3DSM 8?

Hi,
I'm very new to modeling and I'm having problems importing warcraft 3 models (eg. grunt.mdx) into 3DSM 8.

all the import MAXscripts i use give me errors at some point, and blizzard's art tools are too old for my version of 3DSM.

I hope someone can help
thanks in advance
-Brent

have you tried the Dex importer/exporter? that one must work.

no, i havn't.
I'll try that one now, thanks.
EDIT: i cant find the importer, only the exporter script

Here's KMK's importer:

http://kmkdesign.8m.com/downloads/impexpmdx.zip

KMK's importer does import the model, but it gives me the following error:


also the model doesn't appear skinned, but I can make out it's shape

Hm... I think I use the same version of the script and it normally works fine. Never seen that error. I'm on a laptop right now and I don't have the script on it so I can't upload the version I use.


By that do you mean that the model does not have a skin modifier applied or do you mean that no texture shows up on the model?

If you have told the script to import the skin modifier and it doesn't import then that is an error, naturally. The import of the skin modifier shouldn't be flawed.

However, if you expect the model to show up with texture on import then you are wrong. The importer only imports the model and does not look or ask you for the destination of the texture. If you want to apply a texture in 3ds max then you have to create a material, assign a bitmap to that material (or however you do it in 3ds max) and then assign that material to the model.

Some things you should know about the importer:

• It does not import animations properly
• Imported models face the Y-axis (I think all (or most) warcraft models face the X-axis)

the y-axis thing is in fadi's i/e as far as I know. KMK's importer imports the model just fine, but you'll have to un-check the "Bone rotation" checkbox. Aniway, I'm not sure with these importer/exporter scripts, for I use the art tools.

@ TDR: KMK's importer imports the model so it faces towards the y-axis (at least in the version I have, and the version I had a year ago).

@ Brent: If you wish to edit models with 3ds max you might as well just un-check "Bone rotation" like TDR suggested and tell the importer to import the models as "Static", so it does not import the skin modifier, the bones, attachment points and so on... You don't need those if you just want to move/scale/rotate the vertices and still keep the animations.

EDIT: To give you an idea of how to go about this model editing I'll write a really quick little guide here:

1. Import the model you wish to edit (make sure you un-check "Bone rotation" and click the "Static" radio button)
2. Rotate the model so it faces towards the x-axis
3. Edit the vertices as you please (move/scale/rotate them as you please, but DO NOT remove or add any vertices - doing so will (to my knowledge) screw up the animations)
4. Select all the geosets you edited
5. Export them using DeX exporter
6. Copy the vertices information you get from the DeX exporter and paste it in the .mdl file of the model you are editing so the vertices information you got from the DeX replaces the original vertices information of the geosets you have edited
7. Save the .mdl file
8. Convert to .mdx

This is just off the top of my head. If someone wants to correct something or if you need a more detailed guide just say it .