Warcraft III to HoMM.V Creature Conversion Guideline

• Initial actions
• Export as FBX to create proper 3DSmax bones
• Applying a proper model size
• Applying proper model orientation
• Baking the root bone's scale
• Exporting the Granny 2 skeleton
• Exporting the animations
• Creating new animations
• Tools

Initial actions

• 01 Start 3DSmax7;

• 01b Set 3DSmax's Units to 1 unit = 1 centimeter;
  

• 02 Load the max file created with 3DSmax 5.1;

• 03 Delete all unused geometry and bones

        

  Look for bones named 'Dummy..', or 'hero'. A 'hero' object usually refers to a kind of bone for the hero's glow geometry. I also recommend removing meshes and bones related to effects: it should be possible to attach existing HoMM.V effects later. But watch out: sometimes I've wrongly removed bones (like 'TeamColor') which don't have keyframes but are used for skinning only. A new schematic view in hierarchy mode will reveal all 'loose' objects, which can be selected in that scheme, to be deleted thereafter. The menu of a schematic view also offers the possibility to show all 'relations', usually only being 'Skin' relations. Bones or bone-like objects which are not listed in the relations table can usually be deleted (except 'Bone_Root'). You also want to check the bones listed with the 'Skin' modifier for each geometry. It occurs frequently that bones are listed more than once. In case a bone is listed more than once, then you can switch to 'Skin Editing' mode in order to check whether any vertices are bound to the specific list item. These bindings can be seen best if you switch the perspective viewport to 'Wireframe'.

  
  

• 04 Select all geometry parts and hide them;

• 05 Select the root bone (usually called "Bone_Root", or "Global");
  
  

• 06 Check this object's properties:
  

  (a). What is it's position ?   Is it other than the scene origin ? ;
  (b). Is it influencing any vertices (is it used for skinning) ? ;
  (c). Is it animated ? (check whether it has non-null keyframes).
  

  
  

• 07 In case (a) and/or (b) and/or (c) apply, then create a new root bone.
  
  

  To create a new root bone,
  - click the 'Create' tab in the sidepanel, and click the button <Box>;
  - open the roll-out "Keyboard Entry", and type 2.0 for the new box's Length, Width, and Height;
  - click the button <Create> to have it in the scene;
  - go to the Modify tab in the sidepanel to change the name of the box from "Box01" to "Global".

• 07b In case you created a new root bone, and  the old root bone is called "Bone_Root", then rename it "Bone_Rot" (where 'rot' is short for 'rotation');
  

• 08 Link the new root bone to the old root bone;
  
  

  To link the new root bone,
  - select the 'old' root bone;
  - click the <Select and Link> button in the button bar (to the right of the <Redo> button);
  - hold the mouse pointer over the 'old' root bone object: the mouse pointer will change;
  - at this point left-click and HOLD on the 'old' root bone object once;
  - drag the mouse to reveal a dotted line;
  - move the mouse over the new root bone: the mouse pointer will change again, now release the left mouse button on the new root bone;
  - exit this 'Link Creation Mode' by clicking the <Select Object> button in the button bar;
  - select the new root bone;
  - select the menu option <Character><Bone Tools>, and tick the checkbox "Bone On";
  - close the Bone Tools and go to the sidepanel Display tab;
  - open the 'Link Display' roll-out, and tick the checkboxes 'Display Links' and 'Link Replaces Object'.



• 09 Check the model's hierarchy:
  

  - Select the menu item <Graph Editors><New Schematic View>;
  - In the new window select the menu item <Options><Hierarchy Mode>;
  




• 10 If the model's hierarchy is OK then continue by selecting all bones and hiding them.
        If you find any 'unlinked' objects (bones), either re-establish a link to an appropriate parent / sibling object,
         or simply delete them in case an intended link isn't obvious;

• 11 Select the objects left over, and click the menu item <Character><Bone Tools>;

3DSmax7 Bone Tools window

• 12 Tick the checkbox "Bone On";

• 13 Unhide all, and check the animation for possible disruption;

• 14 Click the <Time Configuration> button in the right-lower corner of the 3DSmax window;

• 15 In the "FPS"-box, type 30. Tick the NTSC option under "Frame Rate";

• 16 Type an appropriate end time in the "End Time"-box (usually you won't need the entire timeline);

3DSmax7 configurations for the entire animation timeline.

• 17 Click <OK>. The timeline will be clipped to the end time you specified.
        Play the animation again to check for disruption;
  
  

Export as FBX to create proper 3DSmax bones

• 18 Export as FBX. I usually enter a scale factor (usually about 2% to 0.5% (NB: 0.02 == 2%)), but it won't be effective at this stage.
  
  

  In order to calculate the scale factor, you might want to do a grouping of all geometry at this point.
  When grouped, it's easier to get the entire geometry's height from the grouped object's properties.
  Eventually import a reference HoMM.V creature (eg. as 3DS file) and compare creature heights.
  Calculate the scale factor from the z-dimensions of both creatures.
  Remember to undo the grouping before exporting as FBX (**).

  
  Note 1: exporting as FBX will undo any 'Vertex Weld' modifiers. This is a good thing: don't reapply this modifier (**).
  Note 2: FBX export will also - to some extent - take care of orphaned or unused bones.
  

