Как открыть mdl в blender
Как открыть mdl в blender
Blender
You use Crowbar ro decompile the model to its Valve model source format (SMD) and use the Blender Plugin called Blender Source tools to import the SMD files into Blender.
You use Crowbar ro decompile the model to its Valve model source format (SMD) and use the Blender Plugin called Blender Source tools to import the SMD files into Blender.
You use Crowbar ro decompile the model to its Valve model source format (SMD) and use the Blender Plugin called Blender Source tools to import the SMD files into Blender.
VTX is a model file not a Material file, you’re looking in the wrong folder path if you are looking for VTFs.
First, Fuse doesn’t support it..
The way you would get those files into Fuse is by decompiling the model to SMD source format, importing it into a 3D editor like Blender, Maya or 3DSMax. THEN exporting that to an OBJ file. You would also have to ensure that the UV Maps for the model you want to get into FUSE meet the FUSE UV requirements.
If you don’t, it ain’t going into FUSE.
VTX is a model file not a Material file, you’re looking in the wrong folder path if you are looking for VTFs.
First, Fuse doesn’t support it..
The way you would get those files into Fuse is by decompiling the model to SMD source format, importing it into a 3D editor like Blender, Maya or 3DSMax. THEN exporting that to an OBJ file. You would also have to ensure that the UV Maps for the model you want to get into FUSE meet the FUSE UV requirements.
If you don’t, it ain’t going into FUSE.
Как открыть mdl в blender
Warcraft MDL exporter for Blender By Kalle Halvarsson
This plugin tries to approximate the functionality of the Wc3 Art Tools exporter for 3ds Max. The ambition has been to support multiple ways of achieving the same result, so that users can set up their scene in whatever way feels most intuitive. There are, however, some implementation details you might need to know before using this plugin.
This exporter comes with a custom material editor which will attach extra MDL properties to the materials in your file. A material consists of multiple material layers, which will be rendered from top to bottom, and blended together using the specified filter mode. Some filter modes support an additional alpha multiplier, which can be animated. To add a texture animation, create a mapping node in the node graph with the same name as your layer, and animate its properties.
Previously, there was a fallback solution which would attempt to create a material based on your node setup. This has now been deprecated.
A «geoset» in an MDL file refers to a patch of geometry sharing the same material, vertex colors, and visibility (the latter two are stored in data blocks known as «geoset animations»). As such, assigning multiple materials onto the same object will cause it to be split into as many geosets. Geoset animations are generated by animating the render visibility of an object (see below) or by changing or animating its object color, which translates into vertex colors (vertex colors are treated as a global tint for the geoset). You can also add vertex colors to a material by adding an RGB input node anywhere in the node graph and naming it «VertexColor». This is convenient when have many small objects with the same material which should share tint.
A current issue is that auto-created root bones will not be combined even if they share the same geosets/geoset anims, to solve this it’s good practice to always parent all your geosets to a manually created root bone. This will help reduce the amount of geosets and hence improve render performance (in GPU terms, each geoset generates a draw call).
⚠️ IMPORTANT: When exporting animations, the bone transforms at frame 0 will be used as the reference pose and all animations will be converted to be relative to this. For this reason, make sure to add keyframes for all of your animation curves on the first frame of your animation timeline.
To mark sequences, create timeline markers (using the M key while hovering over the timeline) and rename them (using CTRL+M) to the name of your animation. Each sequence requires both a start and an end key with the same name. This approach was chosen over using acitons because it was deemed to be more intuitive and similar to how the process works in Wc3 Art Tools. If no sequence exists, a default one will be added on export.
There is also a button below the sequence list where you can more conveniently create sequences. This operator will generate timeline markers at the specified keyframes, and you are also able to specify the looping and rarity properties.
Adding a «Cycles» modifier to an f-curve will create a global sequence around it. Global sequences always start from frame 0. It is enough that one of the f-curves in a group has a modifier for a global sequence to be created.
At the moment, IK controllers are only supported through resampling the entire animation into keyframes. This produces very dense data, so for these cases there is the option of applying a keyframe reduction algorithm to your animations based on a tolerance value. Three things to note about this feature:
Bones, lights and attachment points all support billboarding. A billboarding settings panel will automatically appear in the «object» properties tab when a relevant object is selected. You can constrain billboarding to a certain axis by checking the «Billboard Lock X/Y/Z» checkboxes respectively.
To create an attachment point, simply create an empty object and give it a name which ends with the word «Ref». For example, «Overhead Ref» will produce an attachment point called «Overhead». «Sprite First», «Sprite Second», etc. specify where flames will appear when a mechanical unit/structure is damaged.
There is a helper operator for creating event objects which you can find by pressing the spacebar and searching for «Add MDL event track». These will give you fields where you can select the exact type and ID name from a list of names. There is also an option to search through the list.
Collision shapes in Warcraft are used primarily to define the selectable area of a unit, or the walkable area of a destructable. You can create theese by adding any geometric shape and naming it «CollisionBox» or «CollisionSphere». The exporter will use the bounds to calculate a radius or min/max points automatically. Note that collision boxes are always saved as axis aligned. There is a helper operator for quickly creating collision shapes named «Add MDL Collison Shape».
Cameras are exported as-is.
Create a light and go to the data tab where you will find a panel called «MDL Light Settings». «Attenuation Start» and «Attenuation End» control the falloff of the light’s intensity. Most properties can be animated, including color.
Как открыть mdl в blender
First of all, you’ll want to make sure you can see web urls for workshop items in the Steam client. To do this, in the Steam client go to Steam > settings > interface and check the box «Display Steam URL address bar when available». This will show a web URL below the Store link, which can be copied.
Choose an addon that you want to use. This can only be a model, texture, sound, or map. Garry’s Mod scripts will not work as they are written in LUA, a language that SFM cannot understand. For this guide I’m going to use Apple’s Steam Award model.
Now, there are two ways to do this next part. You can subscribe to your chosen addon, go into your Garry’s Mod addon folder at steamapps\common\GarrysMod\garrysmod\addons, and find the addon in the list. The addons are typically organized using their workshop IDs, which is the number on the end of the URL on their workshop page.
Go to the addon’s page on the steam workshop, copy the URL just underneath the Store link (should be of the form steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=number; you may have other parameters at the end of that but don’t copy them) and paste it into the bar on Steam Workshop Downloader. The tool will pop up with a green download button next to an image of the addon you want to use. Make sure it has found the right addon.
First, open up a Windows Command Line. It does not need to have administrator priviledges. To open the command line, press Windows Key + R, type cmd in the box, and press enter. If you haven’t used the command line before, don’t be alarmed. This is essentially a text version of the Windows operating system.
Now, in the box type the following commands:
Replace the arguments in quotes with the appropriate file paths (keeping the quotes).
This is where the guide branches off. If you are here only to import the models into Blender, skip this section. The Blender section starts at «Importing Content into Blender».
