The Model Knowledge Thread

[Struggleton!]

There are many formats holding models and textures. This thread is for listing tutorials and knowledge of the models' formats.

BMD/BDL

Tutorials

With Vertex Colors

Requires:
   -3DS Max (Requires you to purchase a license or be a student/teacher)
   -A BMD/BDL of choice
   -This importer script
   -Material Detach Script
    -FBX Converter 2013

So first, extract the script, and place the bmdview.exe file in the installation directory (C:/Program Files/Autodesk 3DS Max 20xx/bmdview.exe)

Open 3DS Max and drag the other script to the screen.
It does nothing. However in the Customize dropdown, it has an option: Customize User Interface. In there, scroll down until you see BMD Importer. On the side, there is a text box for assigning a key to the script. Assign it to what isn't being used. I used Ctrl + J.

Now press your hotkey. A dialog appears. Select your BMD/BDL file, turn off 'Save Animation' (it doesn't even save animation), and turn off 'Include Scaling'. Set the import type as '.x export'. Now press Import.

Click the model and right-click it. Press 'Unfreeze All.'
Press Ctrl + A
Now drag the Material Detach Script on the screen and select 'Bitmap Name'.
Press 'Detach'.

Now you need to export the file as a FBX. This is crucial to retaining the Vertex Colors. All the options are OK, so don't mess with them. Now you can close 3DS Max.

BUT WAIT! We can't upload them to the site like this!

Open the FBX Converter and open your file(s) and go to the dropdown and select DAE Collada.
Now press convert.

However this doesn't export the textures with it. Now go to where you had the BMD/BDL and go into the folder created with the name of your BDL/BMD and go into the Textures folder. It has a bunch of TGA files.

However, The Models Resource does not accept textures as TGA. So we need to convert them. I've written a script to do that, However it requires Python 2.7. Get the script here. Convert your files by navigating to the folder with the textures.

Example: BDL Folder/Textures

Now copy the textures to the folder with the .dae.

We're ALMOST done. We need to now edit the .dae so it loads the textures. We can use any text editor, I recommend Notepad++, though you could use Notepad (bleh). Open the .dae and in the beginning of the file, it has a tag: <init_from>. This is where it imports the textures. Remove the file path so it only has the name of the texture.

Example: file://C:\Users\User\Desktop\Projects of life\Modding\Super Mario Galaxy\Super Mario Galaxy [Models]\bmd-models\jumpstand\Textures\JumpStand.tga

TO

JumpStand.png

Don't forget to change the extension to png. Do this for each texture.

...And save it. WE'RE DONNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNEEEEEEEEE ... Finally. Now you can submit it!

Without Vertex Colors

Requires:
- Model Editor that can export to .obj and can import a .3DS
- BMD/BDL to import
- BMDViewer2

Open your file in BMDViewer2 and go to File>Export Model
It exports it as .3ds and saves the textures as .tga.

We can't submit it like that. So in a Model Editor, import the file and export it as a .obj. It should come with a OBJ and MTL, and depending on the Editor, it may convert the textures also. However it usually doesn't export all the textures, so boo.

Now to convert the Textures to png. I've written a script to do that, However it requires Python 2.7. Get the script here. Convert your files by navigating to the folder with the textures.

Example: 3ds export folder/

Now copy the textures to the folder with the .obj.

Almost done. Again, depending on the model editor, it may export the MTL with the proper paths to the texures. Most of the time it doesn't so open your file in a text editor, I use Notepad++ but you can use plain old Notepad. Remove the paths from the MTL.

map_Kd Desktop/Folder/Jumpstand.tga

to

map_Kd Jumpstand.png

Don't forget to change the extension to png. Do this for each texture.

...And save it. WE'RE DONNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNEEEEEEEEE ... Finally. Now you can submit it!

I hope this becomes a large repository for tutorials and knowledge