PolyTrans-for-Maya has become
one of Okino's most popular, specialized plug-in converter systems since it
adds a lot of new functionality to the Maya software package itself. It also forms
a natural and well refined pipeline between Maya and 3ds Max via the mirror
twin 'PolyTrans-for-Maya' and 'PolyTrans-for-3ds-Max' native plug-in modules.
PolyTrans-for-Maya breaks down all previous data translation barriers and
truly makes Maya a universally open software package. In the tradition of all
Okino 3D data translators, resulting translated files are 'Render Ready'
meaning that they can be loaded and rendered in the destination program
(Maya, Softimage-3D/XSI, 3ds Max, Lightwave, etc.) with little or no changes
necessary. The translation process accommodates polygonal meshes, trimmed
NURBS, hierarchy, vertex
normals/colors/texture-coordinates, material and texture mapping parameters,
lights, cameras, object/camera/light animation conversion (file format
specific) and automatic 2D bitmap conversion (when necessary).
PolyTrans-for-Maya provides scene, trimmed NURBS (format specific) and animation conversion (format specific),
in dozens of state-of-the-art file formats.
Our programming team typically spends between 6 months and several
years (the latter on 3ds Max, Maya, Lightwave, SolidEdge/SolidWorks/Inventor, etc)
writing each translator, and we strive to overcome the "hard" problems often
encountered in real world situations. In addition, our hands-on technical support is
well known; you always talk with our programmers directly and we spend a good
chunk of our day adding small features here and there for those in need of
file format refinements (see our testimonial WEB page).
Production Pipeline Examples of PolyTrans-for-Maya
There are hundreds of ways that PolyTrans-for-Maya could be used to
optimize the usage of Maya in a production pipeline where several different 3D packages
are used, or simply in a one-man shop where Maya data has to be converted
to/from another 3D package. Some typical examples are:
The absolute most robust and highest quality 3D converters in the industry with 2 decades of development, used extensively by 10's of thousands of professional end-users.
The mirror twin PolyTrans-for-3ds-Max and PolyTrans-for-Maya plug-in systems form the most technically accurate and robust bi-directional conversion system between 3ds Max and Maya.
Tight integration into 3ds Max's and Maya's core scene graph allows all conversions to be performed from within the user interface of 3ds Max or Maya. Stand-alone version for all other conversion tasks.
Okino pioneered the process and methods of animation cross conversions! 3ds Max, Maya, COLLADA, DirectX, FBX, Lightwave, Softimage|XSI, VRML2/X3D, U3D, XAML and more. Very robust and well refined.
Proper conversion of skeletons and bones between Maya and 3ds Max, Lightwave, Collada, FBX, Softimage|XSI, U3D and DirectX. Going from Maya to 3ds Max is particularly fraught with problems but the
automatic bone re-orientation algorithm resolves such problems automatically.
Direct import and export of
Softimage|3D database scenes, .hrc files
and Softimage|XSI files from
within the Maya user interface.
Bullet-proof and robust import of
DXF and DWG files. The NuGraf/PolyTrans DXF/DWG
reader reads in and converts literally any DXF or DWG file (including embedded ACIS solids) then optimizes it
into a render-ready model. Huge files can be processed quickly. Memory
usage is low for large scenes.
Strong and production-worthy support for the popular
Lightwave
and
3D Studio
packages, among others. These translators import and export complete
scenes files, bitmaps and all related information.
Automatic conversion of foreign 2d bitmap image file formats to/from those
recognized by Maya. Native Alias PIX and IFF (not Amiga IFF) 2d bitmap read/write
support was also developed and added to the core PolyTrans software.
Access to robust polygon processing tools
which can take impossible-to-render datasets and turn them into renderable models. Functions include
auto-welding, auto-unification of normals, reorientation of normals, removal of double sided polygons and more.
A complex polygon reduction system is also available in the stand-alone PolyTrans.
Okino provides excellent, hands-on and personal tech support, for free, with each software package. We know 3D graphics and data translation inside-out!
Pricing, Availability and Packaging
"PolyTrans-for-Maya" for Windows is available by purchasing either of
Okino's base software products, PolyTrans ($395, PT-WIN) or
NuGraf ($495, NRS-WIN), and the "DCC/Pack" add-on option ($245),
or any other combination of add-on converter packs which includes the "DCC/Pack" option.
The base package plus the DCC/Pack license forms the special "PolyTrans-for-Maya" product.
By purchasing this combination of licenses you will gain this functionality:
If you purchase the base NuGraf package ($495, NRS-WIN), you will also have a great
package for rendering, data manipulation, texture mapping and material
editing. In order to convert animation data perfectly
between all the major animation systems Okino has had to develop a complex
animation "import, playback and conversion" core engine; this engine contains the
animation functionality of Maya, 3ds Max, Softimage, Lightwave, DirectX, u3D, Collada, FBX,
VRML 2, X3D, etc. The benefit of this long development is that NuGraf
can import, play back, edit and view all of these
aforementioned animation file formats, or it can create complete animations
(compliant with the mathematics and techniques of these named file formats)
from scratch within its Microsoft Windows user interface:
this ability to import/export between all these incompatible animation file
formats, or to modify/edit/create compatible animation sequences, is a completely
unique feature of the NuGraf software in the world of 3D graphics. NuGraf is
our main software package developed at Okino, whereas the stand-alone "PolyTrans" is only
a derivative (same source code, same executable, just simpler functionality); the
difference in price is $100.
If you purchase the base PolyTrans package ($395, PT-WIN), you will
have a stand-alone Microsoft Windows program which can read and write
all of the Okino supported 3D file formats, except 3ds Max (.max) and Maya (.ma, .mb)
which require the special native plug-in versions of PolyTrans to be used
in their respective programs. This program can also view the imported
models in fully shaded OpenGL mode, playback imported animation, perform
polygon processing, edit light and cameras, and produce scanline renderings .
