3D model/animation: where should I look?

Discussions about UT99
Post Reply
User avatar
ANUBITEK
Adept
Posts: 261
Joined: Sun Dec 28, 2014 1:10 am
Location: Anubitek

3D model/animation: where should I look?

Post by ANUBITEK »

9zOcWxkpBLQ

I really want to make a 3D robot model like the one in the above video and I will at some point need to model 3D weapons and give them animations for attacks. I am still doing the 2D sprite thing, but where should I look? What programs should I use for modeling, animating, and texturing? Could someone direct me to guides that have helped them on this matter?

I've read that apparently Blender doesn't work and I'm not really sure where to start, there are a lot of links posted but I'm too uninformed to know where I should even start.
<<| http://uncodex.ut-files.com/ |>>

Code reference for UGold, UT99, Unreal2, UT2k3, UT3
Additional Beyond Unreal Wiki Links
wiki.beyondunreal.com/Legacy:Console_Bar
wiki.beyondunreal.com/Exec_commands#Load
wiki.beyondunreal.com/Legacy:Exec_Directive#Loading_Other_Packages
wiki.beyondunreal.com/Legacy:Config_Vars_And_.Ini_Files
wiki.beyondunreal.com/Legacy:INT_File
nogardilaref
Masterful
Posts: 577
Joined: Tue Jun 20, 2017 1:00 pm
Personal rank: ⚋⚊⚌☰⚞⌖⚟☰⚌⚊⚋

Re: 3D model/animation: where should I look?

Post by nogardilaref »

You have several options, so it's mostly down to choose the tools you like the most.

In terms of 3D modelers, you have Blender, Milkshape, and 3D Studio Max I believe.

Blender is the best program to make the actual models in, and has the perk of being free, however it's hard to find an actual plugin which works into exporting directly to a format UT or Unreal recognizes, specially if you want to do skeletal meshes. There's a plugin which works up until version 2.6x, but Blender is now at the end of 2.7x and it's close to 2.8x, and thus far I don't know if anyone updated the plugin to work with 2.7x even. But I bet guys over at unrealsp.org know this best, since I know plenty of folks there use Blender.

Milkshape is the best program to export to the formats UT and Unreal recognize, since it exports them perfectly. However it's paid (and overpriced for what it's capable of doing), and the project has been dead for so many years that I wouldn't try to get it the "proper way" if you get my drift. Furthermore as a 3D modeler it actually sucks. You may get around some of its limitations through community plugins to get things like boolean tools, but overall is trash as a modeler (hence the price comment too).

3D Studio Max has only the perk of having been the used program by Epic to do their meshes (if I recall, but don't quote me on that as I am not 100% sure), so you can export from it using 3ds2unr without issues.
But it's expensive, it's a bit outdated compared with other modelers, and generally no one actually uses it nowadays even for Unreal Engine stuff. Modelers generally tend to use Blender, Maya or something else, but 3D Studio Max has been dying over the years.


Conclusion: perhaps you're better off in using Blender, even if an outdated version like 2.6 to have a direct export, or perhaps a more recent version if you manage to find a working plugin for 2.7 (if you do, please let me know :tongue: ), or you could use Blender and Milkshape in what they do best: model in Blender, then export to a format Milkshape recognizes, and then export to UT or Unreal from Milkshape itself.


As for textures, if you use Milkshape, you're better off doing your UV maps using LithUnwrap, but if you use anything else, the 3D programs themselves already have everything you need to properly build UV maps.
As for actually doing the textures themselves, any image editing program should be good enough: Gimp, Photoshop, Paint.net, anything else, even MS Paint if you wish. :mrgreen:
Although a program in which you have layers is probably essential, by making the UV map itself the bottom layer and upper layers the actual texturing, so you can keep the raw UV map as a reference (similar to having a 2D arc texture to do an arc BSP in UEd using the 2D editor).

As for actual tutorials, you have tons over tons for Blender and 3D Studio Max. For Milkshape you have almost none, but there isn't anything there which you cannot learn within a day or two by just using it.
User avatar
rjmno1
Masterful
Posts: 716
Joined: Fri Aug 12, 2011 9:38 pm
Personal rank: masterfull
Location: https://sites.google.com/view/unrealtou ... oject/home
Contact:

Re: 3D model/animation: where should I look?

