the technique u use to make a quake mdl

[Bluntz]

[goldenboy]

Blender md3 export -> Noesis -> mdl. Usually I'll prefer iqm, though.

To everybody who "just prefers 3dsmax"... how many of you actually paid for it?

Blender is free, max costs $$$$$$$$$. The choice is clear if you ask me.

[ceriux]

its easier to work with max, i like the tools/setup better. i use the same method though max>md3>noesis>mdl

[goldenboy]

3ds max is priced from $3,495.00

That makes it a non-option for me, sorry. And I don't want to pirate software that's worth the equivalent of a car.

[Error]

qME is great if you like pain.

[ceriux]

i think qme's good for ... like adding stuff to a model, or small small edits... it's not very versatile (sorry if i'v used the wrong word.)

[leileilol]

[r00k]

I've started animating a character using QME, just to get my feet wet and see how models are handled with a native tool.
When I want to create a new character from scratch I'll use Blender.... and rig it for iqm.
If I try to create the Eiffel tower outta match sticks, ill give up too early.

[Madfox]

I know that I longed to have QMLE, but I had no internet to download. It was never available with a program.
The only thing I could manage to work with was Quark4.07, which so far the only version with a model studio.
Not to be underestimated!
I have been to work with Blender, but it lasts like in Max3d, long before a model is good and useful to make 3D files from it.
Eventually I bought Animation Master, which is € 399 for a lot of money, but I'm able from a basic simple 3DS file to bones a full sequence animation.
It's not the amount of money for a car, a computer maybe, but at one time a grateful program include Quake models.

Bluntz if you're really interested you should read a good animation tut for Quake1 from Preach.

[toneddu2000]

Just a question: why no coder thought to revamp modelgen to use as input 3ds or obj like single frames? IIRC ID's modelgen took some sort od ancient Alias Wavefront 3d model for every frame/model and generated as output a .mdl file.
So, if modelers persist in using this outrageous (sorry this is the right term for me) model format, maybe this is the solution. I think it woudn't be so hard, for what I remember 3dsmax (version 1.0 - oh my good I'm so old!) could let you export every single frame as .3ds (I said that because I'm pretty sure Serious Sam the First Encounter SDK had theese .3ds series for every model).
Maybe even MilkShape (Ugh!) can do it. What do you think?

[goldenboy]

Well, it is already really easy to make a .mdl. Noesis, QWalk, QME, Milkshape, Quark, Blender exporter, and apparently a few others all do the trick.

For a better format, IQM seems like a good choice. Supported by at least 3 Quake engines, too, and has working Blender exporters plus Noesis can create .iqms as well.

Animation tutorials: There are a load of them on youtube, and I'm pretty sure I linked them from a post on this forum, just use the search function or search youtube for "blender animation tutorial".

[toneddu2000]

According to iqm, maybe you goldenboy can help me. If I export from blender mesh + skeleton + all animations to iqm everything works fine. But If I export the mesh only as .iqe, every single animation as .iqe and I put them together using the iqm converter the model is all scrambled up (imagine a bunch of messy vertices without shape and no animations). I also asked Lee, but he told me that xonotic team uses the converter with no problems.
Did it happens to you too?
Sorry for this little off-topic

[goldenboy]

AFAIK your model must contain at least one bone. It doesn't matter if the bone actually does something, but it's required for an IQM.

I haven't tried the compiler in a while. Make sure your x, y, z scale is not negative, make sure the mesh is parented to the armature, make sure there are no doubled verts (this loves to happen with converted .mdls) etc. You may have to select the armature first when exporting.

I'll try it later today.

Why do you need the IQM compiler? I'm just curious.

[toneddu2000]

[Cobalt]

Got a question on modeling and skins.......

Created a bot.mdl from the old player model, and added some new skins that were exported via qme from another player.mdl file. Nahuel told me how to import them in Quark because qme light wont let you. Today I found another skin that I dont want to import, but is has part of the helmet that would look nice on one of the other skins, so I opened MS paint, and stretched the images like 400% in each direction to get a better detailed view. Copied over the area showing the new helmet, positioned it pretty well, and reduced back to 100% size, but what the image looks like now is a terrible loss of quality. Both are the same pixel dimension, 256 color, not 24 bit. Last week, was experimenting and converted the 256 color skin to a 24 bit, and saved in same folder for later experimentation. If I convert and paste from 24 bit helmet to the 24 bit skin, the loss of quality does not happen. Quark will let you import the 24 bit skin, but will not let you save it. QMe full version or lite , will not let you import it at all.