Skinning?

#1 I use lithunwrap to do this... easy to learn proggy, and you can work quit fast with it. Forgot the url tough

#2 www.quake3world.com/ubb/Forum11/HTML/001100.html There you go all the tutorials you need for modeling, UV mapping and the actuall making of a skin/texture. I hope that helps if not you can alway's try polycount or skindom

#3 A couple of weeks ago I talked to Joe Maruschak on the phone and he walked me the method that he used while at Dynamix to do UVW unwrapping so that they can paint textures for their models.

Due to time constraints though Joe informed me that he likely wouldn't be able to write this method into a tutorial, so I have volunteered to do it.

I should be submitting this turorial in a week or two. The tutorial will show you how to unwrap your mesh and set it up for painting using 3DS Max and a simple little Max Utility plugin called "Texporter" (exporters UVW coordinates to a bitmap).

Logan

#4 You can also use chilli skinner, a very unexpensive plugin for 3d studio max. It wont do the work for you. But it can sort out most of the tedious processes involved in skinning. you can get the address from www.polycount.com resources.

#5 ive got the chilliskinner umm if its supposed to be pay then i guess i should delete it or something because i dont remember where i got it but i dint pay for it.. and Thanks guys.. im trying very hard to make some models that i can use in game... but im such a newb :) i can even find where the show all button is... i know alot about 3ds max 4.2 but my GOD its complicated!

#6 i use uv unwrap modifier built into max, and paintshop pro for textures, this was built using those tools.
http://www.tribes2.fsnet.co.uk/models/EagleS1.jpg
Viv

#7 I have followed the character export tutorial for max, but I'm running into a problem when I'm trying to export.
I don't think the exporter likes the skin modifier, and if I colaps the transformation there is not much point in using any bones at all, as all the skeleton animation is lost.

(The avatar is not made by several different polygon shapes, but is rather one big mesh.)

Also should I create a dummy node (root or scene) as a parent of the bip01 and the polymesh100 ? If I put polymesh100 under bip01, the mesh will move twise as fast as the skeleton, so that does not work.


-I'm tired of using the mech-robot-thingy in my medieval theme :)

#8 What is the error that you are recieving when you try to export your mesh? If you are using Max R3.1 are you using the Comskin modifier? Are you sure that you setup the Skin modifier correctly and have assigned a weighting to every vertex on your mesh?

Logan

#9 I'm using Max4 and I'm trying to export a player model.
The export works fine, but when I try to view the model I get this message:

"The instruction at "0x0044b9d8" referenced a memory at "0x003ffffc". The memory could not be read."

-> CRASH!

Does anyone have an idea of what could be wrong with my model?

#10 i get something like that when i try to export Nebula files with Milkshape.. i dunno its like certain spots of memory cant be used.. which is wierd. if you have win XP installed you should see a click here thingy.. just click on it and do it again for the pop up and you should see what module it is. For Milkshape i found whats giving me the error : it was a dll file called NTDLL.dll well im not dumb enough to delete that so i cant do anything. OR if you have MSVC++ installed you can debug it and it should pop up an acces violation and show you what module its in.

#11 It sounds like you exported a node or something that the torque engine can't understand/find.
Aside from that I have done exelent at UV mapping. If you need pointers or have any trouble let me know.
I can be reached by email.
Hivoltage
hivoltge0@hotmail.com
Please put in the topic of the email "modeling question" so I know it was from here.Thanks.

#12 I know that everyone seems to be using 3d max, however, I dont happen to have $700+ laying around. I do have milkshape. is here a way to use this to do TGE models?

MadWizard@qnet.com

#13 Michael, you could possibly read the documentation that is on the CVS (I believe) with the Milkshape exporter, this might help you out.

Logan

#14 I wonder how the hell so many people have max? That is incredibly unbelievably ungodly diabolically BULL-SHIT expensive! I do have the money for it, but I think I'd have to near about have someone put a gun to my head to force myself to part with 700 bucks for a modeler. When it comes to that much money things just get scary.

Do they sell a less-equipped version of it, or an older version of max at a more reasonable cost, or did you guys just trade in your car,house,wife,neighboor's dog, and "Elvis-Presley edition Gold-embossed toilet plunger" in exchange for max?

#15 If you know what you are doing with the software, it then becomes an investment in yourself and your skills which result in you easily paying off the cost of the software in a very short amount of time.

Personly my investment in 3DS Max, Photoshop, and all of my other software and hardware that I have bought thus far has been going very well for me and I cannot recommend the software enough.

Logan

#16 You can always try out gmax to see if you like the modelling functions in 3d studio max.

#17 There is a trial version of 3DS Max R4 that you can order from Discreet that is full featured but will expire after 15 days.

Other 3D applications that you can get for free/trial include:

Lightwave (free education based version available, limited saves and watermarked renderer, this edition is not yet available)

XSI (free unlimited trial, leaves watermarks on the renders and you cannot save any work that you do)

Maya (PLE is available for free via the web, you cannot use any plugins, cannot save to native Maya format, watermarked renders and viewport, and you cannot use it in a commercial or educational facility).

gMax (no description necessary)


Logan