3DSmax7 FBX Exporter window

• 19 Save as max file and reset;

• 20 Click the menu item <File><Import>, select the file type FBX / DAE, and select the exported FBX file;

• 21 Click OK to start importing. The FBX import window will appear.
        Select the animation "Take 001" and tick the option "Merge" under "Import Options":

3DSmax7 FBX Importer window

• 22 In the FBX import window, click the button <More...> directly under "Import Configuration" (to the right of the "Bones" checkbox);

• 23 A new window will appear. Tick the checkbox "Leave as Bone";

3DSmax7 FBX Importer bone configuration

• 24 In the FBX import window, click the button <More...> to the right of the "Animation" checkbox;

• 25 A new window will appear. Set the textbox "Resampling Rate" to 30.0 (instead of 300.0);

Set the animation resampling rate

• 26 Click <OK> to close the Advanced Bone Options window;

• 27 Click <OK> to close the FBX Importer window.
        A warning will appear about a missing 'bind pose', but you can just click <OK> to continue the model import
         ( an explanation about the "bind pose" can be found here: http://www.okino.com/conv/skinning.htm );

3DSmax FBX Importer warning about a missing bind pose (skin pose)

• 28 Select all geometry and select the menu item <Group><Group> and type an appropriate name;

• 29 Hide all geometry and select all bones;

• 30 Tick the checkboxes <Display Links> and <Link Replaces Object> in the "Link Display" roll-out (side-panel "Display" tab);

• 31 Unhide all;
  
  

Applying a proper model size

• 32 Select the grouped geometry and check it's properties: what is the model's height? (z-dimension);

• 33 At this point you might want to compare this size to the z-dimension of an existing HoMM.V model;

• 34 Calculate the scaling factor, for instance using:       (1.8) / (z-dimension);

• 35 In case your geometries hold any 'Vertex Weld' modifiers, delete them from the modifier stack;

• 36 Select the new root bone;

• 37 Right-click the scaling button in the button bar;

• 38 Enter the new scale factor as a percentage (ie. x100) in the "Offset World"-box;

Applying a scale factor to the root bone

• 39 Click in one of the other boxes to apply the new scale;

• 40 Close the Scale window and go back to selection mode by clicking the arrow button (<Select Object>) in the button bar;

• 41 Click the button <Zoom Extents All> in the right-lower corner of the 3DSmax window;

• 42 Save the scene as a new max file;

• 43 Check the new model dimensions (height) and orientation.
        I always load the mesh of an existing HoMM.V creature (Orc Shaman) for reference;
  
  

Applying proper model orientation

• 44 At this point you may notice that the model is rotated 90 degrees sideways;

• 45 To counter this, select the old root bone and right-click the button <Select and Rotate> in the button bar;

• 46 The "Rotate Transform" window will appear. Under "Offset:Screen", in the "Z"-box, type -90.0 (degrees);

Applying z-axis rotation to the root bone

• 47 Click in one of the other boxes to apply the new orientation;

• 48 Close the "Rotate Transform" window and go back to selection mode by clicking the <Select Object> button in the button bar;
  
  

Baking the root bone's scale

In 3DSmax it's not possible to 'bake' a root bone's scale into the vertices of the geometry.
Half-Life 2 SMD files carry no scale factors, so in order to get rid of the scale of the new root bone, the model will be saved in two SMD files.

• 49 Export your model as an SMD reference file;

• 50 Select only the bones and select <Export Selected> from the <File> menu;

• 51 Export as an SMD sequence file;

• 52 Save the scene as a new max file and reset (select the menu item <File><Reset>);

• 53 Minimize the 3DSmax window;

• 54 Open the exported SMD reference file in a text editor (I'm using WordPad for this);

• 55 Note the line with the (node) name of your grouped geometry.
        This node should be the last in the nodes list;
         Remember the node number;

• 56 Delete this line with the (node) name of your grouped geometry;

• 57 In the "time 0" section, delete the line with the node number of the deleted node;

• 58 Save the SMD reference file;

• 59 Re-import first the SMD reference file.
        In case the import results in something like the image below, then something went wrong.
         A solution might be to quickly import and export the SMD reference file with Archangel.

SMD import went wrong somehow (I don't know why)..

• 60 Import the SMD sequence file in 3DSmax7;

• 61 Check the animation and check the hierarchy;

• 62 Check the new root bone's scale and it's orientation;

• 63 To export the skeleton from 3DSmax as a GR2 file select <File><Export>, and select the GR2 file type;
• 64 Type a name for the skeleton and click <OK>;
• 65 In the Granny Export Configuration window, deselect everything but "Model": the word "yes" should only appear in the row for the "Model";
• 66 Click the button <Export>.
  
  

Exporting (parts of) the animation

In the Warcraft III creature import tutorial for 3DSmax 5.1 (@  http://www.wc3c.net/showthread.php?t=53083 ), it is suggested to import the entire timeline from an MDX file. This might not be useful for creation of HoMM.V creature's animations (**).
Fadi Mounir's import script offers the possibility to import only one animation at a time from the (unaltered) MDX file.
This would result in saving one MAX file per animation. For creation of HoMM.V creature's animations this might be an advantage,
although you would have to execute the above steps for each MAX file. Note that it's possible to record macros for this.

In addition, the FBX import / export and the SMD import / export can produce large numbers of keyframes, especially if the animation frequency is not lowered. This is another reason to import the animations separately in 3DSmax 5.1, and to execute the above steps per separated animation only. Note that you only need to export the SMD reference file once (step 47): only when the first separated Animation (usually 'Stand') is loaded.

• In case you loaded the combined animations, you have to specify the part of the entire timeline for each separate animation.
  To get each animation's start time and end time, you need either the original, unaltered MDL file for this, or each separate animation's max file from 3DSmax 5.1.
  If you have the original, unaltered MDL, then you have to calculate the start time and end time by dividing animation intervals by 33.333.
  
  

• If the timeline is set, then simply export as GR2 file;
  
  
• In the Granny Export Configuration window, deselect everything but "Animation" and "Model";
  
  
• Click the button <Export>;
  
  
• Verify the exported animation file in GrannyViewer.
  

Questions & remarks: Pesmontis

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