There is no more extracting that needs to be done, as Source Filmmaker needs the files to be in normal folders. This will just be a copy and paste operation.
You will need to paste the contents of your folders into specific folders in SFM. Navigate to your Source Filmmaker directory (located at steamapps/common/SourceFilmmaker). Open the folder game, then usermod. The usermod folder is where you should put miscellaneous files, when you are not importing an entire game into Source Filmmaker (if you need to do that you should make a new folder in the game directory, put your game files in it, and then add the folder to your gameinfo.txt in usermod. But that’s for another guide.)
In usermod, you should see folders called maps, materials, models, sounds, etc. Note that although there is a scripts folder in usermod, you will not be able to use Garry’s Mod scripts as those are written in LUA, and SFM requires scripts to be written in Python. I’m sure if you have the knowledge you could covert your LUA scripts, but that is beyond the scope of this guide.
You will need to put your addon files into the right folders. For example any addon files you have in the materials folder will need to go into the materials folder in usermod, models will go in the models folder, etc. I would also make a new folder within the usermod folders for organizational puposes, although you don’t have to. An example file structure would be «game/usermod/materials/steamawards/example.vtf». The folder you create can be named anything, but I would avoid using spaces.
Before I begin, I feel it is appropriate to go over Source engine file structures.
All the files from your Garry’s Mod addon should now be in Source Filmmaker. To use them you will just have to create an animation set for a new model in SFM. To more easily find them in the model browser, select usermod from the mod list.
Please be sure to give credit for any addons you use in your SFM projects to the original author!
It is very important that if you choose to do this, you need to ask permission of the original author whether that is Valve or a Steam user, especially if you are using them in a project you expect to be paid for. Following this process could lead you into uncertain legal territory; please avoid infringing on someone else’s copyright or claiming their work as your own. Obviously I’m not responsible for what happens after you follow this guide.
With that out of the way, it is a relatively easy process to get Source content into Blender. You should have already done the process described in the addon extraction section of this guide.
The Valve Developer WIki has a guide on downloading and installing the plugin.
You should now be able to import Garry’s Mod addons into Source Filmmaker and Blender easily. I believe that this process is one of the simplest ones out there.
For more information on the wonderful world of modifying the Source engine, the Valve Developer Wiki is a good resource.
Again, please be sure that you have the addon creator’s permission to use their content in your own project. The best way to reach many of the authors on the Steam Community is to make a comment on their addon page.
Thanks for reading!
Windows/Linux/OSX: These files are available in the bin folder of your Garry’s Mod install.
Source code: https://github.com/garrynewman/gmad
Usage:
Как открыть mdl в blender
This will be a series of guides that will be dedicated to the modelling processes required to take a model from Blender, be it a build from scratch, imported FBX, XNA Lara, MMD, Valve MDL/SMD/DMX, OBJ, DAE, PSK, PSKX or whatever format that is currently imported in to Blender and covert it to a usable prop, misc, character model asset to be used in the Source (TF2) version of SFM.
I’ve decided to go with a Series of guides because there is just too much information to pass on and if I wait for this to be complete before releasing, we’ll be using Blender 3.0.
I will be releasing guides as Works In Progress and updating them as I go. It’s the only way I can get this stuff out to you in somewhat a timely fashion while keeping ahead of the changes that are happening with Blender.
Speaking of Blender, I started this guide as version 2.83 was just released, we’re now at 2.90 with 2.83 in LTS status. I will be using the most current available Alpha for the one or two version ahead of the version available on Steam, just to try and keep ahead of the Blender development. It will also help me make sure add ons are broken in the up-coming versions. To date there haven’t been too many difference between the Steam Stable release and the versions I have been using, however should I notice a big difference between version, I’ll highlight that difference. The version I’m using in this writing is Blender 2.91 (Alpha) and I’ll inform you when I change to something different.
It will not cover how to port models to the SFM2 (Half-life:Alyx) or S2FM (SFM Reborn/DOTA2) versions.
Part 1 will strictly be dedicated to installing Blender add ons and importing these different model types in to Blender. It will also discuss some of the texturing aspects for the imports and will touch on animation file imports for the different types.
Just keep in mind that as far as I’m concerned, once a model is in Blender, it is just a model and not dedicated to any other model type and once in Blender should be convertible for use in a Valve Source Engined program.
If your intent is to use this guide for converting models (Player or NPC) for use in Gmod or other Valve Source Engined games, the principles are almost the same, however I will not be going into the detailed set up of Collision models and player animations ot QC writing to get it to work in regular games. That is beyond the scope of this guide (hence why they are in the SFM Guides section.)
I will not be discussing the how to get Source2 assets into SFM (Source). or will I. Read on to find out!
The intent is not only to provide you with a text type experience, but to also include links to videos on my YouTube channel for content I cover in these guides. In regard to videos, some may not be available when I release a guide, but should follow eventually.
If you are using an Earlier than 2.80 version of Blender use my previous guide or you are going to be totally lost. The user interface of Blender changed so drastically between 2.79 and 2.80 that most of us experienced users had to take a step back and had to relearn Blender all over again.
Recent changes to the Steam Beta Opt-in menu of the Steam Client Properties for Blender now allow us to «Roll Back» to previous stable releases of Blender. We’re not stuck with having to download stand-alone versions if we want to stay with an older version (either permanently or to work with an older project). However, we are still stuck with only one version of Blender can be installed from Steam at a time. See this guide for the process:
As I started to write this guide Blender version 2.83.4 (LTS) was the current version of Blender available on Steam.
However, in order to keep ahead of the Versioning bubble that the Blender Foundation is creating, the version of Blender I will be using in this guide will be Blender 2.91 Alpha.
Fear not, other than a few additional features that are being added to the 2.9 series, the interface we’ll be using here are practically the same as the current version available on Steam. However, if I do discover something major between the current available on Steam and the version I am using, I’ll let you know.
Not only will this keep the guide current, but will also allow me to test the add-ons we’ll be using and provide me with the opportunity to warn the add-on developers of problems if they occur. Should an add-on break, I’ll roll that section of the guide back to the current version of Blender.
If you want to use the Current Alpha version being developed (and that I’m using), it can be obtained here:
Blender is a free, open source program and can be used for any purpose, without any fees.
Installing Blender from Steam is simple. Just go to the Steam Store page and click Free or Install Now link. Blender will be set up in your current Steam folders and the launch button will be placed in your Steam «Software» Library (same place as SFM, not in your «Games» Library)
For example, I have a folder for portable apps (these are programs that can be stored and run from anywhere on my computer. They are not installed using an installer.) Inside that folder I have a Blender folder and inside that folder I have extracted various versions of Blender for backward compatibility of add-ons I use. I can drill into anyone of these folders, double click the Blender.exe file (or set up a shortcut to it) inside it and launch that version particular version of Blender.
