Santos' Tools

[Brother Santos]

@compiler

is there any progress on an animation extractor ?

yeah i got some progress with animation extractor but i'm still stuck on skeleton. those bone rotations drive me mad :gonemad: :yech:

Or may be your script can simply allow us to Xref animations from other models ?

yes that's what i'm going to do. of course actual animations won't be visible in OE since they will be xrefed from WHM not SGM file but i hope this is a minor nuisance this at least will allow to recreate some units before i figure out how to extract anims and make proper SGM file.

@t217t217

no i got the path for this texture and it's simply not there where it should be :disagree:

[Maestrorobertus]

the rotations? hm... did you checked the pivots they use, the data can be local or in world space meaning, they always need a reference like the base rotation etc.. I understand, a very diffiucult thing as specialy as max inteprets them different, matter which controler you use for them.

[Brother Santos]

Both position & rotation are stored in parent coordinates and that's the whole problem really because data i read from WHM file can be interpreted in different ways depend on how parent pivot was set on export. Fortunatly bones & cs bones have fixed pivot points which allowed me to extract something resembling a skeleton The real problem will be with meshes used as bones - it's impossible to figure out their pivot orientation

[Kjon]

wow, this is really great!

I praise you brother!

[Falcon]

Got a question

When will a mod come out with the IG heavy weapon teams i love to play to it

[Kjon]

most likely a few hours after we get the mod tools...

[CMRVSUK]

Has Relic expressed any dissaproval / approval of this?

Just interested to know.

[Delta7]

Well, Brother Santos is keeping all us Modders of Relics back atm...and I dont think they come round here no more...

But no doubt a quick, thoughtless, pointless patch will break these wonderfull tools for everyone (oh the pessemism)

Sigh...I had a girlfriend who was just like Relic...took up all my time, never knew what she was up to, constantly pissing me off, always late, moody as hell...but great to look at and so much fun to play with...and when she did it properly...wow...so I had my fun and dumped her for someone better LOL

Keep up the great work Brother Santos, I might just ask you to marry me! LOL

Cheers,

[NARFUX]

http://rapidshare.de/files/6586393/P...rials.rar.html

www.puppetshop.com

Just thought this could help everybody, it's free and works well for rigging models and other stuff.

[stranger]

so I had my fun and dumped her for someone better

no, he didn't just suggested dumping DoW for Age of Empires 3, now get back here!!

[Brother Santos]

Has Relic expressed any dissaproval / approval of this?

No not yet :disagree: and i don't expect they will.

But no doubt a quick, thoughtless, pointless patch will break these wonderfull tools for everyone (oh the pessemism)

Heh they would have to change all file formats and/or encrypt them but it's too late now anyway :Pirate:

Keep up the great work Brother Santos, I might just ask you to marry me!

Ekhm...btw Delta7 i belive you are the creator of Chaplain Lemartes model? Extract it with my script and see what's inside

[Delta7]

LOL, Age of Empires...she an ugly lady...I said "someone better"....LOL

Dont worry that will never happen

NARFUX, tried to grab the tutorial without success rapidshare hates me..., looks good though...I am still learning much about the whole model creation process, so any assistance is a graciously welcomed any chance you can DL it from anywhere else?

Cheers,

Hmmm...just ran the script...got me a Lemartes all present and correct, did you spot something else, think the model I am playing with is an more updated version than the WIP release...but should be all good...

What wonders did you find?

Cheers,

[potemkis]

Does this script not work with the 1.4 patch? I have the scripts loaded, but nothing is showing up when I go to run the script...


(Max 7)
Okay, tried the Ctrl+E trick and something started to happen... however I got a Runtime Error: Out of scripter memory- use options to increase. I went into Preferences>MaxScript and bumped the heap all the way to 1000 and still can't get anything. I was trying to get the Terminator model.

(Max 6)
Got a "Cannot assign to read-only variable: BoneData" message.

Any suggestions?

[Maestrorobertus]

Indeed i was shooked today when i read then news on dowfiles and switch right after that to this forum I got the message: Forum down... Puh, good to see everything back and alive.

[Brother Santos]

XREF-ing from WHM files seems to be working

Just look - scout with xrefed marine sergeant anims:



I'll give you more details tomorrow. I'm going to bed right now :gnight:

@Delta7
Ok i'll tell you - it contains whole cs skeleton but in form of meshes! :jest: How the hell did you do that?

@potemkis
I have no idea about max 7 problem - never encountered something like that before.
In case of max 6 i got one report that it doesn't work but still have to try this myself.

