# PVRGeoPOD Data Formats

**URL:** <https://forums.imgtec.com/t/pvrgeopod-data-formats/263>\
**Category:** PowerVR Insider\
**Tags:** pvrgeopod\
**Created:** [February 11, 2009, 9:47pm UTC](https://forums.imgtec.com/t/pvrgeopod-data-formats/263 "2009-02-11T21:47:49Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 6\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![shindigg](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/flex015/user_avatar/forums.imgtec.com/shindigg/32/38_2.png) [@shindigg](https://forums.imgtec.com/u/shindigg)\
**Post date:** [February 11, 2009, 9:47pm UTC](https://forums.imgtec.com/t/pvrgeopod-data-formats/263/1 "2009-02-11T21:47:49Z")

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\<span =“highlight”\> I’d like to use shorts for my vertex data in my iPhone application. \<span =“highlight”\>By importing obj file vertices with a multiplier, I was able to convert floats to shorts to store in a VBO, which increased the framerate by  
  
5-10%. I’d prefer to use the POD file format as it optimizes the vertices  
  
order and has a lot more capabilities.  
\<span =“highlight”\>  
When I select short as the data format in the PVRGeo\<span =“highlight”\>POD exporter, the model is distorted, as if all the floats are simply rounded off. Is there anyway to make this work? Should I simply scale my Maya model to a degree where the rounding no longer matters and then scale down when rendering?  
  
\<span =“highlight”\>Thanks.  
\<span =“highlight”\>

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**Author:** ![GordonMaclachlan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/c68b51/32.png) [@GordonMaclachlan](https://forums.imgtec.com/u/GordonMaclachlan)\
**Post date:** [April 2, 2009, 8:11am UTC](https://forums.imgtec.com/t/pvrgeopod-data-formats/263/2 "2009-04-02T08:11:09Z")

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Sadly there’s no built-in scaling for PODs so the strategy you describe is probably the best approach right now.  
  
  
  
  
  
Please post again if you have further questions.

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**Author:** ![warmi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/7ea924/32.png) [@warmi](https://forums.imgtec.com/u/warmi)\
**Post date:** [April 28, 2009, 3:40am UTC](https://forums.imgtec.com/t/pvrgeopod-data-formats/263/3 "2009-04-28T03:40:09Z")

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That’s what I do … I wrote a POD exporter for Lightwave and when exporting vertex data as shorts I simply allow for a custom scaling factor.

You could then include this scaling factor as pfAnimScale in a POD node your model is attached to.
  

&nbsp;
  

&nbsp;
warmi2009-04-28 05:41:33

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<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![GordonMaclachlan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/c68b51/32.png) [@GordonMaclachlan](https://forums.imgtec.com/u/GordonMaclachlan)\
**Post date:** [April 28, 2009, 2:43pm UTC](https://forums.imgtec.com/t/pvrgeopod-data-formats/263/4 "2009-04-28T14:43:47Z")

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This sounds like a reasonable solution for the moment. We’ve discussed adding better provision for techniques like this in our tools, hopefully something should come of this soon.  
  
  
  
  
  
warmi: I’m interested in your Lightwave POD exporter - how featured is it? Do you have plans to distribute it?

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**Author:** ![warmi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/7ea924/32.png) [@warmi](https://forums.imgtec.com/u/warmi)\
**Post date:** [April 28, 2009, 7:24pm UTC](https://forums.imgtec.com/t/pvrgeopod-data-formats/263/5 "2009-04-28T19:24:11Z")

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Nowhere near as featured as your exporters for other platforms :)

  

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\<?: prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" /\>

Right now it handles exporting static models from the Lightwave modeler and animated meshes from layout and it supports only interleaved GL\_TRIANGLE/GL\_STRIP, float/short combinations.
  

&nbsp;

  

It has no support for scene graphcs etc ... in other words a completely custom job tailored for our engine.

  

&nbsp;

  

In any case, Lightwave &nbsp;(as it is known right now) is in the process of being replaced with a completely new codebase (Lightwave core)&nbsp; which changes everything, invalidating all existing plugins, SDK APIs etc... they are really going back to the basics for the first time since I guess the early 90s.

  

&nbsp;

  

In other words, the current plugin is an evolutionary dead-end.

  

  

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&nbsp;

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<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![GordonMaclachlan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/c68b51/32.png) [@GordonMaclachlan](https://forums.imgtec.com/u/GordonMaclachlan)\
**Post date:** [April 29, 2009, 12:06pm UTC](https://forums.imgtec.com/t/pvrgeopod-data-formats/263/6 "2009-04-29T12:06:52Z")

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Still, it's impressive that you got it working and it's interesting for us that someone has created such a thing for their toolchain.