Pixie m2i not converting error with bones

[Serifaz]

I made a pixie with bones and geosets. but m2mod3 will not convert it back to an m2
is there anyone that knows this error and what it meens?

[schlumpf]

As the error says, you are referencing a bone that does not exist.

[doresain]

sometimes m2i exporter doesn't work correctly and m2mod wasn't able to merge m2i and m2 models
you need to test every few change in m2i merging it with m2 ant test it in game
if you are importing mesh from other model remember to swap bones and delete bones that doesn't exist in m2 model (and reattach vertex to another bone)

[Soldan]

Hey, Doresain:

I have a little question for you, every model that i've tried to make in Blender, it seems when exporting and trying to pass back to .m2, it gives an error.

Basically, I take meshes from other models, like armor, and add them to a base model.

So, I delete the bones from the new mesh, and do a bone weight copy (quality 4) from the existing base mesh to the new one. Assign the ArmatureRoot, and select all, export.

Am I doing anything wrong? Do I need to assign the new mesh to a bone as you said? If so, how do I do it?

I would like to add, after exporting to .m2i, if I re-open it, it shows like half the amount of bones I previously copied, so I have to delete them and recopy if I want to export to m2i again.

Thanks,
Soldan,

[Serifaz]

Im actually doing this in mdlvis now and Im gonna make all bones and animations
thanx for the help also guys

[doresain]

il you take mesh from other model you need to rename bones to match new skeleton and save it in .blend (i make a "convertion table" and rename all bones manually)
after you can open your .blend  file and import on it .m2i, attach mesh to another esisting mesh on m2i model (to copy attributes from this mesh to imported mesh)
il you've done all correctly m2mod will merge your m2i with original m2 without problems
save a new m2i after every imported mesh, sometimes exporter corrupts m2i file, so you need to redo all the changes

[Serifaz]

Thanx dor, just one more question...
If I make this in mdlvis how should I name the animations so they will work in game? or is there something else I should do such as a dbc edit?
I am new to making all new animations and such but I'm getting the hang of it.
if you can just tell me what I should name the animations and what ones there are in total.
or maybe a place I can look at the names like a dbc if there is one.
Ill upload a vid of my progress soon

NVM I looked at the animation data.dbc and found it helps to just look sometimes haha

[doresain]

sorry but i don't use mdlvis, it doesn't run on my linux box

[Serifaz]

Hey guys. I thought I would write a tutorial on how to make an animated m2 with mdlvis I know a lot have shied away from mdlvis because it seems like too much work. well I spent about a day on it and was able to figure it out for the most part.

First download the model editing pack here

now get an obj or 3ds file, (I'm using an obj for simplicities sake.)

1:Open Obj-3ds to mdx folder, search for your obj / 3ds file, and convert it to a mdx
2:Open MdlxConv folder and convert your mdx you just made into an mdl.
3:Open the new mdl in a text editor. and copy everything from Geosets down until right before the groups section.
4:Open Null Model.mdl and scroll down until you see

Code: [Select]

Geoset {
Vertices 1 {
{ 29.2962, 6.97018, -1.6013 },
}
Normals 1 {
{ 0, 0, 0 },
}
TVertices 1 {
{ 0.60757, 0.479768 },
}
VertexGroup {
0,
}
Faces 1 3 {
Triangles {
{ 0, 0, 0 },
}
}
5:Now highlight that section and past what you just copied from your last mdl file.
6:Now save the null Model as ... yourmodelname.mdl for example.
7:Open up the yourmodelname.mdl in mdlvis.

This is were things get tricky. . . "Kinda".

Now position your model, to be standing on center of the work pane.
Best way to know that your model is positioned correctly is to hit the perspective button in the upper left hand corner. and hit front. if its facing the front of your model then your golden.

Now for animation, YAY!!!!

here is a video on how to rig your character


and here is how to animate your model.
[NOTE]: you need to name your animations, after the names they have in the animationdata.dbc

after you have done this with 3 animations you should be able to convert it back to an m2 with mdx to m2
for each animation you have done you will need to assign them numbers in mdx to m2
so when it asks for your specific animation you made. go in order from 1- 10 for example
now after each time you specify a number. type -1 and enter twice.
then to the next number and so on. this should finish your animated model in time.

thanx to all who have made these tools available to us!
and I hope this helped.