Unit Makers Tome of Knowledge

**Alletun** · 10-18-2007, 19:26

Unit Makers Tome of Knowledge

Hello everyone! After answering many questions in the workshop on TWC (where many of them were largely the same) i decided to make a big tutorial about unit making and doing graphics. Hopefully this will help newcomers and provide a few tips to veteran unit makers.

The first 3 chapters are meant for those completely new to either graphics or modding. The remaining chapter go more in-depth of unit making. I've also added a "Project overview" chapter that goes through the entire process of making a Paladin from the warhammer universe. Also included is a trouble-shooting guide where I've answered the most common questions from the workshop.

Based on your input I will keep expanding this book. So please, if anything is unclear or you want anything explained more thoroughly, don't hesitate to say so.

You can download it here:
http://www.twcenter.net/forums/downl...o=file&id=1672

**SigniferOne** · 10-19-2007, 23:53

Nice Alletun

EDIT: Alletun, speaking of Milkshape, seeing as how you know of a nice UWV wrapper, do you of an equally good plugin for animations? Because the one that's built in is atrocious.

**Alletun** · 10-20-2007, 08:50

yeah you can use fragMotion. export your milkshape file as .fbx (or some other format that keeps the skeleton) and open it up in fragmotion.

only catch is that fragmotion can only be used for 14 days then you have to register it.

**SigniferOne** · 10-20-2007, 10:53

I still have 3dsmax from the olden RTW days. What export format would allow max to understand my anims (if any)?

**Alletun** · 10-20-2007, 13:33

thats the million dollar questions. Some time ago i tried to solve it but this tut took up all my time so i never got very far in the research.

I'll see what can be done about it.

**Eldgrim** · 10-20-2007, 14:15

Fantastic mate! I can' wait to dive into it - i am one of those aforementioned newbies that needs a bit of hand holding for TW Modding. :)

**Darkblokje** · 10-21-2007, 23:07

I'm buzy with your guide but now im stuck. I am at the textures stage.
you wrote that after adding a vanilla black texture in the group tabe you must do this in milkshape:

edit --> unhide all --> edit --->select all, and then i must go into the materials editor and screen the uvmaps.

but where is the materials editor. I dont really understand this part. can jou help

**Alletun** · 10-22-2007, 10:00

My apologies! what i've written is not correct. It's called the "texture coordinate editor" not the materials editor. Thanks for pointing this mistake out. I have corrected the mistake and added a picture that shows you where it is. Will upload the 1.1 version when i get home.
you can see the picture here:

If i get the time i will also added a short chapter about using 3ds max instead of milkshape to do animations/skeletons/meshes (yes SigniferOne i found a way :) )

**Darkblokje** · 10-22-2007, 13:52

thanks for helping cuz i was really stuck

**Alletun** · 10-22-2007, 19:45

updated to version 1.1

The major addition comes on page 58. Here i've added a section that explains how you get your models, skeletons and animations from milkshape to 3dsmax! This will vastly improve the way new animations are created since you no longer need to rely on milkshapes animation tools (which are horrible!).
unfortunately i havn't found a way to import both the animations AND the mesh at the same time. i'll keep experimenting.

**Alletun** · 10-26-2007, 20:03

updated to version 1.2

added chapter 6a that teaches you how to model a more complex shape in milkshape: a helmet for Rohan. The same technique can be applied to heads etc.

here is the helmet:

**Spendios** · 10-31-2007, 21:07

Thanks a lot for taking the time do to it !

**Herkus** · 11-01-2007, 23:30

Very impressive, thank you.

**Alletun** · 04-12-2008, 18:33

The newest version is now up!

The tome have been upgraded to version 1.3. New features:

The workflow have been streamlined to reflect the newest tools.
Added chapter about how to use 3dsmax in your pipeline instead of milkshape.
Rewritten parts of the UV chapters as some people would get confused as to when to use lithUnwrap.
Expanded the FAQ. Now it answeres 21 of the most common questions!
Lots of other minor tweaks to make things easier to understand and read.

If you're using 1.2 i suggest you upgrade to 1.3 now:

http://www.twcenter.net/forums/downl...o=file&id=1672