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Heroes Community > Heroes 5 - Modders Workshop > Thread: Could we make a basic model editor?
Thread: Could we make a basic model editor? This thread is 9 pages long: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 · «PREV / NEXT»
Psatkha
Psatkha


Promising
Known Hero
H5 MODder
posted February 01, 2010 10:57 AM
Edited by Psatkha at 11:07, 01 Feb 2010.

Hey Pesmontis, I can translate your tool for russian users!

P.S. Do you saw this - http://www.wunderboy.org/3dapps.php#max_smd

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Pesmontis
Pesmontis


Adventuring Hero
status revoked
posted February 02, 2010 01:50 AM

Russian language version

Quote:
.. I can translate your tool for russian users!..

Alright, I'll be more busy w. real languages than with programming languages ;-)

Psatkha, I've sent a message to the E-Mail address in your profile.



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Pesmontis
Pesmontis


Adventuring Hero
status revoked
posted March 03, 2010 09:09 AM
Edited by Pesmontis at 09:21, 03 Mar 2010.

silent

Hey guys, since it's been silent for a while around 'Archangel', I thought I'd better write up a recapitulation of it's current state / things to be done.

Firstly, I think I found info. about the vertex coloring of an HoMM.V mesh here
The info. refers to a 'light-sphere' and per-vertex-lighting, but I don't yet know how to use this or how to forge this in Archangel. I guess a 'mesh-painter' would be nice ;-)
I also tested some new lighting options, but it seems I also broke some functions, which I need to repair before releasing a new version.

atm. Archangel contains new 'pick-ray' code for selecting mesh parts from the 3D view, which works very well.
I want to extend this functionality to also select bones this way.
It would also be nice to simultaneously show the bones together with a semi-transparent model.

I've created a menu for storeable options, such as the background color and the GUI language preference. The options can be stored in the Windows registry, but I also need to create the possibility to store them in an INI file.

These past days I've had a major battle with Wavefront OBJ files, because 'Archangel' wouldn't compile with Array Bounds Checks enabled. Moving OBJ reading / writing code to a separate DLL didn't solve this: I ran into the limits of the programming language. So I tried porting to C++, but I had to give that up after strenuous days because there's just too much to learn about extensive text handling in C++..
So I only started with a simple code base review, and ended up with several large duds..
Still, I gained (even) more insight into reading the highly flexible OBJ file format, and now 'Archangel reads an OBJ file four times (!) to make sure that mesh parts and textures are properly arranged..

One thing which (luckily) noone has yet reported is the possibility of trouble with the decimal separator when writing OBJ or SMD files. I think this might especially be an issue when running Archangel on french Windows versions. The option to automatically check and adapt as needed has been on my list since the beginning, but I still haven't come 'round to implementing it completely.

This is it for now, development is ongoing in spite of these annoyingly distracting Olympic Games ;-) and more news will be coming your way.

Cheers.
Pesmontis

ps. I haven't heard yet from Psathka or Lepastur for their translations, but I'm in no hurry with extending the languages options.

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TSoD
TSoD


Promising
Famous Hero
NCF Blacksmith
posted March 03, 2010 01:00 PM

That's all very good news ! Keep the good work Pesmontis, you have been farther than anyone did
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Lepastur
Lepastur


Known Hero
The Red Taskmaster
posted March 04, 2010 08:30 PM

Quote:
ps. I haven't heard yet from Psathka or Lepastur for their translations, but I'm in no hurry with extending the languages options.


That's exactly why I postponed that. I finished exams last week, so I haven't been able to take a look to the project, and I fear I won't for a while as long as I had paper dues one after another. On a side note, I've found some tutorials about Max animation which could be good to test new creatures on the future, but I'm not sure if they are useful because they're focused for Unreal engine.

