WoW-Converter: export all WoW models to Warcraft 3

[John13]

Excellent! Thank you so much for your dedication and hard work on this amazing app!

 

[YourArthas]

Update:

• Allow exporting character with customizable Mount model.

Spoiler: Mount examples

View attachment 549234View attachment 549235
View attachment 549236View attachment 549237
Lich King riding Invincible Reins
Trade Prince Gallywix riding Sky Golem
Aladdin and the Flying Carpet
Darion Mograine and Crimson Deathcharger

• Currently the model plays only attack and death animations of the mount. In a future update I will programmatically combine character attack animations with mount's animations.

• Now support collection-based character customization, i.e. Demon Hunter's horns, Earthen's body gems, Mechagnome's gadgets...
• Dressing room conversion can now export weapon's visual effects on a best-effort basis. Example: Executioner weapon effect - result: Huy's wow-converter
• Add "Browse Models" tab to easily search and browse all WoW model assets (e.g. creatures, doodads, spell effects...). Visit wow.quangdel.com/browse or the same URL path locally.

Spoiler: Browse Models

View attachment 549229View attachment 549230
View attachment 549231View attachment 549232
Dimensius: Huy's wow-converter
Blacksmith doodad: Huy's wow-converter
Arcane explosion effect: Huy's wow-converter
Infernal effect: Huy's wow-converter

• Several bug fixes related to particles that allow exporting a greater amount of spell effects. Note: particle conversion is not always perfect but best effort, due to WC3 doesn't support as many graphic shaders as WoW.
• Other bug fixes and UI improvements:
  • Fix missing geosets in some character races like Undead' arm/face or Dwarf's beard.
  • Add attack options Bow, Gun, Thrown
  • Now the tool can automatically detect suitable attack options based on given weapons.
  • No longer needs to change file input type (wowhead/local/displayID), the tool now can auto-detect input type based on pasted text.
  • Texture PNG->BLP conversion is now significantly faster by utilizing all CPU cores.
  • Correct in-game Portrait by cloning Stand anims into "Portrait" anims.
  • Improved keyframe optimization to give smaller model size and fix a very rare bug.
  • Add a UI button to clean up everything inside export-assets folder.
  • Various improvements to web model viewer and "export in progress" loader.

Holy shit dude. I had been manually mounting characters for years, I can’t wait for you to automate it with attack animations etc…

 

[RatzRatzzz]

Wow, can’t wait to see awesome new feature for creating mounted characters It will help a lot in creating units for custom races!
Btw, the innovation will only apply to units that have the full set of mount animations (mount attack, etc.)? For example, gnolls only have the "mount" animation, but without attack, as far as I remember. In this case, the attack animation will be synchronized if the unit is mounted?

 

[Warcraft Sandbox]

Wow, can’t wait to see awesome new feature for creating mounted characters It will help a lot in creating units for custom races!
Btw, the innovation will only apply to units that have the full set of mount animations (mount attack, etc.)? For example, gnolls only have the "mount" animation, but without attack, as far as I remember. In this case, the attack animation will be synchronized if the unit is mounted?

This is the idea I have in mind, needs some experiments: units must have a Mount animation for sitting on a mount. They might have a MountJoust animation - mount attack with a long spear. There are also attack animations when not mounted which is what I also want combining. Basically freezes the lower body part of the character sitting on the mount while playing the normal attack anim for the upper body parts. Ofc results will vary depends on model, you will need to delete all badly generated anims and keep the good ones.

 

[RatzRatzzz]

This is the idea I have in mind, needs some experiments: units must have a Mount animation for sitting on a mount. They might have a MountJoust animation - mount attack with a long spear. There are also attack animations when not mounted which is what I also want combining. Basically freezes the lower body part of the character sitting on the mount while playing the normal attack anim for the upper body parts. Ofc results will vary depends on model, you will need to delete all badly generated anims and keep the good ones.

It seems like really innovative idea for converter! Can’t wait to see this
Good luck to you and thank you!

 

[Aardwolf]

Maybe I'm missing something, but even though I link wowhead classic NPC link, the tool exports for me the newest version of a given unit. How can I export the classic version?

Other then that it is awesome tool!

