COLLADA is an XML-based digital asset exchange (*.dae) schema designed to transport data between 3D content creation tools. A more complete definition can be found on the COLLADA web site. COLLADA is primarily targeted for the exchange of assets in a game pipeline, but it can be used in any area of 3D content creation that requires an intermediate format and good tool interoperability.
You can import and export files saved to the COLLADA file format natively in Softimage. You can import COLLADA 1.4.0 and 1.4.1. On export, only COLLADA 1.4.1 is supported.
Set the parameters in the Import Crosswalk Options Dialog Box [Properties Reference}.
Specify the path and file name for the COLLADA file being imported. Click the Browse (...) button to select a specific location and filename from a browser.
Click Import. The imported scene's contents are added as a model under the current scene.
You can export a single object, multiple-selected objects, or the entire scene to a COLLADA file. All objects are exported to a single file with the *.dae extension.
Set the parameters in the Export Crosswalk Options Dialog Box [Properties Reference}.
Specify the path and the file name for the COLLADA file being exported. Click the Browse (...) button to select a specific location and filename from a browser.
The following scenarios represent the ways in which you would typically use COLLADA with Softimage:
COLLADA uses a special XML element named extra to store information that is not used in a specific 3d content creation package. For Softimage, there are two types of extra elements that are supported by the COLLADA converters:
When Softimage-specific information is exported to a COLLADA file, it is written to extra elements under the XSI technique profile.
User data that originated outside of Softimage is stored in extra elements under a foreign profile (that is, the XSI technique profile is not used). When these data are imported into Softimage, they are persisted as opaque user data blobs in the Softimage scene and are restored on export.
In this example, a scene node has the full Softimage transformation data as well as visibility flags and global material assignment data in the Softimage extra:
<extra> <technique profile="XSI"> <SI_Visibility>TRUE</SI_Visibility> <XSI_Transform> 0.000000 0.000000 0.000000 0.000000 0.000000 0.000000 XYZ 1.000000 1.000000 1.000000 TRUE 0.000000 0.000000 0.000000 0.000000 0.000000 0.000000 0.000000 0.000000 0.000000 1.000000 1.000000 1.000000 0.000000 0.000000 0.000000 0.000000 0.000000 0.000000 1.000000 1.000000 1.000000 0.000000 0.000000 0.000000 0.000000 0.000000 0.000000 1.000000 1.000000 1.000000 0.000000 0.000000 0.000000 <XSI_Limit>"posx" FALSE 0.000000 FALSE 0.000000</XSI_Limit> <XSI_Limit>"posy" FALSE 0.000000 FALSE 0.000000</XSI_Limit> <XSI_Limit>"posz" FALSE 0.000000 FALSE 0.000000</XSI_Limit> <XSI_Limit>"rotx" FALSE 0.000000 FALSE 0.000000</XSI_Limit> <XSI_Limit>"roty" FALSE 0.000000 FALSE 0.000000</XSI_Limit> <XSI_Limit>"rotz" FALSE 0.000000 FALSE 0.000000</XSI_Limit> </XSI_Transform> <SI_GlobalMaterial>"check3d" "NODE"</SI_GlobalMaterial> </technique> </extra>
Except where otherwise noted, this work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License