3Dsmax ArmA2 modding toolset

[mikebart 1]

F'ing legend S A, I cant wait to test this out :)

[[aps]gnat 28]

Nnnnniiiiiiccccceeee !

[Neostralie 10]

It would be very usefull.

But, I wonder if BIS would one day explain their workflow.

In somes screens of ArmA 2 we can se that they work with Maya but I've never seen a shot with O² being used...

[armatech 8]

Bring it on man excelent plugin cant wait would be nice ot have arma2 paa compression included.

Edited July 14, 2009 by armatech

[bar10dr 10]

This looks very very good, any estimate on release?

[soul_assassin 1750]

Well im back fro holidays and can resume some work. I plan to get alot done in the coming days + researching the max sdk on what i can do with c++ in terms of file import/export and new tools.

I cant wait to have a go at the material editor thats sitting in my mind. But its going to be later as BI releases more info on the shaders.

[rocket 9]

Just wading in to say that I am looking forward to seeing the output from this, as I do the vast majority of my modeling in 3ds Max 2009.

I believe this could cut down the time it takes me to produce a model by many weeks if not months!

[soul_assassin 1750]

A little video to show how it works :) Ive already started packing more features before release that you dont see in this video.

http://www.sparrowstudio.net/armavdv/toolbox/preview.html

[[aps]gnat 28]

Cool Video, Cool Tool

[mikebart 1]

brilliant work, very nice user interface too, thanks alot for making this

[roberthammer 582]

Great tool , i like it :)

[soul_assassin 1750]

todays fruits of labour:

added ambient occlusion baking tools. Fast and efficient. Select the unwrapped object, tweak easy to understand settings (any color + two presets:black/white and pink/white (pink white ambient files are used in ArmA2 rvmat files as ambient occlusion)), select file to save to and voila with instant viewport preview if you choose.

[Fortran 1]

Fantastic work! Aside from the cfg setup which is a real timesaver I was thrilled to hear you say that you would also be adding the ability to set Memory points, adding them in 02 and trying to get them absolutely spot on for perfect clean animations can be a real pain in the butt, especially with the archaic UI and translation/rotation tools of 02. To be able to snap to vertex or edge using max's toolset when creating memory points will make like infinitely easier. Many thanks for creating this, can't wait for a release!

Just interested, referring to this same topic how your planning for the memory points to import over into O2. Have tried a couple of times to achieve this myself, just to simplify adding the axis memory points for rotation etc inside the model so I can place them precisely in max and don't have to create them in O2. However every time I try to import a single vert into O2 I get the following warning: "no faces in mesh "meshname" cannot import this kind of object". Do you have a working method for importing the single verts (points) into O2 or what kind they should be? If so I would love to know as I could do this in max now while waiting on your great toolkit to be released.

Edited July 24, 2009 by Fortran

[Montesky 10]

Absolutely brilliant work !!! i cant find words for thanking it amazing tool :notworthy:

Alex, have you in mind similar toolset for edit island/maps ???

[soul_assassin 1750]

@ all

Thnx for nice comments :)

@Fortran

Yes adding mem points in max is infinately simpler. The method i will be using is a workaround. I use helper points to set the positions then save a special file with their positions and names. T_D, a O2 scripting genious has already written a nice tool that can then be used to import these position files.

While you wait you can try this method: make ur LOd in max out of verticies as you have before but make sure you mesh it (ie every vertex is connected to a face) export this mesh into O2, there select the faces and remove them, leaving just the vertecies.

@Montesky

Im not aware how island makers use 3ds max :S?

[Fortran 1]

Ah magic thanks mate will give that a go in the meantime. Anyway keep up the great work, really looking forward to this toolkit :)

Edit: works perfectly with just a simple plane, then deleting the faces and any unused verts like you suggest! thanks :)

Edited July 24, 2009 by Fortran

[soul_assassin 1750]

The only thing is that you cant expot names of the vertrcies. Withe the module for my toolset you will be able to name the points fast and axis even automatically.

[USSRsniper 0]

Nice video, now we know how to use the toolset before it's even released :) h The toolset as some neat features, I like how easy it is to name wheels, names them in order which you selected them.

[soul_assassin 1750]

At the first release i am going to make a series of proper vids to explain the workings of the tools.

Edited July 25, 2009 by Soul_Assassin

[soul_assassin 1750]

Finilized the Memory LOD tools:

a Short description:

- create special points which get stored in a seperate layer automaticaly.

- convert two points into an axis: pick 2 points and an object and the objects local pivot gets put between the points making it super easy to check if your axis is on a good location and preview the angles for the model.cfg later.

- the axis points get automatically named: objectname_axis

- easily switch the selectability and visibility of both geometry and mem LOD seperately.

- see all the points in a consise list, doubleclick on the name to easily select

- export the memlod into a new .mlf file which is loaded into O2 via a plugin (designed and implemented by T_D)

voila, your memory points are in O2 at the right positions AND have the right names!

One more small module before release :)

[Fortran 1]

Brilliant! Couldn't ask for anything better for this job really. Any idea on a release date at all ?

[soul_assassin 1750]

soon :)

[soul_assassin 1750]

Some good news :) The toolset is ready for RC1 and will be tested for a few days while I write and film the documentation. The two last tools have been added today and I have to say Im proud of some of the additions. Lets take a look:

On the left you can see the two new modules: "Project Startup" and "Export"

Project Start up has a few options useful in the beginning:

- Project Folders lets you create through a small interface a project folder structure with a choice of what folders you want

- Someone was asking about scale. Now there is an option to set the max settings to meters easily. If you do this before you start modeling and then import in O2 with a scale 1:1 the model will be the right size.

- One of the things im very proud of is the "Blueprint" tool. As you can see its a full featured plug-in (see right side of pic) that lets you create in one go 3 planes in a cross pattern with their length, width and height linked and in proper units. All it takes is click and drag and you have a correct bluprint system in place. If you know the dimensions of the object you are creating and crop the blueprints accordingly then apply the bitmaps to these planes you have your blueprints ready to model in just 1 minute. This tool came to me in a dream :)

The export module contains a few buttons that should be used before exporting and the export button which will save the selected objects to a 3ds.

Thats it, time to clean it up :)

[USSRsniper 0]

This tools is simply amazing, improves the work flow greatly!

While testing this tool, I was able to animate this vehicle without even leaving 3ds Max! :eek:

[kurt211 10]

Looking very good SA. Thanks for your excellent contributions!