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Thread: [Tutorial] 3D model importing questions - Update with video Tutorial

  1. #1
    Xorte-Renshe's Avatar Civis
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    Icon6 [Tutorial] 3D model importing questions - Update with video Tutorial

    [Update with amateurish video Tutorial]
    Perhaps people who are more familiar with 3ds Max and such will be able to take what I've put here and do some better stuff with it, but here's my tutorial for what I do to put models into the game:
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dh2Pd5Gti0g
    Since I am a beginner with this, any tips would be appreciated!

    [Original post]
    The question I have will be at the end, and deals with a texture problem I have noticed.

    First up, I want to thank Wangrin for his unending patience back when I was starting this a few years ago. Wangrin and the other guys who have helped me throughout the years, like Uanime5, .Mitch., and Bullgod, amongst others, are geniuses!

    History:
    Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

    Back in 2013, I wanted to start importing 3d models into Shogun 2. I used these threads while I was learnig:
    http://www.twcenter.net/forums/showt...ications/page2
    http://www.twcenter.net/forums/showt...Shogun-2/page9
    And my own:
    http://www.twcenter.net/forums/showt...x-for-Shogun-2

    A busy life got in the way, but, in 2015, I tried again with Rome 2 because of a tutorial released by Warman222.
    This one: http://www.twcenter.net/forums/showt...-Up-and-Helmet
    Using that, I managed to put a new head into Rome 2. The mouth even moved, since I hooked up the jaw to the right bone, but unfortunately, the inside of the mouth wasn’t easy to get to, so it was kinda off. I took Hitler's model from Sniper Elite and added him as a Roman general. It worked really well.
    Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 


    So, jump ahead two years...
    Well, the other day I noticed that someone named Havie made a Romance of the Three Kingdoms mod for Shogun 2. I downloaded and checked out the unit models in TWeak, and some are good, some are a tad weird.
    Wei Yan, for example, looks awesome:
    Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

    Gan Ning, on the other hand, looks really off with his arm spacing:
    Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

    But, I mean, Shogun 2 models already look kinda off because of their arm-to-body spacing. Wei Yan’s muscles are so big you cant really see the model stretching. The odd models aren’t the fault of the mod creator, it’s just the way Shogun 2 is.
    There are also some funny problems with the models, like how there is back-faced culling on Shogun’s engine. Take a look at Liu Bei’s beard (which, by the way, is the exact kind of beard I have):
    Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 


    Now, this made me want to continue with my original intention of putting models into Shogun 2. So, I took the past 24 hours to crash-course myself through what I learned way back when from Wangrin and the others who worked with him on various threads. In addition, I used Warman222’s Rome 2 importing tutorial, amending it for Shogun 2's system (and for using 3DS Max 2010 instead of 2013, though 2013 was needed to get the raw-data art files first) and in a few hours, I was able to get Hope Estheim’s head into Shogun 2! It isn’t scaled quite correctly, so I’ll fiddle around with it a bit more ‘til it is just right. You might notice that he is missing his hair and eyes. There is a reason for this, which I’ll discuss in a bit.
    Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 


    There is only one instance of the mod, yet there are three options in TWeak. Could it have to do with the Lods? Also, the shiny-ness of his face I'll fix. It's just the strength of the options I set. [EDIT] Actually, there is a 4th Hope head model in TWeak. It's at the very top, defying the alphabetical order. I didn't notice before. So, yeah, I'm assuming this issue has to do with the Lods.[End of Edit]

    The head looks pretty good with certain helmets, like Kato Kiyomasa’s.
    Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 



    Now, onto my problem and subsequent question.
    The reason Hope doesn’t have his hair or eyes is because they use different texture files than his skin. Shogun 2’s files work under the format of a single diffuse, level, gloss, and normal per model. That means I cant, as far as I know, put both Hope’s head and eyes, let’s say, as a single modded part:
    Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 


    My solution is to instead have his head, eyes, and potentially hair be separate parts. Like, his eyes could be in the “campaign” or “hat” path, and, of course, his hair would be in the “helmets” path.
    For Hope, this isn’t a problem, though it does present one more question that the Romance of the Three Kingdom’s mod presented (with the Xaihou Dun model):
    Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

    Does anyone know if Shogun 2’s engine allows for transparency?