 

[Warcraft Sandbox]

Maybe I'm missing something, but even though I link wowhead classic NPC link, the tool exports for me the newest version of a given unit. How can I export the classic version?

Other then that it is awesome tool!

For classic models, you will need to run the tool locally and on wow.export select your wow MOP classic installation. The reason is retail WoW installation no longer has those classic models, only classic (MOP) has those.

 

[Footman7]

Which сharacter size corresponds to the one in which the wow model viewer exports models to fbx?

 

[Warcraft Sandbox]

Which сharacter size corresponds to the one in which the wow model viewer exports models to fbx?View attachment 549988

I think you need to choose Default size and enter a scale value smaller than one. You will need to try 0.9 0.8 0.7... (since wow-converter model looks bigger, so we want it to be smaller) until found it. Or if need exact then you have to find a landmark point on both models, take their Z and divide them to get this scale ratio. The ratio will apply to all models if wow model viewer scales all model the same way.

 

[Footman7]

I think you need to choose Default size and enter a scale value smaller than one. You will need to try 0.9 0.8 0.7... (since wow-converter model looks bigger, so we want it to be smaller) until found it. Or if need exact then you have to find a landmark point on both models, take their Z and divide them to get this scale ratio. The ratio will apply to all models if wow model viewer scales all model the same way.

With the default size, it turned out that the model needs to be scaled to 104.22721, and I don't think that wow model viewer scales all models equally.

 

[Warcraft Sandbox]

With the default size, it turned out that the model needs to be scaled to 104.22721, and I don't think that wow model viewer scales all models equally.

104 times bigger? That is very big especially when wow-converter's Default scale is already 56x wow size. Anyway glad you made it works. I am not familiar with how wow model viewer works so can't tell for sure, but Github copilot said their scale the model up by x50 when exporting to FBS. By that math maybe can you try 56/50 =1.12 in wow-converter?

GitHub - wowmodelviewer/wowmodelviewer

Contribute to wowmodelviewer/wowmodelviewer development by creating an account on GitHub.

github.com

 

[Footman7]

104 times bigger? That is very big especially when wow-converter's Default scale is already 56x wow size. By that math maybe can you try 56/50 =1.12 in wow-converter?

104.22721 3d max (100.0 default), 1.0422721 maya (1.0 default), in anyway, forget it, I didn't understand why I got 1.04. Scale 1.12 is suitable. It would be nice to add an export with 50x size.

Anyway glad you made it works.

WoW-Converter is probably the best tool for exporting wow models (compared to wow-export and wow model viewer), but there are nuances
1. There are a lot of bugs with animations.

2. It is very difficult to edit exported models.

 

[Resonance Cascade]

Use Retera's Model Studio

Retera's Model Studio

This is Retera's Model Studio v0.04 Public Beta. It is not finished! But it is something that works and is better than the Matrix Eater application, and is compatible with Patch 1.32. Retera's Model Studio is the second evolution of the Matrix Eater project. It is a standalone MDL and MDX model...

www.hiveworkshop.com

 

[Footman7]

Use Retera's Model Studio

Retera's Model Studio

This is Retera's Model Studio v0.04 Public Beta. It is not finished! But it is something that works and is better than the Matrix Eater application, and is compatible with Patch 1.32. Retera's Model Studio is the second evolution of the Matrix Eater project. It is a standalone MDL and MDX model...

www.hiveworkshop.com

I can't remove unnecessary animations in RMS, in mdlvis it is shift + del.

 

[Power]

I can't remove unnecessary animations in RMS, in mdlvis it is shift + del.

You can use Twilac’s RMS , it has more features and it can delete animations

 

[Zyelli]

Sorry if that was asked earlier before, but is there a way to chosoe to have the classic version of a model over the modern one when exporting?

 

[Warcraft Sandbox]

104.22721 3d max (100.0 default), 1.0422721 maya (1.0 default), in anyway, forget it, I didn't understand why I got 1.04. Scale 1.12 is suitable. It would be nice to add an export with 50x size.