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Daystar
Daystar


Honorable
Legendary Hero
Back from the Dead
posted March 06, 2010 03:33 AM

When we get to it I can provide tutorials in Max and Maya (yeah, I use both.  My hands feel unclean) although I don't think we're to that phase yet.  Hopefully there will be a 3 week period before we are since I still don't have my computer with such software on it.
____________
How exactly is luck a skill?

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Pesmontis
Pesmontis


Adventuring Hero
status revoked
posted March 07, 2010 12:16 AM

tut's

My introduction to 3D animations in 3DSmax was this tutorial:
[url=http://world-editor-tutorials.thehelper.net/magos.php]Magos' modeling tutorial[/url]
This tutorial is actually for Gmax, but it also gave me a good start with animations in 3DSmax.

I'm still postponing these modeling activities (and HoMM.V import tests) till I've cracked a few remaining nuts in 'Archangel', which are basically just extending the program's functionality / GUI flexibility.
I'm not complaining, but it's been a few weeks now without converging much towards real HoMM.V modeling again, as intended..

So I guess you're right thinking we're not yet ready for that phase, but I still think it's useful to get some kind of 'rigged' model ready,
because that'll take some getting used to anyway.

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Pesmontis
Pesmontis


Adventuring Hero
status revoked
posted March 20, 2010 11:27 PM
Edited by Pesmontis at 12:03, 31 Mar 2010.

Archangel v0.3 Beta released

Archangel v0.3 Beta has been released, get it here:
Archangel v0.3 Beta

I've adapted this version to run on Win98se as well.

Some of the new features are:
- precise selection of bones and mesh parts;
- SMD reference file reading (including skeleton);
- OBJ file reading;
- exporting diffuse vertex colors as TGA files (see images);
- storeable user settings (to the registry and/or to an INI-file);
- simultaneous model and bones display;
- french language support (thanks to TSoD).

Further reading is available in the enclosed 'readme.txt'.

Simultaneous model and bones display:

Dryad with bones.


Dryad with bone placeholders.

Results of the vertex colors export function:

The diffuse vertex colors of the Orc Shaman, exported as TGA file.


The diffuse colors of the 'BattleUnicorn'.

In 3DSmax it is possible to 'bake' these vertex color textures back into the vertices using the Assign Vertex Colors utility.

Cheers, have fun :-)
Pesmontis
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TSoD
TSoD


Promising
Famous Hero
NCF Blacksmith
posted March 21, 2010 08:33 PM

Thats a great step You took a good advance in the project
____________
NCFBank,
the complete and homogen NCF
library.

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Pesmontis
Pesmontis


Adventuring Hero
status revoked
posted March 21, 2010 10:36 PM
Edited by Pesmontis at 22:39, 21 Mar 2010.

Wine

Hey TSoD, yeah, with this release it should become possible to add new models to the game, and Daystar can start providing tutorials ;-)

To be honest, I've read quite a few posts on how to mod HoMM.V (notably Sfidanza's explanation @ http://heroescommunity.com/viewthread.php3?TID=17853&pagenumber=5 , and Crazypill's method @ http://psatkha.narod.ru/tutorial_en.html ) , but I'm still wary of actually modding anything.. dunno why.
I started making a (data)directory set-up for TotE's ShadowMistress, in order to use this model in HoMM.V (I haven't got an expansion installed, but Crazypill's mapeditor set-up seems to work fine).

btw. I tested Archangel on Wine / Ubuntu 9.10 :  everything works fine, except displaying bones..
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Lepastur
Lepastur


Known Hero
The Red Taskmaster
posted March 22, 2010 06:05 PM

It's good to know this project keeps going on, this summer is going to be sooo interesting...

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labwizard
labwizard

Tavern Dweller
posted March 24, 2010 12:29 AM

Hi all,
i've been watching this thread and other threads related to 3d models modding for quit a while, i am a 3D animator and a Heroes fan, and i always wanted to create some models for it.
i work on softimage and 3ds max, softimage has a free game mod tool that you can download from autodesk website  just check it out,
i just want to thank everybody involved in Archangel tool, so there is hope after all for modding this game,
if anyone wants any help or tip in 3D, just PM me and i will keep an eye on this thread.

