nice
last thing, you need to set a material before exporting the model, that material need to be pointing to the VTM file, when exporting the smd check the "export relative material"
in the model viewer, model tab, check that material info on the botton
Really appreciate the help!!!
OK I'm not quite sure about this one: So I need to apply an standard material on my 3ds max model before I export? Because I can't find the 'export relative material'
In the model viewer, the material is referred to wire and material 3, this is also the case if I load the original model into the model viewer..
Edit: Ok I've applied a standard material to both lod version models and applied an diffuse map and normal map. After exporting, recompiling and viewing the model, I still can't see the texture but there's a different matrial applied.
hahaha a flying carpet, never thought of that, nice point you have
my girlfriend also complained about the strange mix i did
if im going to a pirate theme i should use something more related as the main animal, like a turtle, she said
humf, i was just wanting to use a firefox, lets try again =]
She kinda has a point. If you want to mix the Red Panda and Pirate, then use a theme suiting Chinese piracy.
And as far as the Carpet, do you have any pointers for doing a courier? My base sketch of how I'd do it might be a little too complicated, or wouldn't fit the universe http://i.imgur.com/CHeUF.jpg
@Helenek - people just loved the weasel, they want it all the time, there is a lot of comments like "i will never upgrade the courier" or "the weasel is so fluffy i wanna die!"
Silly me, it was 6am when I wrote that comment, I was delusional and seeing things with the lack of sleep. haha
Hey guys, working on the lina set I imported it into the test client to check it out. The alphas worked correctly in the importer, but when I viewed them in the game they were not working.
Is it because I need to re-unpack my pak files? Or does the importer preview always show alpha even on heroes that don't have it enabled?
Congrats to all the winners! Great work Valve choose there, I'm affraid my work won't make it will all those great entry's.
Still can't figure out how to get the texture working, the strange thing though is I can't get the original files of Zeus after decompiling work either. The alien swarm sdk model viewer just won't let me view the zuus model with textures. All the other models work perfectly
Can someone test if their zuus model can load the textures?
This is my workflow for now:
- Attached a standard material with the (basetexture) zuus_color as diffuse
map in 3ds max to both lod models.
- Exporting both lod models with bones as .smd
- After exporting, checking the files with notepad if the correct texture is
mentioned (which is)
- Compiling the .mdl File with cannonfodders studiocompiler (no errors)
- Copying the files from the dota 2 test to the (decompiled) adjusted folder,
which I also use to view the models with the model viewer
- The material and textures are allready in the (materials/models/heroes/zuus)
folder
- In the folder there is 1 .vmt and a color, normal, mask1 and mask 2 vtf file.
(just like the original)
After the first try which didn't work. I changed the .qc so there is material path mentiond:
$cdmaterials "models\heroes\zuus\zuus_color"
That only didn't helped either...........
By the way isn't there anyone exept for Tvidotto that can help? I've read the entire thread yesterday and some ppl really should be ashamed of themselves. If they need help they like to recieve but insead of helping others afterwards they keep their mouths shut.. If nobody shares their thoughts a lot of you ppl wouldn't got this far either...
Congrats to all the winners! Great work Valve choose there, I'm affraid my work won't make it will all those great entry's.
Still can't figure out how to get the texture working, the strange thing though is I can't get the original files of Zeus after decompiling work either. The alien swarm sdk model viewer just won't let me view the zuus model with textures. All the other models work perfectly
Can someone test if their zuus model can load the textures?
This is my workflow for now:
- Attached a standard material with the (basetexture) zuus_color as diffuse
map in 3ds max to both lod models.
- Exporting both lod models with bones as .smd
- After exporting, checking the files with notepad if the correct texture is
mentioned (which is)
- Compiling the .mdl File with cannonfodders studiocompiler (no errors)
- Copying the files from the dota 2 test to the (decompiled) adjusted folder,
which I also use to view the models with the model viewer
- The material and textures are allready in the (materials/models/heroes/zuus)
folder
- In the folder there is 1 .vmt and a color, normal, mask1 and mask 2 vtf file.
(just like the original)
After the first try which didn't work. I changed the .qc so there is material path mentiond:
$cdmaterials "models\heroes\zuus\zuus_color"
That only didn't helped either...........
