3D Studio Max - Tools for Warcraft III (mdx version 800)

[Taylor Mouse]

I recently saw the Spartan warrior model, which looked amazing btw !
I wanted to import this in 3D Studio Max, to find that there is nothing really up to date.
So I decided to take my reforged importer and see what I could change to make this happen, and after a couple of days, this is what came out of it:

it is still work in progres, but the spartan imports perfectly with every object available (except GEOA )

You can find the scripts and guideline here: Taylor Mouse's maxscripts (github)

Have fun!

 

[Taylor Mouse]

added support for importing ribbons

 

[Taylor Mouse]

Added support for importing Global Sequences ( GLBS chunk )

 

[Footman16]

An easy to use method of importing models into 3DS max would be a great addition to the community, keep up the good work!

 

[Taylor Mouse]

You can already try it you know

 

[Taylor Mouse]

GEOA is supported, kinda weird, I tested it on Medivh (old model ) the man works, the bird not so much :/

 

[Taylor Mouse]

[BUG FIXED]
Fixed a big bug in my plugins (Events & Global Sequence Behaviors): values selected for frames on events and bones for global sequence animations were not saved to Max file and therefor were lost after reopening the max file.

 

[Taylor Mouse]

Exporter is coming along nicely, GEOS & GEOA is done ( still a lot to do :'( )
next
BONES ( & animation of the bones )

 

[Taylor Mouse]

pfff gathering info for bones lead to gathering info for helpers as well, which I need to keep track of cuz everything else in the scene may have these things as a parent node... one day...

 

[Taylor Mouse]

Export is done, well, for the basic parts anyways, just tested the first export, most things look ok, however it crashes when I want to animate ( using the mdx viewer to test )
And when i import it again with my script, everything imports correctly... except the vertex weights... that is gonna be a pain

 

[Taylor Mouse]

YES IT WORKS!!

First test, importing the awesome Spartan and then exporting it again results in a working mdx file, woooooooooooot so happy!!

To late and tired to test other models at the moment but here is a list what is supported:

Animation sequences (SEQS)
Global Sequences (GLBS)
Materials (MTLS: composite material for teamcolor, standard materials and teamglow for hero stuff )
Textures (TEXS)
Geosets (GEOS)
Geoset Visibility animation (GEOA)
Bones, Helpers and their animations ( BONE & HELP )
Attachments (ATCH)
Pivotpoints (PIVT)
Events (EVTS)
Collision objects (CLID)

next loads of testing on loads of models

 

[Taylor Mouse]

Ok, so to be able to test my exporter on a whole new model I started creating a low poly model, based on WoW Anduin in disguise, model block out so far:

1200 polys ( original model has about 12k polys, a bit too much just to port it )
unwrap and texture next, to make my life a bit iz, I will be using the orinal from WoW

 

[Taylor Mouse]

Been testing out some stuff:
FBX:

• Although there are no issues during export ( no errors )
• The UV mappings are flipped horizontally, even if they seem correct in MAX
• The animation does not seem to animate correctly
• Next step: atm not my priority, I did this for someone that pointed this out to me

mdx:

• All original mdx files seem to import correctly ( with of course the objects supported, so no PREM or PRE2 yet )
• Although the visibility look correct in MAX ( like for example gutz ) the visibility is not correctly exported -> testing this with Abomination.mdx
• Next step: as I thought this would be working, this will be my first priority

 

[Taylor Mouse]

Ok solved the GEOA stuff
However, something I haven't covered yet, the "facing the camera" user property, I ran into this when I was testing the Abomination model


edit: mmmm.... I think I will need to implement the User Property window for that :'(

 

[Footman16]

Ok, so to be able to test my exporter on a whole new model I started creating a low poly model, based on WoW Anduin in disguise, model block out so far:
View attachment 383958

1200 polys ( original model has about 12k polys, a bit too much just to port it )
unwrap and texture next, to make my life a bit iz, I will be using the orinal from WoW

Personally I'm wondering if it's still a bit too high poly for SD Warcraft 3, things like the cowl, belt and hood could probably be simplified further and use textures to create some of the details.

 

[Taylor Mouse]

Personally I'm wondering if it's still a bit too high poly for SD Warcraft 3, things like the cowl, belt and hood could probably be simplified further and use textures to create some of the details.

not really to worried about this, since it will only serve as a test model, not actually releasing it, or maybe as is...

