Func_Msgboard: Modelling Help\Screenshots\Requests

Posted by Preach on 2009/05/17 18:52:10

It has always been difficult to get decent models for quake 1. So a thread where people can get advice on making models and post a work-in-progress for critiques is long overdue.

Any requests for models may well get met with silence. Specific requests will likely stand a better chance; "I'd really like a knight but carrying a shield" might be better received than "we need a mdler to join our mod remaking counter-strike for darkplaces".

First | Previous | Next | Last

Fbxtomdl Support

#821 posted by Preach on 2014/09/21 13:12:04

Image-wise, fbxtomdl supports 3 formats: pcx, tga and bmp. It is limited however by which variants of these formats the Python Image Library can load - I know that it doesn't cope well with 8-bit bmp files. You can use 24-bit skins and let the tool convert them, but there are times when, even if you've only used colours from the palette, that conversion can do undesirable things with fullbrights. So I'd recommend trying to get an 8-bit format working; if you want to stick with Photoshop maybe tga will work out well, if you want pcx support I've found GIMP works fine.

On the trail of the default skin bug, it's a bloody weird one. The bug doesn't occur in the python version, it's a side effect of the .exe conversion. The weird thing is that the bug occurs if your command line is "fbxtomdl.exe", but if you omit the ".exe" part then it works as intended. At least we have a workaround now...

#822 posted by JneeraZ on 2014/09/21 13:31:07

OK, neat. A 24-bit TGA converts accurately so maybe I'll roll with that for now. It will at least get me started...

Dwere

#823 posted by necros on 2014/09/21 17:46:41

the pcx format that is used only has the bare minimum information contained in it. it does not contain the actual colour information of the indices used for each pixel so photoshop takes a guess and loads them as greyscale with 0 being black and 255 being white.
not sure about the aspect ratio, but likely something similar.

#824 posted by JneeraZ on 2014/09/21 18:37:31

So, QME won't even install on Windows8. Windows just refuses to even try. What can I use to open up an MDL and look at the innards?

I want to figure out how to auto-animate my mesh, for example. Like the walltorch does...

QME

#825 posted by necros on 2014/09/21 18:43:17

won't install or won't run?
http://mobile.sheridanc.on.ca/~jonescor/temp/qME.zip

#826 posted by JneeraZ on 2014/09/21 18:45:29

Won't install. Windows8 says, "This won't work on your PC, LOL".

#827 posted by necros on 2014/09/21 18:46:22

did you try the zip file i linked? it's just the qme folder.

#828 posted by JneeraZ on 2014/09/21 18:46:47

BUT the full install works, thanks necros!

Windows8 Says, "This Won't Work On Your PC, LOL".

#829 posted by Barnak on 2014/09/21 18:50:44

The LOL is included in your Windows message !?

#830 posted by necros on 2014/09/21 18:53:13

I wish it was! More OSes should make fun of you during normal usage.

#831 posted by JneeraZ on 2014/09/21 18:55:05

Windows is much too serious for that.

Technical Note

#832 posted by Preach on 2014/09/21 19:03:51

I think the issue is that QMe won't install on 64 bit processor machines, because the program is 32 bit but the installer is 16 bit. This was a common technique in the mid 90s, so you could at least display a message to people in the 16 bit world that the program wasn't compatible.

#833 posted by JneeraZ on 2014/09/21 19:04:01

Probably my last noob question ... why does the walltorch auto animate? I'm looking at it in QME and I don't see a flag or whatever that would tell Quake to animate it.

The QuakeC doesn't seem to initiate it so ... bluh?

https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/161473/Misc/TorchQuestion.jpg

#834 posted by JneeraZ on 2014/09/21 19:05:20

*sigh* Frame Group ... NOW I see the little circle on the torch frames. Sorry!

#835 posted by JneeraZ on 2014/09/21 19:14:38

Hey preach, support for framegroups would be awesome. :P

Necros

#836 posted by dwere on 2014/09/21 20:00:00

Well, other programs can view these shots just fine, so the palette is stored in there somehow.

Framegroups

#837 posted by Preach on 2014/09/21 20:23:53

Yeah, I had been thinking that was the one bit of support missing. Here's a version with support for them (but literally zero error checking if you do something stupid like overlapping ranges, backwards pairs, invalid syntax, etc)

http://www.quaketastic.com/files/tools/fbxtomdl-0.4.zip

The switch is -g, used like

fbxtomdl -g 1-6,17-25,40-45

Groups have to be constructed from contiguous frame ranges, and animation speed is automatically 0.1. If you want anything fancier you need to install python and check out qmdl. Test it out and if you don't run into bugs I'll make the release proper.

What Modelling Software

#838 posted by FifthElephant on 2014/09/22 10:12:12

Are you using warren?

#839 posted by JneeraZ on 2014/09/22 11:52:37

MODO

#840 posted by JneeraZ on 2014/09/22 12:15:47

Ugh ... So qME tried to start up and couldn't find the previous model I had open (I deleted it). This prompted it to bugger it's interface.

This may be blindingly obvious, but how do I get the 3D viewports back? I can't seem to make it happen:

https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/161473/Misc/QMEWTF.jpg

#841 posted by ijed on 2014/09/22 13:33:23

My version here is a bit wonky so I can't test properly right now, but it should just be clicking the camera button up there in the top left.

That's the frame editor view, and there's the same inside the view menu.

Not sure about version differences, but it looks like you're missing the buttons to reset the viewports to default. One in particular is an eye, which centers the camera on the model itself.

#842 posted by JneeraZ on 2014/09/22 13:34:32

FFS, that was it. Thanks! The camera button fixed it...

Hah

#843 posted by ijed on 2014/09/22 13:37:22

Just tried opening another version I have and thanks to not being able to modify my own (work) PC I cannot close it down.

90's software XD

#844 posted by dwere on 2014/09/22 14:42:45

What's the point of using such ancient tools nowadays?

No Alternatives

#845 posted by oh, that person on 2014/09/22 14:47:36

First | Previous | Next | Last

You must be logged in to post in this thread.