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Importing models into eduke32?

User is offline   Nukester10 

#61

View PostTea Monster, on 28 April 2011 - 12:39 AM, said:

No I didn't (opens file again) Uh Oh.

Yep, it needs unwrapping.



It needs unwrapping?
Did I miss something here?

Anyhow Tea Monster,I followed your instructions to the letter.I pressed the "Draw Normals"button changed it to "200",
"Ctrl+N".I expected the mod to look normal in "editmode"or at least something to happen and nothing did.
On top of that,I changed the settings to "Frame_1"like you suggested,opened up mapster32,pressed the "Test Map"
button and the same old same old happened again.The mod didn't show up just the "3711"tile.I even tried this on
another map and the same thing,it didn't work.
1

User is offline   Roma Loom 

  • Loomsday Device

#62

It should be "frame_1" not "Frame_1". This thing is case sensitive.
0

User is offline   chicken 

  • Fashionable Modeler

#63

Never mind.
Roma Loom beat me to it.

This post has been edited by chicken: 28 April 2011 - 06:26 AM

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User is offline   Nukester10 

#64

View PostRoma Loom, on 28 April 2011 - 06:24 AM, said:

It should be "frame_1" not "Frame_1". This thing is case sensitive.


View Postchicken, on 28 April 2011 - 06:24 AM, said:

Never mind.
Roma Loom beat me to it.


"Hey! Who Shrunk The Dinner Table?" said, Duke

Posted Image

Wow,so that's what it was then,it was supposed to be "frame_1" and not "Frame_1" Thank Guys!

Now,when I go to resize this table,make it bigger,lol,just off the top of my head for some reason I'm thinking that
your supposed to actually resize it in the code,it's "scale 3" right now, rather than Blender or editart.
I'm wondering too what the shade setting in the code is for it's at "shade 4" right now,maybe if this was changed
as well then the "png"file would show up,I don't know just wondering.

Anyhow,this may not really be to important but just wondering too about the reason for the "frame_1"
setting.Like why do you have to do it this way,when if you look into the props folder all the other code
in there is presented like this,"frame1"for example without the "_"in there?
Just askin,Thanks Again Guys.

This post has been edited by Nukester10: 04 May 2011 - 12:12 PM

1

User is offline   chicken 

  • Fashionable Modeler

#65

You can resize it in Blender OR use a different scale value, how you like.

The shade value just darkens the model and does not affect the uv-map.

The different frame names in the HRP come from people using different programs to export their stuff.
For those who use Blender, there are different export scripts around (I'm using the one Tea Monster provided now but had a different one before)
All of those different programs and scripts assign different framenames.

I'm really curious about your uv-map now.
Could you post it or make a screenshot of it?
0

User is offline   fgsfds 

#66

Is there a md3 import plugin for 2.57? Some links that I found are dead.
0

User is offline   Tea Monster 

  • Polymancer

#67

View Postempyrock, on 29 April 2011 - 01:05 AM, said:

Is there a md3 import plugin for 2.57? Some links that I found are dead.

There are no importers or exporters yet for 2.57. A guy called Xembie did an exporter, but it only works with 2.53*. I tested it out and I got a version of the new pistol out, but since then, it's been very picky about what it exports. I think it kind of works with later versions, but it won't export animations with them - I've not tested that though. Plagman said he'd get us an MD3 exporter so I'd just wait for that.

Import has always been dodgy though for MD3. The import script for 2.4x won't support animations. The big problem is that MD3 is a very out-dated format. I tend to use NPherno's MD3 compiler or Misfit Model 3D to preview or test my MD3 files once I've exported them. As has been pointed out, there are no bones on MD3, so once it's exported, its basically useless. You can't re-import it and then repose it (unless you re-rig it!!). So basically if you need to fix it, you fix your .blend file and then re-export.

Nukester10 - last time you posted that table, the was no UV Map. It may be that you forgot to save after following that tutorial. All the UVs were crunched down to one point in the lower left corner of the map.

* (Blender was in Beta till 2.57 and the scripting API went through a lot of changes, and thus broke scripts).
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User is offline   Hendricks266 

  • Weaponized Autism

  #68

View PostTea Monster, on 29 April 2011 - 02:20 AM, said:

The import script for 2.4x won't support animations.

