Oxygen2... oh gawd not another 3d program..

[stilton 0]

Hi,

i'm a bit of a 3dsmax man myself.... and i'm currently trying to learn zBrush for making my hi-poly models (without much success if im honest, as its a completely different beast..)

i'm doing all this because it's my hobby and it sort-of goes along with my uni course and what career i want to get into... and im applying all this into making models for Doom3...

..But then it dawned on me, i dont even like doom3. so why the hell am i making models for it...

..Because i play Arma so much, i'd love to make models for that instead, i've got Oxygen2 and i've fired it up, loaded up some BI models and even exported them into max... but i can't seem to find any definitive resources/tutorials on where to start and what the process involves in making models for Arma...

...If anyone could point me in the right direction (cus there seem to be a few people who are well on their way here - as you may guess, i haven't made any Ofp models either) it would be appreciated.

thanks

[baddo 0]

I'll throw you some hints as to where to look for some resources.

- http://community.bistudio.com/

 Just follow the links from the frontpage...

- http://www.ofpec.com/

 Look at the Editors Depot - Tutorials - Addon Editing,

 also the forum at that website.

Don't mind if some stuff is for OFP, just read it.

- This forum and its search functionality.

[GIJOE94 0]

Try brssb's tutorials. They don't help me and I never get them right but it might help.

[baddo 0]

Try brssb's tutorials. They don't help me and I never get them right but it might help.

You can find them from http://www.ofpec.com/

[stilton 0]

thanks for the quick replies...

...essentially what i was wondering was,  how much work can be done in 3dsmax, and how much has to be done in Oxygen...

because if i knew i could do 95% of the work in 3dsmax now,  i'd be more enthusiastic about getting started... it's just taken me an age to learn everything i have in 3dsmax,  and as i say... i'm a bit reluctant to start learning a new program

Also, the BI-wiki has some good reference info on it,  but not so much a whole-start-to-finish  definitive tutorial...  (i know i'm asking a bit much)  but i really would have expected with the amount of addons already produced and for such a popular game, that somewhere someone would have wrote down their 'process' for Arma, or Ofp..  

thanks for your time so far guys, much appreciated

[ Edit: Aha.. You mean the Suite of O2 Tutorials - maybe this is what i was after.. thanks, ill check all this out ]

[nephilim 0]

dude...

the best thing for your "career" is to learn as many apps as you can...

not every studio is using 3ds MAX...

much games content is actually done with XSi´s softimage

like MGS, resident evil or other japanese titles.

others like Stalker used MAYA..

it would be your own naivity to think that you could ONLY do with 3ds max...

as for arma

you still can make your models in 3ds max and then port them over.

oxygen is more of an converter for arma models and to set them up correctly

cause it requires very certain attributes you dont have in any other 3d app right away

[stilton 0]

lol, there's always one...

i'm not naive.. i just don't have unlimited time resources, and can't possibly learn 'every' 3d app there is...

considering i self-taught myself 3dsmax, i'm quite proud of what i've accomplished so far... and really don't appreciate being called naive... Nowhere did i say that i assumed all companies use 3dsmax either, that was your own assumption.

i try not to take offence to comments such as yours but your post comes across as very condescending, and doesn't actually give me any useful information.

I know what 3dsmax is, i know what oxygen is.. i was simply asking the more experienced people's opinions.. and saying:

"it requires very certain attributes you dont have in any other 3d app right away"

isn't helpful at all.. but thanks for the effort. i think...

[Yossarian 0]

Good question! I'd like to know the answer to this too. I've got a model all nice and UWVunwrapped in Max -- what do I have to do in O2 to import and then export to game? I've tried a couple tutorials, but none of them are about what I'm trying to do really.

[Messiah 2]

i try not to take offence to comments such as yours but your post comes across as very condescending, and doesn't actually give me any useful information.

stilton meet nephilim, nephilim meet stilton

don't take offense - once you've been here a while longer you'll realise this is how neph is

as for your question, you can do all the actual development work of models textures etc outside of O2, but for a working ingame addon, you will have to use O2 for the LODs, named selections, memory points and so on.