WoW-Converter is probably the best tool for exporting wow models (compared to wow-export and wow model viewer), but there are nuances
1. There are a lot of bugs with animations.
View attachment 550137
2. It is very difficult to edit exported models.
View attachment 550138

Thanks for reporting the bugs. This is an issue only with SD800 models in pre-Reforged WC3 client. I have fixed it in this latest version, model checker should no longer reports any severe warnings. You might as well try edit the new models again with mdlvis and let me know if the software will crash or not.
Full updates in this version:

• Fix Hive's model checker's severe warnings on SD 800 models. It was because pre-Reforged WC3 expects SD models to have animation sequences to be in increasing order of intervals.
• wow.export now has updates and improvements from the official Kruithne's wow.export latest's 0.2.2 release.
• Now models' portrait cameras uses true WoW's portrait camera instead of previously just guesses works. This makes portrait of many models significantly better.
• Added a new tab to browse WoW maps. I intend this tab to later on allows exporting WoW map tiles into WC3 map with all terrains and doodads. E.g like this template map: WoW's Scarlet Enclave - Template
• Some wow-converter's web UI improvements.

Sorry if that was asked earlier before, but is there a way to chosoe to have the classic version of a model over the modern one when exporting?

Yes you need to use the local version, you can choose WoW Classic when selecting installation in wow.export. From there all classic wowhead URLs (mop-classic or below) you send to the website will use the Classic models. Local file export will also be Classic.

 

[Sarsaparilla]

Well done mate! New era of wow ripping is coming

True

 

[Footman7]

Some Texture animations exported don't correctly.

 

[Purplehorror]

Sorry I had a problem. Can someone explain how to solve it?

 

[Warcraft Sandbox]

Update:

• Use orc upright model if wowhead URL says so.
• WMO's filter modes and textures are now fully converted correctly.
• Fix bug with SD 800 models having incorrect texture animations keyframes.

Sorry I had a problem. Can someone explain how to solve it?

@Purplehorror please provide more details, what is the NPC URL you use? Which model version (800 or 1000)? Which WC3 version? Do you use latest wow-converter version? Try https://wow.quangdel.com/ to see if its output work for you?

Some Texture animations exported don't correctly. View attachment 552651

This new update fixes the issue.

 

[Power]

I believe this tool is 100% Complete!

Thank you WeFarm for updating this tool with every feature possible!

 

[Dnister]

I'm so grateful to you. Ever since I first played Warcraft 3, I've dreamed of creating worlds with characters and creatures like those in WoW. I delved into converting WoW models to WC3, and seeing your application getting closer and closer to perfection makes that childhood dream a reality.

Thank you so much!

 

[Footman7]

Materials of some models aren't exported correctly in sd 800.

 

[Warcraft Sandbox]

Materials of some models aren't exported correctly in sd 800.
View attachment 554304

Thanks for this bug finding. It's fixed in today's update:

• Fix a bug with Material's Layer in SD models having unexpected HD flag "Unlit".
• Now automatically add "Death" animation if original model misses it. During "Death" animation, the model is hidden by resizing to 0.
• Better animation naming for visual effect models, many of them now have correct "Birth", "Stand", "Death" animations that was previously named "Cinematic Hold/Decay".

 

[Warcraft Sandbox]

Thanks for this bug finding. It's fixed in today's update:

• Fix a bug with Material's Layer in SD models having unexpected HD flag "Unlit".
• Now automatically add "Death" animation if original model misses it. During "Death" animation, the model is hidden by resizing to 0.
• Better animation naming for visual effect models, many of them now have correct "Birth", "Stand", "Death" animations that was previously named "Cinematic Hold/Decay".

New update to hotfix a critical bug in yesterday's update that makes attached items disappear during animation.
Also fix an rare issue that for some wowhead item URL, the tool exports an unexpected NPC model instead of the wanted item model.

 

[Warcraft Sandbox]

Releasing new version: Release wow-converter - 1.1.8 · pqhuy98/wow-converter. Seems like Hive upload is not working at the moment.

