Hell, I wince at this point. %$@$!@$ z-fighting crap. :D

Figured it out. Mwehahaahahahahahahahah

Is there a free program that takes materials in a model and creates a texture map? winggs3d doesn't seem to (i might just be clueless).

http://i121.photobucket.com/albums/o...kaibokan-1.jpg

The one below is what I did for RSRDC:
http://i121.photobucket.com/albums/o...SH4/ukuru4.jpg

a uv map ? 3d studio does but isn't free.. it's the hardest thing to do according to me...

keltos

The model has materials already. Need to figure out how to make that into a single texture (it has like 40 materials).

The UV's and textures are done way differently on some CFS2 models then what SH4 needs.

They will need to be re-UVed and textures done for them if that is the case.

Also, the .bmp textures found in CFS2 files are a special .bmp
ModelConverterX can view them.
It can convert them if you have the FS ImageTool.
(I can upload it if you need it)
Or get DXTBMP
It's a stand alone program for working with FS and CFS .bmp files.

I can map it myself I think. Need to nail the scale down first.

A kaibokan... Mwhahahah

Funny, a few months ago I revisited these same models, and DLed a ton of 3d viewing and conversion apps to try and do just what you figured out—but I was pretty helpless.

The amount of stuff he has is, simply stunning, and the models are nice.

I've been salivating since I discovered this thread last night. How much of what he has do you think you'll be able to use? Every Japanese ship he has posted from the PT boat to the Auxiliaries to the Sea Truck would be amazing to add. How many models do you intend to import?

Thanks again, Privateer! This is great stuff!

Every since this thread was started I wondered about it.
I got lucky in finding the first program just a few days ago.
That program is the key!
ModelConverterX I have been watching for awhile.
Alone it's not ready for the job.
(Arno is working on it though and it gets better all the time)

I tried for several days before attempting to use the TEMP file created!
That opened the door to where we are today.
:rock:

Now, when the model is exported.
You'll have several LOD models all wrapped into it.
Like
AS_LOD_32,
AS_LOD_64, etc.

You need to keep the highest LOD objects and delete the others.
The highest LOD objects are sometimes not up to SH4 model standards?
But you can adjust if needed.
You also may need to delete some objects SH4 would never see.
That's a judgement call on your part.
Also watch for solid box shapes and such.
Some parts may need to be detached to avoid the weird smoothing effect so often seen.

I'll post more information as I figure it all out.

Oh, and I have a very nice program for scaleing obj files!
I'll upload it and post a link ASAP.
:yep:

Here's the link to the Scaler program
http://www.mediafire.com/?53dj4e51s1zyqg7

It's very fast and accurate.
It only works for obj files and you'll need to figure out the scale factor.
By compareing a stock SH4 ship hull to the new model hull?
You'll find the magic number.

How to get textures to render in ModelConverterX:

Create a texture folder in mdlc and copy all textures for the model into it.
Edit the options and add that folder as a search path.
Textures will now render when you do the import part.
:03:

Also, be sure you delete all old files before you start a new project.
A batch file can do it for you.
I can write one if you need one.

Ive had to totally retexture it, and I cannot do AO maps yet (or make them show, anyway), but I have a kaibokan in game. Quite cool. looks liek crap, though, with the fouled up AO map :)

tater

Crap or not, you gotta tease us with a screenshot :D

And, not sure if this is intended to be kept quiet or not, but can you tell us which of those models you plan to import?

The most import, period, is the coast defense ship.

Early versions from the start, then MANY built late war

You're waaaaaaaaaay ahead of me...... just for the hell of it, I tried to convert "Tonan Maru". First stage went without a hitch, but no luck converting the TEMP. MDL file- 45 minutes later and ModelConverterX is still "importing". Obviously I'm doing something wrong. Oh well, I'll work it out eventually.:hmmm:

Finally got it to work, but with a lot of warnings according to the log:
13:21 MDL9Reader Information Starting reading of file C:\Model Converter\TEMP.MDL
13:22 SCASMReader Information Starting reading of subobject 0
13:22 SCASMReader Warning Unsupported command VPosition in line 0
13:22 SCASMReader Warning Unsupported command VFileMarker in line 12
13:22 SCASMReader Warning Unsupported command ShadowVPosition in line 68
13:22 SCASMReader Warning Unsupported command ShadowVICall in line 82
13:22 SCASMReader Warning Unsupported command VPosition in line 28
13:22 SCASMReader Warning Unsupported command VPosition in line 0
13:22 SCASMReader Warning Unsupported command VFileMarker in line 12
13:22 SCASMReader Warning Unsupported command ShadowVPosition in line 68
13:22 SCASMReader Warning Unsupported command ShadowVICall in line 82
13:22 SCASMReader Warning Unsupported command VPosition in line 28
13:22 SCASMReader Warning Unsupported command VPosition in line 0
13:22 SCASMReader Warning Unsupported command VFileMarker in line 12
13:22 SCASMReader Warning Unsupported command ShadowVPosition in line 68
13:22 SCASMReader Warning Unsupported command ShadowVICall in line 82
13:22 SCASMReader Warning Unsupported command VPosition in line 28
13:22 SCASMReader Information Finished reading of subobject 0
13:22 MDL9Reader Information Finished reading objects
13:22 ObjectReader Information Cleaning object: TEMP
13:22 ObjectReader Information Cleanup: Removed empty model part
13:22 Renderer Warning Failed to load texture: FE_SLOPE.BMP
13:22 Renderer Warning Failed to load texture: KOELN_FLOR.BMP
13:22 Renderer Warning Failed to load texture: MOKUKANPAN_KUSUMI521.BMP
13:22 Renderer Warning Failed to load texture: TEPPAN_IJN.BMP
13:22 Renderer Warning Failed to load texture: 00_ISUZU_TESURI.BMP
13:22 Renderer Warning Failed to load texture: MOKUKANPAN_MEI512.BMP
13:22 Renderer Warning Failed to load texture: MUSENKI.BMP
13:22 M3DSWriter Information Starting writing of file C:\Model Converter\TEMP.3DS
14:02 M3DSWriter Information Finished writing of file C:\Model Converter\TEMP.3DS

Is this correct? Also converted "Tone" with similar result. Plus, TEMP.MDL is 4.383 kB, but TEMP.3ds only 2.232 kB.

Hi, I am the new commer! I am interested how to convert mdl to obj.

But I cannot download the programs from above link.

It seems the files were removed.:damn:

Could you kindly upload those program and batch file again.:sunny:

Many Thanks!!!

Here's a link to the latest Build of ModelConverterX
http://agerrius.homedns.org/ModelConverterX/

This build eliminates the need for the other converter program for the most part.

Try it and if it fails to convert your mdl,
send it to me and I'll test it with the other program.

Yes, I installed.

But it fail to import .mdl shown by the following error! Please zoom to review.

Could you tell me what happened?

http://i466.photobucket.com/albums/r...Eventlog-1.jpg