The first time you run Blender it will look in your USERS/ /Appdata/Roaming folder to see if you have custom configurations, add-ons, scripts, etc from an earlier version. If it finds a folder for a compatible version, the Splash screen will give you the option to import those settings into the New version. If it doesn’t, you’ll have to setup this stuff manually. On Close, Blender will create a new folder for the version or write new configurations (if you change and save the new configurations) to existing files in the new version folder.
You can run as many sessions of Blender as your computer’s memory will support. These can be multiple sessions of the same version or sessions of different versions (Again to have multiple versions of Blender, you have to download the stand-alone versions of Blender from Blender.org ) All you have to do is Right Click the Icon of the running session then click Bender from the list (if you want to run multiples of the same version) OR run the Blender.exe of the version you want to opened from where you have it installed on your system.
To begin, I’ll be using a Plain Jane install of Blender, the only add-ons that will be turned on are the ones that are enabled on install. We’ll discuss other built in and «special» add-ons as they are required and I turn them on during the process. I’ll try to keep things related to «special» add-ons in a particular section unless they are required throughout the process. (You’ll catch on as you go through the guide.)
Not only can we get these stats back to the bottom where we’re use to them being, but we can now load the stats into the 3D viewer and here is how you do both.
There are hundreds of different model formats ranging from OBJ and STL types (these usually don’t have armatures (bones)) through to MDL, DMX, SMD, XPS, PSK, PSA, FBX, DAE, PMD, PMX, VMD, VTA, etc and built from scratch types created in the editor itself. However it doesn’t stop there. Every game developer compresses their models into cache file formats that are specifically used by the game engine they use to make the game.
In order to get these models into SFM, we have to import them into a 3D Editor (like Blender, Maya, 3DsMax) and convert them to DMX/SMD format so we can use the Valve StudioMDL Compiler to create the Valve Binary Model type used by SFM (and other Source Engine Games).
The problem we have though is getting a model from its native format into the 3D Editor. This is accomplished using Import/Export Add-ons.
As Blender is a Free 3D Editor and is available here on Steam, that is the 3D editor I am going to use in this guide. As explained earlier, the current version on Steam is 2.83.4, however, I will be using 2.9X throughout the guide. The User Interfaces between versions is almost Identical, so if you’re using the Steam variant, you should have no problem using this guide.
These formats are AutoDesk and Maxon proprietary file formats. There are no known import/export add-ons for these file types for Blender. If the model you want to work with is in one of these formats, you have to open them in Maya, 3DSMax or Cinema C4D (or find someone that has these programs) and export them to a format that Blender can Import, like FBX, DAE (for those with armatures) or OBJ (for models without armatures) then import those.
If the model you want is embedded in a game cache file (for example Valve game files inside their VPK game Cache Files) the assets have to be extracted from those cache files before we can use the importers to import them into Blender. For this process we need an extractor like Crowbar. We know that Valve allows modding using their resources as long as it is not for profit and they are used in good taste. We’ll discuss this process in a section.
For other game model types, like those from FallOut, Batman, BioShock, Skyrim, Fortnite, etc, the extraction process is even more involved because of the varying levels the assets are buried within their cache files. We are not going to discuss these processes, they are to far outside the scope of the document. Besides, there are plenty of other places to get model assets that we don’t need to encroach on processes that may breach End User Agreements (EUAs) and may not be legitimate or even legal.
These are the usual Import/Export add-ons that I have installed in my Blender versions.
Use the following links to grab the Add-ons and Programs you need. Make sure to grab the ones that are specially written for the version of Blender you’re using.
These 2 are REQUIRED if you’re going to decompile or port models for the Valve Source Engine:
Optional based on Model types you want to work with
Cat’s Blender plug-in also incorporates Shotariya’s Material Combiner tool which is a separate download available here.
https://vrcat.club/threads/material-combiner-blender-addon-2-1-1-7.2255/
At this point, I have to start assuming that you have some sort of Blender knowledge. Installing add ons is something you’re going to have to figure out on your own. However, for those that need a little help, here are some videos on how to install Blender Source Tools and XPS Tools, Cat’s Blender Plug-in, JohnZero7’s XPS tools and NifTools Blender_NIF_Plugin ZIP downloads.
Befzz’s PSK/PSA add-on has to be installed manually into Blender. Installing from the ZIP file does not work on this add-on.
The first place to look for models is in your imagination. Blender is a powerful 3D modelling tool, however it takes a lot of practice to become proficient in modelling. That said, if you can imagine it, you can build it in Blender.
For those that don’t want to get into the intricacies of modelling and just want models ported to SFM, there are a TON of places on the internet to download models that are pre-made and might be rigged with an armature and textured. All you have to do is search for them.
In the next sections we’ll look at some different model types and go through the Import processes to get them into Blender and some of the unique problems we’ll encounter in those model formats.
Most games today don’t install game assets directly into folders on your computer. They use what is known as a Game Cache File (GCF) and each game developer uses a different method of creating these cache files depending on the game engine used.
Why Game Cache Files? Because they are more or less like a split compressed archive (Rar/ZIP) files, they take the load off servers when games are downloaded, instead of one cache file of 5 gigs (as in the old days), there are multiple files with limited sizes being downloaded and the server gets a chance to breathe between each file it serves. They also provide quicker access to assets used by the game, as most games now only load assets that are required by the user and discards unused assets while playing. This cuts down on memory usage and for those of us that are long in the tooth playing games, we don’t get the stuttering between levels or between different views we use to experience. Gaming is smoother now and faster with smaller and faster read times to retrieve assets from the cache files.
If we want to access these cache file packages, we need special unpacking software.
Unpacking Game Cache Files is not for the light of heart (or those that have a limited amount of disk space to work with.) SFM requires that the assets be available outside Game Cache files. What I mean by this is if I want the files from TF2, Black Mesa and CS:GO for use in SFM, I have to unpack the Materials, Models, Particles and Sound folders from the VPK Game Cache Files and place them into the SFM game folders. These titles will run at 102,000 files for Black Mesa and use up 23.8 GBs of disk space just for the assets, TF2, another 123,000 files using 13.8 GBs and CS:GO another 75,636 files and 12GBs of space. That’s a total of around 75 GBs just for those 3 titles if you want all the assets available in SFM.
Now let’s say we want assets from games like Bioshock, Bioshock Infinite, Paladins, Batman Arkham City, Fortnite, or Skyrim. Well have a look at this. I took a couple of days to set this up and it stressed my external drive up quite badly doing it.
The extraction tools do not optimize exports and depending on how the game developers use assets in their game set up, there can be quite a few duplicated materials, textures and models in the extracted folders. These titled extracted using over 400 gigabytes of disk space and if you’re going to extract these particular titles all at once like I did, that is the amount of disk space that is required for the extraction process. This only includes sound files for a couple of the titles, if you want to extract the sound files then the extraction disk space requirement is even higher.