 

[Chucky]

The install instructions are wrong, there's no GriffonStudios_Helper.ms file, just GriffonStudios_Helpers.ms and GriffonStudios_Warcraft_III_Helpers.ms, please write here how to install it correctly.

 

[Taylor Mouse]

The install instructions are wrong, there's no GriffonStudios_Helper.ms file, just GriffonStudios_Helpers.ms and GriffonStudios_Warcraft_III_Helpers.ms, please write here how to install it correctly.

Where is it required to have this file?

I do need to clean up my stuff, however, currently I'm focussing on the WC3 Tools ( not reforged or other )

 

[Taylor Mouse]

Updated the "how to install" by the looks of it, it was required.

But I'm not gonna update/write an How to install in different locations, please note that this is still under heavy construction
I 'll try to keep my github page up to date as much as the documentation

Thanks for understanding
T.

 

[Taylor Mouse]

Some progress, uv unwrap and texturing done:

Time to rig and skin

 

[Taylor Mouse]

I love rigging
Done:

 

[Taylor Mouse]

Skinned and animated ( a useless basic stand anim )

Time to export it ...

 

[Taylor Mouse]

AAAAARGGG the pain starts:

on the other hand, the skinning or vertex weighting looks to be ok
...

 

[Taylor Mouse]

ok, some big bobo in my export script:
1. it does not support IK Solvers :'( this is gonna be a pain to fix
2. exporting it to FBX ( which kinda solves the problem for me ) exports it correctly (woooot )
3. script now also imports the helpers animation correctly and lights, and builds them

 

[Taylor Mouse]

mmm I wanted to implement TXAN,
reading it is not an issue, nor is it apply to the scene, however, it can be applied to a global sequence (AAARCH) and i don't know where to put this.. anyone any idea ??

 

[Taylor Mouse]

Import now supports Global Sequences on Materials and different types of animations, Linear, Bezier, Hermite, this can be set in Max's Material editor:

 

[Taylor Mouse]

Alright, change of plans, the global animation of a bone, helper and texture is now managed in the behavior object, just add the object to the list:

 

[Taylor Mouse]

glbs + texture animation can now be exported
added support to validate the scene first, since converting a primitive to a editable mesh without applying additional uv unwrap modifiers screws up the export.

it also has fast export, meaning, you only need an editable mesh with the correct Warcraft III material assigned to it to export, everything else is added during export and cleaned up at the end, even a Stand animation is added if there are no animations available!

This allows for quick conversions of non animated dooadds

I'll be testing this thorougly this weekend.

 

[Taylor Mouse]

Ok this IK Solver bs is breaking my head, after investigating NeoDex's original code, no luck, however if I export the model to FBX and reimport it, I can get rid of the IK Solver and my animation controls and then it animates correctly,

However the Export Import of FBX is a not optimized, FBX exports every single frame as being animated, so the track bar is filled with animations :/

ANyway, enough for today, here is the result so far, imho it looks pretty ok, tested in Magos's model viewer

 

[sonphamthe11H]

err... what version of 3ds Max I have to use? I have tested in 2020 and lower ( 2014 ) but still having this, or Im missing some files?

 

[Taylor Mouse]

Oh, I would suggest if you don't know how to program, until I confirm everything works great, not to install stuff. Cuz sometimes I just push stuff with changes that I have't tested yet, espicially when it is late at night

There is just a comma missing..

But that error should be fixed now though

T

 

[Taylor Mouse]

Ok today I made my life, and I guess your lives a little easier, and added a tools window

on each of the buttons, checkboxes, spinners,... there is a tooltip

Most of the things speak for themselves, except probably the animation tools, those I will explain in detail, as they are used when using IK's
The ONLY way I found to do this is to export your model to FBX and reimport it again. This generates for each frame a key,
However, when you click the Gather anim keys before you export, it retains the existing keyframes, so after you imported the FBX again, you can reduce the amount of keys back to its original state.
The interval can be used if higher then zero, I found that an interval of 5 work perfectly

Create team color does not work yet ( i added this cuz I always forget how it is set up )

The window can be opened running the Tools_Dialog.ms script

T.