[potemkis]

Thanks Brother Santos, and keep up the good work! I did manage to import a couple of models from one of the OLD OLD Tau Mod installs- early beta I think. (Guess I never deleted that folder). Seemed to work. Got the model, no textures (of course, never extracted them either). Can't remember what I did though...

As far as bone data, would that be the .whe files?

[DarthVaygr]

This is a great tool...already advanced our Thousand Sons Mod artwise quite a bit (well it will soon).

You know, I knew this would happen. If Relic took too long without a word, I knew the community would start taking action. Just like Homeworld 2. Although that was much quicker since I don't remember being promised anything in the first place. There's an .rgd --> .lua converter in it's infancy already, as is this tool. Then there will be more...and more...

[potemkis]

Seems this wonderful tool works on 1.3. I can't get anything from 1.4 to import. Heh, oh darn, gonna have to patch down from 1.4... Oh well, it'll give me a chance to test my own mod stuff out.

[DarthVaygr]

I have WA, but not every model was updated, so I'm pretty much using 1.4. And it works for me. Dunno what could be wrong.

[potemkis]

I keep getting a low virtual memory, scripter memory, or an argument count error: ReadChunkHeader wanted 1, got 0.

Unfortunately, I don't know MaxScript...

[compiler]

I have WA and everything works fine for me.

I am really excited about this possibility to Xref animations !
Indeed, animation is a tedious work. Xrefing animations would let us concentrate on modeling and coding, while making a few custom animations.
This would really be great.

I can't wait till Brother Santos wakes up...

[Tyconius]

Aye indeed, finding animators has always been a difficult job. This will hopefully speed up most mods.

[Maestrorobertus]

one thing that is basic for xref animation is the skeleton setup.
For example you have a dreadnought model and want to use the walk animation of the existing model. You need to have an exact copy of the skeleton to do this later in OE by xrefing the animation. No problem, but for making your costum animation, this skeleton must work the same like a costum made. So, it need to have the KI settings or be a biped.
So, it's vital to have an importer with this features. The same goes for markeres.

[Ragnarokx]

I dont have the time to read the entire thread, but since the first didnt contained the info i seek, i guess its okay to ask here:

I have 3ds max 5.1, will your script be able to work with it, or am i forced to upgrade in order to work with it (if so, which version is necesarry) ?

Im talking about "basic" stuff, like importing self-made models into the engine, and exportingn existing stuff into 3ds max.

[the-tempest]

When I import, nothing happens... I'll open maxscript, select WHM import, open up the Daemonhunters folder (which I'm testing with) go to art, follow it races, pick Daemonhunters... troops, and there are a bunch of WHM files. However, when I select one and open it, nothing happens. The import screen clears, but there is no model. Do I need to do anything else? Like, set the Dawn of War directory below 'import WHM' in the tool? I thought I tried that and the mod directory, but it still didn't work. I am using max 7... do you know what I am doing wrong?

[Brother Santos]

XREF Tool released! - head to first post for download link

Pls bear in mind this is very early version and lacks some functionality. Also i didn't include the readme file but i'll put all instructions here for now.

Installation is similar to my other scripts. I'm pretty sure i've managed to fix not-working-on-max-load bug but i need a confirmation that it really works instantly. Now how to use this:

1) Open Utilities, Select XREF Tool and press 'XREF Tool' button - new dialog window will appear

2) Press the button with the caption "<<< Select Source WHM or WHE File >>>". As it states you should select a file to xref from - it might be WHM or WHE but the script will need BOTH to load a full animation list. This means both of these files must be in the same directory. The second important thing here is the right path for those files. It should include 'art' folder eg. 'C:\Temp\Art\EBPs\Races\Space_Marines\Troops\'. This path will be written into EBP file for each xrefed animation.

3) Press "<<< Select EBP File >>>" button - this is the file you will put xrefed animations in.

4) Now you should have whole animation list from the source files in the left listbox. To xref them select anim name and press 'Add' - Note: 'Remove' button doesn't function yet.

5) To save new anims to EBP press 'Save' button - Note: Animations are not saved in the EBP file just after you add them - this only happens when you press 'Save' button.

That's all I hope it's understandable

Just few more notes:
- xrefed animations won't be visible in OE since we don't have SGM files yet
- EBP file will be overwritten without making any backup copy so make sure you know what you're doing
- it is possible to xref animations with the same name - it's a bug of course and it will be fixed in near future

@the-tempest

The thing you're doing wrong is not reading readme files Eh...open script manually and press Ctrl+E. It should work now.

