So I was looking into a way to import animations from 3ds max to milkshape without the 3ds max 2010 dts exporter. Doing this allows you to utilize all the powerful animation tools 3ds max has to offer. As a preface, I'm using 3ds max 2015 64bit. If you have an edu email you can get it for free over at
http://www.autodesk.com/education/free-software/allSo the tool I'm using is an .smd exporter and import made by
WallWorm. which works with 2015 although the author did mention that it works in 2012 too. To those not familiar, .smd is the base model file for the Source Game Engine. Since Milkshape was developed with Half life in mind, the solution was to find some way to export/import smds from 3ds max.
Before we start, I should mention that we are exporting the bones with this method and not the model. Just export the model with obj into milkshape.
1. First of all you need a fully animated object in 3ds max
with bones.2. Once you install the plugin, you get a new dropdown with a bunch of smd tool but most importantly the .smd exporter.
Go to WallWorm > WallWorm Exporters > Export SMD/VTA File
Here you have a few things.
- Reference smd will export the base object and bones with out animations.
- Sequence smd will export joints from all animated shapes
3. After selecting Sequence SMD, define the animation length under Range and export.
4. In Milkshape, go File > Import > Half Life SMD and the file.
So here we have the animated bones(now joints in milkshape) and all you have to do is import your model in obj and assign model group to its respective bone.
5. Done!
Here's an example if you wanted to follow along.
I've imported
these animations from a Counter Strike: Source mod as an example just to show the complexity that could be achieved. Of course there are much more things that can be done such as cloth or physics simulations.
Demo Max Model(different max version upon request)
Demo Milkshape Model