    I suppose my real question is this: is there a way to connect texture files? It doesn’t seem likely, but it is worth an ask. Some models, like Dynasty Warriors models, have the entire model work with one texture file, which I’ll show in a second. That means I can include their head, eyes, hair, eyelashes, and whatever else I want all at once, since they use the same texture file. That’s great.
    But, I have encountered models that are on the opposite extreme. They have a plethora of texture files or every little thing.
    Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 


    So, yeah. Those are my observations and questions. I have a lot of faces, and some clothing I want to add to the game. This is really fun so far. The song "I'm Singing in the Rain" comes to mind with this, symbolically.


    =======Edit 1=========
    So, perhaps having the eyes as separate models can be good. I just realized I could give them different colours. But, you know what is weird? The eye mods dont have multiple entries in TWeak like the head does. I dont get it.
    Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 




    =======EDIT 2=======
    Okay, so I've figured out how to combine textures. I used this tutorial: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-KyKl7_K_tg
    I had to change some things, since following the tutorial exactly doesn't do what I want it to.
    The main differences is that, when you do the "Render to texture" thing, you need to set it as a "diffuse" map not a "complete" map. A complete map has shading and lighting on it, which is not what we want. Also, the whole bit with flattening the map is not necessary for this, since there is a lot of open space on the texture for the skin to place the texture for the eye. So, that's nicer.
    It's not perfect, yet, but I can finally have heads with eyes connected for models where the eyes are different base textures from the head.
    Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 


    This means that my only remaining question, as far as I can see, is whether or not I can force Shogun 2's engine to have transparency texture maps. As default, it doesn't. There are only 4 texture files per model: diffuse, gloss, level, and normal. Nothing for transparency. But, I wonder if it is possible to force Shogun 2 to read a 5th one, one for transparency, if that is how transparency works (that's how it works in 3ds Max, at least - it's a texture path), but I'm new to this, so...
    Whelp, so far, so good!

    Yo, if anyone wants a particular model's head or mask or something put in, let me know and I'll give it a go, haha. I only link the head and neck bones, so no moving mouths or eyebrows unless I get more free time to fiddle around with it. Also, I haven't yet added anything else except around the head area, so adding stuff connecting to other bones might take a bit of trial and error work to be done.


    =Update=
    Wow, when you get the gloss map just right, the results can be glorious!
    Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

    Last edited by Xorte-Renshe; July 15, 2017 at 06:23 AM.

  2. #2

    Default Re: 3D model importing multi-texture question - a descent success story

    yo, glad you found my ROTK mod helpful in inspiring you to further your mod.

    As ive said before, this was years ago for me, and i vaguely remember all the steps in the process to make it work.

    What I do remember was ALOT of trial and error. My suggestion to you would be to just keep trying different things to get your end result. I am just getting back into trying to mod Shogun 2 again ( going to work on custom animations) so seeing a post like this was helpful for me to remember some things, and maybe some replies you get can help me along the way too.

    ( I remember using max2014 to rig, then saving to2013, then 2010 to import to bob. Maybe the use of 2014 max could help u in someway with applying textures differently?) I would try to just edit the eye brows and eyes to be less detailed and keep them w 1 texture on the head instead of removing them the way u r now.

    On a side note: Currently I am stuck because I never had a uu3d license, and I need someone with uu3d to export some animations for me to play around with. assuming youre going pretty hard on the models, im guessing you got the textures out using uu3d, if so, would you possible be able to help me out with exporting some animations? :-)
    Last edited by Havie; July 10, 2017 at 06:57 PM.

  3. #3
    Xorte-Renshe's Avatar Civis
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    Default Re: 3D model importing multi-texture question - a descent success story

    I am very impressed with your work, Havie. You're right about the trial and error stuff, haha.
    The later Max versions are definitely better for rigging, at least in my eyes. That's a good idea to rig it in a later version.

    Yeah, for Amy, I can put eyebrows on her base face texture and such. It's not a problem. When it comes to combining multiple textures into one file, I suppose I'll have to go about UV mapping completely from scratch, which I am not familiar with at all, and just build new textures for them entirely! Maybe. We'll have to see, once I learn more about it.

    Thanks for the reply, man!
    I'm sorry to say that I also dont have a UU3D license. That's something I've also been looking into getting, specifically along with 3Dripper or NinjaRipper to see if I can get the Star Trek Online ship models. Sorry I cant be more helpful to ya. What I use are already ripped files. A good chunk of them were set up for Xnalara, for example.
    Last edited by Xorte-Renshe; July 11, 2017 at 05:19 AM.

  4. #4

    Default Re: 3D model importing multi-texture question - a decent success story

    ahh word, no problem.

