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Tutorials, Guides and Resources for Dota2 Workshop

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  • vector_meche
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    Hi Toasty, thanks for reply. Had checked the T_Vidotto's guide just yesterday, I was looking for color texture guide like the valve's one, but with photoshop included.
  • kite212
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    kite212 polycounter lvl 15
    Hi Toasty, thanks for reply. Had checked the T_Vidotto's guide just yesterday, I was looking for color texture guide like the valve's one, but with photoshop included.

    T_Vidotto's guide does use photoshop, and the Valve guide is using photoshop also, so not sure what exactly you are looking for
  • heboltz3
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    heboltz3 polycounter lvl 9
    Oops Sorry, wrong thread.
  • vector_meche
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    kite212 wrote: »
    T_Vidotto's guide does use photoshop, and the Valve guide is using photoshop also, so not sure what exactly you are looking for

    True they are using PS but they're showing only the results...I'm looking for process.
  • kite212
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    kite212 polycounter lvl 15
    True they are using PS but they're showing only the results...I'm looking for process.

    Still not sure what you are looking for, as these both do show the process, and T_Vidotto goes through the whole process in a step by step 3 part guide that provides way more details on each step. Really T_Vidotto's guide is the best you can possibly find on dota style texturing. If this is not making sense, maybe hit the wiki for some more general guides on the fundamentals: http://wiki.polycount.com/
  • EduardoMC
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    EduardoMC polycounter lvl 5
    Hey guys, where can I find the hitboxes for the hero models? The files Valve provides don't include them, and the SMD file doesn't have it either.

    Cheers,
    Eduardo
  • Markovnikov
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    Markovnikov polycounter lvl 6
    Is there a tutorial for how to do the full body gradient thing in Blender? T_Vidotto's tutorial only covers Maya.
  • GhostDetector
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    GhostDetector polycounter lvl 10
    @Markovnikov
    No

    But duplicate your low poly uv unwrap using "project from bounds" apply a gradient to the mesh and bake using the regular UVs
  • Markovnikov
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    Markovnikov polycounter lvl 6
    @GhostDetector: Ah, thank you! That's helped a lot!
  • EduardoMC
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    EduardoMC polycounter lvl 5
    What resolution should loading screens be handed in? And what format?

    Thanks!
  • Scruffnuf
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    Hello Everyone ,

    Is it possible to change a hero's texture for a set?
    I want to make a set for Sand king , but his chest needs some texture adjustments. is this possible?
  • KingTomislav
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    KingTomislav polycounter lvl 5
    Hi all. Im Tomislav, and im new to all this, bout 3d modeling and drawing via PC. And basically im stuck at the very beginning. After almost 2 weeks of googling, watching tutorials, reading forums and official steam dota 2 workshop guide, reading thru all this, im stuck at the very basic question as i was 2 weeks ago. What programs should i actually use? Im downloaded trial versions of maya, 3ds max and full latest version of blender. Maya 2015 was my first choice, but as i find out that MESA plug in don't work in it. 3ds max have working plugins but only untill version 2012. At least, that is as far as i was able to find out via google. So, i decided to go with blender. Its free, plus i kind of like it more then 3ds max, especially that 2012 version of max. BUT, as i started to learn and go true tutorials, i find out there are some problems with blender and assigning materials to model and some other stuff that are science fiction for me, i don't understand what they mean cause im a complete noob in 3d art. I have zero experience in it. But i do have big desire and a will to learn it all, and make my own items for dota 2 with realistic chance of getting them accepted in the shop. So with this prolongued introduction, im finally got to the point of making questions for you:

    1. With "blender is free, others are not" put a side for now, what is the program that is the most "dota 2 friendly"? I don't want to spend months of learning blender and hard work on my item, and then to discover it wont ever be accepted cause of some compatibility isues with something in dota 2 engine.

    2. Among you, are there people who actually made items with blender that got accepted in to shop? If yes, please post me every plug in, every extension, and other stuff i will need for it. There are many tutorials on google what to use with blender, but there are not so much up to date with latest version of blender... If there are not people who published item that got in to shop via blender, then back to question 1.

    3. For drawing in zbrush or similar specifically for dota 2, do you use tablet with some pencil or something? Should i invest in tablet? If so, can you recommend me some optimal, not to expensive, yet not the worst tablet i need to get the job done.

