I originally wrote this guide for when I was working with DarkKnight to setup SnoxdPT but, our project has long since died and it sits unappreciated in the archives of our forum.
So since he is still active and willing to take part in the PT dev scene I thought I'd give what i could to help spur some creativity.
This is copy and pasted directly from the Snoxd forum at the date it was written. So things may be slightly inaccurate during my rambling but the guide still is 100% accurate in what you need to do
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Well me and PT have many flings with firsts in the history of it(First server changer, first full sound control for all servers) and now first tutorial on how to build weapons in maya because I hate 3dsmax.
This Tutorial can possibly be applied to other games using .ase files for models
Alright lets start off with the important parts
The tools of the trade:
Autodesk Maya 2008(buy it ort*rr*nt it )
A hex editor(
The aseExporter by zbufferstudio(
Step 1:
Once all the files are downloaded and Maya is installed you need to add the aseExporter plugin.
It should look like this
Step 2:
Time to build your model! Once you are finished building you should have either a wireframe or smooth shade render of your model.
Step 3:
We need to set the pivot points so the weapon lines up properly in the hands of the characters.
Select your model and strike the INSERT key on your keyboard. Now select the x/y/z position tool and move the pivot into position.
We run into another problem here. The pivot is facing the wrong direction.
We now must hit INSERT and hide the pivot. Select your model and strike F8 key.
Now right click the Misc Components Button and select Image Planes so it unchecks the box.
Now rotate the pivot point by selecting the pivot point on the model(should turn yellow)
Now select the rotate tool and rotate the axis -90 or 270 degrees (you should be able to keep track of the rotation in your side panel) <-- this may vary direction wise according to what direction you built your model from. Trial and error will be needed to get 100% accurate positioning.
Hit the F8 key again to return to regular model editing
Step 4:
Applying skins time
Have your skin file ready as a bitmap that is the .bmp file extension.
Now select your model and go to the top left drop down box and switch to polygon.
Now go to "Create UV" menu item and drop it down and select "planar mapping" (please note that we are selecting planar mapping because it is the easiest for building simple weapons that do not have massive spherical parts. Otherwise you may split up parts of the model for different UV types)
Step 5:
Time to set the skin as a material.
Click the "Hypershade/Perspectives" button in the left side menu.
This Will bring up a new split screen. Select Lambert1 and then in the top right corner click the first of the 3 menu setting icons.
Now where it says "Color [ ] =[]================== [>]" Select the [>] arrow box at the end of the attribute. Now select "File" and navigate to your skin file.
Now select your model and then right click and hold on the material you just added the skin to.
Now 5 menu items should pop up. Select "Assign initial shadinggroup to selection"
Step 6:
Time to apply the skin with UV mapping. This can get really complex if you are unsure but this method is quite easy once u get the hang of it.
Hit the single perspective button and then go to the Window file menu and go down to UV texture editor. Now click on your model, now hold down right click until the model editing pop ups appear. Select UV.
Now in the model viewer you select the UV points you need to move and using the x/y/z position tool move them around in the UV text. editor or model view until they are aligned with your skin.
You can check the finished product by tapping the render button in the top menu.
So since he is still active and willing to take part in the PT dev scene I thought I'd give what i could to help spur some creativity.
This is copy and pasted directly from the Snoxd forum at the date it was written. So things may be slightly inaccurate during my rambling but the guide still is 100% accurate in what you need to do
------------------------------------
Well me and PT have many flings with firsts in the history of it(First server changer, first full sound control for all servers) and now first tutorial on how to build weapons in maya because I hate 3dsmax.
This Tutorial can possibly be applied to other games using .ase files for models
Alright lets start off with the important parts
The tools of the trade:
Autodesk Maya 2008(buy it or
A hex editor(
You must be registered to see links
)The aseExporter by zbufferstudio(
You must be registered to see links
)Step 1:
Once all the files are downloaded and Maya is installed you need to add the aseExporter plugin.
Installation Instructions:
Extract to /MyDocuments/maya/ folder or wherever you keep your maya projects folder on your harddrive.
The rar archive has the folder paths intact so the scripts will be going to
/maya/scripts/ or /maya/$VERSION/scripts
and the icons will be going to
/maya/$VERSION/prefs/icons/
In order to use the ready made shelf it needs to be in
/maya/$VERSION/prefs/shelves/
(Change the $VERSION to whatever version of maya you are using. You can rename this prior to extracting so you can keep the filepath structure intact (i.e. change to 7.0, 8.5, etc.)
NOTE: If you use the shelf button, it will source the script and call the procedure for you, otherwise:
The script will be sourced upon loading maya, so either reopen maya, or go to your script editor and type:
"Source aseExporter.mel" (without quotes)
To run the script you can either type aseExporterOptions; into the command line or make a shelf button. See the script file for documentation.
It should look like this
Step 2:
Time to build your model! Once you are finished building you should have either a wireframe or smooth shade render of your model.
Step 3:
We need to set the pivot points so the weapon lines up properly in the hands of the characters.
Select your model and strike the INSERT key on your keyboard. Now select the x/y/z position tool and move the pivot into position.
We run into another problem here. The pivot is facing the wrong direction.
We now must hit INSERT and hide the pivot. Select your model and strike F8 key.
Now right click the Misc Components Button and select Image Planes so it unchecks the box.
Now rotate the pivot point by selecting the pivot point on the model(should turn yellow)
Now select the rotate tool and rotate the axis -90 or 270 degrees (you should be able to keep track of the rotation in your side panel) <-- this may vary direction wise according to what direction you built your model from. Trial and error will be needed to get 100% accurate positioning.
Hit the F8 key again to return to regular model editing
Step 4:
Applying skins time
Have your skin file ready as a bitmap that is the .bmp file extension.
Now select your model and go to the top left drop down box and switch to polygon.
Now go to "Create UV" menu item and drop it down and select "planar mapping" (please note that we are selecting planar mapping because it is the easiest for building simple weapons that do not have massive spherical parts. Otherwise you may split up parts of the model for different UV types)
Step 5:
Time to set the skin as a material.
Click the "Hypershade/Perspectives" button in the left side menu.
This Will bring up a new split screen. Select Lambert1 and then in the top right corner click the first of the 3 menu setting icons.
Now where it says "Color [ ] =[]================== [>]" Select the [>] arrow box at the end of the attribute. Now select "File" and navigate to your skin file.
Now select your model and then right click and hold on the material you just added the skin to.
Now 5 menu items should pop up. Select "Assign initial shadinggroup to selection"
Step 6:
Time to apply the skin with UV mapping. This can get really complex if you are unsure but this method is quite easy once u get the hang of it.
Hit the single perspective button and then go to the Window file menu and go down to UV texture editor. Now click on your model, now hold down right click until the model editing pop ups appear. Select UV.
Now in the model viewer you select the UV points you need to move and using the x/y/z position tool move them around in the UV text. editor or model view until they are aligned with your skin.
You can check the finished product by tapping the render button in the top menu.
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