I have one that does. UVs too.
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User is offline   Tea Monster 

  • Polymancer

#69

View PostHendricks266, on 29 April 2011 - 08:21 AM, said:

I have one that does. UVs too.

Hmmmm, do tell!
1

User is offline   The Commander 

  • I used to be a Brown Fuzzy Fruit, but I've changed bro...

#70

Should I move away from 3DS and move to Blender?
Note: I have never used Blender but I am mostly familiar with 3DS apart from UV crap. :dukegoof:
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User is offline   Tea Monster 

  • Polymancer

#71

If you are used to Max, then you should probably stick to it unless it's really bugging you (or the pricetag is killing you). Max has a much better modelling toolset than Blender at the moment (unless you have a really old copy of Max).

The big things with Blender are that it's fast and light (boots in seconds) and you can put it on a flashdrive and take your 3D studio with you anywhere. I'm not a Max expert, but from what I've seen, the workflow in Blender is much faster and it tends to be more stable than more modern version of Max. My mates who use either Max or Maya are saying things like "You did that in one day?"

Blender's UV tools are pretty good, though I think that there are a lot of scripts available for Max. You could check out that video tut I posted a while back and see how it compares to what you have in Max.

This post has been edited by Tea Monster: 29 April 2011 - 11:42 AM

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User is offline   Hendricks266 

  • Weaponized Autism

  #72

http://hendricks266....blender_md3.zip
1

User is offline   fgsfds 

#73

Great. Is there a way to port it to 2.57?
0

User is offline   Tea Monster 

  • Polymancer

#74

Hendricks266 - that importer is storming!

Nukester10 - Did you use Xembie's Blender 2.5 exporter? Your UV problem may be a bug in the exporter.
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User is offline   Nukester10 

#75

View PostTea Monster, on 03 May 2011 - 05:15 AM, said:

Hendricks266 - that importer is storming!

Nukester10 - Did you use Xembie's Blender 2.5 exporter? Your UV problem may be a bug in the exporter.


No,not yet.What I did was scrap the old Table1 file and I created a new file called 3711_coffeetable.md3
By going back and rereading what you said earlier I realize where I screwed up.
What I did wrong on Table1 was re-import this mod into Blender 2.49b

So like I said,what I basically did was create a new table and titled it,"3711_coffeetable.md3

Then,I grabbed the tools you mentioned earlier,"Npherno's MD3" and "Misfit model 3D"

I know a few people including yourself mentioned earlier not to mess with Gmax
but I found out there are a lot more people into this program then I thought before.

I think you mentioned something about the MD3 was broken for Gmax or something like that
and that's why you said to stay away from it,so I did.

Anyhow,getting back to Blender 2.49b I created the mod,I deleted the cube,pressed "space""add plane"
then I stretched it, extruded it,put legs on it and exported it.The interesting thing I found out when viewing
what I thought was going to be a table with legs on it,turned out to be just a simple extruded "plane"
with no legs.This is where the other screwup comes in I didn't mention earlier.What I did,was assume
that the mod would be saved when I exported it.Yes and no,Yes it saved the "plane"but not the whole
mesh "with legs".How did I know this?I viewed it within Npherno's MD3 last night.So then I decided to
re-create the table for the third time,this time I "Saved It First"as a .blend file,re-opened the .blend
file then from that file I "exported"it as "3711_coffeetable.md3

Ok,so the mod is fine,I'm pretty sure I guess,I mean I'm not going to re-import it into Blender again
and take the chance of screwing this one up too, just to get a closer look at it.

At this point in time the problem I'm having at the moment is,

1. When I press,"Test Map" and crawl underneath the table and look up at the bottom of the table,
it disappeared.I know you mentioned in an earlier post about making the table "solid"and
I tried doing this and it's still coming out the same.Could you explain specifically how
you did this?Also,I can't stand on the table,I can run right through it.What setting needs
to be made in order to make this table a solid object?

2.Now for the second problem,"skinning the mod".Are you supposed to use the same "MD3"
and place these files in the contents of both Npherno's and Misfit Model 3D as well?

