Model Converter [alpha released]

Discuss the creation of various model formats for Quake engines, and related matters to modeling.
ajay
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Post by ajay »

metlslime wrote:
"Some more far-fetched major features for later versions: ...Convert MAP files (e.g. the health/ammo pickups) to models."
This would be a great feature for mappers wanting to make more geometric-style models and who have an easier time using their mapping software to make the shapes they want.
Agree totally with this. If you could manage this it would be, creatively, such an open door to new things in mod development. Good luck to you :)
Electro
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Post by Electro »

Cool project. Let me know if you need a test OBJ to get support for those in.
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r00k
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Post by r00k »

Hey Electro, whatever happened to that PMX mod? I saw your killer models on your portfolio but never saw them in game :|
goldenboy
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Post by goldenboy »

Sajt; I just wanted to tell you what a great job this is.

Thanks man.

This makes getting models from Blender into Quake super easy, at least compared to what I did before. The horror! Never going back. I'm currently exporting to md2 in Blender, and then running your glorious little program. The only thing that would make it even better would be support for .obj or similar so conversion to md2 / md3 becomes unnecessary.

Is there any progress with the md2 or md3 export function? Because then I could edit original Quake models in Blender and quickly export them back O_o

:!: Thank you.

Also thanks for keeping this crossplatform.
Sajt
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Post by Sajt »

IIRC the md2 exporter works in the SVN version (the build is older). But it's been a while since I've touched this tool, so I don't remember if there were any odd quirks. I haven't really had time, but hopefully sometime this year I can look at it again...

As for MDL to MD2 to MDL, I imagine some rather ugly vertex recompression artifacts will occur (maybe not immediately visible in the lowpoly Quake models but still there). It is possible to convert MDL to MD2 losslessly in terms of vertex coordinates, but QWalk doesn't do that. (The difference is that Quake uses the same scale/translate for the all frames, whereas in Quake2 it's per-frame.)
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Baker
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Post by Baker »

This tool has been highly useful converting to .mdl from .md3.

Has totally eliminated my need of Quick3D and other model converters thus far.

Thanks!
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Sajt
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Post by Sajt »

A new build has been released which adds md2 export functionality. Strangely, this feature has been in the SVN since before the release of the first version in January. I guess it was untested so I disabled it for the build. Well, I haven't tested it much more now, but it seems to work.

Just specify a .md2 extension on the output filename, and an md2 will be exported. Skins will be converted to the Quake2 palette and saved as PCXes in the folder specified by the "-skinpath" argument (if absent, the skins will end up in the same folder as the model).



(Note: If you are wondering why I don't seem to work on this project anymore, it's because I've been working on a generic backend thing for all my projects, plus a GUI framework. Once that is done, I'll make a new version of QWalk which combines the converter and viewer into one GUI application, and adds a bunch of features that I haven't bothered with in the command-line app because of the limitations of the interface... such as frame reordering and whatnot)
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gnounc
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Post by gnounc »

Oh good, you decided to do the GUI afterall : )
Chip
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Post by Chip »

Offtopic here, but Quake really missed some great tools for mapping and model editing. Some easy to customize map editors, entities, lights, models and so on.

I'm sure maps and mods would boom again if we had all these tools.
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leileilol
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Post by leileilol »

i use blender, but blender is scary to others

but with the toolchain i use - fimg for spr/lmp/wad, qpakman for pak and wad2, blender for mdl/md3, worldcraft for map, frikqcc/fteqcc for quakec, xwe for palettes, it makes me feel there's nothing I can't possibly do
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dreadlorde
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Post by dreadlorde »

Ever think of having an option of extract skins from models? Or is there another tool that can already do that?
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ceriux
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Post by ceriux »

even if there was another tool to do that, it would be better to have it all in one tool. i wish i knew how to code programs... i would be making such a massive tool for quake that it would be all you needed. quark on roids.
dreadlorde
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Post by dreadlorde »

From a software design that's a horrible idea.
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frag.machine
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Post by frag.machine »

dreadlorde wrote:From a software design that's a horrible idea.
Humm... Not exactly. It depends how you implement.
A modular, plugin-oriented tool would be awesome. The initial version could be released supporting a few features, and extended later.
I know FrikaC made a cgi-bin version of the quakec interpreter once and wrote part of his website in QuakeC :) (LordHavoc)
Seven
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Post by Seven »

I also want to thank you Sajt for giving us QWALK.

Just yesterday I found it via google-search. Searching for a program, converting between these formats.
All other programs I found are comercial ones (milkshape and quick 3D pro).

The last thing I miss is the md3 export function.
But as you wrote, you will not work on it in the near future due to gui development.
Which basically dont bother me. I like those command-line tools.
Keeps me remembering good old DOS days. :)

I posted it over at quakeone, so hopefully more people will find and enjoy it.

Best wishes,
Seven
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