[Bf-gamedev] Proposal to (try to) get better FBX support

[Matt Three]

I'd like to point out thatthere is an already open working alternative
format to Collada that is called OpenGEX. It's mainly done by the C4 engine
team. Collada has a lot of problems because the spec is loosely defined (or
not defined at all).  Unreal Engine 4 supports .obj files for static
geometry as well, which is what I personally use instead of FBX.

On Mon, Sep 29, 2014 at 6:26 PM, Andrews Magnoni <andrewsmagnoni at gmail.com>
wrote:

> Why not partnering with Khronos for making Collada better?
>
> The last version of Collada was 1.5.0 in 2008!
>
> On Wed, Sep 17, 2014 at 7:56 AM, Jens Christian Restemeier <
> jens.restemeier at gmail.com> wrote:
>
>> I do not think Collada is the way to go, I would even say it?s the other
>>> direction we should take, if we were to work on a new format.
>>>
>>
>> That is a noble goal, but the danger is that you end up with this:
>> http://xkcd.com/927/
>>
>>
>>> I would go to a minimalistic format. FBX is much better than collada on
>>> this regard, but it is cluttered with an history of crapiness - and some
>>> aspects (like its object transform model) are still crazy.
>>>
>>> An exchange format does not have to support every possible feature. An
>>> exchange format has to be simple!
>>>
>>
>> One idea I had was to define a strict subset of Collada that require
>> least effort to map into an application without going crazy. That could be
>> tagged in the header, and if a importer finds that it goes through a
>> fast/simple importer. If it isn't there the importer has to go through more
>> general code.
>>
>> Example:
>> - fixed transform stack for nodes: Either a matrix, or a
>> translate/rotate/scale stack for animations
>> - fixed vertex format for each channel and "simple" layout. Instead of
>> supporting every simple buffer and data layout, only support a base format.
>> (basically something like FBX.)
>> - fixed geometry format: for example support only convex polygon
>> primitives without holes
>> - fixed order in which libraries are defined
>> - strict usage rules for the different name, id and sid tags and path
>> references.
>> - fixed armature layout rules
>>
>> That way you have automatic support to import into other applications,
>> and people could import and export the subset into their own code without
>> spending ages supporting any odd configuration.
>>
>>
>>> E.g. I like Wavefront .obj format - it is simple (even though Max
>>> managed to break it with odd expectations on smoothgroups :/ )!
>>>
>>
>> I'm not a fan, mainly because it splits materials into a separate file,
>> and is limited by some old assumptions about how to work with geometry and
>> shading info.
>>
>> Jens
>>
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>>
>
>
> --
> *Andrews Magnoni*
>
> *Desenhos: *http://amagnoni.deviantart.com/
> *Videos: *http://vimeo.com/amagnoni
> * <http://www.coroflot.com/andrews/Desenhos-de-retratos>*
>
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