Because,I tried the Misfit Model 3D program and it doesn't seem to recognize MD3?
I also tried,Npherno's compiler and tried to get the skin,"Texture"to link up with the
table and it was a nogo.First of all it wouldn't even recognize "png"files.It would
recognize "tga"files.Yes,I also made a new "UV" map after making the mod from
the same .blend file

How did you get whatever file format you used to view the skinned mod in Npherno and
then change it to "png"later on?

I'm going to reinstall this program this time and tick-off "Milkshape 3D" and see what happens,
maybe this is why it didn't recognize "MD3"

It sounds like your moving up in the world to Blender 2.5
Let me know how good the animated and static mods come out?

This post has been edited by Nukester10: 03 May 2011 - 02:16 PM

1

User is offline   Nukester10 

#76

View PostHendricks266, on 29 April 2011 - 08:21 AM, said:

I have one that does. UVs too.


Could you explain which folder your supposed to put this MD3 file into?The last time I went through all this with a different MD3 file,same thread last page,it did work with Blender 2.53 which is what I'm using now and AGAIN. I just placed the MD3 scripts within the "io"folder and it worked,your's did not work?I tried the lastest version,2.57b it didn't work they're either.
1

User is offline   Tea Monster 

  • Polymancer

#77

IGNORE 2.5 UNTIL WE GET A RELIABLE EXPORTER
Xembie's exporter for 2.53 has a bug with the UV mapping, that is why your table's UV map disappeared.

I've never used GMax, so I can't advise on it.
You need the Development version of Misfit Mode 3D. Version 1.3.8

1. Table should be constructed like so:
Posted Image

2. Do the Control N thing to check your normals
Posted Image

3. Follow THIS UV Mapping tut, as it covers 2.49 and actually teaches you how to import your image after you've painted it.

4. Export your UV map to your image editor and get it painted up. Feel free to use photo reference for wood textures. Save the image out as a PNG or JPEG. It helps to have it in a square of either 512 pixels or 1024 pixels. This is a gaming convention based on how video cards used to process information. I don't think it's strictly necessary any more, but its a good practice to adopt. Its a good idea as well to save it with the tile number at the beginning of the name (ie: '0021_pistolpickup.png') so that you don't get lost while looking through your game graphics.

5. Use Npherno to double check your frame name.
Posted Image


6. Place both MD3 and skin into your game folder.

6. Use your established def file with correct frame name (pay attention to case and make sure your path in the def is correct as well)

7. Run EDuke.

This post has been edited by Tea Monster: 04 May 2011 - 04:59 AM

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User is offline   Nukester10 

#78

Quote

Hendricks266 - that importer is storming!



Tea Monster,you never gave any feedback on Hendricks importer?
Did you try it yet?


Quote

Xembie's exporter for 2.53 has a bug with the UV mapping, that is why your table's UV map disappeared.


No,that's not entirely correct.I've been using Blender 2.49b the whole time,the Table1 file was created at least two or three times with 2.49b

The only thing I did with Blender 2.53 was to install the exporter and you obviously saw the pic I presented in an earlier post for you to come to this conclusion.To tell you the truth,I never really did attempt to create,Table1 with this program because I dropped 2.53 just as soon as you mentioned bad things about the exporter.Now you may be asking yourself,"Why did he go back to 2.53!?"The reason I went back to 2.53 is because of this conversation you had with Hendricks recently above, about the importer he had presented.This is why I keep asking you about this particular importer and NOT the Xembie.

Now I'm in the process of learning Gmax all over again.I never did remove it from my comp when I could have and now I'm glad I didn't.I found an exporter and it did show up when I clicked on the tab.I'm hoping I can somehow UV unwrap in Gmax and get this damn table model skinned sooner or later.In Gmax btw they call it UVW.You know it's funny how they're really aren't that many tutorials online for Gmax to begin with,so basically this is why it's going to take me a while to learn this program all over again.If your interested about getting into Gmax,let me know and I'll let you in on where I got the exporter from? I want to see how the mods come out in Gmax with this exporter,when finished.

If Milkshape3D was freeware we wouldn't even be having this conversation right now.Btw that's the program I used to use a few years ago,it was perfect for this kind of thing.I even bought the disc as a backup for it in the mail.Milkshape3D has a little history behind it though,

Supposedly it was going to be used in creating the first HalfLife game and in the middle of production they scrapped it and went with another program.Somebody else picked up the scraps and decided to market it as a shareware program,"Milkshape3D"is the title they went with.