After extracting the games, I then merged the output into a single folder for each game. This allowed me to get rid of the duplicated and the required space drop to 114 gigs, less than a third required for the extractions, but, I required the necessary disk space on top of the extraction allocation to do the merge (So, over 500 gigs just for these titles).
Once I have the merge folders, I can delete the original extraction folders reducing the real estate used from over 500 gigs back down to only 114 (at least until I extract more titles.)
Valve models have proprietary file formats that are exclusive to the Valve Source Game Engine and a model can be in 2 different formats:
The VTX files contain data for hardware optimized material, skinning and triangle strip/fan information for each LOD of each mesh in the MDL, only the DX90.vtx is required for SFM as it uses the DX9 drivers.
However as you decompile models, you may find models that also have these last 2 extension. There are for older models that were produced before DX9) and will import to Blender if the DX90.VTX is missing,
In order to get these files into Blender they have to be decompiled using decompiling software. When decompiled they become the second format required for importing into Blender.
The SMD files contain the Mesh for the model and if the models have facial flexes a VTA (Vertex Animation) file will also be produced. When Imported into Blender, if the model has flexes and a VTA file, that VTA has to be imported onto the mesh that contains the flexes separately. When compiling a model that has flexes, the flexes have to be defined in the QC in order to make them available in Game.
This is also the only type that is currently available when a model is decompiled. There aren’t any decompilers at this present time that will decompile a model in to the second type of Source File.
NOTE: There is an importer add-on for Blender that is currently being worked on that will import model MDL files directly Blender without having to decompile the model, however, it is still currently in development stage and doesn’t work 100% of the time (so this is the only place in this guide it will be discussed.)
It is an Importer being developed by redXeye and his team and they are also trying to get this to work with Source2 models as well. However, as I said, it is in the early stages of development and does not work 100% of the time. If you want to check it out, that download the latest release from here. https://github.com/REDxEYE/SourceIO/releases After that, you’re on your own getting the model into Blender. Come back once you succeed importing the model or want to use Crowbar to decompile the model.
Valve Source(1) Engine materials and textures are also in a proprietary format. The VMT and VTF files.
VMTs are the material files that are called from a model and tell the textures how they are displayed when in game. These are text files and contain specific variable commands and call the texture images from locations contained in the commands.
VTFs are the actual texture image files. These are used to paint the model based on the UV layouts of your mesh and include all the diffferent types of textures, like the base colour, normal maps, enviromental and phong masks, etc.
So, where are all these models and how do I «decompile» them
If you’re looking for game models from the various games downloaded on Steam, then you’re most likely not going to find them in the game folders they’re supposed to be in. Game files have been compressed and packed into asset cache files so they can be delivered more efficiently and we need unpacker software to pull them out.
Prior to 2013, these used to be the GCF files that came with the game, and as you played the game, the engine would unpack the assets you required when you needed them. In 2013, the cache file system was changed, and now these files are called VPK files.
There are 2 programs you can use to extract (unpack) both GCF and VPK with. These are GCFScape (one of Nem’s Tools) and Crowbar (a modding tool created by Zeq Macaw).
At the time of this writing, the Nem’s Tools website was not available any longer, if you tried to access the website, the site would return a «Forbidden you don’t have permission to access» error, so access to tools such as GCFScape and VTFEdit were thought to be lost forever. However, all the tools that were available on that website were packed into a neat RAR archive and uploaded to Gamebanana by a user known as Moltard. (Thanks Moltard!!) That RAR can be downloaded from this link.
I have downloaded and I have used the downloads from this site (or I wouldn’t be suggesting the link). This is the virus scan report on the 2 files offered by Moltard on that page. Both come back «Safe: No Threats Detected» However, as with anything found on the net, you might want to throw it through the Virus Checker you trust.
The version of GCFScape you want from that RAR is 1.8.6. This version will unpack both GCF and VPK file formats. Either install the GCFScape1.8.6.EXE or extract the portable GCFScape1.8.6.zip version to a folder somewhere on your computer.
Valve models that work in the GoldSrc and Source(1) game engines are in a proprietary binary format and we’ve already covered what files make up a model. To use these in Blender we have to «Decompile» them using a decompiler program.
There are a number of decompiler programs out there. These are programs that will read the Valve MDL, VVD, and VTX files for a model and convert them into the Valve Source Model Data formats (SMD and VTA) required for import into Blender. The Decompiler will also create a QC file making the import process easier (if you choose to use it).
There are currently no decompiler programs out there that will create DMX outputs of Valve Binary models. (That I know of at any rate!)
The Decompiler I will be using is Zeq Macaw’s Crowbar (and the link to get it is above.) The other compilers out there are programs like Cannonfodder’s Model decompiler, Hooches Fixed Model decompiler and Cra0kalo’s Enhanced Model decompiler, but the last time I looked at these they were extremely old, written to work with the old Valve/Steam delivery system prior to 2013 and very hard to find now. They require extra special setup in order to use. (I’m not sure if they will even decompile a HWM model.)
So, Crowbar is up-to-date, works with most of the current Goldsrc and Source(1) model types and is actively being upgraded and improved. (It will also decompile whole folder and subfolders of model files in one go, if that is something you want to do.)
To decompile a model using Crowbar.
It’s a simple as. (Remember you can click the image to blow it up)
That’s all there is to it. Really! It doesn’t matter if the model file being decompiled is a prop, character, vehicle, or are models containing animation data, anything that is compiled for use in Goldsrc or the Source(1) engine is decompiled the same way using Crowbar.
Depending on the options selected Crowbar will produce a QC, a SMD (Valve Source Model Data) for each body group in the model and VTA (Vertex Text Animation) files (if one is available), thes are what we require to bring into Blender.
For the Valve Source(1) game engine, Textures require to be in a Valve Texture Format (VTF, get it?) This is a proprietary format that only works in the engine for us to import or work with these texture in Blender, they have to be converted to an image format that Blender can use. Some of these are PNG, JPeg/JPG, DDS, TGA, BMP, etc. Blender does not work with GIF type files natively. If you want animated textures in Blender, then you have to use image sequences or movie (like MP4 and AVI) type files.
The process for converting these files to usable formats has not changed and require 3rd party software to do it. This software includes VTFEdit or the VTF add-ons used by the GIMP, Photoshop or Paint.net image editor.
There are already a ton of guides and Youtube videos on how to convert VTFs to Blender usable formats already, so I’m not going to go into detail on the process here. But for those that don’t know, the image editors can only convert one file at a time. The add-ons will allow you open as many files as you want in one go (as long as the VTF are in one folder), but when it come to exporting the files in a Blender usable format, they have to be exported one at a time.
VTFEdit however will allow you to convert folders and the reclusive folder under a selected folder of VTFs and will output those converted textures to a folder of your choice. But remember, if you don’t already have VTFEdit, it was a Nem’s Tool and that website is currently gone. But I have told you where you can find it earlier in the guide.
