super unstable, the script eats up memory like crazy, and more than around 1500 frames (for a single object, so if you have a camera and two nulls it would be 500 frames) seems to send AE into nirvana using up around 10 gigs of ram.

On Tue, Mar 20, 2012 at 20:14, Thomas Volkmann <tho...@heulfritze.de> wrote:

Hey Paul,

if you can send me a simple test scene with your settings, I can take a look at why it is not working for you. Not before tomorrow morning though, as I luckily don't have any Adobe-stuff at home.

On 03/20/2012 07:32 PM, Paul Griswold wrote:

Yep.  That one worked the best, but when I tried creating a simple piece of 3D text in AE and parenting it to one of the nulls, it became clear that something was wrong.  The camera motion was similar, but it seemed like the focal length on the camera was wrong, so nothing lined up.

But all of this is my argument for why I really wish AD would just add this right into Soft.  (or Adobe would add FBX import)

Thanks!

Paul

On Tue, Mar 20, 2012 at 2:08 PM, Fabrice Altman <fab...@studioaka.co.uk> wrote:

That’s the one you’re talking about ? Quickly tried it at some point and looked OK to me. More info bellow.

 

From: Thomas Volkmann [mailto:tho...@heulfritze.de]
Sent: 21 February 2012 12:31
To: soft...@listproc.autodesk.com
Subject: Re: after effects nulls to softimage

 

You can give the attached script a try. Worked for me most of the time...

 

 

# Put the scene-Camera and the nulls that you want to export into a group.

# Select the group and run the script.
# A .jsx script is created that you can run inside AfterFX. It creates a new Comp with Camera and Nulls.
# Loosely based on an old Script from Helge Mathee's Mindthink-tools

 

 

cheers,

Thomas

 

 

[Fabrice Altman]

Had another quick go at this on a spinning cube, animated cam & FOV. Gave no problem recreating the 6 sides spinning accordingly in AFX CS5.

Thanks for sharing Thomas. Please let us know if you update it.

 

Cheers,

F.

 

From: Thomas Volkmann [mailto:tho...@heulfritze.de]
Sent: 20 March 2012 19:15
To: soft...@listproc.autodesk.com
Subject: Re: My quick Soft to AE tests

 

Hey Paul,

if you can send me a simple test scene with your settings, I can take a look at why it is not working for you. Not before tomorrow morning though, as I luckily don't have any Adobe-stuff at home.

On 03/20/2012 07:32 PM, Paul Griswold wrote:

Yep.  That one worked the best, but when I tried creating a simple piece of 3D text in AE and parenting it to one of the nulls, it became clear that something was wrong.  The camera motion was similar, but it seemed like the focal length on the camera was wrong, so nothing lined up.

 

But all of this is my argument for why I really wish AD would just add this right into Soft.  (or Adobe would add FBX import)

 

Thanks!

 

Paul

 

On Tue, Mar 20, 2012 at 2:08 PM, Fabrice Altman <fab...@studioaka.co.uk> wrote:

That’s the one you’re talking about ? Quickly tried it at some point and looked OK to me. More info bellow.

 

From: Thomas Volkmann [mailto:tho...@heulfritze.de]
Sent: 21 February 2012 12:31
To: soft...@listproc.autodesk.com
Subject: Re: after effects nulls to softimage

 

You can give the attached script a try. Worked for me most of the time...

 

 

# Put the scene-Camera and the nulls that you want to export into a group.

# Select the group and run the script.
# A .jsx script is created that you can run inside AfterFX. It creates a new Comp with Camera and Nulls.
# Loosely based on an old Script from Helge Mathee's Mindthink-tools

 

 

cheers,

Thomas

 

 

 

[Thomas Volkmann]

I have no plans on updating it as long as it working the 2 times a year I need it. If someone has problems with it though, I will take a look at it. Otherwise feel free to modify/improve/whatever it.

 

cheers,

Thomas

Fabrice Altman <fab...@studioaka.co.uk> hat am 21. März 2012 um 16:00 geschrieben:

[Byron Nash]

Here's a link to the script I have tooled around with. http://dl.dropbox.com/u/6776444/XSI-AE_Test_Script.zip It started off as Helge's script and I added some user functionality in. The zip file includes a sample scene. It's not polished and has RAM issues as Christian said. I keep meaning to re-write the XML component. I think it tries to load everything into RAM before writing any keyframes in AE and gets really bogged down. I have found that you can export stuff in smaller chunks or one element at a time and it still lines up in AE. I've done the Maya to AE(from Maya) before and it's nice that you can do it natively. ALthough, I think you would still want a script to setup the scene for you. By default it comes into AE as 1 unit = 1 pixel  which is painful to work with. Several of the XSI->AE changes I made were in that area: Making what you are importing friendly to a normal AE comp. 

I'm hoping one of the Softimage developers will run over to the Max team and grab the AE tool they have. I hear it's nice!