I really did like this program at the time.Especially because it was so userfriendly.It was strange though,after about a year of Milkshape3D sitting on my comp and even though I paid for this program previously.One day I got this popup,saying something to the effect that,"You Need To Update This Version Of Milkshape3D".When I read this and found out that Chumbalum was looking for more money,that pissed me off because I felt that I already purchased this program and why should they shut it down and suck more money out of me after I already allowed them to make a profit from me as a customer!?On top of this,I did a little research online about this company,"Chumbalum".

I think I'm spelling it correctly.Anyhow,beyond the fact that the company resides somewhere in Switzerland supposedly,I had found out that I wasn't alone in being pissed off at the time.On certain blogs there happened to be others who where claiming that Milkshape3D was acting very strangely on they're comps as well.It wouldn't listen to what Windows was telling it to do half the time,it kind of did it's own thing and eventually a lot of people started calling it a type of "Spyware".

Just as soon as I read about that,swooooooosh! I was done with this program altogether.If you'd like to read more about this,type Milkshape3D in Wikipedia and it will explain everything.

This post has been edited by Nukester10: 04 May 2011 - 01:56 PM

1

User is offline   Tea Monster 

  • Polymancer

#79

At the end of the day, use what you are comfortable with and gets the job done for you.

There are two big problems with GMax, and I'm not telling you this to change your mind, but to make you aware of them.

1. It's 'Dead' software. Unless TurboSquid release the source or sell it on, there will never be any upgrades... ever. This may be fine now, but if you get more into 3D you are going to feel the pinch. Last time I checked, there wasn't even an option to render your work.

2, No support for Next Gen models. You can make a next-gen mesh in GMax, but AFIK you can't view the models with normal maps and so forth in the viewport. Also, you can't bake the maps off either in GMax. If you do decide to make something for the Polymer renderer, you are suddenly going to have to learn a raft of new utilities and applications.

Having said all that, if you are happy with GMax, and all you want to do is make some models for a mod, then rock and roll. Learning 3D can be a pain in the arse, if you've found something that makes it easier, then I'm glad.

I used Milkshape briefly back when I was learning 3D. It was a great little program, but it was quite limited to just making game models, so I switched to Blender.

I've briefly tried out Hendrick's importer. It does import 3d models with animations, which is really cool.

I've not had time to give it a full test as I've been in the middle of 3 other projects at the moment. ;)

This post has been edited by Tea Monster: 05 May 2011 - 12:53 AM

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User is offline   Nukester10 

#80

View PostTea Monster, on 05 May 2011 - 12:53 AM, said:


I've briefly tried out Hendrick's importer. It does import 3d models with animations, which is really cool.



It does? well what folder did you happen to place the file within?I tried this with Blender 2.57 and they're
are so many folders you could get lost in there!

Also,you said you briefly tried it,what I'd like to know is which version a Blender did you briefly try it in?
1

User is offline   Tea Monster 

  • Polymancer

#81

It only works with the 2.4 series.

Xembie has (so far) the only MD3 exporter for Blender 2.5.

When they upgraded from 2.4 to 2.5, they changed the way scripts were written and how much of Blender was scriptable. It was a gradual progression from 2.50 - 2.56 (which were considered Betas). Stuff got changed around and broke scripts fairly commonly. So, anything written for 2.5, unless it was written pretty recently, has a high chance of not working at all, or having limited functionality.

Anything that works in 2.49 though is fairly guaranteed not to work in any version of 2.5 due to the changes that happened between the 2.4 and 2.5 series.
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User is offline   Nukester10 

#82

Tea Monster,I have a few questions about Misfit Model 3D if you don't mind?

1.If I created a mod in Blender 2.49b can I import this mod into Misfit Model 3D?

2.If I can't create a mod in Blender 2.49b and then import it into Misfit Model 3D for editing,suppose
I created the mod in Misfit Model 3D itself, textured it,THEN saved it as a MD3 and if you can
actually do this,how is it done?