Post by rjmno1 »

yes dsmax is the answer ,this is the program for making very cool things.
al you need besides that is textures and frame works for modelling your objective.

https://www.textures.com/

https://knowledge.autodesk.com/support/ ... 6-htm.html

mesh models

https://free3d.com/3d-models/characters/1/mesh


that wireframe you need also to make something, what you also can do is to export it to ds and imported it in the ut editor.
maby you have also converted with a app so you can load it into your ut 99 editor
its dstounr app you can use to convert it to unreal.

http://www.unrealtexture.com/Unreal/Web ... r_v119.htm

milkshape

http://www.milkshape3d.com/
also a topic here

https://www.ut99.org/viewtopic.php?f=5&t=5862
hope this helps your objective journey.
Last edited by rjmno1 on Fri Oct 06, 2017 2:23 pm, edited 1 time in total.
unreal tournament 99
®
Image
Image
ImageImage
https://sites.google.com/view/unrealtou ... oject/home mine home ut99 website.
https://richardmoust105.blogspot.com/20 ... ef-in.html dutch blog page about ut99 settings.
JackGriffin
Godlike
Posts: 3774
Joined: Fri Jan 14, 2011 1:53 pm
Personal rank: -Retired-

Re: 3D model/animation: where should I look?

Post by JackGriffin »

I might add something here too. Over the years being able to model has been a big thorn in my side and something I have very much wanted to try to do. I'm not nearly as naturally intelligent as most here so things are slow to come to me and I need to call up much more effort.

I've tried several times to clear a weekend and start really learning. I've tried Blender, Max, and Maya giving each an honest effort. Every time I've just quit in frustration because all the tutorials I could find speak to you like modelling is already a hobby level undertaking by you. I really need a base-level tut series that infers I know nothing, but I could never find that and so I have never achieved liftoff (and that really bothers me).

My advice is if you are serious about model making you should find an online starter course or class where there is interaction and you can ask questions. Trust me, you'll have WAY more than you think and YT vids just can't answer things. Some people (like me) really need that extra help at the start until they get their 'sea legs' and have a base from which they can experiment and learn on their own.
So long, and thanks for all the fish
User avatar
rjmno1
Masterful
Posts: 716
Joined: Fri Aug 12, 2011 9:38 pm
Personal rank: masterfull
Location: https://sites.google.com/view/unrealtou ... oject/home
Contact:

Re: 3D model/animation: where should I look?

Post by rjmno1 »

JackGriffin wrote:I might add something here too. Over the years being able to model has been a big thorn in my side and something I have very much wanted to try to do. I'm not nearly as naturally intelligent as most here so things are slow to come to me and I need to call up much more effort.

I've tried several times to clear a weekend and start really learning. I've tried Blender, Max, and Maya giving each an honest effort. Every time I've just quit in frustration because all the tutorials I could find speak to you like modelling is already a hobby level undertaking by you. I really need a base-level tut series that infers I know nothing, but I could never find that and so I have never achieved liftoff (and that really bothers me).

My advice is if you are serious about model making you should find an online starter course or class where there is interaction and you can ask questions. Trust me, you'll have WAY more than you think and YT vids just can't answer things. Some people (like me) really need that extra help at the start until they get their 'sea legs' and have a base from which they can experiment and learn on their own.
you are right its not a simpel thing todo, but if it is going to be a hobby that you bether start looking for books for dsmax and other modelling software.
thats only you can do when you are realy intressed about it.its going to take a long time to realy understand those programms ,and i think you also can look to YouTube for visual walkthrough on whenever program you going to use.
understand meshes and textures howto convert them and make them compatible for a sertien program.if you wanna go further with those programms and you are intressed by it then you must take a serious studie about it
for making understand how realy d software works.
unreal tournament 99
®
Image
Image
ImageImage
https://sites.google.com/view/unrealtou ... oject/home mine home ut99 website.
https://richardmoust105.blogspot.com/20 ... ef-in.html dutch blog page about ut99 settings.
Terraniux
Masterful
Posts: 717
Joined: Mon Jan 05, 2009 8:08 pm
Personal rank: Banished member

Re: 3D model/animation: where should I look?

Post by Terraniux »

This topic is nice and very helpful. Been wondering about these things too.

I can make my own crystals and crystal cluster meshes then! Ow yeah!
This member can only post when permitted.
User avatar
rjmno1
Masterful
Posts: 716
Joined: Fri Aug 12, 2011 9:38 pm
Personal rank: masterfull
Location: https://sites.google.com/view/unrealtou ... oject/home
Contact:

Re: 3D model/animation: where should I look?