The Source SDK Content Folder
If you plan to modify any of the TF2 Characters either by adding mesh to them or to give them animations, use any of them as Reference Models in your project or are watching any of my videos where I refer to pulling reference models from the Source SDK Contents Folder, if you try looking for that folder, you’re not going to find it.
If you want to modify TF2 characters (other then the HWM heads from TF_Movies), then instead of decompiling the Character model, Valve has provided us with reference models for all the TF classes and these are the models we should be using. The reason being that these models don’t have any funky Delta Animations embedded into them or anything else added to them. They are pristine in nature. So, what I’m saying here is that let’s say you just spent 15 hours on creating an animation for the scout on a decompiled TF_movies HWM model and it looks perfect in Blender. However when you import that animation onto the model in SFM, your model to look like this.
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2012405066
Well, you should have used the Valve Reference model.
So where do you find the elusive SDK_Contents folder?? Well here’s your first VPK Extraction Exercise.
For GCFScape, Select the SourceSDK_Content folder in the right window, Right Click on it. Point the Browser to the folder where you want to extract it to (again, I’m using Desktop for simplicity sake), and press OK.
If you go into the folders that were unpacked and look in the TF folder, you’re going to find this
There will be more on the SourceSDK_Content folder and it’s uses as we go through the guide.
Now that we know how to decompile a model, it’s time to get it into Blender. To import a decompiled Valve Model into Blender we require the Blender Source Tools add-on by Artfunkel.
To texture a Valve model in Blender now requires the use of the Shader editor. However, I am not going to cover this in this guide.
Because I’ve already written a in-depth guide on how to texture Valve models in Blender 2.80. The process for using the Shader editor has not changed in version up to and including 2.91 (So far, anyway.)
You can find that guide here.
One of the sweet things about XPS models is that if the textures are in the correct place, turning on the material or rendered view, the model will texture itself. This is done on import.
This setup is usually just the base diffuse colours.
The process does not set up the normal, specular, AO or other texture maps. These you have to set up manually in the shader editor if you want to see them.
XPS models use a special special XPS shader as well, so plugging in the other textures is pretty simple, Just add an image texture node for the textures you want to add and plug them into the input nodes of the XPS shader.
If you start adding other textures and all of a sudden the textures look really botched up, it’s usually the normal map that is bad and has to be fixed. This model has this problem. All the original Normal maps are a grey colour where they should be bluish in colour.
Correcting the broken texture and plugging it in will get you back on track
NIF is a weird format to work with and one I don’t have much experience with. However that said, I get a lot of questions about them because to the weird way the import. Things like» I’ve imported a Skyrim model but the armature is totally broken», or «Why can’t I get a Skyrim (SE) model into Blender?» Well, lets have a quick look at one and get it into Blender.
Firstly, as I have already mentioned, the importer is game specific, meaning that it will only work on certain models EXTRACTED from their game cache files. (I’m not going to get into the Cache File extraction process, but there is lots of information on it on the net.
At the time of writing and using the most recent version of NIF Tools these are the known games it works with for modding. (This is taken directly from information in the Add on.)
Yes, it says Skyrim, however, this is the pre-Special Edition version. The reason why it doesn’t work with SE models is the Mesh format changed from NiTriShape to BsTriShape type object and NifTools doesn’t know how to handle them (yet. ). There are still extractors for these types of mesh through various tools, however, these tools only produce OBJ type files, meaning they won’t have armatures or be weight painted and all that work would have to be done manually. This is something you’ll have to investigate on your own.
So let’s work with something it does work with. I own the old version of Skyrim, I have extracted the game cache files and the purpose of this section is to import a nif model.
The process isn’t as easy as the last 2, For Skyrim models other than the main characters themselves (and even these have multiple parts), we have to build them, piece by piece from the available meshes located in the (what. ) 1874 folders of the meshes folder. Well, welcome to the world of porting models.
meshes\actors\werewolfbeast\character assets\ folder
Nif models have their own shading and lighting tools which are loaded when we enable the NifTools add on. These tools are located in the Materials Property Panel for each mesh object and they are quite complicated..
These would be the tools we would use if we were modding the model to go back into the original game. However, this is not what the model will look like if we port to SFM. So to get some idea how the textures will look, we break the NIF Material system.
In order to see the materials in their current form, we have to switch to Material or Render View Mode.
NifTools creates a basic Material Shaders for each material it finds. It also tries to find Base Textures and Normal maps. Like XNA models, if we want to view these textures in place and the way the are supposed to be, we have to edit the shaders for each material manually. (Believe me, this is going to get easier the more you do it. You learn what to look for and how they plug into the Shader nodes.)
.dds are usually the Base textures (Plugged into the Base Color Input node)
_sk.dds are usually subsurface detail maps. These are tricky and need to be experimented with, but usually plug into the SubSurface Color input of the Principled Shader.
These _SK.dds files can also be Glow or Emission type textures, so like I said, Textures need to be deciphered as to what they are, what they’re supposed to do and plugged into the required Principled Shader Inputs or passed through some sort of BDF Shader then mixed into the material output with a Mix Shader where needed.
When the nodes are set up properly, you should get a representation that is close to what it is in the actual game. This is how I set up the nodes and the resulting textured model in Blender.
And that’s pretty much all there is to importing and texturing NIF type models in Blender. (Unless you want to be able to do something like this. )
Importing NIF animations is a very very complicated process requiring more programs and conversions. For now, I’m not going to go there because even I haven’t even got the process down yet and my exports are producing really bad results.
Like this.
But remember, we have only IMPORTED the model. Just because we have it in Blender and everything looks good there doesn’t mean that it is just going to export and port into SFM. It needs work (sometimes a lot of work) before we can really start adding animations to it and/or port it into SFM.
PSK(Mesh) and PSA(Animation) models are associated to the UnReal game engine and I’ve already given you the URLs to download the Importer/Exporter add on for Blender earlier.
As you’re starting to learn by now, the process for getting a model into Blender is pretty much the same for most importers which is.
Find an extractor for the game and extract the game asset (Hint: UModel for UNReal ) from the Game Cache Files, find an importer add on that supports the extracted file types (if one exists), install the add on, launch that importer and set options then select the model and import it. Convert the texture images to a format that can be loaded into Blender and use the Shader editor to populate the textures onto the model.
PSK/PSA is no different and is also a format that I don’t usually work with.
Again, UnReal is a very complicated system and model and texture assets are spread all over the place within the cache files, so finding them can be tricky, especially over huge AA rated titles like this. But let’s see if we can get something into Blender.
Sometimes, depending on the models and the way things work out, it is better to just port the model and manually animate it in SFM. But we’ll look at this later.
That said, it isn’t impossible to port these models and get good results.
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=1496867233
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=1496722651
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=1497679866
Heck we can even get the dance animations into SFM, if we want them.
