-= Gametoast.com =-

Is there a way to get models made in google sketchup 7 into Battlefront II?

JediJalepinio wrote:Is there a way to get models made in google sketchup 7 into Battlefront II?

Yes, somehow... (I'm also trying to convert them to a usable .msh file)
EDIT:
Sorry, I'll try to be more clear.
I've tried the following things (they turned out wrong, I think it's a problem with my XSI Modtools)
Export as .kmz. Change the extension to .zip. Unzip, and load in XSI modtools with the textures in the same folder as the model.
(Try to search the fora for better methods)
EDIT:
Try this one

many thanks, I will be trying that very soon

Didn't someone say not to use that tut anymore? I forgot who and why though...

Null_1138 wrote:Didn't someone say not to use that tut anymore? I forgot who and why though...

That would be me, and it would be because the tutorial does not explain al of the steps properly.

Commanderfett's tutorial is the best we have right now, but if I ever get the time, I'll type up a fully detailed documentation on getting sketchup models ingame.

DarthRogueKnight wrote:That would be me, and it would be because the tutorial does not explain al of the steps properly.

Which part of it doesn't explain the given steps properly? It works fine for me so i'm not sure where your problems stem from.

The point of that tutorial is how to get models from the free version of SketchUp into the free Softimage Mod Tool, but also has a brief explanation of what to do afterwards, basic knowledge of modeling, topology and Mod Tool usage is assumed and not appropriate for that tutorial so there's no need for a detailed explanation of those, F1 is your friend.

AceMastermind wrote:

DarthRogueKnight wrote:That would be me, and it would be because the tutorial does not explain al of the steps properly.

Which part of it doesn't explain the given steps properly? It works fine for me so i'm not sure where your problems stem from.

The point of that tutorial is how to get models from the free version of SketchUp into the free Softimage Mod Tool, but also has a brief explanation of what to do afterwards, basic knowledge of modeling, topology and Mod Tool usage is assumed and not appropriate for that tutorial so there's no need for a detailed explanation of those, F1 is your friend.

Oh, yes, that is mostly my point, espicialy since your tutorial is part of Commanderfett's, but my point was that it covers "almost" every deatil of getting models ingame.

lets say i follow this tutorial, getting the model into the free trial of XSI and exporting it as .obj.
The tutorial says that you have to give it to someone with XSI Foundations so that they can export it to .msh for you. Who are some of these people that I can send my .obj's to? Or is there another way to get it from .obj to .msh?

You don't necesarily need foundations, I believe regular XSI and meshex can be used as well. Also, before exporting, remember

Commander_Fett's sketchup-SWBF2 tutorial wrote:3. In XSI, you have to invert polies that are black on both sides (apparently there are 2, if someone could elaborate on this it would be appreciated).
to do so, do the following: go into shaded mode and turn on the headlight.

FragMe! wrote:For inverting polies, select the polies you want to invert and on the left side menus under Model go to Modify/Poly. Mesh/Invert Polygons

I believe you can also right click on the polies and select invert.
4. After the right polies have been inverted, you have to scale down the model. Based on what I found, the human in XSI is a lot bigger than the SWBF2 soldier, so scale down accordingly.

thanks so much, ill look into that. But by regular XSI, do you mean the free trial version, or the one you have to pay for

well, you can use the one you have to pay for and use the pandemic exporter, or use the trial version and repsharpshooter's Meshex. Either one.

well, you can use the one you have to pay for and use the pandemic exporter, or use the trial version and repsharpshooter's Meshex. Either one.

The versions of XSI that work with the Pandemic Tools can no longer be purchased, however there are 4 different trial versions of XSI Foundation available here that you can use with the Pandemic Tools to export anything for SWBF(animated or not).

Autodesk Softimage Mod Tool or any previous version of Mod Tool is not a trial but a free 3d package for game modders based on Autodesk Softimage(formerly XSI Essentials) but with some limitations since it is free. This package is best used in conjunction with Crosswalk and MshEx to get non-animated objects into SWBF.

You can also model in MilkShape 3D and export from there as MilkShape 3D ASCII.txt then import that file into BConstructor then Save the non-animated model as msh which can be used in SWBF.

If your 3d package supports exporting as vrml 2.0 then you can model in that package then export as vrml 2.0 then drag n drop the wrl file into SWBFViewer then export your non-animated model to msh for use in SWBF.

A vrml export plugin for Mod Tool has been developed as well and will hopefully be completed and released soon but it's still in beta and has some UV bugs to work out, this method eliminates the use of Crosswalk and the non-animated model can be converted to msh using the SWBFViewer.

If the developers of these msh export programs were to share their source code or collaborate then a msh export plugin for Mod Tool would be possible.

So, if Modtool 4.2 and up* isn't sold anymore, how do we export animated .msh?

*up to compatibility with pandemic tools

DarthRogueKnight wrote:So, if Modtool 4.2 and up* isn't sold anymore...

Mod Tool was never sold, has never been compatible with the Pandemic Tools export script and has always been free.

DarthRogueKnight wrote:...how do we export animated .msh?

AceMastermind wrote:...there are 4 different trial versions of XSI Foundation available here that you can use with the Pandemic Tools to export anything for SWBF(animated or not).

...and as always

i have a problem with the models of google gallery 3d that have .dae extension, when i import .dae in xsi mod tool the model appears disordered :S, Does anyone know if I can use buildings of google gallery for convert to MSH and put into the game?

sketchup modle generally apperar huge and "messed" up when you import them to XSI
this is due the way sketchup works, it somehow creates many inverted polygons, there can me many unnecassery edges and details can have some many polygons that you wont se a single one ingame

but "theoretically" there is absolutely no problem converting them (and no difference to any other sketchup models)

DarthD.U.C.K. wrote:sketchup modle generally apperar huge and "messed" up when you import them to XSI
this is due the way sketchup works, it somehow creates many inverted polygons, there can me many unnecassery edges and details can have some many polygons that you wont se a single one ingame

but "theoretically" there is absolutely no problem converting them (and no difference to any other sketchup models)

:O thanks DarthD.U.C.K. I will try convert again, Which means that the model is blocked and that only can be opened in read mode?

There is another way, costs @ $50us though and will require a bit of work.

Ultimate Unwrap 3D will open sketchup skp files.
From there you can save it as a .obj
Select the weld vertices option on the save screen.
This can then be imported in to XSI.
It will be big, very big but if you scale everything by .025 it brings it down to the correct size for BFII.
It does preserve UVs but not necessarily texture assignment. Those can be easily reassigned either by mesh if using 1 texture or by clusters if using more than 1 texture per mesh.


Off Topic Intersting side notes:
XSI grid relates to nothing. One default grid square = one default grid square. As for a relationship to BFII it equates to approximately 1 meter but that is a coincidence or the way Pandemic decided to go.
The .025 scale mentioned above is 1/40. The actual real difference is around 39.4 which is close to the number of inches in a meter. So a line that is 1/40th of an inch in sketchup = 1 BFII meter in XSI. Or 1 inch in sketchup = 40 BFII meters in XSI. The 1 to 40 ratio and inches to a meter number could just be a total coincidence or...
This number is only valid if import is done as mentioned above, other export import method may not be this way.

If you have the trial of Skp pro (or have the real thing), you can export as obj which is much easier. Textures have to be reapplied to polygons but UVs are preserved and there is no scaling mess up (stays basically the same size).