I keep forgetting to ask for error messages.

It just fails silently, which is a kick in the balls.

And yeah, I do the same exporter dance to get something into the engine.

Haven't tried your exporter Preach, will give it a go. 

The LW MD3 exporter is not up to date and I can't load it with the version I am using. This is the biggest problem with any modelling package, once a new version comes out all the user made exporters break. The MD3 format is so old that no one is supporting it anymore.

I use FBX because LW maintains the exporter and it works flawlessly and even all the skin UV co-ordinates are correct. If I could merge a series of FBX files into a MDL it would be pure heaven for me!

I would need to check if the FBX format keeps the triangle/verts the same but in theory it should. I also don't need to keep triangulating my model every time I export but if I could merge FBX files together I would gladly triangulate my exported files.

@preach, I know you use MD3 format but I can't get all my frames to merge into one MD3 files. This is why I have a huge directory of CAD files and luckily QME does directory frame loading, another cool feature. I know why you use MD3 format but I can't use it, hence my crazy conversion process.

@preach, I would still need to go into QME because of the multiple skins, your converter program only supports one skin and in a strange PCX format that even PS has trouble exporting too. Don't get me wrong, the converter you wrote is cool, but it can't help at the moment.

@spirit, there are tons of user interface issues with Noesis, but I doubt the creator is going to do much with the interface.

* Can't select/display multiple skins on models
* Can't goto certain animation frames, only got fast forward and reverse.
* Each time I export the interface resets, it should remember each export file settings or allow a template/default to be setup.
* I would love to export a batch of files but the command lines dialogue box does not work for me. When I specify parameters it ignores some of them, eventually I gave up trying because it did not make any sense.

Sadly the model format/process for Quake is still a nightmare and is top of my list of things that drive me nuts about modding for Quake. I sometimes wonder why I fight so much to get models into Quake, but when I finally do get them loading in Quake it feels awesome! 

@spirit, One other thing, if the author of Noesis had a donate button on his site I would gladly give him money! His convertor program is amazing, I would have not had created so many models for my MOD if Noesis did not exist.

@ijed, also big thank you for letting me know about Noesis in the first place, it did make a big difference to the creation of my MOD.

Noesis goodness:
FBX->MDL (perfect for static models)
MDL->OBJ (How I import into LW)

FBX details: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/FBX
Supported by Max, Blender, LW, Maya 

I use FBX as well, it's about as close to a universal format as you can get, apart from .obj of course. 

Hey sock, I've managed to convert a FBX to MDL via MD3 using NOESIS. Can you send me a FBX which won't convert so I can take a look? 

Noesis will convert all of my FBX files to MD3 but how would I merge several MD3 files into one MDL file? I thinking about animations, I store all frames separately at the moment. I remember you used GMAX to export a MD3 with multiple frames, I am missing that stage at the moment.

Does your convertor cope with multiple skins in BMP/PCX format? If I can avoid using QME for skins and model parameters that would be awesome.

Also I don't mind using dos command line stuff to use your convertor, I can create batch files to supply parameters if necessary. 

To add extra skins and set flags and rename things, I have another tool:

http://tomeofpreach.wordpress.com/qmdl/

You basically write a little python script and run it on your model. The example script from
http://tomeofpreach.wordpress.com/2012/11/24/a-modelling-pipeline/
is hopefully easy to adapt for that kind of housekeeping.

And yeah, what you really need is a fbx file which contains the whole animation sequence at once (it's possible in general, don't know how LW copes). Then again the qmdl module could take a bunch of .mdl files with the same base model, and weld them together fairly easily... 

I exported every animation frame in Gmax as a *.mdl file (218x), loaded every single mdl file in QMLE and exported the *.dxf, then imported all dxf files from the first animated frame of the framegroup.
Then I had all frames in one mdl file.

Don't think it is the usually way, but the reason I feel like a madfox.
Before I can use the tools of Gmax for the purpose I need ( combining all animation frames in one model) I first need to start making simple models for it, or RTFM. 

Madfox I'm about to cry.

1. Download http://www.quaketastic.com/upload/files/tools/windows/madfox-care-package.zip

2. Extract the whole thing to a directory

3. Export your model from gmax as an MD3, making sure that when you see this screen:
http://www.katsbits.com/images/tutorials/gmax-export-import/exporting-models-from-gmax-to-md3.jpg
you type "0-217" in the "Following Frames" box

4. Rename the md3 to "model.md3" and put it in the directory all the other files are in

5. Run the "model.bat" batch file in that directory

One .mdl file will result, in about the time you could export 15 frames. 

Thanks for your concern, Preach!

I forgot the 0-217, just entered 217 which is the reason for my oneframe attempt. Good hint, It spares a lot of time!

But I think there is something else I overlooked.
#494 state for the unwrapUVW in Gmax is a mystery to me.
I merged the v_launch.mdl into the Orb.md3.
When I try to add this skin to the UVMmap and I select the legs there is no head in the skin file. Other way selecting the head and using the unwrapUVW to add the launcher vertices then the leg skin is gone.

I can't join the parts together.

The batchfile is fantastic, works great.
Only QMLE crashes on the pcx file, as qmdl92b does. 

For now I'd just add the skin as a separate step, rather than try and make the batch file do that part of the work, import and replacing using QME is the easiest way.

For your problem with the missing segments on the skin, you might need to join the different segments of the model into a single gmax object. To do this, before you apply the uvw unwrap modifier, select one of the segments, then look for the button on the mesh edit control marked "Attach"(it's in the "Edit Geometry" part). Click it, then click the other parts of the model in the 3D view.