By the way isn't there anyone exept for Tvidotto that can help? I've read the entire thread yesterday and some ppl really should be ashamed of themselves. If they need help they like to recieve but insead of helping others afterwards they keep their mouths shut.. If nobody shares their thoughts a lot of you ppl wouldn't got this far either...
dont get mad with the guys =], its just a few guys that are crazy enought to go thought this process, i like to help because that gave me soo much headaches that i dont want it for anyone else =]
check this on the model viewer, tab model
the material used, should be pointing to your model texture, if not is a problem when exporting
if its ok is a problem with you texture or vtm file
Well it probably came over a bit harsh, but it's giving and taking and not just taking..
I'm very happy your taking all that time and effort into helping!
Well I'm affraid there's still an export problem then, the material used is referred to zuus_color and there's no path showing there. Is this a .qc problem or is it allready a problem with exporting the .smd
Do you use the .vtf on your material or just the .tga texture when you export the .smd?
It's probably something very small that's screwing up again. And as you mentioned it cna be really frustrating and it's giving me a headache for sure.
Well it probably came over a bit harsh, but it's giving and taking and not just taking..
I'm very happy your taking all that time and effort into helping!
Well I'm affraid there's still an export problem then, the material used is referred to zuus_color and there's no path showing there. Is this a .qc problem or is it allready a problem with exporting the .smd
Do you use the .vtf on your material or just the .tga texture when you export the .smd?
It's probably something very small that's screwing up again. And as you mentioned it cna be really frustrating and it's giving me a headache for sure.
hehehe no problem =]
1- on my material i use the vtf file, but that is not much a real problem because when you export you smd the path that will go doesnt have the extension, but keep using the vtf, its guaranteed that will work
2- no, i dont use the tga, just the vtf
check if you applied the correct material and export, open your smd file on a text program (notepad ++) and check if it have the path of your texture there
check also if you are naming correctlly the textures and they are on the material/models/heroes/zuus
@Andyk125 I was thinking about something. Have you tried editing the scripts and using the dota 2 test client compiler instead? If you try find one hero that is similar to Zuus and copy the loadout slots to zuus parts in the scripts. You should be able to get it working in the dota 2 itemtester.
1- on my material i use the vtf file, but that is not much a real problem because when you export you smd the path that will go doesnt have the extension, but keep using the vtf, its guaranteed that will work
2- no, i dont use the tga, just the vtf
check if you applied the correct material and export, open your smd file on a text program (notepad ++) and check if it have the path of your texture there
check also if you are naming correctlly the textures and they are on the material/models/heroes/zuus
If I check the smd file with the notepad, it only says: zuus_color as a texture not a path, maybe that's the problem? Not home at the moment so it's a bit hard for me to test ist, but if i get back home I will have a look into that.
That just might work, also I need to download a different program for using vtf in 3ds max, but that shoudln't be a problem. I think I never used so many programs to compile, decompile, export and import files
@Andyk125 I was thinking about something. Have you tried editing the scripts and using the dota 2 test client compiler instead? If you try find one hero that is similar to Zuus and copy the loadout slots to zuus parts in the scripts. You should be able to get it working in the dota 2 itemtester.
Thanks for also trying to find an solution, but I think that will be a bit over my head because I'm no coder at all, so editing teh scripts will allready be a challenge :P I did try and find similar heroes and get information from them, but zuus is the only hero that doesn't have item slots at all. He's just one mesh, with one material. Which should make it easier, but apperently not for me..
If I check the smd file with the notepad, it only says: zuus_color as a texture not a path, maybe that's the problem? Not home at the moment so it's a bit hard for me to test ist, but if i get back home I will have a look into that.
That just might work, also I need to download a different program for using vtf in 3ds max, but that shoudln't be a problem. I think I never used so many programs to compile, decompile, export and import files
Thanks for also trying to find an solution, but I think that will be a bit over my head because I'm no coder at all, so editing teh scripts will allready be a challenge :P I did try and find similar heroes and get information from them, but zuus is the only hero that doesn't have item slots at all. He's just one mesh, with one material. Which should make it easier, but apperently not for me..
hey guys, what was that thing that we need to do to avoid the 30% cut on the workshop payment?
If you goto update payment info on your workshop page and then click the FAQ at the top they have a bunch of good info.