    Sorry for such long question, but im starting to get frustrated for not yet starting to learn how to work in programs and do stuff cause i feel like im stuck and going around in circles. There is so many information i got in this short time, learned so many things, yet im still at the starting point, and finish is very far away. Tnx
  • [NB] Mohsen
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    [NB] Mohsen polycounter lvl 3
    Hi all. Im Tomislav, and im new to all this, bout 3d modeling and drawing via PC. And basically im stuck at the very beginning. After almost 2 weeks of googling, watching tutorials, reading forums and official steam dota 2 workshop guide, reading thru all this, im stuck at the very basic question as i was 2 weeks ago. What programs should i actually use? Im downloaded trial versions of maya, 3ds max and full latest version of blender. Maya 2015 was my first choice, but as i find out that MESA plug in don't work in it. 3ds max have working plugins but only untill version 2012. At least, that is as far as i was able to find out via google. So, i decided to go with blender. Its free, plus i kind of like it more then 3ds max, especially that 2012 version of max. BUT, as i started to learn and go true tutorials, i find out there are some problems with blender and assigning materials to model and some other stuff that are science fiction for me, i don't understand what they mean cause im a complete noob in 3d art. I have zero experience in it. But i do have big desire and a will to learn it all, and make my own items for dota 2 with realistic chance of getting them accepted in the shop. So with this prolongued introduction, im finally got to the point of making questions for you:

    1. With "blender is free, others are not" put a side for now, what is the program that is the most "dota 2 friendly"? I don't want to spend months of learning blender and hard work on my item, and then to discover it wont ever be accepted cause of some compatibility isues with something in dota 2 engine.

    2. Among you, are there people who actually made items with blender that got accepted in to shop? If yes, please post me every plug in, every extension, and other stuff i will need for it. There are many tutorials on google what to use with blender, but there are not so much up to date with latest version of blender... If there are not people who published item that got in to shop via blender, then back to question 1.

    3. For drawing in zbrush or similar specifically for dota 2, do you use tablet with some pencil or something? Should i invest in tablet? If so, can you recommend me some optimal, not to expensive, yet not the worst tablet i need to get the job done.

    Sorry for such long question, but im starting to get frustrated for not yet starting to learn how to work in programs and do stuff cause i feel like im stuck and going around in circles. There is so many information i got in this short time, learned so many things, yet im still at the starting point, and finish is very far away. Tnx

    Hey I'm a blender artist myself. Honestly, there are some plugins, such as the dota 2 shader but that is only after you have completed whatever you are working on (so you can give it a render for the marketing image). Other than that, blender is just a tool like maya and 3DS max. The way I learned it was just watching simple tutorials on youtube by doing exactly what they were doing in the video. Another way to learn is to follow these folks on twitch and youtube. They sometimes are streaming or have uploaded footage of them doing their items on youtube. Of course you will need to get a graphics tablet. I use to work with a mouse and it was pretty hard honestly. But then I got a tablet and everything worked easier for me. The cheapest tablet that you could get would probably be from the wacom bamboo series. But generally, you would want to get a tablet that has pressure sensitivity. Other than that, you'll just learn along the way of doing items by yourself. There's no rush either, just watch tutorials and try to follow exactly what they do in them. Another big plus is that you would have a background in art studies. But then it's all up to you, whether you learn quickly or not it doesn't matter. Just try doing things in blender until you get the hang of it :D
  • KingTomislav
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    KingTomislav polycounter lvl 5
    Hey I'm a blender artist myself. Honestly, there are some plugins, such as the dota 2 shader but that is only after you have completed whatever you are working on (so you can give it a render for the marketing image). Other than that, blender is just a tool like maya and 3DS max. The way I learned it was just watching simple tutorials on youtube by doing exactly what they were doing in the video. Another way to learn is to follow these folks on twitch and youtube. They sometimes are streaming or have uploaded footage of them doing their items on youtube. Of course you will need to get a graphics tablet. I use to work with a mouse and it was pretty hard honestly. But then I got a tablet and everything worked easier for me. The cheapest tablet that you could get would probably be from the wacom bamboo series. But generally, you would want to get a tablet that has pressure sensitivity. Other than that, you'll just learn along the way of doing items by yourself. There's no rush either, just watch tutorials and try to follow exactly what they do in them. Another big plus is that you would have a background in art studies. But then it's all up to you, whether you learn quickly or not it doesn't matter. Just try doing things in blender until you get the hang of it :D