You should now see all three parts appear when you apply the uvw modifier. You might also find that some or all of the animation disappears if you do this. Either way, post back if the first bit works, at least it'll be some progress... 

Spirit just linked me to this thread. I'm the author of Noesis. Hi!

@sock, it imports multiple skins, but doesn't export at the moment. I can give you a commandline switch or something to import additional skin pages to stuff into the mdl export, if that's what you're looking for. Noesis also supports concatenating skeletal animations via commandline, but the only path for doing that sort of thing with vertex anims involves having to export to a modeling suite first. I can stick that on the todo as well.

As for your interface issues:
"Can't select/display multiple skins on models" - You can - Tools->Data viewer->Model #, then select the textures in the model to display them.
"Can't goto certain animation frames, only got fast forward and reverse." - You can do this too. Newer versions of Noesis have an animation slider, but just like textures as well, you can select them in the data viewer to display them.
"Each time I export the interface resets, it should remember each export file settings or allow a template/default to be setup." - If you want to do repeated exports with the same setup, I recommend the commandline using ?cmode. See the readme.txt for details on using console mode.
"I would love to export a batch of files but the command lines dialogue box does not work for me. When I specify parameters it ignores some of them, eventually I gave up trying because it did not make any sense." - I'm not sure what's going wrong for you here, I use commandline mode all the time. Can you give me the commandline you're trying to use, and the data you're trying to use it with?

Also, the Noesis page doesn't have a donate link, but my personal web site does. :) http://www.richwhitehouse.com/index.php?content=inc_about.php

@ijed, Noesis will generally spit errors out when something goes wrong. If it isn't, something's gone really wrong. Can you send me the files you're working with and tell me what you're doing to make Noesis fail silently?

You can both send stuff as needed to the e-mail on the contact link. (from the richwhitehouse.com link above) 

@Rich, hey thanks for registering here.

it imports multiple skins, but doesn't export at the moment. I often have models with multiple skins, at the moment I use another package to add them.

Tools->Data viewer->Model # That certainly shows me the multiple skins in the MDL file but I want to see them on the model. This simple displays them as flat textures in the view window.

Newer versions of Noesis have an animation slider That would be extremely handy, as often I want to check certain frames with different skins. I don't suppose you could add a loop function (frame X->Y) for the play?

Can you give me the command line you're trying to use, and the data you're trying to use it with? I will have to go back and try the again. I did spent a long time trying to working out what each command line parameter did, but found it frustrating because I wanted to automate converting 50+ models at once and the command line seem to only work through the export window.

the Noesis page doesn't have a donate link I will sort out a donation this week. Amazing program, it has saved me loads of time trying to get models into Quake 1. 

We've talked before - I was having the problem with the Q1/BMP format that time.

This time it was a mis-applied texture from 3dsMax. Basically the material wasn't applied properly, so when importing the FBX it looked fine, but then exporting to IQM caused the UVs/texture to be removed.

Unfortunately I've since fixed it so don't have a decent repro case to show.

I'll be more precise and sure to send you bugs as they surface :) 

Where's a good place for contact? Can't seem to find an email link for you. 

You can use iamthedick at gmail dot com. Feel free to send stuff along whenever you run into anything that isn't working right.

@sock, if you want to apply the texture to the model in the preview, you can go to Model #->Meshes->Mesh #->Material index. Double-click that to modify it to the value of the material you want. You can also go to Model #->Materials->Material # and modify the texture index for the material instead, if you'd like.

I can look into multi-select functionality or something for the data viewer to allow you to loop arbitrary frame sets.

Feel free to send along your batch export content/commandline to my e-mail whenever you get a chance, too.

Thanks a lot for the donation. I'm presently seeking a new job and am close to broke, so everything helps. :) 

I tried all I could to attach the the grenade launcher to the other three modelparts but they won't collect to one model.

For some reason I can't follow the button traject and end up with a skinfile of 784x240.
If I select an object I can't find the Attach button.


Quake1 Orb 

http://tomeofpreach.files.wordpress.com/2013/01/attach.png

Take a look at this.
If this doesn't work
Tell me what you see instead of "editable mesh" 

http://tomeofpreach.files.wordpress.com/2013/01/attach.png

Take a look at this.
If this doesn't work
Tell me what you see instead of "editable mesh" 

I'm as queer-eyed as the orb self.
If i select the most versatile part "legs" there shows no attach button.
legs
When I select "torso" I set the attach button, but when I attach them the UVWrapper gives me a broken mesh on a little part of the skinfile.
torso 

What happens if you right click the legs and do "convert to editable mesh"? This ought to let you attach it, but it might damage the animation. 

Yes, it freezes animation.
As far I can go is wondering how I got the skinfile of the rocketlauncher into the three other ones.
First the eye got damaged, then I followed necro's hint of moving the mesh in Quark47.
Only thing I couldn't avoid is the 782x240 size.

A bit torned up I decided to reinvent the rocketlauncher and made it out of a flat basefile.
Doesn't help much as I don't understand how to get a half sized UVW map out of them, just like the Q3 models.

How do they do it? 

You can use entirely separate skins for different parts of models in Q3, it's not really comparable to Q1, where everything has to be on one skin. 

I retraced the grenadelauncher from a flat vertice mesh in the hope it would get the UVWrappers attention.

Doesn't make a lot difference in detail though.
And gmax handels it as a sepperate file so I have to search on.
Thanks for the reply though!

I wondered, is it possible to place the verts behind eachother, sparing skinsize?

v_launch 

I wondered, is it possible to place the verts behind eachother, sparing skinsize?

Should be (it's common practice), unless Quake has some funky limitation.