Alright, for the 3ds max users out there it is quite simple:

1. Download the Collada Exporter/Importer here http://sourceforge.net/projects/colladamaya/files/...adaMax_FREE_3.05C.exe/download (by going to the sourceforge link provided by what seems to be our only tutorial contributor, you do not get the required plugin for max - it would seem). Save to desktop.

2. Install the plugin you just downloaded. I had to save the installer to the desktop to install; I would assume that this was a vista issue since it would not complete the installation while installing from the temp directory.

3. Open up max

4. Go to Customize -> Plug-in Manager and make sure CALLADAMAX.DLE is loaded and not deferred

5. Go to File -> Import -> Your Dae file exported from Spore (Vista = C:\Users\"Name of user"\Documents\My Spore Creations\Creatures\file.dae) MAKE SURE YOU SELECT FILE TYPE "CALLADA (*.DAE, *.XML)" at the bottom of the window under File Name then click on open and leave both options checked, hit ok.

6. Wait for about 10 minutes if you have an inferior setup.

7. You should be set.

To edit the textures you need to use some 2d image editting software. I am sure there's plenty of freeware out there. The textures should have exported as targas (.tga) in the same directory the .dae was in. I get really carried away with my texturing so I will leave it at that...

As for the materials/shaders themselves, click on Rednering-> Material Editor (or press "M"), click on one of the empty gray spheres and then click "Material" at the top of the window and choose "Get Material..." then click on the creature mesh with the eyedropper. You are defaulted to the scanline renderer so I would suggest just playing with the specular and glossiness levels or changing the shader types. For some fun you can play with some reflection map options, ah, by the way, all your maps will be shown a little more clearly if you click on your material you collected from the mesh and scroll down to the maps rollout - this will show you what each of the maps are for and give you an idea of what they do (for me to explain these clearly I would have to explain UVW mapping and I just dont have time to type that). I would be cautious if you do not have a rig built for either gaming or media editting. Other than that you can change the renderer over to max's innate Mental Ray renderer via Rendering->Render Setup-> Common Tab (Scroll to bottom and change renderer to Mental Ray). I use neither of these renders, but if someone wants to download the trial and play with their creations, then you can try playing around with these options.

To animate, (look up some tutorials) if you do NOT use any 3d packages and have no experience in 3d, use the autokey function on the bottom right. Basically if you turn on autokey and move the slider 30-50 frames ahead, then move a joint in 3d space (then turn off autokey), max will automatically create an animation (I dont know the proper name for it in max after 3 years, but I have always called it tweening from flash or autokey animation).

If you just want to see your model in 3d - click on Rendering -> Render. There are quite a few things to be aware of if you use this method, I will list 2. One, you have no lights, which means no shadows. Two, you have no stage (ground) also taking away from your realism. Unlike Maya (very limited experience, so this is an assumption), once you see the mesh, you have default lights in the viewports so you are already set to click render and see your creature.

You can also add a little variation if you dont want to use the black background by going to Rendering -> Environment and changing the color, adding a gradient, or adding a bitmap (in max the bitmap map isnt restricted to .bmps, you can use jpegs or even layers in PSDs among many other formats).

There are far too many options you can explore for me to explain, but for those of you who really want to play with your models, this is a way that will work at least for the duration of the 30 day trial anyway found here http://www.autodesk.com/3dsmax-trial which does require a registration but it is free to download and use for 30 days.

I would assume that this exact method will work with max 2010 (I just remembered that the trial is for 2010 and I use a prior version).

When I try to import a creature I get this error. I use 3ds max 2010 and colladamax 0.9.5.447_x64. I have winows 7 64bit. What's wrong?

I didn't give up. I tried with OpenCOLLADA 3ds Max 1.2.5x64.With it I could import a creature, but I got an error again. Now I see the mesh in the program, but the texture don't. The error was not so garrulous.

I want creatures that look as fuzzy as that one! With what I use, all my textures turn out worse than ingame. >_< I'll try this out!

O_O

How did he get two creatures in there at one time? i heard that was bum hard to do

I use 3ds max 2011, is there a Collada for 3ds max 2011?