To add to this,I'm hoping your going to say that you don't need a separate program to skin the mod
in.I know this was and still is the case for Milkshape3D,you had to use a program called "LithUnwrap"
It was exclusively designed for skinning mods for Milkshape3D.If you said,"No you won't need a separate
program in order to skin your mod,you can do the whole process within Misfit Model 3D,wow that would
be a relief.

3.In order to save a mod in Misfit Model 3D,how exactly do you set up the program
to do this,I mean which folder do you install the MD3 export file in?

I'm going to explain why I'm interested in Misfit Model 3D.It reminds me of Milkshape3D first of all.
I keep running into this problem over and over again with Blender and that problem is,Ok I can create
the coffeetable mod in Blender alright and I can view the coffeetable ok in mapster32 under "Test Map"
and Npherno's MD3 viewer,BUT.I'm having a problem breaking down the mod into sections and applying
a texture to each part of the mod.You know,linking the "png"to the "MD3"basically,skinning the mod.

What would be the easiest way for me to skin this table that you can think of?
1

User is offline   Mark 

#83

I installed and tried out GMax, Blender and Misfit3D at the same time. Misfit was the only one I could figure out how to use. There are a few tutorials out there on the internet to help you out. The big difference between Misfit and the others is that when skinning the model there is no unwrapping process that gives you a graphic to color in and texture.

For instance with your table, you would create a png ahead of time with say a rectangular strip of the material you want to use for the legs. Then another rectangle for the face. And anything else that might need a texture. Then after the table has been made you select the faces or parts you want to skin and drag them on to the pic and adjust the mesh to fit in your rectangle. The program then automatically wraps that texture around the leg,face or whatever you are working on. I learned from trial and error but then I found the online tutorial and it was much easier to figure out. It took me, a slow learner, about 3 weeks to figure out the basics of the program. Things will probably be faster for you because I had zero experience with models when I started using the program.
1

User is offline   Tea Monster 

  • Polymancer

#84

I can't really tell you too much about Misfit Model 3D. I only use it as a model viewer, I've never actually tried to make anything in it. The best thing to do is to get onto YouTube and start searching for vids. YouTube isn't just about phone-camming HighSchool stunts anymore. There are a lot of tuts up there on all sorts of things. Or Google 'misfit model 3d model tutorial' I know you can export as an md3 and Misfit will read it in. It also supports Obj and Lightwave formats. So you can get a model into Misfit from Blender.

The other thing I've noticed is that he's suspended development since February. The source is out there in case someone else picks it up, but until that time (IF they do), then it's in the same boat as GMax - Zombieware!
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User is offline   Nukester10 

#85

Yesterday,I did an experiment with Misfit Model 3D.
I imported one of the models from the hrp.It imported nice,smooth,fast and clean.Then I pressed the Animation Tab.
Same thing,ran sweet.Actually,it was 1321_hooker.md3,she was tapping her foot in the animation.
Next,what I really was curious about was whether or not I would be able to view this model textured here as well.

Unfortunately,under perspective,it was not textured.

Interestingly though,under the Group Tab,it said, "no group" but as soon as I pressed this tab button I was like,
that's neat it said,"Box01"then immediately under "Texture" it showed,"shl.psd" and beneath that a red texture
with a pixelated black x in the middle of it.What is that all about?

I could be wrong here,but doesn't "psd" signify a model animation tag?
Again,what would the "shl"mean though,I don't get it and why assign it to a texture?
I mean,this reminds me of texture assignment in editart with a model you have in mapster32.
Does this work kind of like the same way?

At this point,I'm going to create another table in Blender 2.49b,btw I'm using Hendricks lastest file now.
Then I'm going to see how it looks in Misfit Model 3D.From there I need to figure out how to skin the model,
Tabun has a tutorial on it but it doesn't seem to add up in this case,

Click the button labeled "Import objects", and select the MD3 you wish to alter.
It shows the following popup:


Posted Image

Well first of all it didn't show up like this at all.It just showed the word"plane"and that's it.On
top of that when I clicked on it there was no room in the second box for a text file,"tga"for example.
All it showed was the name of the model?



Select all parts of the model, and click "OK".
The model should now appear in the center as a red and blue set of objects.

Posted Image

Yes the model would show up but how are you supposed to apply a texture to it.A big btw here,I beleive,no I know this program does NOT read "png"files,so I guess my question would be,"What do you create a "tga"file first so you can import it in here,then later you change it to a "png"?