Change logs:

• Add new UI page to browse wow textures. If the texture is a wow icon then the tool can export it to WC3-ready icon BLP files. Example:
  • Deathknight frost icons: Huy's wow-converter with WC3 BTN/PAS/... frame overlays.
  • This allows exporting multiple icons at once, you can select which frame variants (BTN/PAS/ATC...) and border styles (Reforged vs Classics). This works similar to Reforgerator v1.2.0 - Icon Tool. Thank you @Makkad for your open source project GitHub - makkad0/Reforgerator: Batch image processor for War3 icons with GUI & CLI. that I used as code reference for applying WC3 border overlays.
  • Automatically includes the icon's disabled version DISBTN/DISPAS/DISATC... All icon files are saved to the correct WC3 path, e.g. exported-assets\ReplaceableTextures\CommandButtons\BTNdeathwing.blp
  • Optionally the tool can upscale small icons into higher resolution (128px/256px) with a local AI upscaler (Upscayl - AI Image Upscaler) to hopefully fit with Classic 2.0 icons (128px) or Reforged (256px).
  • You can customize output name of each icon file before exporting.
  • Overall this feature makes adding WoW icons into your map incredibly easy, clean, and fast.
• Browse pages (model and texture) can now be shared by copy-paste the URL e.g. Baby fox model, Deathknight icon, search results for "illidan" models...

 

[Resonance Cascade]

Thank you again for this excellent tool. In case you are not aware approximately 10 hours ago wowhead was throwing 403 errors. You may want to throttle the amount of requests from a wowhead source before this tool gets blocked permanently.

 

[Warcraft Sandbox]

Thank you again for this excellent tool. In case you are not aware approximately 10 hours ago wowhead was throwing 403 errors. You may want to throttle the amount of requests from a wowhead source before this tool gets blocked permanently.

Thanks for reporting, I updated the tool to fix this issue. It was not because of too much traffic but because they added a CDN check to block requests that don't have a specific HTTP header (User-agent).

 

[Hasaginosasagi]

Hello there. I have a question. I exported wmo. Wmo models are having a huge amount of textures. Can I somehow skip the stage of pathing for 200+ textures?

 

[Purplehorror]

Update:

• Use orc upright model if wowhead URL says so.
• WMO's filter modes and textures are now fully converted correctly.
• Fix bug with SD 800 models having incorrect texture animations keyframes.

@Purplehorror please provide more details, what is the NPC URL you use? Which model version (800 or 1000)? Which WC3 version? Do you use latest wow-converter version? Try Huy's wow-converter to see if its output work for you?


This new update fixes the issue.

WC3 1.26 model version 800. Yes, I used the latest version. I took the model from the fitting room in wowhead

 

[Power]

Hello there. I have a question. I exported wmo. Wmo models are having a huge amount of textures. Can I somehow skip the stage of pathing for 200+ textures?

Save model to MDL format, and then you can mass replace using NotePad++

Just write the path in Find what : and replace with (leavy it empty) or add war3mapimported or whatever suits you.

 

[Warcraft Sandbox]

Hello there. I have a question. I exported wmo. Wmo models are having a huge amount of textures. Can I somehow skip the stage of pathing for 200+ textures?

If you are importing to map then can just use this method: WoW-Converter: export all WoW models to Warcraft 3

@Purplehorror unfortunately I don't have WC3 1.26 to test it nor plan to add support for it.

 

[Hasaginosasagi]

If you are importing to map then can just use this method: WoW-Converter: export all WoW models to Warcraft 3

@Purplehorror unfortunately I don't have WC3 1.26 to test it nor plan to add support for it.

Save model to MDL format, and then you can mass replace using NotePad++

Just write the path in Find what : and replace with (leavy it empty) or add war3mapimported or whatever suits you.

View attachment 557966

Thank you sirs

 

[nyghtfury]

Hi, today i experience this error message for all models using http://127.0.0.1:3001/, but working if i use Huy's wow-converter

 

[Warcraft Sandbox]

Hi, today i experience this error message for all models using http://127.0.0.1:3001/, but working if i use Huy's wow-converter

View attachment 558697


View attachment 558698

There was a new update in wowhead, I fixed it a few days ago: WoW-Converter: export all WoW models to Warcraft 3 Please download the latest version and see if it works for you

 

[nyghtfury]

Attempted to convert from the WOW dressing room, but always ended up outfit concealed

 

[KnockFace]

It appears to me like this wonderful tool has stopped working for the last couple of days. Does anyone else get this error?
It looks like some maintenance thing idk...

