"Project out of Date” Kill your IDE, navigate to the project folder, delete the “debug” and “release” folders, the simplest place to start.

You know, if you have a valid student ID, you can get VS2008 Professional, Academic Version for about $129US.

Well, tried deleting the debug folder in the C:\Documents and Settings\Anthony Adams\My Documents\Visual Studio 2008\Projects\Column\Column folder, (there is no release folder), then tried to build the project, after adding the stdafx.h (it’s not adding that when i create the projects), but it’s still asking for the .pch files.

Oh well, guess I’ll stick to maxscript for now (even though I don’t really know much about coding correctly with that either), until i become more familiar with Visual Studio. The whole reason i wanted to try using the max sdk was because i’m thinking of dabbling with the XNA Game Studio 3.1 addon for C# Express, and I had the idea of possibly creating my own file format, guess i’ll have to stick to maxscript for that too, at least for the moment.

I guess Visual Studio C++ Express is just too limited to do some of the things I need it to when working with the SDK (it won’t let the user edit the .rc resource files either, the files used to build the UI for plugins)

I know the Standard edition is a better option than Express for detailed stuff, (anything that requires MFCs and such.) and more afordable than the Professional edition, but right now, I think the Express versions would be a better learning curve for me to start with. (since they’re free :-P) I’ll probably upgrade to Standard edition eventually though.

Thanks for you help anyway mate.

My 3D work: here and here.

3ds Max 8 SP3 Educational Version (got it while in college)
----
Win 7 Pro X64
Q6600 Intel 2.4GHz Quad Core CPU
8 GB DDR2 RAM
Samsung 400GB SATA2 Hard Drive
Asus Std Motherboard
ATI Radeon HD 3800 (I’m not sure how much memory this thing has now, dxdiag says it has 3GB, Sys info says 512MB....wierd)

My personal opinion is that, though, each has provisions for doing the other task, if you want a very fast or very complex export, use C++ and if you are looking to perform a manipulation of the model in Max, use a maxscript.

About the stdafx.h: Get rid of it.

Instead:

In fact, come to think of it, the “Out of Date” message may have to do with the pch file which can also be tossed if it’s there.

Ok, done that, now it’s trowing errors at me that reference the imtl.h and polyobj.h files in the ~\maxsdk\include folder. Heres the Output data:

1>------ Build started: Project: Column, Configuration: Debug Win32 ------
1>Compiling…
1>DllEntry.cpp
1>c:\program files\autodesk\3dsmax8\maxsdk\include\imtl.h(1523) : error C2065: ‘i’ : undeclared identifier
1>c:\program files\autodesk\3dsmax8\maxsdk\include\polyobj.h(109) : error C2065: ‘i’ : undeclared identifier
1>c:\program files\autodesk\3dsmax8\maxsdk\include\polyobj.h(109) : error C2065: ‘i’ : undeclared identifier
1>c:\program files\autodesk\3dsmax8\maxsdk\include\polyobj.h(109) : error C2065: ‘i’ : undeclared identifier
1>c:\program files\autodesk\3dsmax8\maxsdk\include\polyobj.h(109) : error C2065: ‘i’ : undeclared identifier
1>c:\program files\autodesk\3dsmax8\maxsdk\include\polyobj.h(109) : error C2228: left of ‘.GetFlag’ must have class/struct/union
1>Collumn.cpp
1>c:\program files\autodesk\3dsmax8\maxsdk\include\imtl.h(1523) : error C2065: ‘i’ : undeclared identifier
1>c:\program files\autodesk\3dsmax8\maxsdk\include\polyobj.h(109) : error C2065: ‘i’ : undeclared identifier
1>c:\program files\autodesk\3dsmax8\maxsdk\include\polyobj.h(109) : error C2065: ‘i’ : undeclared identifier
1>c:\program files\autodesk\3dsmax8\maxsdk\include\polyobj.h(109) : error C2065: ‘i’ : undeclared identifier
1>c:\program files\autodesk\3dsmax8\maxsdk\include\polyobj.h(109) : error C2065: ‘i’ : undeclared identifier
1>c:\program files\autodesk\3dsmax8\maxsdk\include\polyobj.h(109) : error C2228: left of ‘.GetFlag’ must have class/struct/union
1>Generating Code…
1>Build log was saved at “file://c:\Documents and Settings\Anthony Adams\My Documents\Visual Studio 2008\Projects\Collumn\Collumn\Debug\BuildLog.htm”
1>Column - 12 error(s), 0 warning(s)
========== Build: 0 succeeded, 1 failed, 0 up-to-date, 0 skipped ==========