This is important:
Now, click the "All" button (located directly above "Import objects"). Make sure the checkbox in fig. 04 is checked before you proceed!

Posted Image

Notice in the box where it say's 3D's Max,in my mod it just said,"frame_1"
Why wouldn't mine say,Blender then though?Also I was wondering what that little square
box is for?Located dead center at the bottom within that line? Yes,Tea Monster I've googled and I'm
still finding myself with a lot of unanswered questions even still.


Step 2: Altering the skin-path
Now we can alter the skin-path of any of the imported objects.
Usually, you'll find the MD3 only has one object. If you've had to select more than one object in the import popup (see fig. 02), there are more objects whose path may need editing.

Use the top-most dropdown-list to select an object (in this case, we can see that w_nailgun has been selected). The embedded path to the skin will be shown in the field immediately below it. You can edit the path now.
This is important:
Remember to always use forward slashes in paths. No matter what the original path shows, use forward slashes.
failure to do so means you won't see a skin in-game.

Step 3: A precaution
To prevent problems with the MD3's normals (don't ask if you don't know or care), click "Rebuild normals" and "OK" after the popup opens. No need to select any of the three checkboxes.
(Depending on the state of the MD3 you've imported, the results can either show or fail to show in the compiler's view of the model. Don't pay it any heed, unless you're specifically trying to fix a broken model.)

Step 4: Final step
Once you've edited the paths of all objects, it's time to export the model, saving your changes.
Click "Export objects" and give the MD3 a nice name. You can overwrite the MD3 you imported without problems, by the way.

A popup will show, asking for an "Internal name". Unless you're editing a player model, ignore this - leave it blank.
Just click "OK".

That's all there is to it.

Recap
Ok, to recap what I've shown so far, here are the basic steps:

* 1. Import objects
* 2. Alter name (remember, FORWARD slashes)
* 3. Rebuild normals
* 4. Export objects

This post has been edited by Nukester10: 07 May 2011 - 11:59 AM

1

User is offline   Tea Monster 

  • Polymancer

#86

OK,
A lot of that stuff was done with the Quake engine games in question. You don't have to do all that for EDuke. Here is how I use it for EDuke:

I use NPherno's MD3 Compiler to check that nothing went wrong with the export process. Sometimes things can go wrong and NPherno's Compiler is just a good way to check the MD3 and make sure all is well. I never have used the graphics functions at all. Ever.

Posted Image
1. Import Objects. Usually this will be one MD3 file. When you select the file, you will get the second box. This tells you that the MD3 you are importing has several different models within it. You can select some or all of the models. Usually you will select all.

One important note: I've not triple checked this, but I'm pretty sure that the order you see here for your model parts is the order that they will appear in EDuke. So the top one would be 'surface 0', the next one down would be 'surface 1' and so on. This is how you define which texture goes with which model part in the def file. You won't have to worry about this with your table, but anyone else reading this might find it usefull (or they will be laughing and thinking "What, he didn't know that?!!!!!"). So with that Nailgun model you have, you would make a note of which model was in which slot for when you make your def (the other items are tags, but you don't need to worry about that as EDuke dosen't support them).

Posted Image
2. Your model should appear in the viewport. Sometimes it is way off centre (especially for HUD models) and won't appear. You can manipulate your model in the viewport thus:

RMB - Pan up and down in the viewport.
LMB - Gimbal on the model's origin.
MMB - Dolly Viewport into and away from model.

I don't bother with graphics settings. Just about nobody uses TGA's for game art any more. I do all my UV Mapping in Blender (nice tools for this there) and check that my skins are OK there by re-importing them and applying them to the model. Secondly, what is in here won't apply to the model at all. EDuke will apply the skin according to the DEF file. You can put '£:/planethiphop/denoftheunderminer/sladesbedroom/Carmack4Prez.exr' into the model viewer and EDuke will completely ignore it (thankfully!). So save yourself some time and forget that bit.

If I've had a normals problem on the model, I've never known NPherno to fix it. I think it is purely a higher mathematical thing for how the program treats the light angles on the model. It won't (in my experience) fix flipped normals. You need to go back to your 3D app and fix it there and re-export. The fixer was made for Quake 3 models, way back before per-pixel lighting or normal maps. It should fix certain things, but it is not likely to really produce proper-smoothing groups for Polymer.

