Modeling Issues

[Crazy34 67]

Hi Everyone,

this is my first post. I am currently working on modeling and I have some questions.

First, I was recompiling the Jedi robes in order to change their UV layout a little in blender. It worked but after recompiling it with MDLedit 1.0.3 there was a strange effect on the model. See the picture attached at the robe there is a bright spot, which changes with the environmental lighting. Does anyone encountered this before?

As a second question. I have a model of a head I would like to use as a player's head. Can the texture of that model be split into separate files and only the texture of the eyes have the usual name scheme for the dark side transition?

Thanks for your reply.

[DarthParametric 3,777]

22 minutes ago, Crazy34 said:

there is a bright spot

Looks like the cross-mesh shading issue. Grab one of the newer beta releases in the MDLEdit thread in the tools sub-forum. The latest should be something like 1.0.9b3, but it has problems with danglymeshes/AuroraFlex, so you have to revert back to an older beta for those (something like 1.0.6b). Make sure that both robe meshes have the same smoothing group ID to ensure consistent normals across the seam.

25 minutes ago, Crazy34 said:

Can the texture of that model be split into separate files and only the texture of the eyes have the usual name scheme for the dark side transition?

No. Head textures specified in portraits.2da will be applied to the entire model, overriding any direct mesh assignments.

 

[Crazy34 67]

Thanks for the fast reply Darth Parametric.
It seems that the model I started with (Achilles Modifications) already had a problem with cross-mesh shading. So the bright spot is just extra on top of that. Is there any fix for the smoothing group in the use of the model.
To the head model. Ok then I just need to create on texture file for the model itself. Thank for clear that up.

[DarthParametric 3,777]

9 minutes ago, Crazy34 said:

Is there any fix for the smoothing group in the use of the model

I don't know how Blender does it, so I can't really help on that front.

[Ashton Scorpius 111]

In Blender, smoothing groups work by marking edges as 'sharp', and due to this I don't believe KotorBlender's capable of properly importing and exporting smoothing group data. In my experience it just negates them entirely.

If you have edges marked cyan (indicates sharp) in that area, I'd try unmarking them. If that doesn't solve the issue, I can take a look at your ascii model in 3ds Max.

[Crazy34 67]

Thanks for the reply, it did not really helped. Thx for looking at it. As I said its just a personal mod starting from Achilles modifications. I did not ask him for permission so I am not sure if its ok to post work related on his?

[DarthParametric 3,777]

Depends on the nature of the mod and what permissions he prescribed. From the screenshot it just looks like the vanilla model. What's the actual mod?

[Crazy34 67]

I started from the his model fixes and changed the size of the model to be compared with the smallest size in Kotor1, since I like height differences for characters. Also, I liked how JC changed the hands on his K1 version of this robe and did the same here.

[Ashton Scorpius 111]

9 minutes ago, DarthParametric said:

What's the actual mod?

I presume this

[Crazy34 67]

Yep, I started from there thinking that in the description it says that one can modify it for private use and not publishing it. So posting the ASCII is the kind of publishing it isn't it?

[DarthParametric 3,777]

It explicitly says no public distribution, so yeah that's out. I would suggest you get GMax from Turbosquid (free) and use that to fix the smoothing groups. Without a finished I/O script, Blender isn't up to the task of dealing with KOTOR models.

[Crazy34 67]

Thanks then I will take some time to learn GMax I guess. Thanks for the conversation.

[Stormie97 253]

Kimd of unethical but just so you know, you can get a temporarily (couple of years I think) 3DS Max license if you create a student account. They don’t ask any proof that you are a student as far as I know.

That’s how I got my mine (I AM a student, just.. ehm.. not in 3D design or anything remotely related to that).

[Malkior 476]

6 hours ago, Stormie97 said:

Kimd of unethical but just so you know, you can get a temporarily (couple of years I think) 3DS Max license if you create a student account. They don’t ask any proof that you are a student as far as I know.

That’s how I got my mine (I AM a student, just.. ehm.. not in 3D design or anything remotely related to that).

Technically, it's not quite as unethical if you're using the license to learn the product and not trying to make money off of the things you make with it.

I too used it as a student (in an actual 3d modeling class) and I felt that my license was wasted once I finished the class and had to focus on other courses.

I believe the makers of 3DS max just want people to use the Student trial to get used to their product so that they purchase it in the future once the trial expires.

[DarthParametric 3,777]

8 hours ago, Stormie97 said:

They don’t ask any proof

Creating an academic account requires an EDU email address.

[Crazy34 67]

I am still a student so that should not be a problem. But I am ok with blender now for modeling, did some models from scratch, and if I have to change to Gmax for the smoothing groups to polish the model I guess that's ok.

Are there any advantages of 3DS max specially for Kotor modeling compared to Gmax?

[DarthParametric 3,777]

GMax is a cut down version of Max 4 (circa 2000), and thus lacks a lot of features from even decade-old Max versions. If you can create an academic account then there's no reason not to take advantage of it and grab Max. Smoothing isn't the only issue the Blender script has, so if you plan on any future model work you really have little choice about using Max/GMax, and if you have the option of the former it's a no-brainer.