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Pesmontis
Pesmontis


Adventuring Hero
status revoked
posted March 24, 2010 07:09 PM
Edited by Pesmontis at 12:04, 31 Mar 2010.

3DSmax and SMD files

Hey labwizard, nice of you to drop by, I guess I'll PM you then..

I received a question about importing SMD files in 3DSmax.
I am using 3DSmax 7 for loading SMD files, with Cannonfodder's SMD import & export plugins:

Cannonfodders 3DSmax tools
http://www.chaosincarnate.net/cannonfodder/3dsmax.php

3DSmax 7 is also capable of saving a model as a GR2 file, with the NWN2 Expotron plugin:

NWN2 Expotron plugin
http://nwvault.ign.com/View.php?view=NWN2PlugIns.Detail&id=68

If you are using 3DSmax 9 or 3DSmax 2009, you might want to use Wunderboy's SMD plugin, though I found that it doesn't load the vertex weights properly.

Wunderboys SMD plugin
http://www.wunderboy.org/apps/smdimport.php

I have tested this pluging with 3DSmax 2008.
It is able to load SMD files quite well,
but when you look at the socalled 'weight table', you see only "1.00" as vertex weights. This will cause distortions in animations (unless of course you designed them that way).

Anyway, you should NOT use 3DSmax 9 or 2009, because:
- they cannot load SMD vertex weights properly;
- they cannot load a GR2 animation;
- they cannot generate GR2 files.

In order to load HoMM.V gr2 animations you need to use 3DSmax 2008, with the corresponding NWN2 plugin:

http://nwvault.ign.com/View.php?view=nwn2plugins.Detail&id=27
NWN2 3DSmax plugin

Cheers,
Pesmontis
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Pesmontis
Pesmontis


Adventuring Hero
status revoked
posted March 31, 2010 03:53 PM

Manual

In order to provide some guidelines with using Archangel and 3DSmax, I published a manual on my website:
Archangel 3DSmax manual
http://tatooinebase.star-fleet.org/Archangel/quickstart.html

You can also download this manual as a Word document:
Archangel manual Word document
http://tatooinebase.star-fleet.org/UPLOAD/Archangel.manual.rar

Since I've changed a few things in the last version of Archangel, I also put up a new Archangel 0.3b download:
Archangel 0.3b latest version
http://tatooinebase.star-fleet.org/UPLOAD/Archangel.v0.3.Beta2.rar

Cheers,
Pesmontis
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Pesmontis
Pesmontis


Adventuring Hero
status revoked
posted April 09, 2010 05:08 PM

New mesh imported successfully

Today I succeeded in using a new mesh in HoMM.V TotE (+NCF):


.. materials were switched @ the very first trial..


.. now the materials are in the correct order, placed in a custom map with other NCF creatures (Cepheus' Basilisks)..


.. in the combat arena, close-up view: you can see that I didn't check the copied skin (in 3DSmax), because the arrow indicates one vertex which is affected by the wrong bone..

Anyway, this creature's mesh was created with Archangel.
The animations, effects and skeleton are from the Shadow Mistress.

I guess this opens a few doors for modding HoMM.V ;-)

Cheers,
Pesmontis
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Lord_Immortal
Lord_Immortal


Famous Hero
DoR Dev Team
posted April 09, 2010 05:35 PM

If we can convert the geometry meshes to .obj than we may use Wings3D.

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Pesmontis
Pesmontis


Adventuring Hero
status revoked
posted April 09, 2010 10:51 PM
Edited by Pesmontis at 21:46, 17 Apr 2010.

geometry to OBJ

Quote:
.. geometry meshes to .obj ..

There's a tool for this conversion: Archangel !

Quote:
.. use Wings3D ..

