Complete Modeling Tutorial for TF2

[ReznorsRage]

Originally Posted by KRosen

1.) normal servers will force you to read from the gcf, you have to go into a server that does not enforce purity. aka, sv_pure 0, or sv_pure 1 with a decent whitelist/blacklist.

I've run into a problem now that I am trying to replay my set. I'm able to get my misc. item to show up in place of the Lamp wonderfully but every server that I try wont replace the Scottish Handshake. Even though I can get it to work in ItemTest, in SDK and in game.

Any thoughts??

**Update: When looking at Replay's the Weapon does indeed show up but the adverse effect seems to be true with the Lamp mod. That and when going third person the demo model is gone altogether...

[ReznorsRage]

Thanks for the help KRosen. Items are up and running on the Workshop!

St. Patty's Pack - Ripped from the hands of a Leprechaun
The Walloping Shillelagh


and the Cauldron n Coins


ST. PATTY'S is just around the corner and I need your votes! I've created a new melee, Walloping Shillelagh and misc. item, Cauldron n Coins with a slight on how the Demo came to acquire such items. Take a look at my collection below and spread the joy with your friend's.

http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfile.../?id=129787975

And heres a few bonus shots:

[pyronaut]

Originally Posted by ReznorsRage

Thanks for the help KRosen. Items are up and running on the Workshop!

St. Patty's Pack - Ripped from the hands of a Leprechaun
The Walloping Shillelagh


and the Cauldron n Coins


ST. PATTY'S is just around the corner and I need your votes! I've created a new melee, Walloping Shillelagh and misc. item, Cauldron n Coins with a slight on how the Demo came to acquire such items. Take a look at my collection below and spread the joy with your friend's.

http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfile.../?id=129787975

And heres a few bonus shots:

Those look really nice!

[infinitewrath]

Sorry if this question has already been asked but how do you get a weapon model to be aligned properly with the character?

I have a medigun that I made, have all the necessary bones, textures, ect. but when I compile it and import it into the game(replacing the default medigun) the medic ends up holding it side ways, it's like it needs to be rotated.

I've tried modifying the mesh and bones in blender in both edit mode and object mode, which I believe was a previously mentioned solution some where in this thread, but neither worked.

Also currently when I load the model up the hose is just flat and sticking out it doesn't loop into the backpack, was hoping someone could help me fix that too, might be due to my using the main weapon model for the idle loop.

This is my QC code as of right now, have a feeling I might need to add something to it but I'm not sure.

$cd "C:\Users\Kevin\Documents\%tf2 items\creations\The re-gene\compile"
$modelname "weapons/the_re_gene/the_re_gene.mdl"
$model "body" "the_re_gene.smd"
$cdmaterials "models\weapons\the_re_gene"
$texturegroup skinfamilies
{
{"the_re_gene_glass.vmt"
"the_re_gene.vmt"
}
{the_re_gene_glass.vmt"
"the_re_gene_blue.vmt"
}
}
$hboxset "default"
$attachment "muzzle" "weapon_bone_L" 0.00 -0.79 29.34 rotate -90.00 -0.00 0.00
$surfaceprop "metal"
$sequence idle "the_re_gene" fps 30.00
$collisionmodel "the_re_gene.smd" {

$mass 10.9
$inertia 1.00
$damping 0.00
$rotdamping 0.00
}

I would be very grateful for any help that can be offered.

[entertainer]

I have a question:
I aligned the origin of my weapon to the origin of the grid, and it is (instead of being a laser pointer in the pyro's hand) a circle on the view. I can only assume that this is because I have no bones in the model, but I was told by a friend that when exporting, blender removes bones. Could anyone help me greatly by explaining how to align the weapon to the pyro's hand?

[HellJumper]

Originally Posted by infinitewrath

Sorry if this question has already been asked but how do you get a weapon model to be aligned properly with the character?

I have a medigun that I made, have all the necessary bones, textures, ect. but when I compile it and import it into the game(replacing the default medigun) the medic ends up holding it side ways, it's like it needs to be rotated.

I've tried modifying the mesh and bones in blender in both edit mode and object mode, which I believe was a previously mentioned solution some where in this thread, but neither worked.

Also currently when I load the model up the hose is just flat and sticking out it doesn't loop into the backpack, was hoping someone could help me fix that too, might be due to my using the main weapon model for the idle loop.

This is my QC code as of right now, have a feeling I might need to add something to it but I'm not sure.

$cd "C:\Users\Kevin\Documents\%tf2 items\creations\The re-gene\compile"
$modelname "weapons/the_re_gene/the_re_gene.mdl"
$model "body" "the_re_gene.smd"
$cdmaterials "models\weapons\the_re_gene"
$texturegroup skinfamilies
{
	{"the_re_gene_glass.vmt"
 "the_re_gene.vmt"
}
 	{the_re_gene_glass.vmt"
 "the_re_gene_blue.vmt"
}
 }
$hboxset "default"
$attachment "muzzle" "weapon_bone_L" 0.00 -0.79 29.34 rotate -90.00 -0.00 0.00
$surfaceprop "metal"
$sequence idle "the_re_gene" fps 30.00
$collisionmodel "the_re_gene.smd" {

	$mass 10.9
	$inertia 1.00
	$damping 0.00
	$rotdamping 0.00
}

I would be very grateful for any help that can be offered.

