Extract GR2 to Blender with mesh AND skeleton and re-export to GR2

[Ekmek]

Mostly rigging. You might have things like arm rigged to the head. Other things maybe the normals (triangles) being flipped.

 

[Wodhann]

Well, I move the bones and they seem to move the correct areas.

Not sure what you mean about the normals being flipped, I tried flipping all normals just to test how it would look, and it looked the same.

What I find weird is that there's a sort of "consistency" - I tried removing the horse for example (it's a mounted unit), and the rider looked the same with animations on as it did with the horse. Also, different animations are consistent with the same weird anatomy that the animation creates.

 

[Ekmek]

I think posting the blend is the best way to go. We'll figure out whats wrong and explain how to fix it.

 

[Wodhann]

*Sigh* Fine

(EDIT: I solved it, read below.)

Don't mind the bones being small, that's how it imported from nif and I'm just using the mesh anyway. (Also I already tried changing the scale of the model to fit the skeleton)

 

[Ekmek]

bones? are you trying to fbx this or br2 it?

EDIT: I think you are trying to FBX a two skeleton nif. Thats why its distorting. FBX can't handle it and one of the reasons deliverator had to create the br2.

I recommend taking this mesh and rig it to a civ5 skeleton.

 

[Wodhann]

bones? are you trying to fbx this or br2 it?

Br2. Why are you asking? If I remove the bones it won't export.

EDIT: I think you are trying to FBX a two skeleton nif. Thats why its distorting. FBX can't handle it and one of the reasons deliverator had to create the br2.

You probably didn't see my post before the edit, but to make it very clear, I'm doing the .BR2 thing, not the FBX.

 

[Ekmek]

Br2. Why are you asking? If I remove the bones it won't export.

I see now. I was surprised to see scene root being used since that's civ4. but I guess they did it for civ5? Or maybe explain what unit base you are using. Have you looked at any civ5 units by themselves. Maybe import and see how they structure just to get an idea how its supposed to look.



I do see that the skeleton is tiny - civ4 size and the mesh doesn't line up with it. Thats why its distorted the bones have to be inside the mesh. like a skeleton. So the skeleton needs to be enlarged. Which is hard because the mesh will grow with it, but then you go to edit mode and shrink the meshes.

 

[Wodhann]

I see now. I was surprised to see scene root being used since that's civ4. but I guess they did it for civ5? Or maybe explain what unit base you are using. Have you looked at any civ5 units by themselves. Maybe import and see how they structure just to get an idea how its supposed to look.

This unit is based on the Hunnic Horse Archer. Everything in there is supposed to be from it, unless the nif export added things for civilization 4 since I selected that game in the export options.

I do see that the skeleton is tiny - civ4 size and the mesh doesn't line up with it. Thats why its distorted the bones have to be inside the mesh. like a skeleton. So the skeleton needs to be enlarged. Which is hard because the mesh will grow with it, but then you go to edit mode and shrink the meshes.

I'll try that. I did try to scale down just the mesh already though.

 

[Ekmek]

Let me get this straight. this is an import of the civ5 hunnic archer. Why are you exporting it as a nif?

 

[Wodhann]

Let me get this straight. this is an import of the civ5 hunnic archer. Why are you exporting it as a nif?

Because I use 3dsmax and I needed a format that could reliably export to blender, as deliverator suggested.

EDIT: Scaling bones does nothing.

 

[Ekmek]

Because I use 3dsmax and I needed a format that could reliably export to blender, as deliverator suggested.

EDIT: Scaling bones does nothing.

oh. Hate to break it to you but you are forging new ground.

Was the mesh larger than the skeleton when you imported it?

 

[Wodhann]

oh. Hate to break it to you but you are forging new ground.

Was the mesh larger than the skeleton when you imported it?

No. Only in blender after the export from 3dsmax.

EDIT: I just tried to delete the bones from the nif file, and replace with newly fresh imported ones, parenting accordingly. Same problem. I don't think the bones are the issue here...

 

[Wodhann]

Sorry for the double post but I think I've stumbled on something interesting, if not the very root of my problem.

I have decided to try importing the hunnic archer into blender and exporting it right away. I did not choose the rotate 90 degrees option in this case. What happened is not only the horse archer was front side up in granny viewer, but its animation distortion was very similar to mine.

I then tried to use the 90 degrees rotation option. Model exports and works perfectly. Animation runs as smoothly as the one straight from the game.

Now here is the interesting part. I tried this time to import the model, and then manually rotate the mesh 90 degrees. What resulted in this is that not only it still was front-side up, but the animation still looked screwed up. Rotating the bones doesn't work either. It's like something else is controlling the rotation.

So this begs the question, When you select "rotate 90 degrees" on the nb2 import, what exactly does it do?

 

[Wolfdog]

Sorry for the double post but I think I've stumbled on something interesting, if not the very root of my problem.

I have decided to try importing the hunnic archer into blender and exporting it right away. I did not choose the rotate 90 degrees option in this case. What happened is not only the horse archer was front side up in granny viewer, but its animation distortion was very similar to mine.

I then tried to use the 90 degrees rotation option. Model exports and works perfectly. Animation runs as smoothly as the one straight from the game.