I’ve not actually added anything to the project’s code yet, i’m just trying to build it as a “Preliminary out-of-the-box alpha build” just to see if it’ll build at all even before i add anything.

I was initially planning to use maxscript to develop any importers/exporters i might one day create, because i want them to be cross-version compatible, something that most c++ built plugins aren’t.

So for now, I think i’ll just stick with maxscript. I already managed to create part of a column generator script (the base platform, i created it in a seperate file and just copied the code that builds the mesh).

My 3D work: here and here.

3ds Max 8 SP3 Educational Version (got it while in college)
----
Win 7 Pro X64
Q6600 Intel 2.4GHz Quad Core CPU
8 GB DDR2 RAM
Samsung 400GB SATA2 Hard Drive
Asus Std Motherboard
ATI Radeon HD 3800 (I’m not sure how much memory this thing has now, dxdiag says it has 3GB, Sys info says 512MB....wierd)

Well, my version of the SDK may have different code at line 109 but, the first thing that stuck out to me was:

If I were you, I would double-click the first line in the output window that gave an error, which will take you over to “polyobj.j”, line 109. From there, you will find a clue about another file you needed to include before “polyobj.h” and “imtl.h”. That file is most likely but, not necessarily and apart of the SDK.

Your version of the SDK probably has a different type for the “i” on lines 109 of file “polyobj.h” and “1523” of “imtl.h” than mine but, if your SDK version has something common like “UINT” for “i,” somewhere at the beginning of each of the two cpp files in your project,

(which is something that would have been indirectly a part of the stdafx.h)

Hello,

I am trying to learn 3ds max SDK. I use 3ds max 2010 and VS 2008 (as recommended in the documentation). I’m unable to use Wizard and I can’t imagine beginning my learning without it.
The wizard included with my 3ds max 2010 produces the “Creating project ‘maxProject1’ ... project creation failed.” so I followed the suggestions in thread:

http://area.autodesk.com/for...-project-creation-failed/

I used the wizard that m2iCodeJockey gives here, but - as I have a different version of the SDK -it doesn’t work (giving exactly the same errors as Anthony Adams had).

I guess that placing this header file where VC wants it is not a solution…
And so far fiddling with those headers only enlarged Anthony Adams’s problems, it seems.

I also tried another approach: I discovered that in 2010 version wizard the 3dsmaxPluginWizard.vsz file has this:
Wizard=VsWizard.VsWizardEngine.8.0

While the file from the previous version has:
Wizard=VsWizard.VsWizardEngine.9.0

This seemed odd that a more recent wizard had an older Engine version so I changed the version in the 2010 file to 9.0. Results were better than in the original configuration - the wizard generated the project.

The problem is that when I try to build the project a file “link.exe” crashes.

I’m a VS noob too so I can’t figure out what’s wrong. I did everything the way it’s explained in the readme file (and documentation, and autodesk.com instruction movie).

I also tried intalling Visual Assist X, as someone said in that post above. It didn’t help, visual assist x doesn’t even seem to work itself…

Is there a place where I can get a working version of sdk 2010 wizard? On autodesk.com there are only wizards for .NET :(

I’m working on win 7 and my laptop’s architecture won’t allow me to swich back to XP (and I don’t want to come back to vista, which caused a lot more problems when it came to 3ds max).