I don't really know what to say other than advising you to decompile an existing medigun (the quick fix) and look at how the bones are set up. You could then import your own medigun and align it with the existing medigun's rig.

Originally Posted by entertainer

I have a question:
I aligned the origin of my weapon to the origin of the grid, and it is (instead of being a laser pointer in the pyro's hand) a circle on the view. I can only assume that this is because I have no bones in the model, but I was told by a friend that when exporting, blender removes bones. Could anyone help me greatly by explaining how to align the weapon to the pyro's hand?

Bones are exported from Blender. How would Blender even be a useful program if it couldn't? Your friend might have been talking about .obj files (which don't retain bone data-- this is true for every 3D program).

SMD files certainly retain bone data.

[infinitewrath]

Turns out I do need to rotate the bones in blender, more specifically I need to rotate the weapon bone and just the weapon bone, so now I have the fun task of constantly rotating the bone until it aligns properly.

Of course then I'll need to figure out why the hose isn't looping into the backpack.

[entertainer]

Well in that case, can you explain which bones I should put and in which direction to make my weapon align correctly to either the flare gun or flamethrower?

[HellJumper]

Originally Posted by entertainer

Well in that case, can you explain which bones I should put and in which direction to make my weapon align correctly to either the flare gun or flamethrower?

I'm sorry, but I'm not in the best mood at the moment. Here is an explanation from the FAQ (which you should have read):

Q: How I model / export weapon models?

A: Modeling / Exporting a weapon is a very similar process to hat making. The key difference lies in the fact that instead of using the bone rig of the character model, we will be using the bones of a pre-existing weapon that we want to replace. So for example, if we wanted to make a Sandman replacement, we wouldn't import the scout model, but rather the Sandman model to see what bones it comes with. The following is a process on how to export a weapon from Blender (c_models):

1. Start a fresh, blank blender scene.
2. Extract a model that you want to replace from the team fortress 2 materials GCF (tf/models/weapons/c_models). Make sure to grab the .mdl file and any associated file (.vvd, .phy, etc)
3. Hex the extracted .mdl file by opening the file with notepad++ and changing the "IDST0" to "IDST,".
4. Decompile the hexed model file to get your weapon smd file.
5. Import the weapon smd into Blender.
6. Make your model without altering the imported decompiled model, and when you are ready, superimpose your model directly on top of the decompiled weapon. Make sure the properties of your model are all normal (you can check this by pressing "n" and making sure your scaling is all 1 and your positions are all 0. If they aren't just make sure you change them, and then reposition your model in edit mode).
7. Delete the decompiled weapon and assign the remaining bones to your model via the vertex groups panel. You can check to see that you assigned each bone to the appropriate vertex group via weight-paint mode. Melee weapons usually only have 1 bone whereas more complicated weapons will have a variety of bones that may or may not be shared between different groups of vertices. It is probably advisable to start with something simple like a melee weapon and work your way up to a more complicated model such as the huntsman (complicated!)
8. Now that you have assigned the bones to your model, the process is the same as exporting a hat.

[oliver06292]

So, we talked on steam (My Steam name:The Skyfoogle) and as I said, I have blender 2.66 and when I import the heavy weapons guy model I dont get that wrench button. (see? http://s1162.beta.photobucket.com/us...tml?sort=3&o=0)
Did I miss something?

[oliver06292]

Omg I feel so stupid, I just had to right click the heavy model to get the wrench icon. Sorry to disturb you. I'm gonna post questions here when I get "stuck" again. Sorry once again!

[oliver06292]

Yes, so. When i try to bake the textures I get this message:"No objects or images found to bake to":
http://s1162.beta.photobucket.com/us...tml?sort=3&o=0

[entertainer]

Excuse me for being so new to modeling, but how do you assign the bones?
Also, as a test I exported it, but I can't figure out how to change the export location.

[HellJumper]

Originally Posted by oliver06292

Yes, so. When i try to bake the textures I get this message:"No objects or images found to bake to":
http://s1162.beta.photobucket.com/us...tml?sort=3&o=0

Sometimes that happens. It's some sort of glitch. Just remove the texture from the UV window, create a new one, and try again. You might also need to tab in and out of edit/object mode a few times. I don't really know what causes this problem (I haven't been able to reproduce it-- it just happens randomly).

Originally Posted by entertainer

Excuse me for being so new to modeling, but how do you assign the bones?
Also, as a test I exported it, but I can't figure out how to change the export location.

Select your model first, then shift+select the bone and press "ctrl+P". Click "with empty groups". Now select only your model and go into edit mode. On the right side there should be an object data panel (icon is a triangle). Click that and go to the Vertex Groups subheading. Select the vertices that correspond to your bone, select the bone from the vertex group panel, and click "assign".

As for export locations, refer to this image:

[entertainer]

I think I did something wrong...
IMAGE