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=1959841658
(Notice the face being offset from the body in that last picture. This is a common problem that will be covered later when we talk about armatures.)
Remember this section is only about getting the model into Blender, it is not about what we have to do to it to port it into SFM.
The model I’m going to use in this import example is this one, MMD Carbon White Kiku Juon DL by MaeveSterling and can be found here at https://www.deviantart.com/maevesterling/art/MMD-Carbon-White-Kiku-Juon-DL-833921135 (if you want to follow along)
I do not have permission from MaeveSterling to post this model to SFM therefore, I am just using it for process demonstration purposes only. I will not be uploading it anywhere.
The reason I chose this model is simply because it has most of the traits I need to demonstrate the porting process.
This is the first time I’ve tried to import it so let’s find out just what problems this model might present. (It will be a complete shock to me if there are none!)
Texturing MMD models in Blender
I still maintain that texturing is only required in Blender to ensure that they are proper to the UV Maps. However, like XNA models, MMD models use their own special shaders and if the importer can find the textures, it will set up the material shaders nodes and texture the model automatically. There is a catch though, Blender has to understand the language the files are name in. If Blender can’t read the Texture named used, that texture will appear Pink on the model, but the shader should be set up. These you’ll have to point the Image Texture nodes to the proper texture manually.
If you plan to use VMD files to add animations to your model for use in SFM, you want to add them before you start editing the model for the port. If you start adding/deleting bones, changing mesh before importing the VMD onto the model, you may break the model’s ability to use them.
As I said, the VMD contains both armature and shapekey vertex animation data and and both work in Blender when imported onto the model, however, I can only get the armature animation at this time. Facial expression posing in SFM still has to be completed manually.
The VMD file is a proprietary Binary file, so trying to open it in a text editor will not reveal any secrets.
We’ll get into importing animations a little later. Just remember that if you want to use VMD animations they have to imported BEFORE you start working on the model. This is an example of a VDM imported and rendered from Blender.
As you can see from that video, even after importing a VMD animation that would be fluid in the MikuMikuDance program, it will still require manual intervention to negate clipping, add hair flow, add jiggle, etc if we want to use it in SFM.
FBX/DAE files are also weird model types. They can be any type of model, meaning the FBX/DAE may be a simple Static Prop containing only 1 or 2 bones, or a Character model of some sort with a simple standard armature or complex armature including IK constraints or they may just be an armature containing animations. You really won’t know until you get the file imported unless you know what it contains for sure. (Like a box of Chocolates! You never know what you’re going to get (unless you read the design card inside the box).)
That said, FBX files are complicated in the fact that there are many different versions of FBX (some proprietary.) Some will import with no problems using the standard FBX Import Add-on that comes with Blender, others may crash Blender completely or cause Blender to error out when trying to import because the version type isn’t compatible. (Another box of Chocolates.)
This is the import section, we’ll discuss Animation FBXs in the Animation Section later.
For DAE models, there is an included DAE import/export add-on with Blender as well, however, I have never really had an luck with this model type other to import a DAE into Blender 2.49b using the Mixamo 1.41 DAE Import add-on and then bring the model forward to a newer version of Blender. When I try using the included in the newer versions of Blender, most of the Armatures don’t match the mesh. (It weird and maybe with this model I can demonstrate what I mean.)
The model I’m going to use in this section is the Jataro Kujo from the PS4 version of JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure: Eyes of Heaven game that was uploaded to Models-Resource by Ziella. I’m using this model because it has both FBX and DAE models included. It can be found here if you want to follow along. (You must have an account to download, the set up and the asset are free) https://www.models-resource.com/playstation_4/jojosbizarreadventureeyesofheaven/model/29815/
Again, I do not have permission to upload this to the workshop from the author or the game developers, so I won’t be uploading it anywhere, this is simply being used for demonstration purposes.
Well SHOCK!! Using this DAE setup, it looks like everything (including the Head bones) imported properly. Because the PNG texture images were in the folder path specified by the model, the importer also created the basic Material Shader nodes and textured the model automatically. The Blender Developers must have done a major overhaul to the DAE importer since I last used it. (Time to start working on some Face-Rig avatars I guess!!)
These are the most common and probably the most difficult model types to port to SFM. The reason being is that neither of them have an armature. This means that if you decide to use one of these formats, all your going to get is the Mesh and you are going to have to rig the model with an armature and weight paint it to deform to that armature yourself. Also a lot of these models are created in some sort of pose, meaning they aren’t in a standard Reference T or A pose and we have to rig them, weight paint them, then deform them back into a standard pose then apply then apply that new pose as the models new rest position. If posing the model ruins the mesh, we have to then remodel the vertices and fix the UV maps.
STL models are usually used in 3D printing and are generally sculpted or exported with extremely high vertex counts. A simple model can contain vertex counts over 1,000,000 Vertexes. This is because the displacement detail is modeled into the model, so the printer can pick up and print the detail (3D printers don’t use bump or normal maps, they need the detail to be actual mesh in order to print it).
Because they are used for 3D printing, they usually aren’t UV unwrapped or textured (most printer only print using 1 to 3 coils of filament depending on how many heads it has and the colour based by the filament itself)
These models need a lot of work and depending on the vertex counts may even have to be completed re-meshed, UV unwrapped, textured, given an armature and weight painted.
Here’s an example, This Ducati 1199 Superbike uploaded here [www.youmagine.com] to youmagine by Valcrow would be a great asset to have in SFM, however the model consist of 42 separate STL files with a total vertex count of 669+K, have no UV Maps, Materials or Textures and isn’t even constructed into an actual model.
Even though I would like to have this in SFM, I wouldn’t touch it, too much work required for too little gain. I can probably find a FBX or a more suitable OBJ for this to work with. However, this is a kewl model and I just might 3Dprint the pieces and assemble it for myself.
Importing STL is the same as all the other model types I’ve gone through
Ok, I’ve used the FUSE word during this segment. FUSE exports models as OBJ files and even though the same principles apply them the same as any other OBJ downloaded from the net, a lot of people want a dedicated section on FUSE, so here we go.
The last Steam release was Version 1.3 and Mixamo decided to make the software Free to Play, they also opened the Mixamo Auto Rigger and all the animations they had to everyone. This auto rigger actually produced working models for both SFM and GMod.
Just before the next Steam release (ver 1.4 which would have added a bunch of new options like Blendshapes/shapekeys) Mixamo was bought out by Adobe and updates to Steam ceased.
Adobe then released FUSE as a free Beta tool to anyone who had an Adobe Creative Cloud account and called it FUSECC. The CC version included the updates that were going to add to the Steam version and was developed a little further until in April 2020 it was announced that FUSECC was being discontinued and remove from the CC list of apps on 20 September 2020.
It is now 27 Sept, 2020, I’ve checked my list of CC apps associated with my Adobe CC account and have found that I still have the FUSECC version available to me and it still works, however, this just may be a temporary thing until the next upgrade of Creative Cloud, so I can’t say that those who subscribed to it on the the CC will still retain it later or if it will be removed permanently at some later point.