Just in case
Q. What's a Form W-8BEN and why do I need to complete it?
A. Generally, a foreign person is subject to U.S. tax on its U.S. source income. Most types of U.S. source income received by a foreign person are subject to a U.S. tax rate of 30%. A reduced rate, including exemption, may apply if there is an income tax treaty between the foreign person's country of residence and the United States. In order to exercise the benefits under the income tax treaty, you will need to complete a Form W-8BEN, "Certificate of Foreign Status of Beneficial Owner for United States Tax Withholding".
You will need to apply for an Individual Taxpayer Identification Number (ITIN) in order to complete the Form W-8BEN. Applying for an ITIN for purposes to exercise the benefits under the tax treaty does not require you to file a U.S. tax return.
Q. What's a Form W-8BEN and why do I need to complete it?
A. Generally, a foreign person is subject to U.S. tax on its U.S. source income. Most types of U.S. source income received by a foreign person are subject to a U.S. tax rate of 30%. A reduced rate, including exemption, may apply if there is an income tax treaty between the foreign person's country of residence and the United States. In order to exercise the benefits under the income tax treaty, you will need to complete a Form W-8BEN, "Certificate of Foreign Status of Beneficial Owner for United States Tax Withholding".
You will need to apply for an Individual Taxpayer Identification Number (ITIN) in order to complete the Form W-8BEN. Applying for an ITIN for purposes to exercise the benefits under the tax treaty does not require you to file a U.S. tax return.
humf, i think my country doesnt support that
that is what appears when i try another country like united states
I think your best bet is to email the finance department, they should be able to help you out and give you a answer you can trust. Best way to go especially when your talking about money. Really hope they can help
I think your best bet is to email the finance department, they should be able to help you out and give you a answer you can trust. Best way to go especially when your talking about money. Really hope they can help
Anytime, and if all else fails at least your exchange rate is in your favor
unfortunatelly just for things produced here like food or clothes, everything foreing is already taxed, and the price got doubled in dollar, when it exchanges to brazilian reals got doubled again...
if someone need to hire an animator im up to get out of here =]
unfortunatelly just for things produced here like food or clothes, everything foreing is already taxed, and the price got doubled in dollar, when it exchanges to brazilian reals got doubled again...
if someone need to hire an animator im up to get out of here =]
Sorry to hear that mate, sounds like some pretty unfair economics
Oh wait you would wait like a half of the year for the 2% more earnings? I find it not very good. If its not 7% and more, its not even worthy the waiting and the stress from it.
Oh wait you would wait like a half of the year for the 2% more earnings? I find it not very good. If its not 7% and more, its not even worthy the waiting.
the 28 or 30% is if you DONT fill the form (as far as i know), with that form filled is zero% (plz correct me someone if im wrong)
Tvidotto, i don´t think you would have any problems getting a job as an animator in another country. If you don't have any problems with a cold climate you could always apply for some jobs here in Sweden. Developers are really in need of artists here. A bit hard to find a place to live in Stockholm perhaps i should say.
After testing again for almost one hour I finially can see my textures, it's not quitte as I hoped, but for some reason the original decompiled files don't show me the .vmt for zuus, so I don't have a great reference..
Just another question, why is the resolution so terrible? I thought the max resultion for a heroe is 1024x512 with all maps. But because my zuus model only got 1 map I can use the 1024x512? Or is this being compressed as well?
Going to finish my textures first before testing more..
Hi everyone. I couldn't finish my lancer set in time for the contest but recently i've finished texturing the parts and they are ready to go, except for one small fault. For some reason, my normal maps don't seem to work well in steam engine. I've baked them in 3dsMAX, the channels are the same as MAX viewport, they are 24-bit tga files and I don't understand what's wrong. Please help me if anything comes to your mind.
You can see the seam here and normal maps also produce cracks on flat surfaces like his shoulderpad. It seems like an issue with triangulation but I'm not sure.
I think I've tried every possible combination and concluded that it's not related to the channels. Besides, shouldn't they work well if they look correct in the MAX viewport without any adjustment?
Edit: I also get an "edges rotated / changed to editable mesh" error from MAX when I'm exporting as FBX but I didn't think that's a serious problem.
