SC2Mapster

Quote from ZombieZasz: Go

@TrueTsumetai: Go

when you say the animations "not working": are you unable to see the sequence? Model is not doing any movements? Bones and Geometry are distorted/out of place?

I wanted to export with three animations, stand, build and sell, but I cant choose sell as an animation in the previewer, even though it shows up as one of the sequences mentioned in the pane above the animation timelines in the previewer

Quote from ZombieZasz: Go

@TrueTsumetai: Go

If you are trying to use an IK system, IKs are not supported by the exporter. You will need to bake in your movements. I wrote a How-To in another thread here: http://www.sc2mapster.com/forums/development/artist-tavern/30367-solved-ik-solver-doesnt-affect-animation-after-export/#p3

Values:

- Export FPS: this should be the same as your timescale in 3DS MAX. I recommend using the Default of 30fps average animation lengths for SC2 units are 1/2 - 3 secs (15-90 frames@30fps) Stand and Walk animations should be looping. All others should not Your First Animation Sequence should start on or after Frame 3

Animations in the SC2 Map Editor are read at 1000fps 3ds Max timescale works in multiples of 3, and can only be set as close as 960 or 1200fps There are Two Work arounds for this:

In SC2 Map Editor: Data Editor (F7) > Models Tab > (Model to Replace) > Animation Speed, Set to 0.03 (1.0000 is 1000fps)

In 3DS MAX: Export Model @ 30fps New Project or New window of 3ds Max Import Model @ 1000fps Export Model @ 1000fps

- Base Pose:0 also known as your "T" pose for humanoid characters, bones and mesh in rigging position, frame 0

- Base Sequence: 1* your Stand Sequence, check Sequence Index for Number*

- Frequency: percentage that select animation will be played among multiple variances Only used if you have variety of a single animation (Example: 3 different walk cycles; Walk 01, Walk 02, Walk 03 )

- Move Speed: Speed at which a Walk Cycle is designed to move at, is Adjusted by SC2 Editor accordingly Mainly used for Walk animations. If you set the walk speed in the Sc2 Editor above Move Speed, animation speed will be increased If walk speed in Sc2 Editor is Below, animations will be slowed 0.0 is null, animations will not be changed by editor

Thank you that was very helpful, I finally managed to get a model imported with some of the animation working Next I have to work on figuring out how to get a new functioning object into the game, Joy.so you might hear more from me over the next few days I wasn't working with the IK solver, I was working with models I made for"The Red Alert" a total conversion mod I worked on for Red Alert 3 for experimenting purposes because they already had textures and animation

<<quote 545421>> @TrueTsumetai: Go

The Importer/Exporter are fan made with limited information about the .M3 format, Errors are to be expected. So are work arounds.

The "Checkered Dome" is an error in the Map Editor, NOT the plugin. The Editor calls on assets from an archive, either internal or external (ex: liberty Campain mod) The Checkered Dome is used by the editor when it is unable to find the defined asset. to archive your model in your current project:

-First Import All textures for your model Import path should be same as defined in 3DS max -SAVE, this will archive your textures. if the textures are not archived first, your model will show as pure black or a purple tint. Import your .M3 file -Save IF you import your model and textures at the same time you will need to save and restart the editor before they will render correctly. </quote>>

I do that, and it usually works, though sometimes it appears to work but when I try to move the viewport camera, the model vanishes, something when I open the previewer <<quote 545421>> @TrueTsumetai: Go

M3-Sequences: The sequence part of the plugin is bugged. to add a new sequence to a model with No Animations: Run the M3-Sequence Utility Select Add Click Close Run the M3-Sequence Utility Agian You should now be able to view, edit, and add sequences without any issue

If you are still having issues, posting screenshots might assist in determining the exact issue. <</quote>>I see... Okay, so that takes care of the sequences not showing up, but not the issues with the model once imported

so, the remaining issues are model showing up warped, animations not working, animation lengths not making sense so, answer me this, what are some numbers I should be working with in terms of export:FPS, animation lengths, bind pose, and base sequence: frequency and move speed?

