I'm not a molder and I don't have a tone of money, I have however been able to find a good number of the types of models I need to start my project. Only problem is they are all in .3ds format. Can someone please tell me how to convert these files to .obj format?

Try Wings3D
http://www.wings3d.com/

or

3dsmax -> File -> Export - *.obj

Or save the .3ds files as .mesh using the Model Editor, and then use the Converter Tool to export them to .obj format.

Editor > Model Editor > (drag 'n drop .3ds) > File > Save
Converter > Mesh > Export to Wavefront .obj mesh > (drag 'n drop .mesh)

Why would you use .obj though? In my experience, .3ds gives much less problems than .obj does.

Unless you specifically need that file, of course.

Yes, .obj is not very good. I prefer .dae (collada) myself.

Thank you all for your insights, they have helped me learn a great deal more about the abilities of this product but due to my limited understanding regarding much terminology involved I still seem to find issues in my process.

Here is a break down on the resources I have access too;
- I have access to a large library of free .3ds structures, mostly of the tree, shrub and grass variety.
- All of the structures include texture maps so that they can be reattached at some point in the process.
- I do not have access to 3dsmax to double check the export process or it's end result when trying to bring the models into Esenthel.

Here is the challenge I keep running into;
- If I use the converter to transform .3ds files directly into .obj files none of the individual structures found within the rendered object have any textures applied to them. The object loose it's individuality; tree trunk, branches and leaves all become a single structure and it's not possible to separate them from one another to apply the appropriate textures.
- If I drag-n-drop the .3ds files directly into the Model Editor, manage to properly associate all the textures to the correct parts of the model then save it. Use the converter to Mesh -> Export to Wavefront .obj mesh then try adding the obj to my World Editor project nothing appears. I'm sure the object is there but it's invisible because there are no textures associated with it.

In a nutshell all I want is to get some models into the World Editor so I can get back to building my little world but I'm stuck on all this conversion stuff. So some more advice would be appreciated. Either that or access to someones catalog or alpine trees, shrubs and grasses that work properly would be great. lol

Much appreciated,

Vince

PS: I'm trying to get stuff into .obj format because I don't know any better. It appears to be the only option when trying to place things into the World Editor that I can see.

In Esenthel .obj means "game object" - it's not the same as the common wavefront mesh file format. In Esenthel, this file is used to encapsulate the type, the access etc. You shouldn't, at any part in your import pipeline, be using Mesh > Export to Wavefront.obj

You create an EE.obj (not the same as wavefront .obj) in the World Editor. Press '2' in World Editor, in the mini window called "Temp Object" you load a .mesh (this is the Esenthel mesh file format - similar to a wavefront.obj). In this temp object window you can use File > Save to create an EE Obj if you like. You can alternatively use an existing .obj base (again this isn't the same as wavefront .obj) to work from. Edit: Also, when you've set it up, make sure you press the "Insert" key to insert it to the world.

So you should: Drag the .3ds into the Model Editor, associate it, save a .mesh and a .mtrl (and any other files), then use these files in the World Editor, as described above.

Chris beat me to it. I'll just explain the benefit of using an EE .obj then.

Basically, any objects inserted into your world that share the same .obj base share the same properties, unless overwritten on a per-object basis. What that means is, if you had inserted 20 doors into your world that each had a scale of 1 and you needed to update them all to have a scale of 2, if they did not share the same .obj base (or used none at all), you would have to manually change the scale to 2 for all 20 doors. This could become very time consuming. However, if they all shared a common .obj base, you could simply update the .obj to have a scale of 2 instead of 1, re-save it, and then all 20 doors would update to have a scale of 2. If you, for instance, overwritten the scale of one specific door to have a scale of 3, this door would be unaffected by the change.

If you only need say 1 or 2 doors in your entire world, then you do not necessarily need to use a .obj at all. You could just manually update them when needed as it wouldn't take very long to update just a few objects.