@Ragnarokx

I have no access to max 5 so i don't know - i guess it won't work but you can try it yourself an tell me. Anyway you won't get far with max 5 - Relic Exporter no longer supports it. My script will work on max 7 and (from what i've heard) on max 8.

@potemkis

Something in your pc configuration might cause this error - i got scripter memory set to only 7,5 mb and never had any problems with this.

[compiler]

1- "I'm pretty sure i've managed to fix not-working-on-max-load bug"
Cool. Will you release a new version for WHM importer and WHE converter to fix this ?

2- "The second important thing here is the right path for those files. It should include 'art' folder"
Does this mean paths are relative ?
I mean : if I Xref from 'C:\Temp\Art\EBPs\Races\Space_Marines\Troops\ ,will it work in game if the model is in "D:\Program files\Dawn of War\my_mod\Art\EBPs\Races\Space_Marines\Troops\ ?

3- "This path will be written into EBP file for each xrefed animation."
Does this mean it will be imbedded in the ebp ? In other words, if I make a new model for my mod and I Xref animations from model X, do I have to include model X in my mod for the Xrefing to work in game ?

4- Can you Xref from a model that's in a different path from the model you're Xrefing things to ?

5- Can the model from which I'm Xrefing be in a folder normally compressed as sga ?
eg I use Data/art/ebps/races/space_marines/force_commander as a basis. I uncompress it from sga, install it in the aforementioned path, then do my Xref thing, then I pack ONLY my new model and distribute it. Will people be able to read this new model without uncompressing their force_commander ?


OK, sorry to be a nuisance, I hope you take it as a contribution to the FAQ...

Thanks you so very much anyway for your efforts.

[Brother Santos]

1) Yes i will as soon as someone confirms that indeed this new script is free of this bug.

2) Yes paths are relative. So putting source files into C:\Temp\Art\EBPs\Races\Space_Marines\Troops\ or D:\Program files\Dawn of War\my_mod\Art\EBPs\Races\Space_Marines\Troops\ will give you always the same result - Art\EBPs\Races\Space_Marines\Troops\
Here's a tip: Extract all files from 'W40kData-Whm-High.sga' with Mod Packager to any directory and use files from there as source - they will have correct paths.

3) Yes path is written into ebp. If you xref let's say from Eldar Guardian you don't have to include its WHM & WHE files as long as you got RequiredMod.1 = W40k in your mod module file.

4) Sure.

5) Yes. SGA archives maintain directory structure and from engine's point of view it's the same as reading a file from real directory.

[compiler]

OK, I can confirm it works flawlessly right from opening Max, without going through the Ctrl+E routine.
A huge bravo for this awesome addition to the modders' arsenal !

[ShinGouki]

Brother Santos these tools are incredible, huge gratitude goes to you from me for helping to speed up my mods.

I run the Harlequins mod which is a long way in terms of code etc.. it's only been held back by the small amount of time my modeller has to work on the project. My basic knowledge of max and my need to work on every other part of the mod was really starting to frustrate me. With this tool I can at least get new placeholder models and animations in really quickly without the need to bug my modellers.

One man mod teams just became viable again thanks to you . The combination of the three tools has also helped me get 6 units done for my Craftworld Eldar mod in just 3 days incredible. Thank you so much for this. You just handed me the missing piece of the puzzle.

[the-tempest]

@Santos: *highfive* thanks, it imports great now.

[potemkis]

I'll poke around with the scripter memory and see if I can bump it up a bit...

could be I just have too much crap on my hard drive(s)

[ShinGouki]

I hope this doesn't sound patronising i don't mean it to be, but Potemkis are you sure it's not importing ok, the models import pretty small and unless you zoom in pretty close it's not always obvious they imported.

If you allready knew this sorry in advance . My friend thought the same thing with a previous importer until i zoomed up close and there it was a tiny little model :-D.

[kais58]

hi i dont have 3dsmax7 but ive got gmax and i put your files in the right place and when i press import whm i get this error message
-- Type error: Call needs function or class, got: undefined
please help

[NARFUX]

hi i dont have 3dsmax7 but ive got gmax and i put your files in the right place and when i press import whm i get this error message
-- Type error: Call needs function or class, got: undefined
please help

I think Gmax does not support complicated MaxScript programs, could somebody check on this as I haven't used Gmax before.