[stilton 0]

thanks a lot Messiah... worth reading

also, it appears on OFPEC the tutorials GIJOE and Baddo were talking about.. Specifically the ones titled:

" Suite of O2 Tutorials "

contains practically anything you could ever want to know, including the helpful Czech naming conventions i haven't completed the tutorials yet, im summarising it in my notepad for easy reference later but it's great someone has taken the time to do this.. i only wish i could find the authors website so i could thank him for the time he's spent...

- To Yossarian - I'm at the same stage myself, and the tutorials mentioned are exactly what you need...

again, thanks for the info Messiah, especially without attitude

[simba 0]

good one messiah

[Messiah 2]

not a problem.

one word of caution, those tutorials were created with OFP in mind, not ArmA, and thus the czech naming conventions have changed... either slightly or completely depending on what type of addon you're making (a pain I know, but TIA (This is Arma))

if you aquire the BIS example models from the following link, its currently a case of looking at a working example and following suit. Copy and paste for the win.

Linky

I personally don't know a great deal about 3DSmax to O2 work, as I find modeling with primatives utterly confusing, and O2 to me is a more obvious way of working (with vertexes etc), but thats the way I am. I know a fair few guys here know their way around the process rather well, and I suspect they'd be able to help with any queries a damn site better.

[edit]@Neph, just so there's no confusion, my remark was meant in a kind way. You just have a certain way about you, that we either get used to, or ignore.

[nephilim 0]

lol messiah  :P

no offense taken XD

just got too much on my shoulders lately so sometimes im talkin crap :P

anyone who´s eager to find tutorials about oxygen will find them...

and stilton isnt the first one to ask for them...

anyway dont always take me for that serious

[stilton 0]

ah i didnt realise the name conventions had changed, as i said... i never modelled for Ofp,  so thanks again..

i've actually got those sample models so i'll have a look-see...

..funny because i'm the opposite, i find the O2 creation process to be more time consuming than it needs to be.. but then i suppose it's easier to use whatever process you're used to...

again,  thanks to those who have helped

@  nephilim - nice little 'use search' dig there  - oh and nice contribution, once again you added nothing worth-reading 'dude'   lol.

[LordHorusNL 0]

Lol did you just call neph a dude? i guess its time to shave those legs

or was that sarcasm, i can never tell

[USSRsniper 0]

i try not to take offence to comments such as yours but your post comes across as very condescending, and doesn't actually give me any useful information.

stilton meet nephilim, nephilim meet stilton

don't take offense - once you've been here a while longer you'll realise this is how neph is  

as for your question, you can do all the actual development work of models textures etc outside of O2, but for a working ingame addon, you will have to use O2 for the LODs, named selections, memory points and so on.

You can make all the named selection in other 3d software before even importing...

here is quote from BIS WIKI.

"

specify desired selections to import

checkbox option allows creation of named selections in O2 based on selection names in MAX

set unit of measure (O2 uses metres)

option to convert TGA textures to PAA, and also import animation

set the destination LODs for all MAX selections "

http://community.bistudio.com/wiki/Oxygen_2_-_Manual

Import Import from *.3DS  section.

[stilton 0]

thanks for more info USSRSniper... that's good reference info...

i've done a wee search and was thinking about starting off a new topic in the O2 forum now i've spotted it, but it seems a bit superfluous just to ask a few questions when i already have this topic...

I tried searching for 'texture: null' because im sure i read about it somewhere else but basically i've got so far as have my model UV Mapped and everything in max, i'm attempting to make the muzzle flash and i'm using Brsseb's flash_side.paa for it... But when i go to 'Load Texture' and choose it.. to apply it to the double-sided plane infront of the barrel,  it doesnt show up and in the top-left of the viewport  (hopefully you know what i mean, usually where it says what viewport you're working in, it references the path to the texture your applying,  but mine simply says:  Texture: null  )

i'm confused,   has anyone run into this before?   i eventually gave up at 5am because well,  i needed sleep..  

thanks

[nephilim 0]

its a beginners prob dont worry

just check your paths to oxygen and bulldozer

usually it caused by some spelling mistake.

did you follow brssebs setup tutorial?

his way using the virtual drive usually just causes more problems.

i had the same prob using his way.

just dumb the content of the 2 zip files (oxygen and bulldozer) into one folder on your HD, eg C:\oxygen\

it doesnt really matter where you put it unless both zip´s contents go into the same folder.