Posted Image
3. Frame Slider: This runs the animated frames back and forth. You can check that all the parts of the model are working correctly. Here you can see that there is a problem.

Posted Image
4. Hit 'Export Objects' button. You will be presented with a dialog box. Name your model "tilenumber_itemname.md3" is the usual format.

There are a lot more options available to concatenate models and reposition different models within the MD3 file on per-frame basis, but I really wouldn't bother with that. Go back to your origin file, tweak it and re-export it.

As to Misfit. I think that you have to select the model by verts (select the pic of the 4 vertices then drag-select the model so the verts go red), go to materials, then edit materials, then hit the 'change texture' button and select your png. If you hit F1 you get a help pop-up. Beyond that, I can't really help you with it as I've never UV mapped in the program.
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User is offline   Nukester10 

#87

View PostTea Monster, on 07 May 2011 - 04:35 PM, said:

I do all my UV Mapping in Blender (nice tools for this there) and check that my skins are OK there by re-importing them and applying them to the model.

Secondly, what is in here won't apply to the model at all.


Ok,first of all what does the compiler do,my guess is that,"It's a tool that links the model with the texture file so when you view your model in mapster32 in the end you will see it textured".Correct me if I'm wrong about this?


By,going by what you stated in the quotes,how do you actually re-import the texture file back into Blender,I tried that it and it doesn't seem to work?

Are you actually saying that you can you actually view your model textured in Blender itself?

I'll give you a quick step by step on how I'm going about doing this,

1.First,I create the model in Blender
2.Next I'll save it as a .blend file
3.After that I'll re-open this file then I'll export it as an MD3

See, now there are two files the".blend"file and also the "MD3"file.

4.Then I'll open the .blend file once again and next I create a UV Map,from there I'll save this UV Map as a "tga"file
because that is the ONLY option I have in Blender.

5.After that,I'll open the "tga"file in Gimp and use the magic wand and highlight all of the pieces to the table I created.

6.Next,while the pieces of the table are still highlighted,I use the Bucket Fill tool only after choosing a wood texture from the Gimp's file directory.

7.Going on,next I select,"Select None"so the marching ants stop marching around the texture.

8.Finally,I save this "tga" as a "png" file.

From there,were back to where you left off,

So, it sounds like you're only VIEWING THE MODEL ITSELF in Npherno and NOT THE TEXTURE FILE?
and yet ultimately in the end, this Npherno program compiles or links these two files together
as this is what it was designed to do.

This post has been edited by Nukester10: 07 May 2011 - 06:25 PM

1

User is offline   Tea Monster 

  • Polymancer

#88

You are right, the compiler was built to do just that. But it was designed specifically for Quake III engine games, using the specifics of how the Quake III engine works. Id Software designed the MD3 format for Quake III and the QIII modding community (including NPherno - who made a cracking skin editor by the way) made tools to work with them, again, specifically, Id Software's Quake III.

Many years later, EDuke picked up the MD3 format, but applied things differently than how Id Software did. EDuke is NOT using the Quake III game engine or renderer. They are completely different in ability and construction. EDuke just uses the MD3 model format from Quake III. There are a number of things about the format that EDuke dosen't use (tags for instance). So we have adopted the tools of the trade, but we don't use them in exactly the same way as our engine is entirely custom. Quake III defined the texture path in the file format - we use a def file. Just be glad you weren't here when we were using the MD2 format from Quake II - that was just a nightmare.

Yes, you can view your model skins in Blender - that tut I posted shows you how.

I use Photoshop rather than GIMP, but that sounds the same. I import the png into Blender, set it as a material with UV mapping. Set it to the 'COL' slot. Then I go up to the 3D viewport and select 'Textured' viewport shading. Then I go to 'Game' menu and select 'Blender GLSL Materials'. Add a Hemi or Spot light and off you go!

http://forums.duke4....25504_thumb.jpg

Attached thumbnail(s)

  • Attached Image: blender1.jpg

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User is offline   Nukester10 

#89

Posted Image

This screengrab came out a bit small,but here's what it says,

In Box 1 it says,the name of the model,"coffeetable" It would have said "plane"but I noticed down in the bottom settings for Blender where it could be changed and I did so.