    Tnx for the reply!
    So that shader thing is only for creating that optional marketing image, cause render engines in blender don't show model as it would look in the game, but other than that, you can make item with blender with no problem that can be accepted in to shop? Blender it is then! :3
    I will get me a tablet then, after i learn to use blender with my eys closed. Let the fun begin!
  • KingTomislav
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    KingTomislav polycounter lvl 5
    Hi all, it's me again. Now i have a technical problem. I google it out, and didn't find solution. Im doing this space ship [ame]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=06A_l95vJWw&list=PLes9FmwJw5PZmaWIvUUKakqYMuttswvG6&index=13[/ame], followed tutorial untill 55 minute mark, and then i cant render it. Im getting that grey tiled picture which represent transparent background at the end, and nothing of my object. I restarted blender as Andrew Price suggested. No result. Then i restarted my PC, turned off everything in task bar, nothing. Still i get black image, (that transparent background actually) and nothing on it. It's cycles render. I even tried to turn off subsurface modifier and then render it, still the same. Could it be my hardware? Kind of doubt it. I have:

    AMD Radeon HD 6670 1024 mb
    AMD Athlon II X2 245 Processor 2.9ghz
    4 gb of RAM
    Windows 7 64 bit.

    Im noticed that in render panel, i don't have the option to choose GPU or CPU at all. I saw on tutorials many people have that "device" option where they can choose CPU or GPU. I read in the comments that some people have that grayed out, but i dont have that option at all, it's not exists. And, yes, i use 2.72 version of blender.
  • [NB] Mohsen
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    [NB] Mohsen polycounter lvl 3
    You probably dont have any lights in your scene. If you do, then they are too weak to be displayed
  • KingTomislav
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    KingTomislav polycounter lvl 5
    You probably dont have any lights in your scene. If you do, then they are too weak to be displayed
    You are right :). In this tutorial Andrew placed 3 objects in 3 diferent layers. But, i didnt noticed that he placed lights on those 2 layers, maybe he forgot to mention it. I had light in that first main layer, but not on other layers... So i placed lights in those layers, and now everything is working well, and i have completed this tutorial.
  • C0ldfir3
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    Hi guys and gals, have a few noobie questions I'm hoping I could get some help with.

    I'm doing my first retolopogy on an item. My LoD0 is 500, LoD1 is 350.

    1st question, I notice it being called "triangle limit" yet myself and a lot of people I have seen on here, use a lot if not mostly quads. Is that the same thing and if not what should I look for further down the line?

    2nd question, If I'm doing a perfect mirror of the item on both sides, does it count each face twice in my total or just once?

    3rd question, how do you go about making your LoD1. Do you make it immediately after finishing the LoD0 or push the first one all the way to the game. A bit confused on how to go about further reducing my retopology at this point.

    I'm using 3dcoat if that is of any relevance. Thanks!
  • hopgood
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    hopgood polycounter lvl 12
    It's a triangle limit. While you may be using quad's when retopologising you should always keep the tri limit in mind as every quad is 2 tri's.

    It's the total triangle count of the completed model. So if you model half of it using 250 Tri's then mirror it to complete the model you would have a 500 Tri LOD.

    Your mileage may vary on your last point. Some people will create the LOD0 and go all the way with textures and masks before even working on the LOD1. It comes down to personal preference here but you wouldn't be amiss to attempt the LOD1 creation sooner rather than later to make sure it's possible with your Geo. Especially if it's one of your first dota 2 models. You don't want to get all the way to the end and find your model is too ambitious for your LOD1
  • C0ldfir3
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    hopgood wrote: »
    It's a triangle limit. While you may be using quad's when retopologising you should always keep the tri limit in mind as every quad is 2 tri's.

    It's the total triangle count of the completed model. So if you model half of it using 250 Tri's then mirror it to complete the model you would have a 500 Tri LOD.

    Your mileage may vary on your last point. Some people will create the LOD0 and go all the way with textures and masks before even working on the LOD1. It comes down to personal preference here but you wouldn't be amiss to attempt the LOD1 creation sooner rather than later to make sure it's possible with your Geo. Especially if it's one of your first dota 2 models. You don't want to get all the way to the end and find your model is too ambitious for your LOD1


    Thanks. It seems I need to take my model back to Zbrush and take out some faces, I may have been a bit too ambitious for a first project

    AxR4cL3.png
  • C0ldfir3
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    Seems I have run in to another uncertain zone(which happens a lot).

    I'm reading on the workshop requirements page that the texture size should be 128Hx256W. Yet the texture files that you can download from the same location, for the same item slot are 512x1024, directly proportional but 4 times as large. What is the correct way to work with this? I've also noticed when some of you stream that the texture files tend to be on the bigger side.

    Do you make everything 4x then shrink it for the import?
  • Snowstorm
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    Snowstorm polycounter lvl 5
    C0ldfir3 wrote: »
    Seems I have run in to another uncertain zone(which happens a lot).

    I'm reading on the workshop requirements page that the texture size should be 128Hx256W. Yet the texture files that you can download from the same location, for the same item slot are 512x1024, directly proportional but 4 times as large. What is the correct way to work with this? I've also noticed when some of you stream that the texture files tend to be on the bigger side.

