download version 0.6. It´s a little down there like on 8th post. It creates Bones or Helpers depends on what you want. It also imports a lot more things. You need to run it twice though, it bugs first try.
Also carefull with some models that have animated textures. It can crash Star Tools but if you save your scene and tweak the animaions a bit, it works.
Added Visibility Animations (does not work on some particle emitters)
Added Parameter Animations
Added Texture Animations
Added Global Sequences.
IMPORTANT NOTE:
if you import a model and it has global sequences. Open the animation Prop and go to each Glstand Animation and delete the default trackset. Afterwards SAVE your scene and try previewing it. Art Tools may crash, but if you reload your scene they should work after that.
I think normal map generation must be improved, wow diffuse maps aren't good source of using them as height map.
Instead, their normalized grayscale could be used as inverted top-down channel for normal map. Probably. Becaause diffuse map in wow kinda include lightning from top.
I use the max RGB value to get the height (the NVidio tools already gets the heights from a certain value). It's a good aproximation, but if you want perfect results you need to do it by hand or find a way to generate a bitmap with heights rescaled according to the vertex uv on z scale.
@TaylorMouse: Go
@TaylorMouse
Layers, sure man, nice idea.
How about i give you the option to get them on bones or points. For me bones are very messy to work with sometimes, specially if you are doing FK.
could you elaborate on this: the ref points need to take into account the scale factor?
Scaling is not done through tricks, it's hardcoded into the model's data. So it actualy scales and "rotates" the model before building the scene.
@IskatuMesk
Particle conversion may depend a lot on Sc2 Particle system. Until now it seams everything is supported, but I still need to keep looking. I'll probably implement lights and ribbon first.
The idea in shader theory is that color is taken from the diffuse and shading is dynamicly made by the normal map.
However, if you really want the models look more serious, you can desaturate the diffuse a bit, this will give a more serious look. You can add that option by editing the makeDiffuse action and recording a new hue/saturation action that just reduces saturation.
About NeoDex: it's a wc3 model editing toolkit for 3ds max and gmax. I'm trying to integrate NeoDex into Sc2 Art Tools by allowing the transformation of wc3/WoW scenes into Sc2 Art Tools scenes. Sadly, the Sc2 Art Tools Maxscript API is not to open, so I haven't discovered everything yet.
I've been working lately on expanding my NeoDex toolset into Sc2. I started these project as NeoDex's new direction. I looked into many tutorials and I realised that, in avarage, getting a WoW model with decent quality into Sc2 can take a long time. Specialy if the model you want has a LOT of textures.
For this purpose I looked into the most time consuming and boring parts of the whole process. Here's how you convert them as of now:
You extract your model's .m2, .skin and textures from WoW. (2 mins max)
You create the diffuse, normal, specular and emissive maps. (3 mins per texture) (10 textures = 30 mins! without stopping)
You import the model using ufoz & Nintoxicated's m2 importer. (1 min)
You must rescale and reset up the model and its materials (10mins to 1 hour)
You must redeclare each of the sequences for Sc2. (5 minutes to some hours)
you must create the sc2 helper objects (10 minutes at max)
Preview and change some values with live update (20 mins to many hours of refining).
Problems with the current workflow:
Imported models are buggy and hard to edit.
The importer does not translate WoW materials and sequences into Sc2's.
There's no automatic way to get the diffuse, normal and specular components from a texture. (There's a big bad conception that the diffuse and normal WoW texture are the same, the first only describes colors, the second one has shading).
too much time is wasted recreating things that the importer can handle.
No easy way to integrate WoW and Wc3 models for major edits.
No current way to convert ribbon/particle emitters.
Solutions:
Improve the importer, make it faster and fix the big problems.
Integrate the importer into NeoDex and Sc2ArtTools.
Create a photoshop script to take the diffuse, normal and specular out of each texture as fast as possible.
Artefacts:
M2 Importer:
Now how an scene imported correctly looks like just as the importer finishes (no extra touches):
The Photoshop actions:
Now a test on a WoW texture:
After running Make Diffuse:
(as you can see, a lot less shading)
After running Make Normal:
Quite decent.
After running Make Specular:
Now let's do a simple test on a complex model:
The model has 13 textures! Omg who could convert that? No problem there's batch operation in photoshop.
We organize our files in the next way:
Our m2 and skin are on the main folder, all the textures as .tga are in the OriginalTextures folder. Now we need to pass 3 batches to the original textures in photoshop, to create the maps.
First I pass the Diffuse Batch using MakeDiffuse2 (these one generates .dds unlike MakeDiffuse):
I used my sourced folder, the originalTextures and my destination folder as my main main folder.
After 1 min, I have the diffuse map of each texture:
Now I'll repeat the batch for normal map and specular map:
Done, this should have taken me about 10 minutes.
Now I'll Import the model:
After I have imported it, it looks like this:
Now, without any changes, I'm going to preview it, but I'll do it with the liveUpdater so I can tweak the material properties.
I hit LiveUpdate and then Update All now:
Now this is how it should look in-game:
Normals:
Close look:
Quite close, but it may need some tweakings. For instance, some materials may need more specularity so you must change the specular multiplier. The wood planks, need a more defined Normal map, so it must be done by hand to scale off a bit more. However, it's very close to a perfect export and it only took 15 minutes!
Now some other tests, the SpellBreaker made using WoW's BF Guard and some meshes and textures from wc3:
It took me 1 hour and half to make, but works like a charm:
on night:
from the back:
Things I did after importing: I created the emissive maps by hand, added the SPbreaker mask from wc3, added teamcolors, added Sc2 Helpers, tuned a bit the animations, added attachments, made the sword use an envio mask and added some particles.
