SMDs?

does anyone kno the "correct" way of importing smds...

i tried w/ this one model nd it looked fine on the 3dsmax 4.2 but when i tried the previewer it started doign it but then said...unexpectd error...must shut down...

also when i tried to importing the smd animation, the bones came up nd it looked fine on 3dsmax but on the previewer--actually worked this time--it was juss bones like the model nvr existed...
maybe its cuz the bones didnt say bone_ before them but still...shouldnt it work as a regular model too w/o animation?

SMD? That's a Half-Life file type, if I'm not mistaken. Try importing them into Milkshape, using the Half-Life Model Import thing, and then export it as a 3ds file, or something. Probably the best way.

-Angry Lawyer

ya...i tried that tho...but when i got it into 3dsmax nd tried using the previewer it didnt work...maybe im doing something wrong?

i also got a direct smd importer fo 3dsmax to see if it worked then...but then it was the same problem...the weird thing was that only the bonestructure showed up...
could this be cuz of the polygon limit??

SMDs are sequences (animations and the reference) that are compiled into a .mdl file. I believe that milkshape's 3ds exporter is borked and deletes most/all of the faces.

ya

that happened to it when i did that with milkshape

but then w/ the 3dsmax importer it was fine...until i tried the previewer

Are you importing the right SMD? As mentioned before, Half-Life models are broken down into lots of them - most of them animations, but one of them the actual model. Make sure you're importing the one marked as 'reference.smd' otherwise you're just going to get the bones.

-Angry Lawyer

icic...

that makes sense...thnx man
the model came out lookin fine,

but is there anyway to reserve that animation which was made nd make it so that the bones dont show up (opaque maybe?)

i already figured out how to link the animation togther but do you kno how to scale it down...like a whole mess of different animations at a time....

ex)track view=
------------------------------
-----------------
-------------------------


into =
---------------
--------
------------- with the same animation look?

I'm pretty new to animation, but in WC3 the bones will not actually show up - they're invisible helper object things. Hiding bones whilst editing is a different matter - there's a little button in Milkshape that allows you to do it. No idea about any of the other stuff though.

-Angry Lawyer

This is off topic, post it in the OFF TOPIC forum, go away now.

Excuse me?
Warcraft III Campaigns Forums > Artists' Corner > Modeling & Animation

Notice the forum name.

...I'm pretty new to *animation*, but in WC3 the bones will not actually show up...

...Are you importing the right SMD? As mentioned before, Half-Life *models *...

The guy is trying to convert SMD files to MDX files, thus it is on topic, as he's trying to add new models into WC3, and animate them. So get off his case.

-Angry Lawyer

thnx fo gettin my back man

i reallly appreciate it...

im trying to get models for w3 so it is on topic...
also...i was experimenting nd i figured out that the reason they didnt show up is cuz some smds dont use tga skins...

so i gotta reskin it...but then when i do the material way it gets all outta place...tail on leg...etc...

i heard something bout uv wrapping or something? do u kno how to unwrap nd all that?

No problems, man.

Hmm... Well, Milkshape really simplifies skinning, actually. If you load the model into it, and press the 'materials' tab, you can swap the jpg with the tga in there, and it'll keep all the uv mapping that was preset. Unwrapping is by far one of the toughest parts of modelling - I still haven't got the hang of it...

-Angry Lawyer