Post by rjmno1 »

model websites:


static mesh collection:

https://www.epicgames.com/unrealtournam ... collection
Spoiler
klik on the spoiler for more turtuals meshes and materials, i did simply find them with google you can do the same and discovered maby some ut 99 related materials and meshes.

hopes this helps. :tu:

much regardz:rjmno1
unreal tournament 99
®
Image
Image
ImageImage
https://sites.google.com/view/unrealtou ... oject/home mine home ut99 website.
https://richardmoust105.blogspot.com/20 ... ef-in.html dutch blog page about ut99 settings.
User avatar
papercoffee
Godlike
Posts: 10443
Joined: Wed Jul 15, 2009 11:36 am
Personal rank: coffee addicted !!!
Location: Cologne, the city with the big cathedral.
Contact:

Re: 3D model/animation: where should I look?

Post by papercoffee »

turtuals ?
JackGriffin
Godlike
Posts: 3774
Joined: Fri Jan 14, 2011 1:53 pm
Personal rank: -Retired-

Re: 3D model/animation: where should I look?

Post by JackGriffin »

It seems he's a phonetic speller. It's ease is probably lost on you with English being your second (third?) language but for native speakers it's much easier to read. I just read his posts out loud in my head and ignore the spelling. To wit:
Aoccdrnig to rscheearch at Cmabrigde Uinervtisy, it deosn't mttaer in waht oredr the ltteers in a wrod are, the olny iprmoetnt tihng is taht the frist and lsat ltteer be at the rghit pclae. The rset can be a toatl mses and you can sitll raed it wouthit a porbelm. Tihs is bcuseae the huamn mnid deos not raed ervey lteter by istlef, but the wrod as a wlohe.
So long, and thanks for all the fish
User avatar
papercoffee
Godlike
Posts: 10443
Joined: Wed Jul 15, 2009 11:36 am
Personal rank: coffee addicted !!!
Location: Cologne, the city with the big cathedral.
Contact:

Re: 3D model/animation: where should I look?

Post by papercoffee »

JackGriffin wrote:It seems he's a phonetic speller. It's ease is probably lost on you with English being your second (third?) language but for native speakers it's much easier to read. I just read his posts out loud in my head and ignore the spelling. To wit:
Aoccdrnig to rscheearch at Cmabrigde Uinervtisy, it deosn't mttaer in waht oredr the ltteers in a wrod are, the olny iprmoetnt tihng is taht the frist and lsat ltteer be at the rghit pclae. The rset can be a toatl mses and you can sitll raed it wouthit a porbelm. Tihs is bcuseae the huamn mnid deos not raed ervey lteter by istlef, but the wrod as a wlohe.
I could read your example with ease. ;)
But if he meant "tutorials" then there are some letters changed. I think it's a language barrier. :mrgreen:

I say Anleitung...
User avatar
SilverSound
Adept
Posts: 341
Joined: Fri Nov 06, 2015 10:12 am
Personal rank: Curious
Location: St. Cloud, Florida

Re: 3D model/animation: where should I look?

Post by SilverSound »

As an English speaker it's grammar and word placement in sentence structure that gets me.

It took me a few weeks to fully understand Sektor for example. I love his word choices.
"Woah what?! I wish I was recording that...."
User avatar
sektor2111
Godlike
Posts: 6403
Joined: Sun May 09, 2010 6:15 pm
Location: On the roof.

Re: 3D model/animation: where should I look?

Post by sektor2111 »

Getting over languages I really don't get what wants "rjmno1" to say with materials. Whatta heck of "materials" are we talking about ? The only thing needed by me and myself is the start. I want a "TURTUAL" with a cube as mesh transforming itself on Y axis into sort of cylinder (a distorted cube) and having 3 frames as example. GIVE ME such a simple "How to" because I don't need to access 100 servers leaving trails in their logs. Excessive Crawling on Internet is harmful for machine so give me a break with less useful links and crapped spam which I cannot swallow.
Mesh parameters, cube size for work-space where mesh is drawn, how to skin it, how to animate it. I DON'T WANT TO LEARN 1000 USELESS things, and yes, if Epic used old apps for meshes, they have proved as being good, new stuff probably won't be that compatible causing a painful, charge with "options" which UT doesn't know - "material" included, geniuses - I never heard of Iron Skaarj Wooden Manta and Rubber Titan or a Steel pupae - WTF are these for ? More null bytes ? Good night to your brain.
By example I work at processing Screenshots with an old application and it did not fail so far - as I could see last time in at least 2 or 3 maps with borked Screenshots. In 2017 we cannot deal with a stupid picture ? Good, keep going...
By posting a bunch of links making my brains to explode I'll be utterly uninterested about anything like that. YOU will be the one crawling links and posting VALID conclusions and "HOW TO". Else I can find 100 links myself by using G00gle - Hint: my Internet is not censored after all - I'm restricting access by myself at some locations which are GARBAGE.
Post Reply