    Do you make everything 4x then shrink it for the import?

    You can work in whatever size you want as long as the final import uses the same aspect ratio as the required texture.

    For e.g. if I had a 128x256 texture, i might work on the image as a 1024x1024 image because that suits my workflow better. Later I would resize it to 512x1024 which has the same width:height ratio as the 128x256.

    Once you use the correct aspect ratio the importer will resize all your images to the required size e.g. 128x256.
  • Decion
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    Hello im new here, can anyone help me? I am a beginer but I know something abou 3ds max, I am trying to export my model to dota 2, but it appears in a wrong coordinate.
    I tried:

    Affect pivot - set to 0 all
    reset xform
    Add model to bone



    Attachment not found.

    Was to be a bow xD
  • C0ldfir3
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    Does anyone have a guide on how to properly connect a weapon to the hand to properly work in game("This model should primarily be bound to the bone: LWeapon_1") or just to copy the existing string from the stock weapon? I've never done any rigging so I imagine this will be a challenge. Using Maya.

    I've tried doing a "Bind skin" but that just moves the weapon upright in the position it has in the software.
  • SeeingTriangles
    @C0ldfir3: open the default model that Valve provides, put your own weapon model right on top of Valve's default weapon model, then bind it to the LWeapon_1 bone and only that bone. If you don't know which bone to bind your model to, you can always check the default model that Valve provides, see which area is bound to which bone, then try to do the same thing to your models. Hope that helped.
  • Decion
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    Anyone help me? I really want finish my item
  • whatever
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    Are you sure scale is on zero and positons?
  • Decion
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    Yes, I go to affect pivot only, then I change x y z to 0.


    Maybe cause Im using 3ds student version?
  • C0ldfir3
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    @C0ldfir3: open the default model that Valve provides, put your own weapon model right on top of Valve's default weapon model, then bind it to the LWeapon_1 bone and only that bone. If you don't know which bone to bind your model to, you can always check the default model that Valve provides, see which area is bound to which bone, then try to do the same thing to your models. Hope that helped.

    Sorry for delayed reply.

    The correct process for what I was trying to do is

    Skin->BindSkin->Smooth Bind->bind to: Selected Joints->Bind Skin

    if anyone needs it in the future.

    Also need to have the new element overlap the stock weapon and the required bind selected together with the new weapon. I was doing everything inbetween. Shout out to bounchfx for showing what I was doing wrong on stream!
  • ShorkGamer
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    ShorkGamer polycounter lvl 7
    [ame]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bDGW9f7FiuY[/ame]

    Here is a cool video for all of you that want to do samurai armor and armor in general!
  • spacemonkey
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    spacemonkey polycounter lvl 18
    hey guys, I was wondering if anyone has info on how to get a new effect show up for a courier?
    I'd like to be able to preview the courier with an effect in game, but the effects never show up.
    Any help would be appreciated!
  • Blackout
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    Hello I have one qustion and it's really simple for you professionals I think :) I read a ton o f guides and all that but I just can't understand why do you sculpt ultra-detailed model in zbrush per say or some similar application, when you have to scale it down anyways, basically I created a 1500 triangles ward (more like... eh... attempted to create it's my first model ever) so what should the next step be? I mean do I divide it and sculpt it and than rescale back to the budget? I really am stuck here as I am confused what should the next step be, here is what I got so far: (It is supposed to be floating rocks and on top the iconic ward eye) THanks a lot in advance! :)
    New_Text_Document_3.png
    geveanr7j
  • Toasty
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    The high poly sculpt doesn't get rescaled back to low poly budgets. The high poly detail is baked into the normal map. I'd suggest you have a look at some normal map baking tutorials to get a good grasp on it.
  • Blackout
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    Alright, I shall do that, thanks very much, just one laast question if you don't mind, what happens if the sculpted model is slightly smaller than the low-polay one? (sculptin a rock), shall I just rescale the normal map to fit the original (color) UV map?
  • Toasty
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    I'd make a copy of the the low poly model, rescale it to fit the high poly model, do the normal map bake, and then load the normal map onto the original size low poly model. It's very important for the baking process that both models are as close in size and shape to each other as possible.
  • PrivacyEnt
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    PrivacyEnt triangle
    Helloo ! Have anybody succesfully exported the CM arcana from the game here ?
    My route is like this;
    GCFScape -> Crowbar -> Wallworm in 3ds max.
    And the bones on the model are not skinned properly as in the game.
    How can I fix this ?
  • C0ldfir3
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    Hey everyone! I'm getting an error when I try to test one of my items in game. It works fine when I upload just the LoD1, but when I try to add the portrait LoD0 I get this

    Texture File Error!

