Quake III export plugin for 3D Studio Max R2 / R3

by Pop N Fresh
pop_n_fresh@telus.net

(c)1999 Kelvin McDowell.
Copywrited Freeware. Redistrute as you wish as long as this archive remains intact.

Archive contains the following files:
Max 2x/ExportMD3.dle
Max 2x/ImportMD3.dli
Max 3x/ExportMD3.dle
Max 3x/ImportMD3.dli
tag.md3
MaxPlugin.html (this file)
mapobject.gif
upper.gif
lower.gif
head.gif

Bug reports / comments / requests / suggestions:

(This is beta 6)
pop_n_fresh@telus.net
or try the webboard at Polycount.

How it Works:

Before I explain what all the options do here are a few example screenshots. For exporting the three parts of a player model I used the animation ranges of Visor (from Visor's animation.cfg file and the visor.bip Paul Steed released). You should know what .skin and animation.cfg files are before using this exporter if you're trying to create a player model. I also recommend you read the modeling document that id software released. Polycount is a good modeling info site if you don't know what these things are.

Exporting a mapobject:

Exporting a head:

Exporting an upper body:

Exporting a lower body:

What the Options do:

The Following Frames:

This should be self-explainatory. Let's you select which frames of your animation you wish to export. You can give multiple single frames or frame ranges separated by commas. ie: 8,10,12-34,56,70-90 would be valid.

Only Objects Whose Name Starts With:

Check this option to export only a portion of the objects in your scene. Input a comma delimited list of the start of the names of what you want to export. The exporter will match the object names against the names you supply. If an object's name starts with the same characters as you supplied it will be written to the .md3 file otherwise it will not be. Ex. if you check the option and type h_,u_ only objects with names such as h_head u_larm u_torso etc.. will be written out. All objects with names starting with tag_ will still be written out as tags are handled separately. See the next option desciption.

Only The Following Tags:

Check this option and type in the names of the tags you wish to export. Unlike the above option the name you type and the tag name must be an exact match. If you place tag_dude in the box and have a tag named tag_dudette the tag will not be exported.

Position Relative to Tag:

Writes out positions of exported geometry relative to the specified tag.

The best way to see exactly what this means is to try the following: From a clear workspace load the 'tag.md3' file. Rename the imported tag from tag_ to tag_head. Create a pyramid centered on the origin. Now select both the tag and pyramid and move them away from the origin. Select 'Rotate' and rotate them so that there axis are no longer aligned with the origin.

Export them as an .md3 ('test.md3' might be a good name). Make sure the tag_head radio button is selected and you've renamed your tag to tag_head before exporting. Import the .md3 you just created. The tag is back at the center and your rotations have been lost! This is important as Quake III ignores the tag_head in 'head.md3' and assumes your head has its pivot at the origin. It then uses the tag_head in 'upper.md3' to place your head on the body. It does something simular when placing the torso on the legs.

tag_floor is a special tag that you may wish to add to your scene to make positioning your player model a bit easier. If your player model is not positioned properly it may sink into or hover over the floor when used in Quake III. Create an object and name it tag_floor. Place its origin at the spot that is the center of the floor where your character would be standing on. Make sure its oriented the same way as your character (this is very important). Now if you export the lower.md3 of your model with tag_floor selected under Position Relative to Tag the exporter will automaically adjust the position of the exported model to match where Quake 3 thinks it should be.

Smart Paths:

To use this your directory structure should mirror the Quake III directory structure. ie: your models and textures should be in a models/players/my_cool_model/ directory. If you've done this and have 'Smart Paths' selected the exporter will be able to write proper relative paths for textures to the file. ie: models/players/my_cool_model.tga instead of C:/3dsmax/textures/my_cool_model.tga. Quake III has problems finding things if the paths aren't written in the relative manner, especially with mapobjects.

Ignore Bip :

This is for character studio users. Any subobject in the scene whose name starts with Bip will be ignored by the exporter.

Show Warnings:

Show any warnings. Such as the model lacking normals, having more than one texture coordinate per vertex, etc.

General Notes:

• Max 2.x version of the exporter does not work on many people's machines. I've not been able to assertain why it works on some people's machines and not others. I'm looking into it.
• Although i've had no problems loading any of the models that shipped with the full version of Quake III Arena, the importer sometimes chokes on .md3 files created from other sources. This seems to be a problem with the other .md3 files not having correctly written headers. I'm uncertain if there's anything I can do about this until id releases source code and I can see what the exact spec is.
• If using Max 2.x and a version of Character Studio earlier than 2.1 positions will not export properly. This is a known problem with Characters Studio that also effects other exporters (such as the 3ds and VRML exporters). To export properly you need to upgrade to Character Studio 2.1.

Version Info:

Jan 9, 2000

• sixth release - Still 'Beta' but getting closer and closer...
• Now automatically adds extra vertices in order to preserve mapping coordinates when necessary. No more 'there is not a one-to-one correspondence between texture verts and actual verts' warnings.

Jan 5, 2000

• fifth release - Still 'Beta' but full functionality now available.
• Added radio control to select offset tag. Got rid of checkbox.
• Added ability to recognize a special tag called 'tag_floor' for positioning models on floor properly.
• Got rid of sliders in exporter, replaced with editbox capable of taking multiple frame ranges.
• Added slider in importer to choose which frame to import.
• Changed readme.txt into HTML.

Dec 26, 1999

• fourth release - 'Beta' for Max 3.x / 'Alpha' for Max 2.x
• Added version compiled for Max 2.5, should work with any 2.x version.
• Removed 'PPro' optimised version.
• Added checkbox to export only objects whose name begins with certain characters.
• Added checkbox to only export tags that the user explicitly names.
• Added checkbox to ignore any objects whose name starts with 'Bip' for Character Studio users.
• Added 'Show Warnings' checkbox to turn on and off warnings.
• Use GetObjTMAfterWSM instead of GetObjectTM
• Tested with Character studio. 3.x seems to work fine. 2.x positions meshes wrong. Looking into it.
• Little bug fixes here and there.
  

Dec 23, 1999

• third release - 'Beta'
• Added version compiled with 'blend' code generation option for non Pentium Pro/ii/iii processors.
• Added checkboxs for automatic path munging and writing out positions relative to tags.
• Normals now exported properly.
• Instead of generate UVs of (0.5,0.5) for an object without UV assignments it now bases UVs on the objects normals. ie: a spherical map.
  

Dec 21, 1999

• second release
• Fixed crash when exported object had no texture assignments. Will now give a warning and export anyway.
• Added support for exporting animation.
  

Dec 20, 1999

• first release
  
  

ImportMD3 notes:

• Texture UVs are imported properly but you must assign a map (skin) yourself. Go to the materials dialogue, load up whatever bitmap you desire into the diffuse and assign the texture to whatever subobjects you desire. Remember to hit the little checkered cube in the materials editor so the texture is visible in you windows.
• Will also import the .MD2 format but this is no longer being worked on. It does make for a quick way to convert things from Quake 2 to Quake III Arena 'tho.
• Doesn't import normals
• Tags are imported as a single double-sided triangle. The origin is where two edges meet in a right angle. From the origin the long edge is the X axis and the short edge the Y axis.
• Only reads a single frame (whichever you indiicate with the slider) of multiframe animations.
  
  

ExportMD3 notes:

• Any object with a name starting with 'tag_' is exported as a tag. All geometry is lost.
• 'tag_floor' is considered special and _never_ exported.