Model Exporting Instructions
To get a model from Max to Half Life, you first need to export it as an .smd file.
The exporter has been posted on Blackboard in the "SMD Exporter" topic.
It comes with instructions, but just in case you don't see them :
Put the 2 files inside the .rar into 3D Studio's "Plugins" directory. They should magically work next time you start Max.
Once you have a lovely, Joel-impressing finished model, go to the export menu...
And select "Valve HL2 SMD"...
...name the SMD using whatever naming system we have, put it in the correct folder for whatever filing system we have, and click "Save".
This window should pop up.
"Skeletal Animation" will be pre-selected, we do not want that.
Change it so it's exporting a "Reference", click "Export" and then hopefully you'll get a nice, lovely .smd file sat in the pre-selected folder.
If the model is not animated, then that's all that's needed Max-wise to compile the model into a game-readable file... if however we want animations, we'll need an .smd for each animation. Also, if the model is a crazy shape we may need to create a collision box for it, but for simple things like chairs and fire extinguishers we should be OK.
These .smd files will then be run through a program called "StudioCompiler" which transforms them into .mdl files. It requires the Source SDK to run. However, since I last compiled a model, Valve seem to have updated Steam in such a way that it crashes StudioCompiler... Thankfully my laptop hasn't been connected to the internet for almost a year now, and has a working version on it. (Worst case scenario, we can compile models using the basic SDK tools and the Windows command line... the command line scares me though, so it might be best to avoid it)
Rules for making sure models use the correct textures, and also the filing system we'll be using shall follow soon...
(All info I post on here will be compiled together, tidied up and put into a sparkly .pdf file for offline use)
GO TEAM.
The exporter has been posted on Blackboard in the "SMD Exporter" topic.
It comes with instructions, but just in case you don't see them :
Put the 2 files inside the .rar into 3D Studio's "Plugins" directory. They should magically work next time you start Max.
Once you have a lovely, Joel-impressing finished model, go to the export menu...
And select "Valve HL2 SMD"...
...name the SMD using whatever naming system we have, put it in the correct folder for whatever filing system we have, and click "Save".
This window should pop up.
"Skeletal Animation" will be pre-selected, we do not want that.
Change it so it's exporting a "Reference", click "Export" and then hopefully you'll get a nice, lovely .smd file sat in the pre-selected folder.
If the model is not animated, then that's all that's needed Max-wise to compile the model into a game-readable file... if however we want animations, we'll need an .smd for each animation. Also, if the model is a crazy shape we may need to create a collision box for it, but for simple things like chairs and fire extinguishers we should be OK.
These .smd files will then be run through a program called "StudioCompiler" which transforms them into .mdl files. It requires the Source SDK to run. However, since I last compiled a model, Valve seem to have updated Steam in such a way that it crashes StudioCompiler... Thankfully my laptop hasn't been connected to the internet for almost a year now, and has a working version on it. (Worst case scenario, we can compile models using the basic SDK tools and the Windows command line... the command line scares me though, so it might be best to avoid it)
Rules for making sure models use the correct textures, and also the filing system we'll be using shall follow soon...
(All info I post on here will be compiled together, tidied up and put into a sparkly .pdf file for offline use)
GO TEAM.
posted by John A. at 10:37 AM
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