If you need extensive
material and texture parameter editing,
2d bitmap and 3d procedural texture mapping,
interactive texture projections,
scanline or multi-threaded ray tracing, or
a more complex user interface, then consider purchasing Okino's NuGraf software for an additional $100 - everything of PolyTrans is included in the NuGraf executable.
The "DCC/Pack" license will provide native PolyTrans import/export
functionality within the Maya user interface (via the Maya plug-in
architecture). This is provided regardless of whether you purchase the base
PolyTrans or NuGraf package.
Native PolyTrans import/export functionality within the 3ds Max user
interface.
The "DCC/Pack" license will also include add-on converter functionality for
Autodesk FBX, Softimage .dotXSI file format, OpenFlight and the native PolyTrans-for-Softimage|XSI plug-in system.
You can also opt for the "CAD/Pack" and "Granite/Pack" series of optional add-on
converter modules which add dozens of major 3D CAD file formats to the PolyTrans-for-Maya plug-in system.
Platforms and Availability
PolyTrans-for-Maya is available for the Windows version of Maya. This
version has been available to Okino customer since June 1999 and has become
an industry favorite. PolyTrans-for-Maya is purchased as part of the "DCC/Pack"
optional add-on license, or any other add-on converter bundles which includes the
"DCC/Pack" license.
NOTE: PolyTrans-for-Maya is node-locked to a single Microsoft Windows machine.
Further Information
PolyTrans converts all important aspects of a 3D scene;
this includes all geometry (meshed polygons with recursive holes, trimmed
NURBS and quadrics), object hierarchy, pivot points, smoothing data (vertex
normals), (u,v) texture coordinates, bump mapping information (U/V
tangent vectors), lights, cameras and all texture projection methods.
In addition, PolyTrans accurately matches the color, shading and
texture mapping parameters between the imported and exported file
formats resulting in models that will render faithfully inside Maya or
in a desired target rendering program.
PolyTrans solves professional data translation problems such as
complete scene conversions to/from Maya; bidirectional scene and animation
translation to Lightwave; direct access to Softimage databases from inside Maya;
animated mesh output to DirectX (incl. animation); complex CAD transfers
(ACIS, DXF/DWG, IGES, Parasolid, Pro/E, STEP, STL, VDA-FS); output to OpenFlight for tagging;
fast DXF imports; and many more applications.
Okino software is used world wide by ten's of thousands of professionals, covering
such varied groups as engineering, manufacturing, government, defense
related, production studios, digital effects houses, animation studios, 3D
content developers and most major 3D game development companies. An
interesting list of notable users can be viewed online at
http://www.okino.com/conv/users.htm.
Animation Conversion Through Accurate Keyframe Resampling & Reduction
Through years of research, development and refinement, PolyTrans has come
to include the industry-leading major feature of animation conversion. Simply
put, animation conversion is a hard problem! To convert between the different
mathematics used by each major 3D animation package, and their different
methods of internally representing 3D animated objects, Okino Computer
Graphics has developed a unique "animation conversion engine". This engine
allows raw animation data to be imported from the most popular 3D animation
programs, accurately played back in real-time, resampled to alternate forms
of animation mathematical representation and exported to other 3D animation
file formats. Note that PolyTrans converts function curve based animation; it
does not convert procedural or Inverse Kinematics (IK) animation data.
As shown in the right diagram, the internal "engine" stores the raw
imported animation data as a series of hierarchical "channels" (such as X/Y/Z
translation), each of which has a "controller" which simulates the most
popular animation interpolation methods (Bezier, TCB, etc.), and to each
controller a series of keyframes representing the animation curve over time.
This ensures accurate retention of the imported animation data.
A vital aspect of accurate animation conversion is the "keyframe
resampling & reduction" algorithm of PolyTrans; as shown below, this
algorithm allows incompatible animation methods to be converted with
tolerance-based accuracy. The example below shows how X/Y/Z Euler rotations
(from Lightwave or Maya) are converted into the mathematically different
Quaternion rotation method (used by DirectX and 3ds Max, for example).
Applicable WEB pages
The following are pertinent pages on the Okino WEB site relating to this
press release:
![[Maya Screen Snapshot]](/images/mayasnap2c.jpg)
PolyTrans-for-Maya is a premiere plug-in system for Maya (Windows) that
allows Maya to freely exchange complete 3D scene data with virtually
any other 3D software package, such as
![[Maya Screen Snapshot]](/images/maya_cad_cdrs_snap.jpg)
PolyTrans-for-Maya breaks down all previous data translation barriers and
truly makes Maya a universally open software package. In the tradition of all
Okino 3D data translators, resulting translated files are 'Render Ready'
meaning that they can be loaded and rendered in the destination program
(Maya, Softimage-3D/XSI, 3ds Max, Lightwave, etc.) with little or no changes
necessary. The translation process accommodates polygonal meshes, trimmed
NURBS, hierarchy, vertex
normals/colors/texture-coordinates, material and texture mapping parameters,
lights, cameras, object/camera/light animation conversion (file format
specific) and automatic 2D bitmap conversion (when necessary).
Production Pipeline Examples of PolyTrans-for-Maya
As shown in the right diagram, the internal "engine" stores the raw
imported animation data as a series of hierarchical "channels" (such as X/Y/Z
translation), each of which has a "controller" which simulates the most
popular animation interpolation methods (Bezier, TCB, etc.), and to each
controller a series of keyframes representing the animation curve over time.
This ensures accurate retention of the imported animation data.