 

[WanSaweR]

Warcraft Sandbox​

you created a really great tool, which allows us to easly convert models. However, there are still some issues like here with the skin.

Still the tool is great.

 

[Warcraft Sandbox]

Warcraft Sandbox​

you created a really great tool, which allows us to easly convert models. However, there are still some issues like here with the skin.

Still the tool is great.

Attempted to convert from the WOW dressing room, but always ended up outfit concealed

View attachment 559057
View attachment 559058

Can you share the dressing room link?

It appears to me like this wonderful tool has stopped working for the last couple of days. Does anyone else get this error?
It looks like some maintenance thing idk...
View attachment 561729

Yeah the website wow.quangdel.com was having issue a few days ago. There was too many files exported that the disk is full. It has been fixed now.

 

[Warcraft Sandbox]

Update:

• Fix the wowhead dressing room texture issues that @WanSaweR and @nyghtfury reported above.
• Now the tool is able to export all animations that were previously missing.
• The tool now automatically recomputes geoset normals. In practice, this fixes some weird shading issues of cloaks.

 

[WanSaweR]

I can confirm, the issue with bare skin textures were fixed, Thank you Warcraft Sandbox for this great tool.

 

[Mendes_Tales88]

I’ve put together a quick video walkthrough:

1. Exporting a Creature Model – Using the local export method.
2. Exporting an NPC – Using a Wowhead link.
3. Exporting a WMO – Also via local export (this method lets you export almost anything, as long as it’s saved as an OBJ).

Note:

• All exported models are MDX1000, which works exclusively with Reforged.
• To use them in standard (SD) mode, you can convert them using Ratera’s tool (HD → SD). However, be aware that some models—especially character models—may break due to weight-related issues.

Unfortunately this video is no longer availabe, at least, not in my country (Brazil).

Also, the option to open Local Files is not available for me in the website, I can only find two options: "Wowhead URL" and "Display ID". Those two optios should be enough for me, but I'd also like to tweak the creatures' appearance, change colors and etc., like it's possible for some creatures inside Wow Exporter. Maybe I'd also like to export characters, therefore, I kind of need the "Local " Option.

Other than that, I can't stress enough how long I waited for someone to come up with a marvel like that! I've been doing this for years needing half a dozen programs and going through way too many steps. It may be doable for a few rips, but terrible for as many as I'd like to. I'm extremely grateful for this solution!

 

[NotACat]

Found an issue related to the exported textures on pre-Reforged World Edit versions. Tested on 1.30 and 1.31, and I think it is the same issue @Purplehorror was experiencing.
As a reference, I used these models on 800 (SD) version:
https://www.wowhead.com/classic/npc=11318/ragefire-trogg https://www.wowhead.com/wotlk/npc=11320/earthborer
The issue manifests as invisible or black texture (depending on the FilterMode of the Material) that begins to appear as you zoom into the model:

Spoiler: Screenshot

Ingame it would look like the medium zoom level.
The issue seems to be missing texture bitmaps. I could fix it by opening the textures on BLP Lab and saving them with bitmaps:

Spoiler: Screenshot

Hope this helps

On a separate issue, version 1.27 of the world editor just refused to load these models for me.

 

[Purplehorror]

Found an issue related to the exported textures on pre-Reforged World Edit versions. Tested on 1.30 and 1.31, and I think it is the same issue @Purplehorror was experiencing.
As a reference, I used these models on 800 (SD) version:
https://www.wowhead.com/classic/npc=11318/ragefire-trogg https://www.wowhead.com/wotlk/npc=11320/earthborer
The issue manifests as invisible or black texture (depending on the FilterMode of the Material) that begins to appear as you zoom into the model:

Spoiler: Screenshot

View attachment 562031

Ingame it would look like the medium zoom level.
The issue seems to be missing texture bitmaps. I could fix it by opening the textures on BLP Lab and saving them with bitmaps:

Spoiler: Screenshot

View attachment 562032

Hope this helps

On a separate issue, version 1.27 of the world editor just refused to load these models for me.

I'm sorry, but can you explain in more detail how you did it?

 

[NotACat]

I'm sorry, but can you explain in more detail how you did it?

