Exporting from 3DS Max/Substance Painter

How to create models in XSI and other 3D applications and make them work in Battlefront 1 & 2. Post models, tips for application usage and share anything XSI, 3DMax, SketchUp, etc.

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ArcHeavyGunner
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Exporting from 3DS Max/Substance Painter

Post by ArcHeavyGunner »

Hey all! I've been tossing around an idea for a Battlefront 2 mod for months now, and I've finally decided to start pursuing it know that I know I how to model. Problem is, I learned 3DS Max, not XSI Toolkit. While I'm not opposed to learning a new software, I'd rather not have to. So, is there anyway to export models (and maybe animations) from Max to a usable format for Battlefront II modding? Same question goes for Substance Painter; is there any way to export textures in a usable format for Battlefront II modding?

Thanks in advance!
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Maveritchell
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Re: Exporting from 3DS Max/Substance Painter

Post by Maveritchell »

Pretty sure the closest you'll get to a clean import from Max to XSI will be through collada files, and I don't know how much they'll preserve in the way of skeletal info (probably bones, but not the actual rig). If you're just doing static stuff, then you're gravy, obviously (obj, whatever is fine). XSI has an .fbx export but I don't think the import format is compatible with the current version of .fbx files. Caveat: I haven't tried to duplicate your specific pipeline before (usually I'm going the other way around) and it's been a few years for me anyway. If this answer is unsatisfactory I'm sure someone can correct me.
Calrissian97
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Re: Exporting from 3DS Max/Substance Painter

Post by Calrissian97 »

If you're importing custom units I'd bite the bullet and start getting familiar with XSI. By the way, Softimage 2015 is the best version in my opinion in terms of import/export options and pure power. (XSI 7.5 often choked on larger models for me)
If you're just doing props then I'd say that's fine. But anything involving enveloping, rigging, or animating should be done in XSI if you want (semi) guaranteed compatibility. Otherwise you're just making yourself work more in the long run.
I've found that importing .obj is the most successful, and I've imported a few things with collada with mixed results, with materials and rigging especially.
I wish you the best of luck! Always great to see new modders enter the scene.
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Re: Exporting from 3DS Max/Substance Painter

Post by Marth8880 »

ArcHeavyGunner wrote:So, is there anyway to export models (and maybe animations) from Max to a usable format for Battlefront II modding?
If you're using Autodesk Softimage 2015 and Max 2015 (and maybe 2016, not sure), you should be able to actually send Max scenes to Softimage and vice versa. They might've removed the "Send to Softimage" feature in newer versions of Max, though - I know they did for Maya. If you're using a version that doesn't have it, you'd be best off relying on FBX export/import for your pipeline (or simply learning Softimage). For Softimage, you'll probably need to update its version of Crosswalk, which is the plugin it uses to handle FBX files.
ArcHeavyGunner wrote:Same question goes for Substance Painter; is there any way to export textures in a usable format for Battlefront II modding?
Battlefront uses uncompressed TGA files for all of its textures, and I'm 99.99999999999999999999999999999999999999999% certain Substance Painter can export in that format. With that said though, Battlefront doesn't support PBR, so you'll only be able to use diffuse, normal, and specular maps; and specular maps can only be grayscale, since they have to be stored in the diffuse and normal maps' alpha channel. More on all of that here: http://www.gametoast.com/viewtopic.php?p=466539#p466539
ArcHeavyGunner
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Re: Exporting from 3DS Max/Substance Painter

Post by ArcHeavyGunner »

Calrissian97 wrote:If you're importing custom units I'd bite the bullet and start getting familiar with XSI. By the way, Softimage 2015 is the best version in my opinion in terms of import/export options and pure power. (XSI 7.5 often choked on larger models for me)
If you're just doing props then I'd say that's fine. But anything involving enveloping, rigging, or animating should be done in XSI if you want (semi) guaranteed compatibility. Otherwise you're just making yourself work more in the long run.
I've found that importing .obj is the most successful, and I've imported a few things with collada with mixed results, with materials and rigging especially.
I wish you the best of luck! Always great to see new modders enter the scene.
Thanks for the quick replies everyone!

Also, I just wanna make sure that I understand you; Are you saying that I can use Softimage 2015 to do stuff like character and weapon modeling for Battlefront 2, or that it is just the best way t import things into XSI? (I *think* I read that XSI and Softimage are the same program, but I can't remember to be honest)
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Re: Exporting from 3DS Max/Substance Painter

Post by Maveritchell »

Softimage 2015 is just the rebranding of the Softimage XSI line (to fit more in the name stylings of Autodesk's other products). They're the same tool.
Calrissian97
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Re: Exporting from 3DS Max/Substance Painter

Post by Calrissian97 »

Mav is right, although there's a big performance difference between the old ones and the latest. At least in my experience, the latter handles higher poly models better, has no locked down features, and is overall faster.
Here's a pic of it with my own layout:
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