BFF Usage
INSTALLING BFF
  • Copy the ZIP distribution file to any directory that is NOT listed in the 3ds max Plugins paths or Startup scripts settings.
  • Unzip the distribution file
  • Launch 3ds max - version 4, 5 or 6
  • Go to Main Menu>MAXScript>Run Script...
  • Find and select the BFF .ms file
  • Go to Main Menu>Customize>Customize User Interface...
  • In the Toolbars tab, locate the Category "Bobo_s Tools"
  • Drag the entry "BFF_Exporter" to a toolbar.
EXPORTING A SCENE USING BFF
  • Press the button on the toolbar to open the Exporter dialog.
     
  • The dialog provides options to export or skip specific object classes. Check the ones you want to export. Usually, you will just leave these settings to their defaults.
     
  • The Preferences group lets you control some additional features:
    • Check "Collapse Stack" to force stack collapsing. Generally, BFF will collapse most objects to Editable Mesh as it does not support most modifiers. Some objects can preserve their modifier stack though, for example a Box or Sphere primitive or a Text shape with an Extrude modifier on top will be exported correclty preserving the stack. Checking this option will force BFF to export even these objects as meshes.
       
    • Uncheck the "Animation" button to disallow the export of Postion/Rotation and Scale animation controllers.
       
    • Uncheck the "Material Editor" button to disable the export of the 24 Material Editor materials.
       
    • Check the "ZIP Archive" button to create a ZIP file containing all exported files. The files will NOT be deleted from the disk, so you will end up with a ZIPped and regular version of the export. You can use the ZIP file to copy to another machine and import there.
       
    • Uncheck the "Progress Report" button to disable the progress dialog which appears when importing. This might be useful when exporting to MAX 2.5 which does not support the features of the progress dialog.
       
    • Check the "Selected Only" button to export only the selected portions of the scene.
       
  • To export the current scene, press the "EXPORT SCENE" resp. "EXPORT SELECTED OBJECTS" button. A file selection dialog will open. Enter the name of the export file to write to and press the "Save" button. You can export to any directory you want. Note that a number of sub-directories will be created at the target path to accomodate all exported data.

     
IMPORTING A BFF SCENE
  • You don't need an importer - the BFF export generates a set of MAXScript files and BFF data files which already include the necessary importer code. This also means that while the results from different BFF exporter versions might look and work differently, they will always import correctly and are independent of future changes to the file format.
     
  • You can import the scene in any 3ds max version - 3.x, 4.x, 5.x or 6. (2.5 is only partially supported when no Progress Dialog info is included). Only the objects and data supported by the target platform will be imported, the rest will be skipped. For example, you cannot import texture coordinates to 2.5 at all and only using a DLX extension to 3.x
     
  • To import a scene, go to Main Menu>MAXScript>Run Script.... and select the base .MS file exported by BFF. This will set the current directory to the path the base file is located in and will ensure the import can proceed through all other files. Trying to evaluate a base .MS file without using the Run Script... dialog might lead to incomplete imports.
     
  • A Reset Scene prompt will appear - if you want to merge the scene with your current scene, press No. If you want to replace the scene, select Yes.
     
  • A progress dialog will open (as long as it has been included on export) showing you information about the importing process. Tasks will be marked with >, success messages with +. failure messages with --, warnings with !!
     
  • NOTE: In order to import texture coordinates to 3D Studio MAX R3.x, you will need to install an additional MAXScript Extension - MultiMap DLX by Simon Feltman. BFF will try both the 3ds max 4 mapping methods and the R3 MultiMap methods and use the one that works without additionally checking the current software version. If the DLX is not installed under R3, no texture mapping coordinates will be imported!