I expect to release the tools in about 1 week. I still have a lot of work to do:
Fix some little importing issues.
Add neodex support, in order to edit the models using wc3 tools.
Add an option for the NeoDex Importer to import the model for sc2 art tools.
Here you go. This version fixes those issues and adds NeoDex support for wc3 modelling. So you can use it for both, Sc2/Wc3.
@TaylorMouse: Go
download version 0.6. It´s a little down there like on 8th post. It creates Bones or Helpers depends on what you want. It also imports a lot more things. You need to run it twice though, it bugs first try.
Also carefull with some models that have animated textures. It can crash Star Tools but if you save your scene and tweak the animaions a bit, it works.
@TaylorMouse: Go
I don't get it, the script already creates layers.
Okey guys new version:
IMPORTANT NOTE: if you import a model and it has global sequences. Open the animation Prop and go to each Glstand Animation and delete the default trackset. Afterwards SAVE your scene and try previewing it. Art Tools may crash, but if you reload your scene they should work after that.
Here's a preview of an Exported Model:
I use the max RGB value to get the height (the NVidio tools already gets the heights from a certain value). It's a good aproximation, but if you want perfect results you need to do it by hand or find a way to generate a bitmap with heights rescaled according to the vertex uv on z scale.
New version!
Feutures:
Have in mind that the importer is still not perfect, but it's coming along pretty well to that purpose.
I'll try to get done for next week:
With that, transforming a WoW model will be a piece a cake.
Okey. Took your feedback and made an improved version of the importer.
Feutures:
Future Feutures:
It doesn't have any effect. Normal maps just store two channels which represent the XY components.
Yeah a lil detail, I'm still fixing attachments. They don't really work too well right now.
@TaylorMouse: Go @TaylorMouse Layers, sure man, nice idea.
How about i give you the option to get them on bones or points. For me bones are very messy to work with sometimes, specially if you are doing FK.
could you elaborate on this: the ref points need to take into account the scale factor?
Scaling is not done through tricks, it's hardcoded into the model's data. So it actualy scales and "rotates" the model before building the scene.
@IskatuMesk
Particle conversion may depend a lot on Sc2 Particle system. Until now it seams everything is supported, but I still need to keep looking. I'll probably implement lights and ribbon first.
@IskatuMesk: Go
Well the diffuse is by itself cartoony.
The idea in shader theory is that color is taken from the diffuse and shading is dynamicly made by the normal map.
However, if you really want the models look more serious, you can desaturate the diffuse a bit, this will give a more serious look. You can add that option by editing the makeDiffuse action and recording a new hue/saturation action that just reduces saturation.
About NeoDex: it's a wc3 model editing toolkit for 3ds max and gmax. I'm trying to integrate NeoDex into Sc2 Art Tools by allowing the transformation of wc3/WoW scenes into Sc2 Art Tools scenes. Sadly, the Sc2 Art Tools Maxscript API is not to open, so I haven't discovered everything yet.
I've been working lately on expanding my NeoDex toolset into Sc2. I started these project as NeoDex's new direction. I looked into many tutorials and I realised that, in avarage, getting a WoW model with decent quality into Sc2 can take a long time. Specialy if the model you want has a LOT of textures.
For this purpose I looked into the most time consuming and boring parts of the whole process. Here's how you convert them as of now:
Problems with the current workflow:
Solutions:
Artefacts: M2 Importer:
Now how an scene imported correctly looks like just as the importer finishes (no extra touches):
The Photoshop actions:
Now a test on a WoW texture:
After running Make Diffuse:
(as you can see, a lot less shading)
After running Make Normal:
After running Make Specular:
Now let's do a simple test on a complex model:
The model has 13 textures! Omg who could convert that? No problem there's batch operation in photoshop.
We organize our files in the next way:
Our m2 and skin are on the main folder, all the textures as .tga are in the OriginalTextures folder. Now we need to pass 3 batches to the original textures in photoshop, to create the maps.
First I pass the Diffuse Batch using MakeDiffuse2 (these one generates .dds unlike MakeDiffuse):
I used my sourced folder, the originalTextures and my destination folder as my main main folder.
After 1 min, I have the diffuse map of each texture:
Now I'll repeat the batch for normal map and specular map:
Done, this should have taken me about 10 minutes.
Now I'll Import the model:
After I have imported it, it looks like this:
Now, without any changes, I'm going to preview it, but I'll do it with the liveUpdater so I can tweak the material properties.
I hit LiveUpdate and then Update All now:
Now this is how it should look in-game:
Normals:
Close look:
Quite close, but it may need some tweakings. For instance, some materials may need more specularity so you must change the specular multiplier. The wood planks, need a more defined Normal map, so it must be done by hand to scale off a bit more. However, it's very close to a perfect export and it only took 15 minutes!
Now some other tests, the SpellBreaker made using WoW's BF Guard and some meshes and textures from wc3:
It took me 1 hour and half to make, but works like a charm:
on night:
from the back:
Things I did after importing: I created the emissive maps by hand, added the SPbreaker mask from wc3, added teamcolors, added Sc2 Helpers, tuned a bit the animations, added attachments, made the sword use an envio mask and added some particles.
I expect to release the tools in about 1 week. I still have a lot of work to do:
For info on NeoDex look at: http://www.hiveworkshop.com/forums/modeling-animation-276/neodex-2-61-wc3-modeling-kit-3dsmax-gmax-115767/