Help creating shipsets .X files

[Orillion]

After reading some tutorials regarding creating shipsets, I've created and textured some test models in Anim8or (also using UVMapper). The first was a simple box shape model with straight edges that was easy to texture through LithUnwrap and Photoshop to make the .X file and bitmap texture file, but the second is rounded and not so straight forward.

Could anybody suggest a program to use to that will produce the .X file and the associated bitmap image for the textures without me needing to use a program such as LithUnwrap to create an outline and then add the texture to the bitmap in Photoshop.

The model is quite complex containing curves making the UV map very difficult to plan out and texture using the LithUnwrap/Photoshop method and I'm happy with how I've already textured it in Anim8or.

Any advise is greatly appreciated.

[Ed Kolis]

Wings 3D (www.wings3d.com) has an excellent UV-mapping utility built into it. If you want to export to .X you'll need the development version (0.98.36) - the "stable" version has not been updated in ages due to some obscure problem with Mac OSX or something. There's also an "experimental" version (0.98.37-SE) which is not maintained by the official maintainer - you'll need that if you want to use GLSL-to-UVmap texture baking, since it got broken in 0.98.36.

[Orillion]

Thanks, I downloaded Wings 3D but thought the UI was very unintuitive. I've looked at a few other 3D programmes and haven't quite managed to do texture baking where it will produce the .x file and a single bitmap texture file from a textured .3ds file.

I've gone back to using the LithUnwrap/Photoshop method for now and hope it will produce just as an effective render.