I think I've tried every possible combination and concluded that it's not related to the channels. Besides, shouldn't they work well if they look correct in the MAX viewport without any adjustment?
Edit: I also get an "edges rotated / changed to editable mesh" error from MAX when I'm exporting as FBX but I didn't think that's a serious problem.
I also have these problems, what I normally do to solve this is to render the UV layout and look if the normal or diffuse texture are to close to the borders. Make sure you have enough space over your UV layout..
If you look close to my last post you can see the same problem, normally if I do the above the problem is solved.
I have this problem all over the place so I don't think it's related to uvw setup either.
Here's a screenshot of my item in the Alienswarm SDK viewer. Aside from the metalness channel bug and the artifacts, it doesn't have any problems and the normal channels look fine.
I think I've tried every possible combination and concluded that it's not related to the channels. Besides, shouldn't they work well if they look correct in the MAX viewport without any adjustment?
Edit: I also get an "edges rotated / changed to editable mesh" error from MAX when I'm exporting as FBX but I didn't think that's a serious problem.
Hi marul. I thought that maybe my method will be able to help you with mirrored models. It worked for me, maybe it will be somewhat helpful for other. Good luck with your character!!
If someone will find any errors, please let me know
@marul: The Normal in the Max shader (that Drew and me concocted) can be inverted, hence why I said Flip the G channel, since that solves 99% of the seams issues related to the Normal map.
So yes, what you see in the Max shader is correct, but not if the Normal map's Green channel has been flipped and IIRC, Max channels are not the same as Source channels, since source IIRC, uses the XNormal channels (+X, +Y, +Z?).
With that said, it also could be a padding issue, give your UV's enough room so you can get at least 8-10 pixels of padding going on.
Also, I don't Alienswarm is using the correct stuff to display the model since the shader is hacky from what I gathered.
@Konras: Just keep it simple, the less you fiddle with stuff like the Normal modifier and keep vertices closed, the better since they're not performance friendly if you don't. I suggest taking a look at some of the sticky threads in Technical to learn more.
Split your Smoothing groups by UV islands, just use the symmetry on the pieces that need them without breaking them, make sure they're welded and just offset them in the UV editor.
Also, NEVER bake a Normal map and edit your geometry later on, please don't do that, it's a bad habit that serves no purpose other then breaking your tangent data on mesh to your Normal maps and having to manually fix with modifiers that might or not export the correct data to the engine and actually contribute to performance issues.
@Ninja: If you mean Valve should write documentation like Konsas did, then not really, since this is baking and modeling 201 that people in the industry do all the time.
If you mean Valve should write documentation on how to import your model in DOTA2, and actually give technical information of the export pipeline and if such data like Tangents, Blends, etc and how they're processed, then I agree, since that seems to be somewhat lacking.
Ace-Angel I read most, if not all threads about normalmaps here and there. Most important is of course to know what are you doing. You are right that one should not modify geometry after baking, but the reason is that he can change UVs or Vertex normals accidentally. If those two factors stay the same as before bake, which is a reason for edit normal modifier (bring back vertex normals to pre split state - average theme), everything is fine. Of course if export process is able to transfer custom vertex normals info, and for dota 2 that seems to work correctly.
The reason for presenting splitting mesh method is this information found on Valves workshop site : http://www.dota2.com/workshop/requirements
"To achieve better texture details you can overlap UVs on symmetrical or repeating parts of the model but do not weld them through. Internally we offset overlapping UVs +1 in U direction"
So as far as I understand the engine don't handle well blending/mipmapping/transition on mirrored edge.
Anyway Ace-Angel thanks for having an eye on community! I really appreciate your feedback and I agree that this method could and probably would not work in different environment, and should not be treated as general tutorial. Its just my specific DOTA2 workflow that I wanted to share, even if it was meant to help just one person
ps. after you modify you mesh with collapsed edit normals modifier you're doomed and you need to reset and tweak normals once more
Oh wait you would wait like a half of the year for the 2% more earnings? I find it not very good. If its not 7% and more, its not even worthy the waiting and the stress from it.
