noob alert

HaydenAshar

New Member
Joined
Oct 18, 2011
Messages
1
sorry if this is already answered. i looked but diffident find anything.

i was wanting to know the process of getting a swg model and texture into 3ds max.

basically
what file type are they
do i need to convert
will the textures be layed correctly or will i have to compleatly re map
will they allready be rigged
 

Tonberry

Inactive Staff
Joined
Aug 30, 2010
Messages
372
The two model formats are .mesh and .mgm. There are a few ways to convert them, personally I use a program called 3D Object Converter just for convenience. You just need to load up the desired mesh or mgm file in there and export it as an .obj or .3ds file so it can be imported into Max. If you have another preferred format which the program supports feel free to use that, I personally find that .obj is the most efficient way to go.

To get the associated textures right click on the model file you want in TRE Explorer and choose chain export. This will export all files linked to the model, including the textures, along with the model file itself. Generally you'll always want to chain export the desired model for this kind of work.

The textures will be in DDS format and will need converted to something 3DS Max can load, like a tga or png. There is a plugin for Photoshop Which will allow you to open up DDS images, then you can just save them as something else. You'll find this plugin in the tools forum.

When you get the model into your 3D app there should be a bunch of blank materials with it. Just look at the name of each material, then go through the textures you've converted with Photoshop, find the one with the same name and assign it to the material. The UV should work fine, just make sure you assign the correct texture or things will look a mess. ;)

There wont be and rigging included with the model. Hopefully when some of the newer tools in development are out there we can get rigging out too, it would definitely be nice that's for sure, rigging is pretty frustrating after all.

I'd go more in depth but I stopped using 3DS Max years ago. Hopefully this is enough info for you to get things working.
 

Spaceguy5

New Member
Joined
Dec 8, 2011
Messages
7
As an added note, there's another program that I've found to be really great for exporting models: Ultimate Unwrap 3D. You get free updates for life when you buy it, and it has plugins for a bunch of different games and formats (with new ones occasionally being added). Personally I've found that it's better for importing than 3D Object Converter as the latter sometimes gave me malformed objects or messed up UV maps.
 

Tonberry

Inactive Staff
Joined
Aug 30, 2010
Messages
372
Ultimate Unwrap 3D is another option yes. However 3D Object Converter is much more simple and minimalistic overall. It call comes down to preference.

Also I've used 3D Object Converter extensively for more than just SWG models and I've never seen any screwed up geometry, object structures or UV maps. If you've found UV maps screwed up chances are that's SOE's problem, their mapping isn't great overall, particularly on the older content.
 

Sunrunner_Charina

New Member
Joined
Sep 1, 2010
Messages
35
Yeah, I can definitely back up Tonberry on some of the UV's being straight-up screwy. The first time I successfully loaded the Human Female meshes into Blender, I thought I'd borken the script up... three hours later I finally realized that SOE's unwrapping was just that bad ^.^
 

Spaceguy5

New Member
Joined
Dec 8, 2011
Messages
7
It may have also been the version of 3D Object Converter that I was working with as there was an inconsistency between it and Ultimate Unwrap's results o.- Weird
 

Kayliaah

Relic
Joined
Aug 30, 2010
Messages
322
Sunrunner_Charina said:
Yeah, I can definitely back up Tonberry on some of the UV's being straight-up screwy. The first time I successfully loaded the Human Female meshes into Blender, I thought I'd borken the script up... three hours later I finally realized that SOE's unwrapping was just that bad ^.^
I remember that! What a laugh. :D
 
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