I will say, that if you do have a FREE Adobe Creative Cloud account (if you don’t have an Adobe CC account, create one) and have not subscribed to FUSECC, check and see if it is still available. If it is, subscribe to it immediately. If it isn’t, sorry, too bad, you’re too late!
There were also 2 character DLC packs for the Steam version that added more model and texture options to the program available here. These DLC packs may only be available to those who bought or downloaded them before Mixamo was bought out. However, that said the Brute pack may still be available by clicking the DLC link on the FUSE main store page.
The other DLC pack that was available when FUSE first released added even more character options (like the TF2 Spy and Sniper) and more texture options, but when Adobe bought Mixamo, the agreement that Mixamo had with Valve was broken and this DLC was removed. However, those of us that bought it when it was available still have access to it.
Then again, this DLC package may actually be pinned to the Main program and will download if you install it. I don’t know because I already have it installed.
Character creation in FUSE is pretty simple, Launch the program, add body parts, add clothing, configure textures and export OBJs. Done! (well. almost!, uhmmm. errr, well maybe not quite done. grrr. actually, we have a lot more to do to it if we want to use it as a character model in SFM as a posable model. )
I’m not going to give a lesson here on how to create a character in FUSE, that is not the purpose of this guide. So, here is a model I’ve just created.
Remember, this is the Steam Version of the program that has not been updated since Mixamo was bought out by Adobe. There are links here in the program that suggest that you can upload the model directly to the Mixamo Auto Rigger and rig the model there. That use to be true and the old Mixamo Server was like a paid access tool. Those of us that bought FUSE when it was first release had quota status where we could upload a certain number of models a month and add some free animations to them, however if we wanted more advanced animations we either had to credit up to them or buy them. That changed when Mixamo made FUSE a free to use program and they opened everything up to everyone. The server got to the point of being able to export ready to use SFM and GMod models complete with animations. However, when Adobe bought out Mixamo, this server closed, permanently and Adobe opened one of their own. If you try to use any of the external links to anything Mixamo within the Steam version of FUSE, you’ll end up with a 404 HTML error or end up being forwarded into this website.
So doesn’t this make FUSE a somewhat useless program now.
No Way!! We can still export these models as OBJs. They just require a little more work to port (or do they??).
We only have one model type we can export models from FUSE in, and that is OBJ. However there are export options to consider.
This is the difference between enabling packing textures and UV maps.
If you pack textures you’ll most likely want to use the higher resolution settings (2048×2048 or 4096×4096) or you’re going to lose details in your model textures because you’re combining a bunch of textures into one texture sheet.
To import FUSE OBJ models into Blender, it’s the exact same process as I mentions above in the OBJ section. Just remember that OBJ files do not contain an armature, but we’re going to address this in the Armature, Weight Painting, and Animations sections later.
When you import the model (or most OBJ type models) into Blender using the OBJ importer and look at them in Material view mode, they may not look pretty.
In cases like this, the Shader nodes may need to be corrected and we have a few other options we have set up in the Materials properties panel for the render engine we’re using in Blender for them to display properly, especially where there is alpha in the textures. You’ll have to experiment with these settings for the render engine you’re using in Blender. For Example in this picture I’m using packed textures and the Eevee render engine:
If you aren’t using packed materials and textures, then you may have to change the Blend Mode for each material in each mesh object in order for the textures to display properly.
If after changing Blend Modes, the textures remain see through, then the problem may be in the mesh itself, the normals may be reversed. Rather than using the Invert Normal export option and re-exporting the model, it is most times better to do this manually in Blender, but we’ll get into that situation when we start talking about fixing mesh.
You now have a FUSE model in Blender. It won’t have an armature and depending on the export methods used from FUSE, the mesh may need some (or a lot) of work.
This is still new territory and there aren’t many Import/Export add-ons to do the job yet. There are a couple out there in development and looking at some of the new options in Blender Source Tools, it looks like Artfunkle may be started to head down this road with it as well.
However, that said, I’m going to introduce another add-on that people have heard rumours about but are really sure about. This add-on is known as SourceIO and is being developed by REDxEYE and his team. This is currently an Import only add-on right now and the biggest downfalls for it is that it is still i development, there is no documentation on how to use it and I don’t think all Valve model types are supported yet.
Yup it does. This add-on is suppose to import Source 1 Model MDL, BSP and Source2 VMDL_C files without having to decompile them (when it is fully developed).
With Import MDLs there is no control on what or how things are imported, like rotations, scale or how to import information like Object or Material naming (which can be a real problem) because some of these name include path information and end up be clipped (truncated) and become incorrect. Models import as grey clay and Shader nodes are not set up.
The model import does not include LODs or the phys (collision) meshes (if these are important to you.)
There is an option to write QCs but the QC generated is placed in the Blender Text Editor. It is not written to an actual file and is the QC itself is poorly coded. However, the information it does contain is an excellent jump off point for manual editing.
VTF imports are interesting though, no more having to convert VTF to PNGs to get them into Blender. But this tool is kind of broken. The textures are imported to the image editor and there is an option you can set to split the Alpha channel (which contain masks and opacity) off to it’s own image. This is broken in the latest stable release (3.7.11), but has been fixed in the master for the next release (3.8.0).
In fact, at the time of this writing, Source 2 DOTA2 support is currently broken. This is because of an recent update to DOTA2 and REDxEYE is investigating. Trying to import a DOTA2 model will only give you an Armature without mesh.
As I say this add-on is in development and experimental phase, so you can expect glitches and breaks as it is being developed. This is why I left it for last, I didn’t want to get your hopes up because all features this add-on promises, just don’t work properly (yet). However, I am going to say that REDxEYE and his team are doing a fantastic job with this tool and the potential is huge!
The Source2 Alyx is comprised of 12 Mesh objects (separated by materials), totaling 63,384 verts. She has 268 bones (12 more than we can compile a DMX Type Export with.)
The import has a WHOPPING 2,652 Shape Keys. Not really though, this is because the importer is applying all the shape keys into every mesh object if the object uses them or not. The actual count is really 26 actual shapes with 195 corrective shapes for a total of 221 unique shapes all together. However, because the model is split up by materials, we still have to look at all the 221 shapes in each of the objects just to make sure they don’t really move vertexes and delete the shapekeys that don’t, but we’ll get into this in the Shapekey section.
Where to Get the Add-on and How to Install it in Blender
If you search Google for «Blender SourceIO» you’ll find links the REDxEYE’s GITHub.
Click the link into his GitHub and then click Releases on the right side of the page. This will take you to his latest release (New MDL Importer ver 3.7.11 at the time of this writing). Download the latest release and run it through a virus scan (as you should do with anything downloaded from the net.
To get the master, click the Code button on the main page.
