Welcome to the jGpuSkin Import tool. This utility is used to prepare and optimize bone-animated objects for use with the jGpuSkin plugin. Although the current release of the import tool is fully functional, it is merely a prototype which has out-grown it's original purpose and will perhaps be re-written in future updates. Please note that the current importer does not include Undo functionallity.


Preparing your objects for use with jGpuSkin
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Select File->Import from the main menu. You will be presented with a tool window which prompts you to select a *.X or *.DBO file, as well as the option to select a diffuse texture. If no texture is selected, an attempt will be made to load textures using the file's internal references. 

Note: The importer has limited support for multi-mesh animated objects. If you encounter errors such as non-weighted vertices or malformed geometry try re-exporting through a different program; I've had good luck with FragMotion. Another option is to export each of the object's meshes individually, each with the full skeleton and animation data intact. Those objects can then be re-combined using the "Merge Project" option within the import tool window.



Once your model is imported, you can use the options provided within the Tools menu to optimize various aspects of the object and it's animation:

   A) The weld and unweld tools can be used to add/remove indexdata to/from an object. Because some programs export sub-optimal indexdata, it is recommended to use the weld tool to re-index an object's vertexdata.
   B) The Reduce Skeleton tool automatically detects and removes all bones which are not required for vertex deformation. Future versions of this tool will allow the user to manually select and delete desired bones. This tool should not be used should you require any bones which do not contribute to mesh deformation.
   C) The Reduce Keyframes tool is used to detect and remove redundant keyframes which can otherwise be reproduced using interpolation at runtime. This tool is potentially destructive to animation quality, so it is recommended to preview the reduced animation before applying changes. It may also be helpful to optimize individual animations separately rather than the entire animation track at once.

   Skeleton Bone Color Key:
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   Blue = Bind Pose
   Red = Keyframe Exists for current frame
   White = Current frame calculated using interpolation



Once everything is imported and optimized, use File->Save to create the files which are expected by the jGpuSkin plugin. jGpuSkin objects are saved as three separate files: *.DBO Object, *.GSS GpuSkin Skeleton, and *.GSA GpuSkin Animation. Object vertexdata is expanded with additional UV stages which are used to store bone indices and blend weights. The number and size of appended texcoords is dependant on the object's requirements.

   All: Used to save all three files required by the plugin: the *.DBO object, the *.GSS skeleton, and the *.GSA animation (all keyframes).
   Mesh: Used to save just the *.DBO object.
   Animation: Used to save *.GSA animation track files. This option allows you to export the range of animation keyframes which are specified by the FirstFrame and LastFrame editboxes at the lower-right corner of the main window.