I'm not talented when it comes to math but when i looked at this the 30% equates to an additional 7.5% off the top. Leaving you with 17.5% which your country of residence will then tax you on.
when I had to set up my bank info that shit was pretty much mandatory
you best start working on it now or you'll be in for a hell of a long wait
I had 7 months before my first payments for the fastlearner
So yes, what you see in the Max shader is correct, but not if the Normal map's Green channel has been flipped and IIRC, Max channels are not the same as Source channels, since source IIRC, uses the XNormal channels (+X, +Y, +Z?).
Source uses Max Standard, X+ Y- Z+. They confuse it though by releasing source files with X+ Y+ Z+. I created a thread on the dev forum about it and I don't think they changed the released files at all.
@Konras: thanks for the info, I tried your method but the results didn't change. The minor cracks issue is not a serious one so I gave up, I'm gonna send the models like that.
The seam on the "shendyt" was because of my masks, I've found and fixed that problem.
when I had to set up my bank info that shit was pretty much mandatory
you best start working on it now or you'll be in for a hell of a long wait
I had 7 months before my first payments for the fastlearner
unfortunatelly my country doesnt support that form, so i will need to accept that 30% loss..
Tvidotto, i don´t think you would have any problems getting a job as an animator in another country. If you don't have any problems with a cold climate you could always apply for some jobs here in Sweden. Developers are really in need of artists here. A bit hard to find a place to live in Stockholm perhaps i should say.
there is that visa issue, there is an extra work to hire a foreign person. Thanks for you kind words =]
Got my lina textures. Trying to keep in mind the blog post when texturing, so I didnt go super crazy with the colours, but decided a little bit of green wouldn't hurt if it was a warm green
Got my lina textures. Trying to keep in mind the blog post when texturing, so I didnt go super crazy with the colours, but decided a little bit of green wouldn't hurt if it was a warm green
I do not think the necklace fits, but besides that the rest of it looks great.
Great to see that also ppl that think out of the box, and don't keep everything in the same style can win! Naga Siren Exile is the perfect example, and then everybody here keeps pushing everyone that they can't use different texture colors etc.. Well it seems you can if you execute it well!
Started working on a concept for Bounty Hunter, going for a persian style. It's not finished, still need to figure out the back. After all those stupid sdk problems I needed to start something different, also my photshop file from zuus is screwed up and couldn't open it anymore (luckily I have an old backup), so that was the last drop it's going into the freezer for a week
Replies
Really appreciate the help!!!
OK I'm not quite sure about this one: So I need to apply an standard material on my 3ds max model before I export? Because I can't find the 'export relative material'
In the model viewer, the material is referred to wire and material 3, this is also the case if I load the original model into the model viewer..
Edit: Ok I've applied a standard material to both lod version models and applied an diffuse map and normal map. After exporting, recompiling and viewing the model, I still can't see the texture but there's a different matrial applied.
She kinda has a point. If you want to mix the Red Panda and Pirate, then use a theme suiting Chinese piracy.
And as far as the Carpet, do you have any pointers for doing a courier? My base sketch of how I'd do it might be a little too complicated, or wouldn't fit the universe http://i.imgur.com/CHeUF.jpg
Silly me, it was 6am when I wrote that comment, I was delusional and seeing things with the lack of sleep. haha
Is it because I need to re-unpack my pak files? Or does the importer preview always show alpha even on heroes that don't have it enabled?
They tottaly deserved =]
http://www.polycount.com/forum/showthread.php?t=113390
Still can't figure out how to get the texture working, the strange thing though is I can't get the original files of Zeus after decompiling work either. The alien swarm sdk model viewer just won't let me view the zuus model with textures. All the other models work perfectly
Can someone test if their zuus model can load the textures?
This is my workflow for now:
- Attached a standard material with the (basetexture) zuus_color as diffuse
map in 3ds max to both lod models.
- Exporting both lod models with bones as .smd
- After exporting, checking the files with notepad if the correct texture is
mentioned (which is)
- Compiling the .mdl File with cannonfodders studiocompiler (no errors)
- Copying the files from the dota 2 test to the (decompiled) adjusted folder,
which I also use to view the models with the model viewer
- The material and textures are allready in the (materials/models/heroes/zuus)
folder
- In the folder there is 1 .vmt and a color, normal, mask1 and mask 2 vtf file.
(just like the original)
After the first try which didn't work. I changed the .qc so there is material path mentiond:
$cdmaterials "models\heroes\zuus\zuus_color"
That only didn't helped either...........
