PVRGeoPOD 3ds Max export mesh split and instancing

When exporting from 3ds Max, meshes that have multiple materials on them are split into multiple sub-meshes, each sub mesh assigned the relevant material in the POD. This is fine except for in the case of instanced objects. If you have multiple instances of the original object using instance instead of copy in Max, the exporter splits each instance into new split submeshes instead of referencing the split submeshes like it does with other instanced objects with only one material applied.



This behaviour is a bit bothersome since it creates more buffers wasting file and runtime memory and breaks optimisations such as instanced OpenGL draw calls.



I wonder if a fix could be made? Current export version is PVRGeoPOD 2.15.1



To reiterate graphically:



Current situation:

Object001

   Object001-submesh0, Object001-submesh1



Object002 [instance of Object001]

   Object002-submesh0, Object002-submesh1



Expected situation:

Object001

   Object001-submesh0, Object001-submesh1



Object002 [instance of Object001]

   Object001-submesh0, Object001-submesh1

Hi,



Thanks for reporting the issue. I’ve filed it in our internal bug tracker as BRN48930. If you have a 3DS Max scene we can use to reproduce the issue, I’ll attach it to the bug report.



Thanks,

Joe

cheers, sent email with .max and exported .pod file for you to check

Any word on this yet?

Hi,



BRN48930 is assigned to an engineer, but they’ve not had a chance to investigate the issue yet.



I’ve searched through my email, but I can’t see your files. How did you send them to us? If it was via email, can you share the email subject to help me find it?



Our recommended approach for file sharing is to attach them to a support ticket. It’s much easier for us to track communication through this system. Apologies for not mentioning this in my previous reply.



Thanks,

Joe

anything? … bueller?

Hi,



I’ve checked the status of the bug report. It’s currently marked as Cannot Reproduce as the PVRGeoPOD lead engineer couldn’t reproduce the issue in his tests.



We’ve still not received your MAX and POD files. If you can attach them to a support ticket, I can attach them to the bug report for the PVRGeoPOD lead to test with.



Thanks,

Joe

Ok added ticket with the test file

Thanks. I’ve attached your scene to the bug report :slight_smile:



Joe