Things you should know before reading this portion of the article:
This portion assumes you have access to MPQEditor and 3ds Max
This portion assumes you know how to rig a skeleton using bones
This portion assumes you know how to add and modify envelopes using the skin modifier
This portion assumes you have sufficient experience in "natural" movement for animation purposes
This portion assumes you know how to import a .m3 file into 3ds Max and how to manipulate textures inside 3ds Max
This portion absolves UltiDrgn of any fault that you may cause/find
Editing Existing SC2 Models
Picking/Finding a Model
Before you can begin modifying an existing SC2 model, you have to pick an existing model that either /is/ the model you want or /contains/ the model you want. For an example, I'll be going over the entire process of repurposing the campaign's Hyperion model that was used during cut scenes.
Exporting the Model File(s)
Because we chose the Hyperion model, we have to add /Liberty.Story/ as a dependency to whatever map is open. After doing so, open up the Previewer and find the Hyperion. In this case, it's under Assets/StoryModeSets/SM_HyperionExteriorLow , though technically we could have also used the high poly model right above it. After loading the model in the previewer, we should have a screen that looks something like this:
From here, all we have to do is go to File -> Export Model File...
Save it somewhere, then close out the map editor entirely.
Exporting the Texture File(s)
Textures must be extracted from the mpqs themselves. I personally use MPQEditor to extract them. Keep in mind it is ESSENTIAL you open the MPQs in READ-ONLY mode to prevent unwanted/game-breaking changes to occur. As a rule of thumb, most textures will be in Core.SC2Mod.base.SC2Assets, but the campaign MPQ, Liberty.SC2Campaign.base.SC2Assets. Both of these MPQ files can be found in your Starcraft II installation directory under Mods and Campaigns respectively.
Since we chose the Hyperion, which is in Liberty.Story, we have to open up Liberty.SC2Campaign.base.SC2Assets. Once open, navigate down into the Textures folder and find the texture files highlighted below:
We only need the Diffuse, Normal, Specular, and Emissive maps to modify any SC2 model. These in particular are the Hyperion's textures as referenced in the Previewer under the Materials of the model. Once found, export these files to the folder that contains the .m3 file from earlier. Close out MPQEditor when you are done.
After Importing into 3ds Max
After you've imported the .m3 of the Hyperion into 3ds Max, hit the M key to bring up the materials window. From here, you can readd the texture files we extracted earlier. From here, you can do whatever you want to the model, as long as you follow these guidelines:
Any changes to the model must be performed at time 0.
No additional polys/triangles/vertexes/etc can be added to the model, you can only remove them. (Unless you want to reanimate the entire model)
Any attachments added to the model must be linked to the nearest bone and follow standard SC2 naming convention.
Misc. Animation Tips:
Before you start to move ANY bones around, and immediately after tweaking your skin modifier, key EVERY bone at times 0 and 3. Start the first animation at time 3, keeping in mind that the typical SC2 animation is 1.5 seconds long at 1000fps. This means a sequence starting at 3 and ending at 2663 will last about 2.6 seconds.
NEVER overlap the start/end times of the animations. Also, good practice is to leave about 1000 time in-between each animation, but it won't matter in the end.
Make sure every vertex is weighted before animating, and that every piece of geometry has a skin modifier linking to at least one bone.
The FIRST sequence named Stand will be the default stand animation. The same goes for WALK, ATTACK, BIRTH, etc.
Constantly save your work, and remember to keep an eye on the auto-key toggle.
The exporter currently does not like certain transforms on bones during animations. Always check ingame animations via previewer before use. If you find there's an animation that's not working right, try keying every bone every 100 time for the sequence in question. Failing that, do something less complex during the sequence or adjust the IK chain.
Death animations are a SEPERATE model/animation pair.
Use version 1.6b of the exporter until 1.9 comes out.
Things you should know before reading this portion of the article:
Editing Existing SC2 Models
Picking/Finding a Model
Before you can begin modifying an existing SC2 model, you have to pick an existing model that either /is/ the model you want or /contains/ the model you want. For an example, I'll be going over the entire process of repurposing the campaign's Hyperion model that was used during cut scenes.
Exporting the Model File(s)
Because we chose the Hyperion model, we have to add /Liberty.Story/ as a dependency to whatever map is open. After doing so, open up the Previewer and find the Hyperion. In this case, it's under Assets/StoryModeSets/SM_HyperionExteriorLow , though technically we could have also used the high poly model right above it. After loading the model in the previewer, we should have a screen that looks something like this:
From here, all we have to do is go to File -> Export Model File...
Save it somewhere, then close out the map editor entirely.
Exporting the Texture File(s)
Textures must be extracted from the mpqs themselves. I personally use MPQEditor to extract them. Keep in mind it is ESSENTIAL you open the MPQs in READ-ONLY mode to prevent unwanted/game-breaking changes to occur. As a rule of thumb, most textures will be in Core.SC2Mod.base.SC2Assets, but the campaign MPQ, Liberty.SC2Campaign.base.SC2Assets. Both of these MPQ files can be found in your Starcraft II installation directory under Mods and Campaigns respectively.
Since we chose the Hyperion, which is in Liberty.Story, we have to open up Liberty.SC2Campaign.base.SC2Assets. Once open, navigate down into the Textures folder and find the texture files highlighted below:
We only need the Diffuse, Normal, Specular, and Emissive maps to modify any SC2 model. These in particular are the Hyperion's textures as referenced in the Previewer under the Materials of the model. Once found, export these files to the folder that contains the .m3 file from earlier. Close out MPQEditor when you are done.
After Importing into 3ds Max
After you've imported the .m3 of the Hyperion into 3ds Max, hit the M key to bring up the materials window. From here, you can readd the texture files we extracted earlier. From here, you can do whatever you want to the model, as long as you follow these guidelines:
Misc. Animation Tips: