MTM2.com

I am trying to convert models from evo 2 to mtm2. I heard that zmodeler would do it but i can't find it anywhere. Is zmodeler the only thing that will convert? Is there a page somewhere that teaches how to convert track models into mtm2? Thanks for any help.

------------------
K-Dawg

TNT section
http://www.malibu350.com/

Conversion notes
http://malibu350.com/tnt/4x4_mtm2conversion.htm

Zmod home page
http://www.zmodeler.com/

For some reason i can't access the zmod website. It comes up with a hosting page.(direct nic) and It says under construction. does anyone else have these problems?

------------------
K-Dawg

Here you go

zmodeler_v107.exe

thanks

------------------
K-Dawg

I really need to sit down someday and put all my notes down into one text on converting the different types of smf's and the art they use but it would be epic and take about as much time as it takes to build a track, winterkill and phin know what i'm talking about since they've both done it several times on different topics. i just do not have the time to do that in the foreseeable future.

if you'd like i will convert any models you need and keep it a secret also if that's what you'd like to do just drop me a email.

briefly,

evo 1 smf models are the easiest since they all use the familiar raw and act art files the only difference is that the evo transparent models also use opa art files that basicaly just create a shadow effect that designates what is and what is not transparent in the game on the model, but of course mtm2 cannot read opa's so you just edit the raw file with r0,g0,b0 black where you want transparency and trash the opa (although sometimes converting the opa to a gif can be very helpfull in pinpointing where transparency is needed before it's trashed). also before you try to convert you need to open up the raw file and bump it up to 16 million colors and save it as a tga file with the same name as the raw file used by the smf, then zmod will convert it fully mapped, after that i rename the art files and pump the new bin through binnamer to prevent any future model conflicts.
Evo models can be very wastefull of system resources primarily in the art department with many un-needed file sizes, for instance a simple fence mapped to a 256 raw is just silly and with a half dozen of those on a track you'll start to see some lag in the game, so a lot of art files need to be resized/combined so some models will need to be remapped in binedit... another thing that needs addressing in binedit in the waste department is the amount of vertices smf's use which often times are double of what's needed in mtm so merging is highly recommended as well as searching for and deleting unnessesary faces, then again remapping if needed.

the models in evo2 from what i've seen, are for the most part just carry overs from evo1 but the newer ones use tif art files which i convert to gif then to raw, act, and tga's with photoshop, also the newer smf's need to be edited with notepad before zmod will open them correctly but i don't have that info with me right now..

animated smf's will need to be processed with smurf beforehand or zmod will crash.

in a nutshell that's it... but like i said i'd be happy to do any that you need, or if you need any help along the way doing it yourself just ask and i'll be around to help.

> although sometimes converting the opa to a gif can be very helpfull in pinpointing where transparency is needed

I haven't tried this, but a thought: what if you fill the opa with rgb 0,0,0 and paste it onto the raw as a layer (for centering) then merge the layers? Think that would make shorter work of applying the transparency?

> save it as a tga file with the same name as the raw file used by the smf, then zmod will convert it fully mapped

Really? I never converted to tga and they still came out mapped.

> the newer ones use tif art files

I believe you can extract an alpha channel from those that'll indicate transparency the same way as an opa file. I'm speculating. I know they use the alpha channel but haven't done it myself yet.

> the newer smf's need to be edited with notepad before zmod will open them correctly

I opened in smurf and immediately saved as a new file to solve this. It amounts to the same thing but I found it a tad quicker.

>>what if you fill the opa with rgb 0,0,0 and paste it onto the raw as a layer (for centering) then merge the layers?

like this?

A) evo raw file,
<IMG SRC="http://www.mtmc4fun.com/images/mtmg/fenceRaw.jpg" border=0>

B) evo opa file,
<IMG SRC="http://www.mtmc4fun.com/images/mtmg/fenceOpa.jpg" border=0>

C) presto chango mtm raw file,
<IMG SRC="http://www.mtmc4fun.com/images/mtmg/fenceRaw2.jpg" border=0>

that by far was the most difficult art conversion i've run into, yet...

>>Really? I never converted to tga and they still came out mapped.

well for some reason since day one zmod gave me fits opening without a tga so i just stuck with what worked.

>>I believe you can extract an alpha channel from those...

yessir you are correct, i just don't know the right verbiage to use to describe how i do did it lol

>>I opened in smurf and immediately saved as a new file to solve this...

call me a slave to old pre smurf habits heheh

> that by far was the most difficult art conversion i've run into, yet...

The last pic looks good. Are you saying this idea worked or it was too much trouble?

that last pic was hand drawn one pixel at a time with the clone tool using the opa as a template and the original as a palette.

in most cases that is the quickest way believe it or not, the sample above was a rare exception where practically any other method would be more desirable lol... if i ever run into another like it i'll surely try your way i just hadn't thought of it at the time