Getting Source2 Models into Blender
Like any other Valve game, HL:Alyx and Dota2 both use the VPK format for the Game Cache files and it looks like we can still use either GCFScape or Crowbar to extract/unpack the assets from them.
The problem we have with Source2 models is that they don’t follow the same «File Hierarchy» their Source1 counterparts did. We still have Materials, Models, Particles, Sound and Textures folders however, the models, materials and texture files can be scattered through the structure. A lot of models reuse objects, materials and textures from different models as well, so it is best to unpack all assets into their proper file hierarchy so they can be found easier.
Source2 models have different naming conventions than their Source1 counterparts and formating is different as well. The primary file types we need to import the models are:
VMDL_C: These are the model files you need to import (.mdl is the Source1 equivalent)
VMAT_C: These are the associated material files (.vmt is the Source1 equivalent)
VTEX_C: and These are the texture files. (.vtf is the Source1 equivalent)
VMDL_C files will import as grey clay, the shaders are not set up automatically. Because these models are coming from a the Valve binary format, the add-on has to first dissect the binary data and rebuild it in Blender, so depending on the size of the model, it can take a bit before the model appears. The model will spawn in Blender using the rotations used in game and use the game scale, there are no options in the importer to make adjustments at this time.
Animation files. It appears that Animations are built and orchestrated using the tools found in the Source2 Workshop Tools for the associated games. Where this animation data is written, I have no idea and the importer doesn’t have an import option for it anyway.
In fact on examining the Combine Grunt model, I found it had what looked like animation model files, however when I imported these files none of them had any animation data in them at all, no Actions, no Amimation Graph data, no NLA stacks. Then again, these may not have been animation type models in the first place. Source2 is new to me and I’m still trying to understand its structure.
So at this point, I’m going to say, «Animations for Source2 Models are Not Importable (at this time.)»
Where Do We Find the Asset Data
In the Game Cache VPK Files
What I have done is used GCFScape or Crowbar and extracted the Materials and Models folders from the game cache VPK files into an extraction folder and place them in an extraction folder somewhere on my computer for each game. These 2 folders from each game should contain everything you’re going to need for importing assets. The file I extracted folders for HL:Alyx from was the pak01_dir.vpk file from the steamapps\common\Half-Life Alyx\game\hlvr folder and the file I extracted the folders for Dota2 from was the pak01_dir.vpk file from the steamapps\common\dota 2 beta\game\dota folder.
That said, Extracting assets will chew up a lot of disk space.The extraction for Alyx cost me 41Gbs and Dota2 chewed up another 10.4Gbs.
Source2 Models can use materials from multiple other models. As an example the Alyx model here uses materials and textures not only from the Alyx character, but also from the GMan, Eli, Hahn, Olga and Lazlo characters as well.
I’ve already mentioned that these folders are not designed with the same hierarchy the Source1 engine uses. Models, materials and textures are mixed between these asset folders. For example, if I drill into the Models\characters\alyx folder I extracted, I’m going to find that not only is the VMDL_c file is there, but there is also a folder called Alyx and a folder called Materials. In the Alyx\alyx folder you’ll find a file called alyx_vmorf.vtex_c (this «maybe» the facical flexes (I doubt it), or because it is a vtex_c (as in textures) type file, «may be» the winkle texture map for the character. I’m not sure but I’m pretty sure it’s the latter.)
In the Alyx\materials folder you’re going to 3 VMAT_c and 9 VTEX_c files which are material and texture file types needed for the model (but not all the materials and textures required to textures her, the others are buried elsewhere.
As I said, keep all the files in their proper Folder hierarchy when you extract/unpack them, it will make your life a heck of a lot easier when working with Source2 models.
What I have done is used GCFScape or Crowbar and extracted the Materials and Models folders from the game cache VPK files into an extraction folder somewhere on my computer for each game. These 2 folders from each game should contain everything you’re going to need for importing assets. The file I extracted for HL:Alyx was the pak01_dir.vpk file from the steamapps\common\Half-Life Alyx\game\hlvr folder and the files I extracted for Dota2 was the pak01_dir.vpk file from the steamapps\common\dota 2 beta\game\dota folder.
That said, Extracting assets will chew up a lot of disk space.The extraction for Alyx cost me 41Gbs and Dota2 chewed up another 10.4Gbs.
Source2 Models can use materials from multiple other models. As an example the Alyx model here uses materials and textures from Alyx, GMan, Eli, Hahn, Olga and a special shared folder.
Now I’ve already mentioned that these folders are not designed with the same hierarchy the Source1 engine uses. Models, materials and textures are mixed between these 2 folders. For example, if I drill into the Models\characters\alyx folder I extracted, I’m going to find that not only is the VMDL_c file is there, but there is also a folder Alyx and a folder called Materials. In the Alyx\alyx folder you’ll find a file called alyx_vmorf.vtex_c (this «maybe» the facical flexes (I doubt it), or because it is a vtex_c (as in textures) type file, «may be» the winkle texture map for the character. I’m not sure but I’m pretty sure it’s the latter.)
In the Alyx\materials folder you’re going to 3 VMAT_c and 9 VTEX_c files which are material and texture file types needed for the model.
As I said, keep all the files in their proper Folder hierarchy when you extract/unpack them, it will make your life a heck of a lot easier working with Source2 models.
Importing Source2 Models
So what happens if the import of a VMAT_C can’t find the textures its looking for (because the VTEX_C doesn’t exist or you haven’t placed things in to the proper folder hierarchy?
In this example, I’m importing the alyx_head_02 materials and I’ve moved the VTEX_C associated with the materials up one level to the models\alyx folder and attempted the import. The process took a lot longer than it normally does however, the add-on created the shader nodes, found the moved VTEX_C files and painted the model. It also created the TGA files and put them into the folder where VTEX_C files were found.
My assumption from this test is that when the add-on can not find the files it needs where it expects to find them, it goes looking for them on the entire drive it found the VMAT_C file on. For example I’ve placed VTEX_C files in my C: root. The add-on found them, but could not use them because Blender does not have permissions to write files to that folder. (This could be a dangerous practice for an add-on and I think I may send REDxEye a note on this.) I can confirm that it does not try to search drives outside the drive it found the VMAT_C on.
Got a note back from REDxEYE and he confirmed that the Add-on does do a backward search through all possible paths looking for VTEX_C files and Python being powerful language that Windows pretty much allows to look everywhere allows them to be found. This is why the add-on found the VTEX_C in my C:\ root and C:\users folders when i conducted my tests. Texturing failed because Windows would not allow python to write to those (system type) folders (Yay Windows!).
However, if the VTEX_C is nowhere to be found the add-on will still set up the shader node with a principled BDSF and a disconnected Material Output node causing the mesh associated with the material to turn black. You will have to fix these manually. (I was hoping that it would set up a connected shader with an unassigned image texture node connected to the Base Color input forcing the mesh to turn pink.)