VS version:

Microsoft Visual Studio 2008
Version 9.0.21022.8 RTM
Microsoft .NET Framework
Version 3.5 SP1

Installed Edition: Professional

Microsoft Visual Basic 2008 91605-270-1033365-60830
Microsoft Visual Basic 2008

Microsoft Visual C# 2008 91605-270-1033365-60830
Microsoft Visual C# 2008

Microsoft Visual C++ 2008 91605-270-1033365-60830
Microsoft Visual C++ 2008

Microsoft Visual Studio 2008 Tools for Office 91605-270-1033365-60830
Microsoft Visual Studio 2008 Tools for Office

Microsoft Visual Web Developer 2008 91605-270-1033365-60830
Microsoft Visual Web Developer 2008

Crystal Reports AAJ60-G0MSA4K-68000CF
Crystal Reports Basic for Visual Studio 2008

I also tried another approach: I discovered that in 2010 version wizard the 3dsmaxPluginWizard.vsz file has this:
Wizard=VsWizard.VsWizardEngine.8.0

While the file from the previous version has:
Wizard=VsWizard.VsWizardEngine.9.0

It sounds like you have assumed that the person coding the Max2010 wizard was using VS2008. If your quote and my understanding of it are each correct, you are dissecting a wizard which was made for VS2005.
This is not an unmanageable situation.

My substitute wizard was to get a Max 8 SDK project going in VS2008. The wizard that came with Max 8 SDK was for VS 7.1 (I had the same problem you are having.)
I don’t yet have Max2010 and it’s SDK but, I can at least steer you in the correct direction in helping yourself.

There are only minor differences in the wizards produced by the last 3.5 versions of Visual Studio. Looking at the default 3dsmaxPluginWizard from Max2008 SDK, I do see the line “Wizard=VsWizard.VsWizardEngine.8.0” and looking at the one I produced in order to continue my own work using VS2008, I do see the same line is: “Wizard=VsWizard.VsWizardEngine.9.0”.

If you first backup the 3dsmaxPluginWizard folder in your SDK install, you can use the 3 significant files from a VS2008 wizard that works to use as a guide to edit your SDK’s files by hand with notepad (which is pretty much all I did to get mine to work.)
http://www.tdmpalace.com/teamtools/3dsmaxPluginWizard2008.rar
3dsmaxPluginWizard.vcproj
3dsmaxPluginWizard.vsz
3dsmaxPluginWizard.vsdir

-------------------------------------------------

Ultimately, be aware that the purpose of this plugin wizard is to separate a person’s “Newness with Visual Studio and C++” from “Newness with Max SDK.”
You don’t actually need the wizard to get your job done.
All the wizard does is automatically add a few functions to match the type of plugin. What is more likely to strengthen your understanding of each (Windows/Visual Studio/C++/Max) is to follow the instructions in the Max SDK help for manually building a plugin.

Know what Max plugins actually are? Ordinary DLL’s which each have the filename suffix changed to align to the plugin’s purpose (It may not actually be a requirement to change the filename’s suffix.)

You can use VS2008 to begin a DLL project and manually add the functions that Max will call within it. There are several functions to export.
- One telling Max your plugin’s job types (a plugin can have multiple purposes: import/export/mesh cooking/etc. all in the same DLL.)
- Next, the plugin’s own version
- The author’s name
- One function that explains to Max which version of the Max SDK was used when compiling your DLL.
- Next will be one or more DLL exported functions Max needs to activate your plugin like “DoExport”.
The Max SDK help will tell you.

If you understand what a DLL is then, you understand what a Max plugin is. Don’t be afraid to roll up and get your hands dirty. One just has to know what functions Max needs to see in the DLL for the particular job.

BTW - Visit the http://www.microsoft.com/visualstudio/en-us/downloads/default.mspx site and, manually get VS2008 SP1 or later. Before VS2008 SP1, link.exe produced some interesting funkiness in the output window while there were absolutely no problems in my code.