Maybe.. but only in case Wings3D is able to export Half-Life 2 SMD files properly, WHICH IT DOESN'T.
SMD files are used to attach the mesh properly to the skeleton.
(Note that SMD isn't listed as an exportable file format @ http://www.wings3d.com/ )..
Furthermore, I can't get Wings3D 1.01 to run on my Ubuntu machine.
Kasperky Internet Security is telling me that Wings3D should NOT be trusted (!)..

You'd be better off trying MilkShape..

[Edit, April 17, 2010]
The AIgeometry files can now also be read by Archangel:



The image shows the Dungeon townhall overlaid with it's collision mesh. Since these collision meshes usually aren't simple boxes, I'd like to find a way to reproduce similar meshes.

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TSoD
TSoD


Promising
Famous Hero
NCF Blacksmith
posted April 18, 2010 11:50 AM

That's very cool !!! Bounding boxes have never been showed since you come !! Great great work, even for our own learnship it's cool to have tool to see how professional makes entire models !! Thanks Pesmontis
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NCFBank,
the complete and homogen NCF
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WindBell
WindBell


Hired Hero
posted April 18, 2010 04:20 PM

Quote:
In order to provide some guidelines with using Archangel and 3DSmax, I published a manual on my website:
[url=http://tatooinebase.star-fleet.org/Archangel/quickstart.html]Archangel 3DSmax manual[/url]
http://tatooinebase.star-fleet.org/Archangel/quickstart.html

You can also download this manual as a Word document:
[url=http://tatooinebase.star-fleet.org/UPLOAD/Archangel.manual.rar]Archangel manual Word document[/url]
http://tatooinebase.star-fleet.org/UPLOAD/Archangel.manual.rar

Since I've changed a few things in the last version of Archangel, I also put up a new Archangel 0.3b download:
[url=http://tatooinebase.star-fleet.org/UPLOAD/Archangel.v0.3.Beta2.rar]Archangel 0.3b latest version[/url]
http://tatooinebase.star-fleet.org/UPLOAD/Archangel.v0.3.Beta2.rar

Cheers,
Pesmontis


I have tried this, it works excellent.

However I encounter a problem .
I can see the texture is displayed well in 3ds max 7 ,but after export , the GR2 Viewer displays no texture but white skin, though in "Texture inspection" window it shows the texture. I have checked the "Texturing".  Could you point out what I have done is wrong ?

Thank you very much !

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Pesmontis
Pesmontis


Adventuring Hero
status revoked
posted April 18, 2010 07:17 PM
Edited by Pesmontis at 19:22, 18 Apr 2010.

no texture in GrannyViewer

Hey Windbell, how good of you to point this out.
In fact, the 'Texture inspection' in GrannyViewer should tell you that the model has two 'textures', ie. a 'vertexcolor texture' and a map.
But this should only be so in case you applied vertex colors in 3DSmax.
If you didn't, then you should NOT select the option "Allow Vertex Colors" in the GR2 export configuration (in 3DSmax).

Furthermore, if you DID apply vertex colors in 3DSmax, then I'm not entirely sure how to tackle this, but maybe this will help:
It might be due to the fact that if you apply vertex colors in 3DSmax, the 'VertexPaint' modifier is on top of the 'Skin' modifier.
Like this (I thought) it might be that the Granny exporter interprets the 'vertexcolor texture' as the primary texture.
So what I usually do is to switch them (please note that this is quite a dangerous operation, so make a backup):
- select the 'Skin' modifier;
- 3DSmax will prompt you with a warning message, but in this case you can ignore it - click <OK> to get rid if it;
- right-click the 'Skin' modifier and select the menu option <Cut>;
- right-click the 'VertexPaint' modifier and select the menu option <Paste>;
The 'Skin' modifier will be pasted before the 'VertexPaint' modifier.
Now retry exporting a GR2 file.

In case you still find the model displays without the texture in GrannyViewer, then let me have a look at your .max file, alright?

Cheers,
Pesmontis
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