By the way isn't there anyone exept for Tvidotto that can help? I've read the entire thread yesterday and some ppl really should be ashamed of themselves. If they need help they like to recieve but insead of helping others afterwards they keep their mouths shut.. If nobody shares their thoughts a lot of you ppl wouldn't got this far either...
dont get mad with the guys =], its just a few guys that are crazy enought to go thought this process, i like to help because that gave me soo much headaches that i dont want it for anyone else =]
check this on the model viewer, tab model
the material used, should be pointing to your model texture, if not is a problem when exporting
if its ok is a problem with you texture or vtm file
I'm very happy your taking all that time and effort into helping!
Well I'm affraid there's still an export problem then, the material used is referred to zuus_color and there's no path showing there. Is this a .qc problem or is it allready a problem with exporting the .smd
Do you use the .vtf on your material or just the .tga texture when you export the .smd?
It's probably something very small that's screwing up again. And as you mentioned it cna be really frustrating and it's giving me a headache for sure.
hehehe no problem =]
1- on my material i use the vtf file, but that is not much a real problem because when you export you smd the path that will go doesnt have the extension, but keep using the vtf, its guaranteed that will work
2- no, i dont use the tga, just the vtf
check if you applied the correct material and export, open your smd file on a text program (notepad ++) and check if it have the path of your texture there
check also if you are naming correctlly the textures and they are on the material/models/heroes/zuus
If I check the smd file with the notepad, it only says: zuus_color as a texture not a path, maybe that's the problem? Not home at the moment so it's a bit hard for me to test ist, but if i get back home I will have a look into that.
That just might work, also I need to download a different program for using vtf in 3ds max, but that shoudln't be a problem. I think I never used so many programs to compile, decompile, export and import files
Thanks for also trying to find an solution, but I think that will be a bit over my head because I'm no coder at all, so editing teh scripts will allready be a challenge :P I did try and find similar heroes and get information from them, but zuus is the only hero that doesn't have item slots at all. He's just one mesh, with one material. Which should make it easier, but apperently not for me..
you should have something like that on the smd
you can also get the notepad ++ to find an replace the repeated lines
those lines repeat to the end of the file, mine is like 14k lines
I think that's the problem, I only have zuus_color standing on those lines. Will try to change it when I get back home, thanks!
If you goto update payment info on your workshop page and then click the FAQ at the top they have a bunch of good info.
Just in case
Q. What's a Form W-8BEN and why do I need to complete it?
A. Generally, a foreign person is subject to U.S. tax on its U.S. source income. Most types of U.S. source income received by a foreign person are subject to a U.S. tax rate of 30%. A reduced rate, including exemption, may apply if there is an income tax treaty between the foreign person's country of residence and the United States. In order to exercise the benefits under the income tax treaty, you will need to complete a Form W-8BEN, "Certificate of Foreign Status of Beneficial Owner for United States Tax Withholding".
You will need to apply for an Individual Taxpayer Identification Number (ITIN) in order to complete the Form W-8BEN. Applying for an ITIN for purposes to exercise the benefits under the tax treaty does not require you to file a U.S. tax return.
humf, i think my country doesnt support that
that is what appears when i try another country like united states
it means that i cannot avoid that 30%?
http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=112901580&searchtext=
financevalve@valvesoftware.com
i hope so, thanks, i will try that
Anytime, and if all else fails at least your exchange rate is in your favor
unfortunatelly just for things produced here like food or clothes, everything foreing is already taxed, and the price got doubled in dollar, when it exchanges to brazilian reals got doubled again...
if someone need to hire an animator im up to get out of here =]
Sorry to hear that mate, sounds like some pretty unfair economics
Oh wait you would wait like a half of the year for the 2% more earnings? I find it not very good. If its not 7% and more, its not even worthy the waiting and the stress from it.
the 28 or 30% is if you DONT fill the form (as far as i know), with that form filled is zero% (plz correct me someone if im wrong)
Just another question, why is the resolution so terrible? I thought the max resultion for a heroe is 1024x512 with all maps. But because my zuus model only got 1 map I can use the 1024x512? Or is this being compressed as well?
Going to finish my textures first before testing more..
You can see the seam here and normal maps also produce cracks on flat surfaces like his shoulderpad. It seems like an issue with triangulation but I'm not sure.
