3D Model Details Available in the Engine Docs!

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junk2drive
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Post by junk2drive »

I bing'd max uv wrap and came up with several items. This one is an older version but is it on the right track?

http://www.titanpictures.com/articles/uvmap.html

Another one mentions texporter as the above does. Texporter is here

http://www.cuneytozdas.com/software/3dsmax/

It creates the flat file that you edit in your paint program and export as dds.
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junk2drive
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Post by junk2drive »

You can call me junk - and type that with one hand.
pipfromslitherine
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Post by pipfromslitherine »

undercovergeek wrote:looking at various max tutorials the model is built from the ground up including the face and colouring - whereas the .3ds file ive imported from the sample folder is just the white smooth model or the wire mesh and presumably the .dds file transfers the detail onto the model - if i change the model does this automatically generate a dds that fits or do i need to design both?
The 3DS file should have the UVs and the material applied to the model. If not, it might be that the material isn't in the right place - try applying the material by hand and if the UVs are set up then it will appear correctly.

Cheers

Pip
undercovergeek
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Post by undercovergeek »

pipfromslitherine wrote:
undercovergeek wrote:looking at various max tutorials the model is built from the ground up including the face and colouring - whereas the .3ds file ive imported from the sample folder is just the white smooth model or the wire mesh and presumably the .dds file transfers the detail onto the model - if i change the model does this automatically generate a dds that fits or do i need to design both?
try applying the material by hand
Cheers

Pip
where is the material??

thanks for everyones help so far - amazing what i thought i knew compared to what i actually know!!
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Post by pipfromslitherine »

You'll need to open the material editor, and then set up a texture for it, then apply it to the objects. I don't have details, but I am sure google is your friend with the specifics of the buttons etc.

Cheers

Pip
undercovergeek
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Post by undercovergeek »

ok, ive built the model from scratch - whats the best method of painting it because whereas one section is 'upper arm' i dont necessarily want to paint this whole section the same colour - theres detail on all the seperate 'panels'
tim1966
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Post by tim1966 »

Firstly you need to unwrap the model using the tools mentioned above. Then you will have a flat 2d template you can paint in gimp or photoshop or any paint program. You can put as much detail as you want on that depending on its size but the bigger it is the more memory it uses.

I don't think there are many Max/3d experts on this forum and you are best doing a google search for max texturing tutorials. You tube has a lot of good ones available. If you have made a character you will then need to skin him and animate him and thats a whole new ball game - volumes have been written about this subject alone. But with a bit of preservance and time anyone can do it - even I've managed it.
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undercovergeek
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Post by undercovergeek »

awesome - sorry its not the process i have difficulty with, just the terminology!!

To save me time with the animations its obviously going to be easier to change the existing models than introduce new ones - is it possible to 'copy and paste' my model over the british_infantry.3ds model?
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Post by pipfromslitherine »

It is possible, you are re-rigging it to match the bone animations. Again, I can't help with how you would do that, but I would be certain there are lots of tutorials out there to help.

Cheers

Pip
twoeyes
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Post by twoeyes »

Hi there,

This is a fiddly problem. There are two approaches I can think of using the .max file. (I'm using Max 9 so apologies if things are different in your screen).

You could either manipulate the vertices on the original model by selecting the "editable poly" layer in the window at the top right. As this is below the Physique modifier, it means you can move the vertices around without affecting the applied animation. The drawback with this approach is that you may have to re-weight the vertices to ensure that they are correctly skinned and that excessive stretching might excessively effect the texture definition.

The other approach would be to save out the animation as a .bip file (select the a bone from the skeleton, go to the Motion tab then select Biped/save file). You could then make your own model, unwrap the uvs and texture it, add a biped skeleton then load the saved .bip file and transfer all the animation across.

I'm not sure what to do with the .3ds file as I can't remember what information it would transfer across :(
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Post by tim1966 »

If you are using Max 7 then you will probably have trouble with the 3ds files. I found on import that the soldier was not skinned although all the animation was there. I managed to copy the animation to another biped but got very odd scaling results. If I had been doing a clown mod the large feet would have been very useful :lol: The large mushroom you see when going to smooth and highlights is the bip01 which is the centre point of a biped. Delete it and you use the biped I believe. I ended up making my own biped and animating - a bit of work but fun and it means you can have control over what the character does.

I could send you my biped animations and matching text files. I'm not great an animation but I think you look ok however if you use Max 7 they may not work. twoeyes - do you have the animations in a bip file? Would you be happy to release them and see if its possible for myslef and undercovergeek to see if they work in older versions of Max. I've had trouble using bips from Max 10 if I remember correctly.
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neil72
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Post by neil72 »

Hey! can someone please help me out? I'm a 50 year old reired male nurse,and I just got started in this wargame stuff.)It's GREAT!! I just purchased Battlefield Academy (it's fun but no Kampfgruppe) Is there anyway of slowing down this damn game!!!!??? My God! it goes so fast it's almost unplayable! Excuse me for my ignorance,I didn't know where to write. I would greatly appreciate any help and I'm sorry for posting this in the wrong place.
junk2drive
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Post by junk2drive »

The BA general forum would have been a better place to post this, in a new thread. If you have used forums before and are familiar with how to use the search feature, you will find that many people have asked about this.
The opponent replay or action is fast so that you are not bored with an empty screen when the enemy is moving but you can't see him and just to speed gameplay in general.

There may be an option to slow it down in the future.
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pipfromslitherine
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Post by pipfromslitherine »

I will make it my first order of business once the dust from the Blitzkrieg has settled, as it seems to be in demand.

Cheers

Pip
Larac
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Post by Larac »

When I open these models from the pack into 3d Max, there are little blocks on the model, 1 on the INF, 7 on the tank which had the skin on them.

Anyone else see this?

Just curious.
I am using 3d Max 2011 x64 version

Lee
pipfromslitherine
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Post by pipfromslitherine »

They are small objects, that get hidden by the game, which are used to emit various effects (e.g. particles when firing, or smoke when destroyed).

Cheers

Pip
Larac
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Post by Larac »

TY

Figured it must be something like that, was just odd they were all, what looked like the skins for the models, or I should say textures I guess.

Lee
JMass
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Post by JMass »

pipfromslitherine wrote:OK - there are 3DS versions up in an a small file
http://www.slitherine.com/files/bbc_ba/ ... ck_3DS.zip
Could be possible please to have more 3D models (AT guns and armored cars also) in directx (and 3ds) format? Modding will be a lot more easy... And a fragMotion exporter will be a dream!
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pipfromslitherine
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Post by pipfromslitherine »

What would you use them for, out of interest? The current examples are more designed to show the rig needed for emission points etc, but if more examples would be useful then I am sure we can sort something out.

Cheers

Pip
JMass
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Post by JMass »

pipfromslitherine wrote:What would you use them for, out of interest? The current examples are more designed to show the rig needed for emission points etc, but if more examples would be useful then I am sure we can sort something out.

Cheers

Pip
Pip, if I had the Sherman model I could do a Grant and a Lee in five minutes, a M11-39 from the M13-40, CS versions of British tanks (they need just a bigger gun), A Pz 38(t) from the Marder III, a Pak38 from the Pak40 and so on. I can do models from the scratch (I done the italian Semovente) but in more time. Any possibility for a fragMotion exporter?
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