SMESH Orientation?

[InnocentSam]

Hello!

Was trying out the new weapon mesh tools on a simple melee weapon. I've got the model working and all, except...

The model goes through the head! I've tried rotating the model/tags in the software (3DS Max) but changes nothing. Is this a barrier or is there a workaround?

Cheers!

 

[Donhonk]

Oh hey, Headless Horsemann's Headtaker! Also, probably the easiest way for me to figure it out would be to look at the FBX, mind uploading it? Thanks!

 

[InnocentSam]

Sure, it's attached

 

[Donhonk]

Sorry it took me a while to get back to you, but I was able to orient it right. I rotated the mesh itself 90 degrees and froze its rotation value. Looks good ingame to me! Also, heres a small thing Id add. Extract the specular map from the alpha of the normal map vtf from TF2. (99 percent sure thats where the specular map is with the Headtaker.) Then replace the specular file with that. Specular adds a lot to the look of a weapon!

 

[Meatplowz]

Yea, try to remember resetting the transforms on the mesh and making sure the mesh pivots are all at the origin. Use all the templates as reference for these kind of details.
Well done!

 

[InnocentSam]

Sorry it took me a while to get back to you, but I was able to orient it right. I rotated the mesh itself 90 degrees and froze its rotation value. Looks good ingame to me! Also, heres a small thing Id add. Extract the specular map from the alpha of the normal map vtf from TF2. (99 percent sure thats where the specular map is with the Headtaker.) Then replace the specular file with that. Specular adds a lot to the look of a weapon!

I'm not entirely sure how to freeze transform/rotation values. Is it:
"Alt+RightClick > Transform Quad > Freeze Transform or Freeze Rotation."
And I did play with specular and normal maps but they broke the model entirely (couldn't select it in store, for example). This could've actually been a different factor, but to be safe I just used diffuse at first

Yea, try to remember resetting the transforms on the mesh and making sure the mesh pivots are all at the origin. Use all the templates as reference for these kind of details.
Well done!

Thanks. They were at the origin originally (perfectly aligned with the template) but I must've moved it around when trying to fix it.

Thanks for the help guys; I'll see if I can get the model to its best later

 

[Donhonk]

I'm not entirely sure how to freeze transform/rotation values. Is it:
"Alt+RightClick > Transform Quad > Freeze Transform or Freeze Rotation."
And I did play with specular and normal maps but they broke the model entirely (couldn't select it in store, for example). This could've actually been a different factor, but to be safe I just used diffuse at first

Not too sure about 3DSMax myself, but that sounds right to me. Also, I think I know why the materials broke. Create and apply the small diffuse to your model, but still have the large counterpart in the folder. The converter will recognize that you have a large version and pack that appropriately into the high res materials.

 

[InnocentSam]

Not too sure about 3DSMax myself, but that sounds right to me. Also, I think I know why the materials broke. Create and apply the small diffuse to your model, but still have the large counterpart in the folder. The converter will recognize that you have a large version and pack that appropriately into the high res materials.

Well I made a specular (because the HHH lacks a $envmap) map, and a normal map (using NVidia plugins for Photoshop) and seems to look better, but the orientation is still broken. I tried "Freeze Rotation" and then exporting, but it gives an error and just does what it always does. The error is:

The plug-in has detected one or more animation controllers that cannot be directly supported. Using the Bake Animation option may better address these limitations. The following nodes are affected:
-RatStick

I tried the Bake Animation option (setting the frames from 0 to 0 because there is no animation) and that got rid of the error but then it still has the same rotation.

 

[Donhonk]

So, Im using Maya and when I imported it I did notice that the locators were linked to animation curves and it wouldnt let me edit their rotation until I deleted that connection in Maya's connection editor. Did you try looking at the FBX I attached up above? Try opening that up and see if theres any differences to notice.