SFM to XPS (via Noesis) help
Posted: Wed Mar 29, 2017 6:40 pm
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
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