Very long time since I last posted (I think it was over 4 years ago now ) and since then I've gained considerable knowledge on 3D modeling (not necessarily game models, sadly) and I have come back from hiding to ask a question (if this is in the wrong section, I apologize - I'm figuring it would go here because it IS technically modding, but for a different purpose)
I was hoping if it's not going too far out of line for someone like me to take the models from the base game (which I recently and happily picked up again ) and put them through Blender (and the very powerful LuxRender engine) to make some really neat artwork. Of course, I'm converting the files from their base format and into another for this to work, but I'm giving ALL of the credit to the original developers - I'm just polishing them with a nice photo-realistic render.
If this is an issue then I won't proceed any further, but I'm sure it'd look cool if it does come around
I doubt it's a legal issue so long as you don't try to sell the art work. However, the only tool we have to convert Sins models imports them into 3DS Max, not Blender. You could easily then save it in a format that Blender can work with, but you'll still need access to 3DS Max to do this.
I'm not planning on selling anything, so that's not a problem. However, I don't have the funds to get myself a copy of 3DS Max. On the other hand, I have found a way to get the models into Blender.
I have the free version of the 3D Object Converter which can read .mesh files fine, so I put the file through that and, because of the limitations with this version and some of the formats, I'll export them as RAW Triangle meshes so that I can preserve all of the geometry. Next, and I have an idea that might work with this, I'll get another version of the model through in say the Wavefront or X3D format (which subsequently has every 5th face removed for whatever reason :/) and try to match up the UV maps from that one to the raw one and work from there. I'm doing some research into a way to accomplish this, and as far as the texture files go, I got the DDS plugin for GIMP 2.0 (which works like a charm) and I'm converting those to .png after adjusting the colors. Works great - I already did a texture test with the Wavefront version of the Kortul Devastator capital ship that I exported and the UV works as it should - for the pieces that exist. However, I'm running into the snag of having to repair the mesh, which is why I'm doing the .raw format. It's a bit tedious but it's working for what I want to accomplish.
Hopefully this works out well, it looks promising.
I have a registered version if you need some converted to a certain format.
No need. The UVs are throwing me for a loop, so I'm doing the noble task of trying to see where I should put some seams and make this come out close to right on the .raw mesh. I do have the image texture as a reference guide.
The only thing is.. how do seams actually work? Looks like I'll be doing some trial and error. You know how it goes: if you want it done right, you do it yourself.
Couple of questions:
Firstly, in regards to the 3ds Max route (as a back up) I have no real way of obtaining an older version of the trial (2012 for instance) so what's the newest version that the mesh import script can work on? Now they're up to 3ds Max 2016 for the trial version (time flies lol).
Secondly, I found that a couple of the ship meshes in both the reference files from the ForgeTools 3 download and the actual game install from my disc don't open in 3D Object Converter, despite being the same format as the rest. I found that odd, so I wonder if they're corrupted in some way, and would a simple reinstall work? I did recently upgrade to the latest version of Sins so I wonder if somehow that messed things up.
One of the meshes is the CapitalShip_PsiColony.mesh file (the Progenitor Mothership)
Alright, I've successfully managed to recreate the Vasari Fighter. Here's a step-by-step:
Before rendering, I had set it up so that the background would be transparent in the render, leaving only the ship visible. After about 12 minutes of rendering, I got this image below. So, what do you guys think?
I recently made a nice background image using the GIMP to go along with these, as well as got the Vasari Bomber and the Ravastra Skirmisher done. The background is also set as the light using a "Distant" lamp - a sun lamp with the preset set to Distant.
The Fighter and the Bomber were done again, using a variant of the background image (I simply changed the opacity of the nebula layer to 0)
The Ravastra Skirmisher is using the updated background image that includes the nebula layer, so be prepared for some colorful highlights
Probably not the greatest things in the world, but it's something. lol
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