1. Get a BLP file editor, I used BLP Lab for this example, but I guess any editor will do.
2. Go to File > Open and open the model's texture (the .blp file)
3. Go to File > Save As, it should open a dialog to save the texture
4. At the bottom of the dialog there should be a "Mipmap count" field with default value "10". This is the important part. Not sure what would be the minimum for the texture to properly render, but "10" has worked for me.
5. Write the output "File name" and click "OK".
6. Use that texture in the World Editor

Spoiler: Screenshot

If you open both the original and the saved texture in the Sanity Test you should be able to see the difference.

Spoiler: Screenshot

 

[Purplehorror]

1. Get a BLP file editor, I used BLP Lab for this example, but I guess any editor will do.
2. Go to File > Open and open the model's texture (the .blp file)
3. Go to File > Save As, it should open a dialog to save the texture
4. At the bottom of the dialog there should be a "Mipmap count" field with default value "10". This is the important part. Not sure what would be the minimum for the texture to properly render, but "10" has worked for me.
5. Write the output "File name" and click "OK".
6. Use that texture in the World Editor

Spoiler: Screenshot

View attachment 562844

If you open both the original and the saved texture in the Sanity Test you should be able to see the difference.

Spoiler: Screenshot

View attachment 562847

Thank you very much, I was able to fix the models.

 

[RatzRatzzz]

Hello there again!

I have one strands issue
When I’m exporting model from wow export tools - in result, after converting, The model loses its shadows (that is, it does not change color when day and night change; like on attached pics). I thought that this problem arose because I was using the previous version of the tool or maybe because I’m changing the texture path in mdlvis, but when using the new one, the issue, unfortunately, remains

Other features working very nice and well, thank you

 

[NotACat]

Hello there again!

I have one strands issue
When I’m exporting model from wow export tools - in result, after converting, The model loses its shadows (that is, it does not change color when day and night change; like on attached pics). I thought that this problem arose because I was using the previous version of the tool or maybe because I’m changing the texture path in mdlvis, but when using the new one, the issue, unfortunately, remains

Other features working very nice and well, thank you

Exported models seem to have their materials with the "Unshaded" attribute, so they are not affected by lighting. You can check it in the Sanity Test tool in the MDL View:

Spoiler: Screenshot

If you downloaded the model in .mdl format, you can fix it by opening it with a text editor, look for the "Materials" section and remove the lines containing "Unshaded".

Spoiler: Screenshot

If you have a .mdx file you can use an MDX Editor to edit the materials directly, or export it to .mdl and use the above method.
If you were successful you should be able to clearly see the difference in the world editor:

Spoiler: Screenshot

Keep in mind that for some models some materials may be "Unshaded" on purpose, such as eyes that are supposed to glow in the dark or so. If you remove the "Unshaded" attribute for those materials, they will just not glow. In the previous screenshot, for example, I think that the eyes of the worm are supposed to be unshaded but I removed it, I think it is not that noticeable. You can fix that too if you spend some time doing trial and error or using a proper model editor to decide what textures should keep the "Unshaded" attribute.

 

[RatzRatzzz]

Exported models seem to have their materials with the "Unshaded" attribute, so they are not affected by lighting. You can check it in the Sanity Test tool in the MDL View:

Spoiler: Screenshot

View attachment 563662

If you downloaded the model in .mdl format, you can fix it by opening it with a text editor, look for the "Materials" section and remove the lines containing "Unshaded".

Spoiler: Screenshot

View attachment 563663

If you have a .mdx file you can use an MDX Editor to edit the materials directly, or export it to .mdl and use the above method.
If you were successful you should be able to clearly see the difference in the world editor:

Spoiler: Screenshot

View attachment 563664

Keep in mind that for some models some materials may be "Unshaded" on purpose, such as eyes that are supposed to glow in the dark or so. If you remove the "Unshaded" attribute for those materials, they will just not glow. In the previous screenshot, for example, I think that the eyes of the worm are supposed to be unshaded but I removed it, I think it is not that noticeable. You can fix that too if you spend some time doing trial and error or using a proper model editor to decide what textures should keep the "Unshaded" attribute.

Oh, that works! Thank you so much, colleague