Tools/methods for character model editing?

[lv99zephiroth]

Hey there!

I'm looking into both resizing and reshaping part of a character model, as a learning projects of sorts. The base character will be Doom Guard, and for starters my goals are:

• Resizing the wing mesh(also possibly improving the overall wing shape)
• Adding smaller extra horns(using the main horns' texture)

Problem is, I'm not quite familiar with the use of modeling tools. I've done some slight alterations with geoset before, but I'm unsure if that tool would suffice this time around.

My main question is, what tools should I use for this project, and how? Other than the typical Warcraft 3 editors I do have 3DSMAX available via a hobbyist association I'm in. If I'm going to need extensive 3D modeling, I'd appreciate some tutorial links, but other tips are also much appreciated!

 

[lv99zephiroth]

Other than the typical Warcraft 3 editors I do have 3DSMAX available via a hobbyist association I'm in. If I'm going to need extensive 3D modeling, I'd appreciate some tutorial links, but other tips are also much appreciated!

I recently started browsing tutorials both in Hive and the rest of the interwebz, but I can't find what I'm looking for. Typical modeling tutorials do exist of course, but what I specifically need is some info on how to edit preexisting mdx models. Thinking of trying Oinkerwinkle's Vertex Modifier next. Edit: the zip seems broken. Anobody know any similar, simple tool?

 

[Chaosium]

One of the tool I use is MdlVis, which has been out there for quite a long time now. It's a bit unstable and half of the menus are in Russian, but it's a very complete all-in-one tool for modeling, UV mapping and animating.

Use it in combination with Magos's Warcraft 3 Model Editor, a very powerful tool to deal with the "data" part of your model, as well as using game assets.

Also, as a side note, you'd want to convert your models to .mdl format before editing them. Working on the .mdx files directly can cause some unwanted effects. And perhaps most importantly, whatever tool you're using, always keep a safe copy of your work, because oh man how screwed up models can get if you click in the wrong place...

 

[lv99zephiroth]

^^I'll be sure to try MdlVis! Model Editor I do have, but geoset editing tends to be quite the detective work.

 

[lv99zephiroth]

^^I'll be sure to try MdlVis! Model Editor I do have, but geoset editing tends to be quite the detective work.

MdlVis does exactly what I had in mind! Takes a bit of learning, but seems way more intuitive than 3DSMAX. Big thanks for the tip!!!

 

[Chaosium]

Honestly it's pretty good for what it is and gets the job done. You can easily copy/paste meshes and geosets and create models from scratch. Just make sure you save often