[thudmeizer]

Ohh Poo.. Go grab 3dStudio Max v8.0 ! Its only $3500 CDN! :bandit:

[kais58]

like of course ive got that much money spare

[potemkis]

@ ShinGouki -

Yes, I made sure of that myself. Heh, I saw a little blob in the middle of the viewport, so I hit the zoom extents button and they fill the viewport. The only thing I found that I'm having problems with is the actual models from the DoW/WA installs. I can import models from mods okay though.

[DarthVaygr]

I have encountered an error.

"argument count error: ReadChunkHeader wanted 1, got 0"

Could anyone please help me? This did not happen when I did not have my textures set up. I actually successfully viewed the Chaos Predator. But then I put my .tga textures in the correct folder (in datasrc/...), and try to open the file again, and I get this error. It highlights the problem, but I do not know how to fix it. Any help is appreciated. The TS mod team will be very happy if you can help me fix this small error

[potemkis]

@ DarthVaygr-

I ran into that same thing- I tried the Ctrl+E trick, and it worked. I got an error about BoneData with Max 6...

The only errors I get now are scripter memory, and unknown system exception when I try to do anything but import mod models... I have no idea what that is...

[DarthVaygr]

I am most gracious for your help. It works! As you can tell, I'm not into this kinda stuff, so I can't really help you .




EDIT!!!!: I just realized...2,000th post. Celebrate with my favorite emoticon .

[potemkis]

OOOOH!! A new set of errors! I went and just did a fresh reinstall of DoW and WA, mainly because I'd like to get past the second Order mission (and the rest of the game) without friggin scar errors (no mods and such you know). So, now I'm getting one of these 3 errors:

face.x= ReadShort file +1
face.y= ReadShort file +1
face.z= ReadShort file +1

Any ideas?

Tell you what: if you can get the Land Speeder, Chaos Space Marine, Whirlwind, and perhaps even the Khorne Berzerker models out for me, I'd appreciate it. Then I can get an even better start on my Codex Chaos Forces mod (I'm trying to make certain units restricted by what chaos faction you take...)

World Eaters: Berzerkers, Bloodletters, Bloodthirster
Death Guard: Plague Marines, Plague Bearers, Nurgle (etc)
Emperor's Children: Noise Marines, Slaanesh, Daemonettes
Thousand Sons: Thousand Sons, Tzeentch, Horrors

Example: If you follow WH40K TT, you'd know that Khorne hates Slaanesh, and Nurgle hates Tzeentch. Therefore, if you play as the World Eaters, you can't have Noise Marines and such.

I may even throw in Chaos Marks...

mat.dodge@gmail.com

[Teleros]

Grr - Brother Santos, you couldn't get some mirrors up could you? Damned company firewall is blocking the site :loco: ...

[potemkis]

Ahh, Loknar... using company property? Shame on you! Heh (Kidding)

[p0seidon]

Wh00t!! I can't imagine the speed I will be creating sword brethren and valhallan's when I get max 8 working.

[Brother Santos]

WHMImport 0.11 released!

This is only a bugfix release. Script should now work without need to evaluate after max load. As usual please confim if this is true
The second thing added is automatic zoom after model import - ShinGouki had a point here so i decided to add this feature.

@kais58

Sry kais58 gmax is not supported. This is because there are some differences beetwen max & gmax maxscript and converting script from one to another is not an easy thing. Anyway this would be pointless since Relic Tools don't support gmax either.

@potemkis

Sry to hear you still got problems :sadpanda: Maybe this new version will work better for you. Just in case it won't i'm sending you the models

[compiler]

Confirmed : it works flawlessly right from the start and autozooms in perfectly.
That's truly awesome !

Is there a possibility that you add the name of the objects/bones imported, so that they match those from the original model ?
Have you made some progress in an animation importer and/or SGM maker ?

OK, sorry to sound demanding. The job you' ve already done is really most excellent. Many thanks again.

[Brother Santos]

Is there a possibility that you add the name of the objects/bones imported, so that they match those from the original model ?

Oh sry :umm: It's fixed now. Please download script again.

Have you made some progress in an animation importer and/or SGM maker ?

A little. I've just figured out how vertex weights are stored - so no reskinning model will be needed :3dcool: The bad news is i still didn't manage to get the skeleton

[p0seidon]

good job you openend the gates...

[Maestrorobertus]

well... for me only the animations are interesting... so I guess I have to wait.
Just image we could have them as biped files... oh god, how many ours I could have saved.