 

[Taylor Mouse]

I also found that Max 2021 and 2022 does not have a standard support for the Standard_Material :'(
So please don't try to use those, just yet... as from Max 2021, PBR materials are used ( which would probably be perfect for Reforged though)

 

[sonphamthe11H]

Hi @Taylor_Mouse I left a comment in my issue thread that you closed. Please check the file there, I hope u got a way to export that.

does this support old version of warcraft 3? · Issue #13 · TaylorMouse/MaxScripts

1.31 and below...

github.com

 

[Taylor Mouse]

what you mean with OLD version, it is for MDX v 800
What can I do with that file ? there are no textures

 

[Taylor Mouse]

dude...

19K polys?? warcraftIII (v800) supports up to, maybe max 3000 polys at best, there are 90 bones, I think WC3 only has a max of 32 bones ...
and you give me this with no textures, no bounding box, no note track ....

How am I suppose to test this
T.

 

[Taylor Mouse]

Ok it has a note track but it is f... up
The mesh needs to be an editable mesh, not an editable poly

 

[Taylor Mouse]

And I was able to export it... with a dummy texture, all animations are retained, however, as you know (or not ) the weights of vertices on bones are usually 2 bones per vertex weighing it to 50% on each bone , here some pieces have 6 bones :/
Anyawys... probably going to need Reforged stuff to be able to export this
My Reforged exporter doesn't work very well though, however, it does have a build in algorithm that limits the bones to a max of 4 and recalculates the weights correctly...
Freezing this at the moment though

 

[Taylor Mouse]

On another note
Here is my progress on GLBS or Global Sequence Animations:

You will be able to define multiple GLBS's ( group Id's ) where you link bones, helpers and materials, where the global animation can be limited to the material alpha, uv animation, postion, ... ( well you get the point )

The information is kept in a Max Plugin ( Behavior Object ) that saves in max
Still WIP but I think I'm getting there

It looks like a simplified version of the SC2 Behavior Editor

Hope to get this done soon, I want to start the export of the Ribbon emitters

T.

 

[sonphamthe11H]

Ok it has a note track but it is f... up
The mesh needs to be an editable mesh, not an editable poly

I wrote it just like how we did export it with dex 0.816m...

 

[Taylor Mouse]

I wrote it just like how we did export it with dex 0.816m...

you wrote what? the notes on the note track, it is missing a lot of information that my exporter needs

 

[Taylor Mouse]

Some more tests:

a team colored high elven bow
and

A team colored, with glowing orbs ( fully billboarding ) mogu thunde bow converted from WoW

at the moment no particle support yet

 

[Taylor Mouse]

Fixed the import of the GEOA (or visibility track ) Blizzard resetted the visibility back to its original value at the start of every sequence, and every change they made, the put in the GEOA, I did the same and it looks a lot better now

I have noticed that there are a LOT of possible global sequence id possibilities ( 52 if I am correct, seeing the doc on MDX - wowdev )

For the momen the biggest challenge is the shade.mdx as it has most of the weird stuff that I need to cover still

 

[sonphamthe11H]

you wrote what? the notes on the note track, it is missing a lot of information that my exporter needs

I understood, but that way is how neodex export model with "default" setting. I want to edit those anims later in war3editor...

 

[Taylor Mouse]

Ok, since I can't take the credit of the Anduin model
I started my own base human model
This model will be fully available, ZBrush sculpt and everything, psd included, low poly model, animated and rigged in FBX and MAX (2016) free to use

Here is the first few teaser screenies as well as a first mdx export test:

Tools:
Base model - Max
Sculpt - ZBrush
Bakes - Substance Painter
Final texture - Photoshop

Polys: 906
Vertices: 457

First export test using my tool

 

[Taylor Mouse]

back in 2009 ( yes, that long ago ) I created this fellow:

So I'm trying to redo this guy with the knowledge I gained the last 10 years looking to the methods nowadays, still aiming to use it with my mdx 800 exporter tho

so here is a wip for the sword: ZBrush sculpt

this is how it looks in substance painter using pbr materials, this is also probably how it will look in reforged
and I used it to bake the different maps

and this is how it looks in wc3 mdx 800 ( just one tga texture)

new updates soon(ish)

T.

 

[zhuangge]

Hi, brother, Can you take a look at this problem? thank you!(PS: 3dsmax2022)

 

[sonphamthe11H]

@Taylor Mouse pls add support for 3ds max 2022

 

[Taylor Mouse]

@Taylor Mouse pls add support for 3ds max 2022

You funny, it was developed in Max 2022 so not sure what you are talking about

 

[zhuangge]

You funny, it was developed in Max 2022 so not sure what you are talking about

Hi, brother, Can you take a look at the last question?