Edit: I also get an "edges rotated / changed to editable mesh" error from MAX when I'm exporting as FBX but I didn't think that's a serious problem.
I also have these problems, what I normally do to solve this is to render the UV layout and look if the normal or diffuse texture are to close to the borders. Make sure you have enough space over your UV layout..
If you look close to my last post you can see the same problem, normally if I do the above the problem is solved.
Here's a screenshot of my item in the Alienswarm SDK viewer. Aside from the metalness channel bug and the artifacts, it doesn't have any problems and the normal channels look fine.
Hi marul. I thought that maybe my method will be able to help you with mirrored models. It worked for me, maybe it will be somewhat helpful for other. Good luck with your character!!
If someone will find any errors, please let me know
youtube got some of that, listed are 3dsmax, maya, blender, ect.
So yes, what you see in the Max shader is correct, but not if the Normal map's Green channel has been flipped and IIRC, Max channels are not the same as Source channels, since source IIRC, uses the XNormal channels (+X, +Y, +Z?).
With that said, it also could be a padding issue, give your UV's enough room so you can get at least 8-10 pixels of padding going on.
Also, I don't Alienswarm is using the correct stuff to display the model since the shader is hacky from what I gathered.
@Konras: Just keep it simple, the less you fiddle with stuff like the Normal modifier and keep vertices closed, the better since they're not performance friendly if you don't. I suggest taking a look at some of the sticky threads in Technical to learn more.
Split your Smoothing groups by UV islands, just use the symmetry on the pieces that need them without breaking them, make sure they're welded and just offset them in the UV editor.
Also, NEVER bake a Normal map and edit your geometry later on, please don't do that, it's a bad habit that serves no purpose other then breaking your tangent data on mesh to your Normal maps and having to manually fix with modifiers that might or not export the correct data to the engine and actually contribute to performance issues.
@Ninja: If you mean Valve should write documentation like Konsas did, then not really, since this is baking and modeling 201 that people in the industry do all the time.
If you mean Valve should write documentation on how to import your model in DOTA2, and actually give technical information of the export pipeline and if such data like Tangents, Blends, etc and how they're processed, then I agree, since that seems to be somewhat lacking.
The reason for presenting splitting mesh method is this information found on Valves workshop site : http://www.dota2.com/workshop/requirements
"To achieve better texture details you can overlap UVs on symmetrical or repeating parts of the model but do not weld them through. Internally we offset overlapping UVs +1 in U direction"
So as far as I understand the engine don't handle well blending/mipmapping/transition on mirrored edge.
Anyway Ace-Angel thanks for having an eye on community! I really appreciate your feedback and I agree that this method could and probably would not work in different environment, and should not be treated as general tutorial. Its just my specific DOTA2 workflow that I wanted to share, even if it was meant to help just one person
ps. after you modify you mesh with collapsed edit normals modifier you're doomed
I'm not talented when it comes to math but when i looked at this the 30% equates to an additional 7.5% off the top. Leaving you with 17.5% which your country of residence will then tax you on.
you best start working on it now or you'll be in for a hell of a long wait
I had 7 months before my first payments for the fastlearner
Source uses Max Standard, X+ Y- Z+. They confuse it though by releasing source files with X+ Y+ Z+. I created a thread on the dev forum about it and I don't think they changed the released files at all.
day 2 result is out~ congratulation anuxi .
The seam on the "shendyt" was because of my masks, I've found and fixed that problem.
Thanks everyone for being so helpful here.
unfortunatelly my country doesnt support that form, so i will need to accept that 30% loss..
there is that visa issue, there is an extra work to hire a foreign person. Thanks for you kind words =]
I do not think the necklace fits, but besides that the rest of it looks great.
Great to see that also ppl that think out of the box, and don't keep everything in the same style can win! Naga Siren Exile is the perfect example, and then everybody here keeps pushing everyone that they can't use different texture colors etc.. Well it seems you can if you execute it well!
Started working on a concept for Bounty Hunter, going for a persian style. It's not finished, still need to figure out the back. After all those stupid sdk problems I needed to start something different, also my photshop file from zuus is screwed up and couldn't open it anymore (luckily I have an old backup), so that was the last drop it's going into the freezer for a week