I'm getting really fed up with this non-sense, it's one thing after another with these tools okay, sometimes when I import all I get is a checkered dome, some times the model shows up, sorta, but its all wrong, like it's using the wrong frame as its base pose, also the model wont show up at all in the previewer Also sometimes the M3-sequences tool wont have any animation in it the only thing in the list will be "none" and clicking add or remove wont do anything although the model wont show up in the previewer;some of the animations seem to. of course since no model shows up, no animations seem to work, although, based on the timeline, its clear the animations are way shorter than they're supposed to be. this BS is getting real old real fast. I've been modding games since forge and anvil on marathon none has ever given me this much trouble, except maybe source, but source is ridiculously convoluted, but even then, I got it to work eventually

Now I'm having new troubles, I'd swear these things are sentient and intentionally conspire to piss me off I installed max 2011 and the plugins, and now the importer works and the exporter exports without error, but, the model won't import into sc2 properly, something different happens every time I try to import the exact same model, sometimes it shows up as a checkered dome, sometimes its dark gray, this makes no sense, the old animation-less models I made in max 9 still import just fine

Quote from ZombieZasz: Go

@TrueTsumetai: Go Ive been using the Importer/Exporter for a while now with no major issues (mainly human error if any).

I Personally use Max2011, I would Recommend trying MAX 2010 or 2011 rather than 9. While the script is compatible with other versions, I've found that it can have problems with versions below 2010 and with 2012.

you can download and get a student license for free from Autodesk directly through http://students.autodesk.com/?nd=download_center the only limitation for the student license is not using it for profit (sell models/premium maps)

Varify you have the most recent version of the .M3 plugins http://www.sc2mapster.com/assets/m3-export-plugin-3ds-max/

I would suggest setting the plugins to load automaticly Copy from the plugins download: m3_import_v0.31.ms m3_export_v0.22.ms m2_import_v0.304b.ms impexpmdx_v2.0.4.ms and place them in your C:\Program Files\Autodesk\3ds Max 2011\Scripts\Startup Folder

Copy from the plugins download: sc2_objects.ms Place in C:\Program Files\Autodesk\3ds Max 2011\plugins Folder

This is exactly what I did, and I just un-iinstalled them, restarted max and re-downloaded them, just to be sure, and the problems persist I'll try a newer version of max, I held on to 9 so long because it was the only version I had compatible with mod tools for other games

4 posts days apart

Not to be pushy, but evidently other people can get the exporter an d importer working, and mine still wont work, and I have mod work to do

Is their realy no progress on fixing these issues, or am I going to have to wait a couple years for Blizzards tools?

so, to recap, the importer doesn't work as outlined in the first post, m3 - sequences doesn't show up, most likely because max has an issue with the plugin

Yes, in the zip file for the tools i downloaded, sc2_objects.ms is in the plugins folder and I put it in the plugins folder inside max, and the other scripts from the zip file are in scripts/startup. I took everything out and tried to reinstall with everything in its proper place, the error i get on startup says:"Syntax error at on, expected<rollout clause> in line: on c" which is line 1097 on clpCol1Start

additionally, the instructions say, "2b. Extract sc2_plugins.ms into your 3ds max '...\Plugins' directory to be able to use the... but there is no file "sc2_plugins.ms" in the zip folder for the max tools, there is a file called sc2_objects.ms in the plugins folder in the zip...

on a side note I was electing to run the script manually because hat opens the script editor and shows the exact line that's causing the error edit, edit:the instructions call it sc2_ objects not sc2_plugins, I copied that line from an older set of instructions

the importer doesnt work either....

not to be impatient, but I'm usually better at figuring things out, , maybe if I had a push in the right direction or a hint where to start I did find discussions mentioning "m3 - Sequences in utilities, but there is no such utility, when I run the sc_objects script,I get an error so I tried an older version where m3 - sequences utility shows up, but I get another script error when exporting.…

the first problem has not been fixed The second problem seems to have resolved itself I seem to have been forgotten, woe is me two new questions: first, since I can't import a model, like a marine, I can't get a sense of scale for my models and they show up huge, so, what dimensions should a box object be to approximate the size of a marine or zealot? two: is there a set of instructions or a tutorial for exporting animations for sc2 out there? To be clear I don't mean instructions for creating animations I'm not new to 3ds max, but I don't understand how to export them

the importer is the latest version, I have max 9, the download page said the tools were compatible with max 6 and up

I'm having two different import problems, I've searched all over for solutions but can't find any so I'm sorry if these have been covered. The first is importing a model into 3ds max using the m3 import utility, I get an error I can't find referenced anywhere else: "Argument count error: ReadFixedString wanted 1, got 2 it looks like a syntax or logic error within the script The second problem is with importing the model into sc2,I've downloaded the mapster logo asset, and I can get that in the game easily enough, but when I import my own, the model is black I don't know what I'm doing differently between the logo asset and my own I suspect the problem is with the exported model or the model's material, but I've looked at every resource and tutorial on exporting, and read and reread the instructions, but can't figure out what I'm doing wrong.

as an aside: it seems when I first installed the sc2 model tools, there was a property on the starcraft material for selecting and displaying team colors, that property is gone…