In Box 2 it says,"3711_coffeetable.md3/s.coffeetable_coffeetable.png"

Tea Monster,I imput this information based on what you stated in your last post.If there is anything that you believe should not have been included or anything in the way I imput it that does not look right to you,please explain how this should be input?

In Box 3 it says,"frame_1" if anyone can't tell that already.

Next I pressed the "Export Objects"button and it appeared as you described,Save As>*.md3>Quake 3 Model.md3

Ok,then I typed in the box,"3711_coffeetable.md3" assuming that name would overwrite the original file,I can use the original file name right? Or do you recommend changing the name at this point?

Now this is where things got really interesting and what happened is not part of what you said would happen,

after I pressed "Export" this gui popped up,

Posted Image

I didn't have a clue what this was for."INTERNAL NAME",what are they talking about?!

So I'm just guessing here,I just typed inside the internal name box,"3711_coffeetable.md3"
and I also ticked off both "Selected Objects Only"and "Selected Frames Only"boxes.

When I pressed ok,then an error gui came up,

Posted Image

To those wondering it says,"There are no selected frames to export!"

Edit: I went through this process again and then in the "INTERNAL NAME"box I simply imput,"coffeetable" that's all.

But before I pressed the "Export Objects"button Agaaaain, I pressed the "ALL" button below where it reads,"frame_1"

Now,I don't know what I was supposed to type in the "Internal Name"box but when I pressed the "Export Objects"button right after ticking off ,"Selected Objects Only"and "Selected Frames Only"then like I said,I pressed the "All"button below,"frame_1,it all went through without another gui error at least popping up.Btw,what is this,"INTERNAL NAME"box all about and what was I supposed to type in there?

Ok,unfortuanatly when I opened up mapster32 and pressed the "Test Map"button,this is a pic of what the table looks like so far,

Posted Image

2 Problems Still Remain,

1.Still there is no texture applied,I don't know what went wrong!? Notice how the table has a brown tinge color to it,I'm starting to think that the texture actually is applied but something else needs to be adjusted,like the "shade"number under definitions or something else,I don't know,what's your thoughts on that?

2.I can still run through the table and I'm not able to jump on,up and down and off of it yet.

The one thing I can say that I'm happy about, is that the table looks good structurally,from top to bottom,all the normals look good I mean.


Tea Monster,did I go a bit to far here?The reason I'm asking is because you never mentioned any of this stuff earlier?

This post has been edited by Nukester10: 07 May 2011 - 08:22 PM

1

User is offline   Tea Monster 

  • Polymancer

#90

I forgot about that dialog box for the internal name. You can ignore that as I've left it blank and it's worked fine in EDuke. It's another feature that EDuke dosen't use.

As I said earlier, you can ignore the model and graphic path name boxes. I think it would help if you were using Misfit, as it would tell Misfit where the graphics were, but Blender and EDuke ignore that. if you are using it, put the path name to the graphic relative to the md3 location. Again, EDuke will ignore that and go with the DEF file.

DON'T OVERWRITE! - yes, you can have problems doing that. Re-name the file as '3711_coffeetable_B.md3' or something similar. Either go to the folder afterwards and delete the original and rename your new one, or alter your def file to reflect the new name (remembering afterwards to clean out your model folder in the Duke3D directory as things can get cluttered after some dev work).

If you are looking at your model in game, then you did everything right!!! ;) ;) ;) :D

Looking at your in-game screen, I'm thinking you still have your UV Map problem. It would be only one colour if the map was compressed down to one pixel in the lower left corner. That would explain it having a colour (if the skin didn't work with the model, it would be invisible), but only one colour. Open it in either Misfit or Blender and check your UV's.

Oh, and don't use Xembie's exporter, I know you said you haven't used it, but its the only one that I know of that exhibits this behavior.

EDIT: Here is an excellent tut from the Katsbits site about how to model in Blender 2.49. They have an accompanying 2.5 tut for when Plagman gets his exporter done. :o
http://www.katsbits....-and-layout.php

This post has been edited by Tea Monster: 08 May 2011 - 04:54 AM

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