SFM to XPS (via Noesis) help

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WuHT
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SFM to XPS (via Noesis) help

Post by WuHT »

Summary of where I'm stuck at: Bones seem to connect to things that it shouldn't: http://imgur.com/a/C1zg8

I stumbled upon the Noesis to XPS exporter script (viewtopic.php?f=17&t=1139) in the forum and thought I could use this to try to convert some models from SFM over to XPS.
The software I used was:
XPS (version 11.8 Jul 2016)
Noesis 4.25 (with XPS converter plugin downloaded from the above link)
VTFedit (used to look at textures but not really critical at this step)

I am super uncomfortable with Blender, so the steps I took to where i'm stuck at is:

1) download the Gmod workshop add-ons for the models. In my specific case I went to https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/ ... =157277717
2) Convert the GMA files over to MDL. I noticed a seperate folder for the models and the materials itself and this appears to be consistent with the tutorial videos i've been watching
3) Fired up Noesis and preview the specific .mdl file. In my case I get an untextured-but recognizable model but at least i'm making progress. Now i read somewhere that SFM models don't have facial bones and facial rigging in blender is way beyond what i'm capable of. I figured at this stage I can at least wiggle the key joints like the hips, spine, shoulders, neck.. in xps later since there's a red-skeleton in Noesis.
4) I tried directly exporting the .mdl file from Noesis to a generic_item.mesh.ascii and tried opening that in XPS. This resulted in an error pop-up which left me with no real direction.
5) I next tried to export to PSK format and previewing the same PSK in Noesis again. I get this : http://imgur.com/a/qpxM1 (after batch convert the texture files using VTFedit )
6) I then exported the PSK (not the MDL) file to generic_item.mesh.ascii and tried importing to XPS. This time it worked!
7) The joints were mislabelled (probably japanese conventions) which is fine, as touching up this stuff means at least i'm heading in the right path. However, the bones themselves don't make sense to me. If i rotate some random bone near the hips, a bunch of unrelated parts (right finger, left gauntlet/finger, the cape) seem to rotate with it: Sample image http://imgur.com/a/C1zg8

My question before I go around touching up the textures/renaming bones is: What do I do to ensure the bones connect to the proper parts? My only experience really is texture modding and basic head-swap mesh-mod using XPS basically.
Do i need to upload the my progress in a 7zip file or is my description/screen shots sufficient to describe my scenario?
Thanks
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I appreciate all help provided
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thePWA
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Re: SFM to XPS (via Noesis) help

Post by thePWA »

Have you tried decompiling the .mdl files into .smd with cannonfodder's mdldecompiler and importing that into 3dsmax? I usually do this with Source models to avoid messing up their weights/rigs.
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WuHT
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Re: SFM to XPS (via Noesis) help

Post by WuHT »

thePWA wrote:Have you tried decompiling the .mdl files into .smd with cannonfodder's mdldecompiler and importing that into 3dsmax? I usually do this with Source models to avoid messing up their weights/rigs.

PWA ty for reply
i'm going to need a bit of hand holding because frankly i'm new to all this. I'm getting the impression that there are frequent incompatibilities and bugs when going from SFM mdl to mesh.ascii ??

So i need to
1)get a cannonfodder mdldecompiler
2)obtain a 3dsmax
and then whats the next step ?

---
I'm at the stage where in Noesis I can use data-viewer to move the joints and everything appears connected/rigged correctly in the preview window for the .psk file and the mdl file is ok too. (I cannot preview .mesh.ascii files in noesis)

http://imgur.com/a/QDZ7i as a sample image of me playing around with a shoulder joint

Everything is haywire as well in Blender 2.79 (like in XPS) where moving a joint results in random seemingly unconnected parts move when I rotate joints.
---
I appreciate all help provided
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thePWA
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Re: SFM to XPS (via Noesis) help

Post by thePWA »

Thing is you need mdldecompiler to decompile the .mdl into its .smd lods, 3dsmax isn't really required since .smd can be converted by noesis to another format supported by blender. You'll have to google this one, its been some time since I worked on Source models.
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WuHT
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Re: SFM to XPS (via Noesis) help

Post by WuHT »

I used Noesis to generate a SMD file and fired that up in Blender. The bone joints appear to be functional. I converted it to XPS and get the following:

http://imgur.com/a/tx6NN

My new problem is that there is only 1 texture. If i use the material editor CTRL-T in xps, I can't reapply the different texture files (i've used just solid blue to more easily see the model). I'm not sure if i'm getting closer or farther from the end-goal but I recognize the difficulty in doing so.
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thePWA
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Re: SFM to XPS (via Noesis) help

Post by thePWA »

Converting .mdl into .smd with noesis sometimes messes with the materials. I would suggest decompiling the .mdl.
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WuHT
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Re: SFM to XPS (via Noesis) help

Post by WuHT »

thePWA wrote:Converting .mdl into .smd with noesis sometimes messes with the materials. I would suggest decompiling the .mdl.
Decompiling gives me different SMDs. I used the studiocompiler http://www.chaosincarnate.net/cannonfodder/cftools.htm
After decompiling to smds there's the model itself and a ragoll amongst others. I honestly don't really understand what decompiling does but i imagine breaking down the mdl file into a separate red skeleton and the "model"

http://www.mediafire.com/file/y5wtra71t ... ompiled.7z

If i convert the model (siegfried.smd) in the attached zip folder the mesh.ascii has non-functional skeleton. Would looking at what I have give a better idea of what steps i need to do next?

I've attached another link for another zip folder for my earlier progress with mesh.ascii / .mdl / .psk files (without textures to save space) http://www.mediafire.com/file/otiuximo78cx8hn/Sieg.7z

Is there something wrong with the original smd file ? I played around with it in gmod and it seemed to work ok.
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riccochet
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Re: SFM to XPS (via Noesis) help

Post by riccochet »

If it's sfm models I suggest getting crowbar instead to decompile the models into smd files.
I usually use it to that, then use noesis to export it to psk files, import that to max and export to mesh.ascii, open that in blender to fix anything, and boom. Done.
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Anx
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Re: SFM to XPS (via Noesis) help

Post by Anx »

riccochet wrote:If it's sfm models I suggest getting crowbar instead to decompile the models into smd files.
I usually use it to that, then use noesis to export it to psk files, import that to max and export to mesh.ascii, open that in blender to fix anything, and boom. Done.
I'm aware this is an old thread.

* I also use crowbar to decompile/converting the .mdl models into .smd files.
* Crowbar produces the models and materials in separate folders . Now, I copy all .smd .vmt and .vtf in a new folder.
* Using this new smd2xps v2.0 tool (the smd2xps.exe ! not the import script), I convert everthing at once into generic_item.mesh.ascii. Just hit the "load" button, nothing else changed.
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