    I definitely do not have much experience with making textures from scratch, luckily the ripped ones i got from DW8 worked just fine for me. GL with exploring that.

    It seems you are pretty advanced at ripping models. The only ones i could get were from DW8 because it was the only extraction tool i could get to work. Would you be able to get some models from earlier games? I really want the secret costume for Lu Bu in DW3:XL but the only extraction tool i found worked for that game would export the model totally flat >.<
    Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

    Also Dw8 had a DLC patch that released a secret costume for Zhao Yun I could never get
    Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 


    Let me know if any of this stuff would be in your wheel house :-)

    Whats the intention of your mod by the way? it just seems as though you are adding many random game characters to it? will you be making a new map/universe or what?

  5. #5
    Xorte-Renshe's Avatar Civis
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    Default Re: 3D model importing multi-texture question - a decent success story

    Ah, you are giving me way more credit than I deserve. I didn't rip the models personally. A long time ago, I learned how to rip models from Kingdom Hearts 1, but that was the first and last time I ever did it.
    However, it is quite possible that, were you to go onto Deviantart, there would be people there willing to help ya. If you go to the DA group "xnalara-customized", many of the people whose files are in the gallery are the people who rip the files themselves. They're the people to ask.


    All I'm doing with this mod is giving the possibility for more attractive characters. I like giving character to the nameless soldiers that go out to die, and more so than that, I like making single-soldier units. The imported faces would be used for that. The original characters the faces came from are irrelevant in the long run, haha.

  6. #6

    Default Re: 3D model importing multi-texture question - a decent success story

    oh geez okay, well thanks and Gl!

  7. #7

    Default Re: 3D model importing multi-texture question - decent success story - Updated w/ more success

    Is that gloss image , Maester Seymour from FFX? o_O

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    Default Re: 3D model importing multi-texture question - decent success story - Updated w/ more success

    Quote Originally Posted by Havie View Post
    Is that gloss image , Maester Seymour from FFX? o_O
    Hahaha, close. It's a character from FFXIII (who I wont name just in case someone who hasn't played that terrible game wants to, so I dont spoil it for them, lol).

  9. #9

    Default Re: [Tutorial] 3D model importing questions - Update with video Tutorial

    Hi,
    I find the video very helpful, but i have error.
    My head comes out patchy and missing parts. I do not know why
    http://i.imgur.com/NYFpBby.png
    http://i.imgur.com/R0cqLtL.png

    same with other parts i try.

    my model has a diffuse and normal map in .dds , I convert to TGA through photoshop.
    To make level and gloss all i do is add grayscale mode in PS because I have no idea what these are.
    I follow in video tutorial about assigning these files in material editor but BoB does not find my textures?
    They are in the proper tex folder where .cs2 is.
    however in 3ds max, I can assign the 4 files to a material like you do, but no matter what I try, nothing appears on the model, the only way i get anything to appear on the model is if i click and drag the tga file (from its folder) into 3ds max and drop it on the model?
    Maybe this is part of issue? how did your model come into 3ds max with the textures already attatched. you said "thank god" when this happened.

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  11. #11

    Default Re: [Tutorial] 3D model importing questions - Update with video Tutorial

    Quote Originally Posted by Atilian View Post
    Hi,
    I find the video very helpful, but i have error.
    My head comes out patchy and missing parts. I do not know why
    http://i.imgur.com/NYFpBby.png
    http://i.imgur.com/R0cqLtL.png

    same with other parts i try.

    my model has a diffuse and normal map in .dds , I convert to TGA through photoshop.
    To make level and gloss all i do is add grayscale mode in PS because I have no idea what these are.
    I follow in video tutorial about assigning these files in material editor but BoB does not find my textures?
    They are in the proper tex folder where .cs2 is.
    however in 3ds max, I can assign the 4 files to a material like you do, but no matter what I try, nothing appears on the model, the only way i get anything to appear on the model is if i click and drag the tga file (from its folder) into 3ds max and drop it on the model?
    Maybe this is part of issue? how did your model come into 3ds max with the textures already attatched. you said "thank god" when this happened.
    This is because BoB is generating an alpha channel on the workingdata diffuse.dds. Need to delete/resave without it

  12. #12

    Default Re: [Tutorial] 3D model importing questions - Update with video Tutorial

    Does anyone know how to make your own new legs? When you open example legs in CA Tools, they are weirdly stretched. How can I do correctly the same with mine?

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