now if you open oxygen file>options

dll path: C:\oxygen

bulldozer C:\oxygen\bulldozer.exe -noland -dx - window

texture prefix : \data

the rest is personal taste.

keep a uniform structure and check for spelling mistakes in your path

[stilton 0]

..actually i have been speaking with brsseb in an attempt to resolve it...

and i came to the conclusion that it had something to do with the virtual drive, but i assumed in this new version of Oxygen you didnt need to do all that, as it has its own installer and sets up its own virtual drive...

good to see you old-timers are good for something

-  Infact it actually says on a few websites that you can start ArmA in 'bulldozer mode'  with the -bulldozer switch...  So i'm a bit curious as to how this affects what your talking about.   I'm assuming your referring to where it says:

External Viewer:  

C:\Games\ArmA\ArmA.exe -window -buldozer -noland

--- I'm guessing you're talking about the old Operation Flashpoint version of Oxygen then? and not this ArmA version... because what you're telling me doesn't really seem to apply here - i don't think at least.

[stilton 0]

I'm not trying to bump this, just reply to this in order to make it clear that i got it fixed... and because i haven't seen this explained anywhere but an obscure thread i found after a search... There -really- should be some sort of

'resource thread' explaining this stuff for us new people...

Apparently, you need some DLL files that aren't included in the latest release of O2... which can be found referenced in this thread:

http://www.flashpoint1985.com/cgi-bin....t=67870

provided by "JBâ„¢" in the 3rd reply.... (but look at the title of the thread, good luck searching for that one. )

...like i say again, although it has been said that this is a 'newbie' problem, i haven't seen this referenced anywhere, and really i dont understand why these files weren't included in the most recent release of O2 that was plastered on all the Ofp editing sites... but maybe i am just an idiot.. it wouldnt be my first stupid mistake and i'm not afraid to admit that...

But for the love of god, if you don't want a repeat performance from every other person who downloads this O2 self-installer package.... then something about this should really be stickied...

..hell, why not even put a link to BrsSeb's tutorials as well, and call it a 'Newbie Editing/Setup Guide' sticky.... and if nobody can be arsed to do it.... I'll do it, if i know someone will sticky it....

thanks once again to those who have contributed to me keeping my sanity.

[Planck 1]

Quote[/b] ]

External Viewer:

C:\Games\ArmA\ArmA.exe -window -buldozer -noland

This is just as relevant in this incarnation of O2 PE as it was in the old O2Light.

The above tells O2 where the External Viewer is located, simple enough I know, but I cannot fathom why you think it isn't relevant to this version of O2.

File......Options .....and the first item in the resulting dialog will be External Viewer.

Planck

[nephilim 0]

there you go

[stilton 0]

Yes.. and  there's no confusion here as to  the 'External Viewer'  part of the options... because you're actually quoting from my own post planck.

So thanks for just assuring me that i do infact have it set up correctly... what i was questioning was the correctness of the rest of the information given,  as it seems to have been tailored around a different version of O2.. with different options.

Anyway i thought i had the texture problem fixed but it infact seems to be a problem with loading  the  flash_side.paa  from   Brsseb's lesson files...  because i've managed to load a .JPG / TGA  file no problem,  and it appears..  and i can map it onto the muzzle-flash plane infront of the gun-barrel... but when i load up a .paa  ....

I know the .paa is compatible with ArmA, because its the custom-squad-image i use in MP games, and it shows up fine... but it wont show up inside the editor, which is a bit strange...

any ideas there?  

[stilton 0]

right... so the sodding thing hasnt been working for hours and hours... beeecause...

wait for it....

in the external viewer... i didnt have quote marks, regardless of the fact the path doesnt have spaces in it.

Oh its so obvious now...

(that's sarcasm - once again, this sort of stuff needs to be stickied, as its on the 7th page of a thread thats sunk to the bottom of the O2 forum. i only found it because TankCommander suggested he had previously seen a thread with people complaining about it... )

[Messiah 2]

technically thats the point of the BIS wiki, to avoid having hundreds of stickied topics on this forum, you have one nice central concise library of info

unfortunately it's rather sparse in the wiki cupboard at the moment