Now here is the interesting part. I tried this time to import the model, and then manually rotate the mesh 90 degrees. What resulted in this is that not only it still was front-side up, but the animation still looked screwed up. Rotating the bones doesn't work either. It's like something else is controlling the rotation.

So this begs the question, When you select "rotate 90 degrees" on the nb2 import, what exactly does it do?

It rotates the mesh so it lines up with the skeleton. When you manually rotated the mesh did you do a CTRL-A to apply the rotation then save.

 

[Wodhann]

It rotates the mesh so it lines up with the skeleton. When you manually rotated the mesh did you do a CTRL-A to apply the rotation then save.

*Double facepalm* How was I supposed to know I had to do that?? See this is why I use 3dsmax. No BS like this with that.

Thanks for pointing that out, I would probably be stuck forever if nobody told me that.



And good news: I got it! The problem was the mesh's scale. It was too small and the animation operates at a different scale than what it is, which is why it acts so weird.

Now comes the task of trying to find the correct scale for this... EDIT: Actually, was easier than I thought. Just had to use the same scale as the original import.

Anyway, thank you ekmek (and nutty and wolfdog).

 

[Nutty]

Congratulations! (Now get to work! )

As for your VFS question many posts ago:

Spoiler :

Virtual File System. The reason some tutorials (e.g., Kael's guide) don't mention it is because at one time all files were imported into the virtual file system. At a certain point, Firaxis changed ModBuddy to default VFS to false. The change cuts down on files from different mods conflicting with one another, but introduces some confusion and another source of "oops-I-can't-believe-I-forgot-to-check-that-again."

 

[Wodhann]

Congratulations! (Now get to work! )

Thank you, here is the model in game: http://forums.civfanatics.com/showthread.php?p=13193126#post13193126

As for your VFS question many posts ago:

Spoiler :

Virtual File System. The reason some tutorials (e.g., Kael's guide) don't mention it is because at one time all files were imported into the virtual file system. At a certain point, Firaxis changed ModBuddy to default VFS to false. The change cuts down on files from different mods conflicting with one another, but introduces some confusion and another source of "oops-I-can't-believe-I-forgot-to-check-that-again."

Ok, so what needs to be VFS'ed and what can be left as false?

 

[Shirotora Kenshin]

hi to all ! im new here and i have problems to import a model into the game.
i know how to edit xml to add new units and the xml stuff.
i also know how to tell the game via xml,that it have to use a new custom model gr2 file for the unit. ( from Danrell's Unit Packs )

Danrell also uploaded blend.files of his models to open in Blender.

thats what i tried.i opened the blend file from his Ancient_Units_Japan -Pack ,
changed absolutely nothing,and exported it as a br2.file .

then i opened this br2 file in Nexus Buddy 2 , made a new material , added the correct texture to the material,and saved it as the new Longswordsman_Japan.gr2 .
then i added the file and the textures and the .fsmxml into my Mod-Project , set it to " Import in VFS " : True
and ModBuddy created my mod for me.it should replace the Warrior-Model now.

but now my Warrior have no models.its like an invisible stealth unit...........
but in Granny Viewer the model is there.......

i tried several things,and cannot understand this........thats really frustrating

i hope someone can help me ?

 

[Wodhann]

hi to all ! im new here and i have problems to import a model into the game.
i know how to edit xml to add new units and the xml stuff.
i also know how to tell the game via xml,that it have to use a new custom model gr2 file for the unit. ( from Danrell's Unit Packs )

Danrell also uploaded blend.files of his models to open in Blender.

thats what i tried.i opened the blend file from his Ancient_Units_Japan -Pack ,
changed absolutely nothing,and exported it as a br2.file .

then i opened this br2 file in Nexus Buddy 2 , made a new material , added the correct texture to the material,and saved it as the new Longswordsman_Japan.gr2 .
then i added the file and the textures and the .fsmxml into my Mod-Project , set it to " Import in VFS " : True
and ModBuddy created my mod for me.it should replace the Warrior-Model now.

but now my Warrior have no models.its like an invisible stealth unit...........
but in Granny Viewer the model is there.......

i tried several things,and cannot understand this........thats really frustrating

i hope someone can help me ?

That happened to me, it's usually a texture thing (try double-checking if texture is assigned accordingly to each mesh and if your mod has the texture in it with vfs on), also check in nexus buddy if the meshes are still listed in there, it happened to me once that my .gr2 file had no meshes.

 

[Shirotora Kenshin]

That happened to me, it's usually a texture thing (try double-checking if texture is assigned accordingly to each mesh and if your mod has the texture in it with vfs on), also check in nexus buddy if the meshes are still listed in there, it happened to me once that my .gr2 file had no meshes.

thanks for the reply !

but the texture is assigned and in Nexus Buddy the model is there !

was the way i did it the right approach or have i made it the wrong way ?

i really love Civilization V and want to add my own models to the game.

and then,sometimes,it is a another strange result ( i did nothing different then before ) :

the whole screen ingame is in grey and black,but when i " kill " my Warrior-Unit ingame,then all looks fine,only my model is still not in the game..........