    The WEARABLE ITEM model is using more than one material. Only one material is allowed for all the LODs in a model.
    Materials found:

    tri_UV_map_1:Default2
    tri_UV_map_3:Default1

    I do not have any files under the exact above name "tri_UV_map_" tho I have some things similar. Is there something I may have done incorrectly with my UV's? Only texture files in my folder are the normal, color and masks.
  • Reyne
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    Reyne polycounter lvl 6
    @C0ldfir3: I don't know about this issue specifically but I would go back to your modelling program and make sure that all of the geometry that you export is mapped in the one UV map. Then apply a default material to the whole mesh and export it again.
  • C0ldfir3
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    Reyne wrote: »
    @C0ldfir3: I don't know about this issue specifically but I would go back to your modelling program and make sure that all of the geometry that you export is mapped in the one UV map. Then apply a default material to the whole mesh and export it again.


    Should have mentioned I used 3dcoat for the retopo/UV, xnormal and photoshop in case any of that is helpful. I need to redo my UV map anyway because of some other issues, but I will try that and see if anything changes. I don't recall ever changing the material properties from default in the first place.

    If anyone else has any ideas let me know! I'm probably not doing something super obvious to anyone used to this. Just first set problems...
  • phazeddl
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    C0ldfir3 wrote: »
    Should have mentioned I used 3dcoat for the retopo/UV, xnormal and photoshop in case any of that is helpful. I need to redo my UV map anyway because of some other issues, but I will try that and see if anything changes. I don't recall ever changing the material properties from default in the first place.

    If anyone else has any ideas let me know! I'm probably not doing something super obvious to anyone used to this. Just first set problems...

    Hi C0ldfir3, I believe you have 2 different materials on lod0 and lod1 of your model. So just apply the same material to lods and export them again, and it should be fine.
  • Eddy Shin
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    Eddy Shin polycounter lvl 6
    Hi guys
    Im newbie and this is my first time i join dota 2 workshop.
    I have some problem with creating particles of Jug's sword. Can anyone help me how tơ creat them? :(
    Pls thx so much :(
    2015-04-02_00001_zps97bxy6hh.jpg
    juggernaut_zpsrargneem.jpg
  • bluegoon
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    My item keeps being invisible when uploading to Dota 2!

    I've tried binding to bones / rig on both Maya and Blender, but still the same, invisible item!

    My mask1 and mask2 are completely black, still trying to figure those out, could that be the problem?
  • Toasty
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    double check the alpha channel isn't black on your colour/and or normal map.
  • sworm
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    Help! That at the beginning of this video makes a man? Nurbs-Lynes?

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?t=31&v=Xl0r_649uDk
  • slosh
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    slosh hero character
    I am creating my first Dota 2 item, a courier. I am baking my maps and I am trying to figure out how to do the point light map mentioned in the Dota pdf. I have read that this is doable in modo or max. I want to do this in maya but have read that the function to do it in maya does not give you a result that looks like what Valve suggests in their pdf. Can someone point me in a direction for how to do a proper point light map if there is even such a resource? Thanks in advance!
  • jocz
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    jocz polygon
    oups, wrong thread!
  • Konras
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    Konras polycounter lvl 12
    @slosh I am not an maya expert, but using directional light, or point light placed high above model should work for this. If not you can bake object space normal map and one of the channels will be representation of top-down lightning (don't remember which R, B or G ^^').
  • Mataata
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    I'm kinda new to modeling and importing to Dota, and it seems like my masks aren't really working and my stuff isn't being lit. See? Metal shines and what not also refuse to appear.

    XZYvohB.jpg
    8Q2NzHS.png

    Can anyone help me with this? I'm using Blender.
  • Markovnikov
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    Markovnikov polycounter lvl 6
    Hey, does anyone have anything that can help me with rigging a shoulder item for Brewmaster? Weight panting pauldrons for him is proving to be a huge pain in the ass, so if anyone has any tips or can provide me with smd files for his existing cosmetics that's be great.

    @Mataata Have you done the shader mask pictures correctly? they control how the shaders affect the model.
  • Mataata
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    @Mataata Have you done the shader mask pictures correctly? they control how the shaders affect the model.

    I'm not sure, have I? My base texture looks like this while my mask 1 (metalness, or should be) looks like this. The second mask is basically the same but color scaled to orange/yellow. Does it have to be UV-perfect? I just used the magic wand tool to select the different areas. There's no problems when attempting to import the model.
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