Exporting characters to dpm format

[MirceaKitsune]

I'm trying to convert some of my characters to dpm. I followed this tutorial but my characters don't display correctly in-game.

I made them in Blender and export them with a smd script for Nexuiz, then put the smd in dpmodel (dpmodel20091008beta1) together with the animation smds for the zym converter. Converting goes well, but when I test the character it either doesn't display or my model is static and with spikes poking out of it. I do keep the .framegroups file and tried both with and without the .animinfo. These are the configurations I tried:

Code: Select all

# save the model as box.dpm
model character
# move the model this much before saving
origin 0 0 0
# rotate the model 0 degrees around vertical
rotate 0
# scale the model by this amount, 0.5 would be half size and 2.0 would be doule size
scale 1
# load the mesh file, this is stored into the dpm as frame 0
scene character.smd

- Character is a static mesh. Not sure why spikes poke out of it in a few areas... had that problem when making the .zyms too.

Code: Select all

# save the model as box.dpm
model character
# move the model this much before saving
origin 0 0 0
# rotate the model 0 degrees around vertical
rotate 0
# scale the model by this amount, 0.5 would be half size and 2.0 would be doule size
scale 1
# allows .framegroups file generation
framegroups
# load the mesh file, this is stored into the dpm as frame 0
scene character.smd
scene die1.smd fps 10 noloop
scene die2.smd fps 10 noloop
scene draw.smd fps 10
scene duck.smd fps 10
scene duckwalk.smd fps 10
scene duckjump.smd fps 10
scene duckidle.smd fps 10
scene idle.smd fps 10
scene jump.smd fps 10 noloop
scene pain1.smd fps 20
scene pain2.smd fps 20
scene shoot.smd fps 10
scene taunt.smd fps 10
scene run.smd fps 22
scene runbackwards.smd fps 22
scene strafeleft.smd fps 13
scene straferight.smd fps 13
scene dead1.smd fps 10 noloop
scene dead2.smd fps 10 noloop
scene forwardright.smd fps 11
scene forwardleft.smd fps 11
scene backright.smd fps 11
scene backleft.smd fps 11

- The character doesn't display and there's only the 3rd person weapon floating in the air. I also tried without the "fps X noloop" strings but same result.

Anyone know what I'm doing wrong or what else may be needed?

[EDIT] - The characters seem to show and animate for a second (although incorrectly) if I switch to a working character and back. After 1 second it vanishes however, and while it shows there are still spikes poking out.

[toneddu2000]

you can try the guide I wrote for zym characters here(use the 0.5 version + 0.4 examples version!) with the dummy object shipped in the zip, just to test if your Nexuiz version is ok. If still isn't visible it could be a normal problem (in Blender w key and flip normals in edit mode ) or a view problem in Nexuiz. Just use chase_cam to 0 or cam_chase I can't remember, test it! ). If , after ALL of these tests, it doesn't work,if you want, you could upload the model and discuss together.
Cheers!

[Roanoke]

I can't help you, but I'm curious as to why you would want to do this. What advantages does DPM have over ZYM or MD3? Indeed, what advantages does MD3 have over ZYM (or vice versa)?

[MirceaKitsune]

I can't help you, but I'm curious as to why you would want to do this. What advantages does DPM have over ZYM or MD3? Indeed, what advantages does MD3 have over ZYM (or vice versa)?

For one thing I heard dpm is newer, better, and what most models are headed towards. For another, it's said it will be needed when ragdoll physics are implemented, since only dpm can support manually moving bones. If that's not true I don't really need it.

[Julius]

dpm supports multiple vertex weights, e.g. assigning vertexes to more than one bone. This makes joints and such much nicer looking when animated. In fact this is considered standard for character animation in anything newer than half-life 1.

MD3 is a vertex only standard, no bones at all. this makes things like ragdolls impossible and filesizes are very big once the models become animated and quite complex.