Milkshape, md3, shader, and .qc fun. (help)

[Ganemi]

http://www.quake3world.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=24747

I'm having trouble getting a shader to work on a model I made.

The model/skin works fine in q3, but the shader (whether it's complex or simple) decides not to appear on it. I guess the shader just isn't being considered by the md3 at all, since I'm sure everything is in the right place/directory.
And I remember the last time I put a the image used in a shader in the wrong place the model appeared to be untextured in Q3, so that definately isn't the problem.

Do I have to somehow make the .md3 acnowledge the shader file by editing the .qc or something? And if that's the case, how do I do it? : [ I always appreciate your help, guys. : ]

[CrazyButcher]

"Nphernos MD3 Compiler" let's you edit the md3 file and assign texture/shadername directly in the file
search for the tool

it was a bit buggy with the setting of names (you had to click another mesh after your renamed the material or so, and then save

[rotor]

try removing the .tga extension from the shaderpath in the .qc and recompile the .md3

[Ganemi]

[ QUOTE ]
"Nphernos MD3 Compiler" let's you edit the md3 file and assign texture/shadername directly in the file

[/ QUOTE ]
http://img208.imageshack.us/img208/5521/howyx5.th.jpg (http://img208.imageshack.us/my.php?image=howyx5.jpg)

: ] How exactly do I do that?

[CheapAlert]

You could also use a hex editor. It's what I prefer since the md3 compiler sucks at xp.

[Ganemi]

*cries* I hate you guys! : [

Eh, not really.

[CrazyButcher]

have you played around with the tool ? you import the md3 with all frames, then change the materialname. there is one drop down menu I think where you can choose the meshes, and below is a textbox for the texture name. change that and then select another mesh in the dropdown (else the texture name isnt really assigned), its sufficent to just click the dropdown and select the same mesh again if only one exists... a bug in the app..

then export all frames again. you can also recalculate all normals if you want to get a smooth surface..

[Ganemi]

Huh? I didn't get much of what you just said, save for the recalculate normals tip. I was pretty disappointed with the way the model looked in Q3, but that change made it look a lot better. Now I'm not so worried about not being able to apply a shader to it, though I still need to find out how, considering that the railgun I'm making absolutely needs one.

Ermmm... I've already got a texture working on it, but it's really the shader that's giving me issues. : [

[Ganemi]

>: D

http://www.planetgargoyle.com/openarena/tools/blendermd3.zip

That exports and imports md3s directly into Blender. Sweet! >: D Now you jerks can tell any idiot like me that stumbles around wondering if such a thing is possible.

And I still need help with this shader stuff. You jerks aren't getting off so easy. >: ]

[CheapAlert]

Well, I could've provided that link earlier if you mentioned that you were using Blender.

Also note that you can NOT import vertex animation with that, and it's still a little tricky to work with.

that script does fully work for players (http://www.planetgargoyle.com/openarena/gargred.jpg) btw

[Ganemi]

...Nice...that is very cool. I think I'm still going to export from blender into ms3d, then screw with the .qc file.

Do you think I have to reference a shader in that file?

// Quake III Arena MD3 control file, generated by MilkShape 3D
//
$model "models/players/model/model.md3"
// reference frame
//$frames -1 -1
// frame 1-30
$frames 1 30
$flags 0
$numskins 0

// you can have one or no parent tag

// tags

// meshes (surfaces)
$mesh "Cube"
$skin "models\weapons2\railgun.tga"
$flags 0

$mesh "Cube.001"
$skin "models\weapons2\railgun.tga"
$flags 0

At that bottom of that it says $skin blah blah. I might have to insert $shader around there somewhere. If that doesn't work I'm going to punch each of you in the face. twice. >: ]

Edit: I asked around for this sort of md3 exporter and google searched it a few months ago, but nothing came up. Well, now I get to put off learning the clunkyness of 3dsmax for a bit while I finish this remodelling project. Yaaaaaaaaaaay.

[CheapAlert]

You don't need to insert $shader. A shader is a basically a scripted texture. You have to define the shader yourself in a .shader file then point to it with the $skin path.

So you could have:

$mesh "Cube"
$skin "reallyGlowyStuff"
$flags 0

pointing to your shader with that name.

[Ganemi]

Ohhhh, right. Because the shader would have all the info that says "blah/blah/blah/boogers.tga"

Aff. I'll keep experimenting. >: D

[Ganemi]

Awesome. I just replaced the
$skin "models\weapons2\railgun.tga" with
$skin "models\weapons2\railgun\railgun1" and the shader started to work. Sweet. Now I can make this stuff look a little bit better.

Thanks alot, CheapAlert and all you other jerks. : ] You're the bestest!!