Importing and exporting animated models with Blender

[MirceaKitsune]

This isn't really a bug although it is a technical question, so I hope it's in the right section. I use Blender 3D for some time, including to mod certain games. It's likely that I'll want to create a few models for DarkMod... not necessarily map props, but even new weapons and characters.

 

I was wondering if there's a guide on how to export animated models from Blender 2.7x into the format used by TDM and idTech4. I noticed that most models are md5 files, so I assume I only need a md5 exporter? What about textures... can they be png, should they be tga, or is it best to export them as dds? Are there otherwise requirements to what the structure of a skeletal animation must be, how animations must be marked or ordered, how joints should be configured for ragdolls to work properly, or anything else I should be on the lookout for?

 

Additionally, I was wondering if I can find the model sources for the existing weapons and characters. So I can import them in Blender, do modifications as appropriate, and re-export them. Ideally there are .blend sources of the characters and other stuff somewhere... if not is there a md5 importer, which preserves both the mesh (at maximum quality) and skeleton and animations?

[Springheel]

You need to explore the wiki; there are articles for most of these things. Do you have modelling and animating experience?

[Arcturus]

Here is a wiki article about Blender rigs.

[MirceaKitsune]

Thanks for the info, I will look. Note that for characters, I don't plan to create new animations, and mostly seek to rig new models to the existing TDM character skeleton and animations.

 

And I have experience with doing both. I am however not very skilled at it... I've made few models from scratch, and a few more animations. Usually I improve / port / whatever content created and made freely available by other people... of course under a free and compatible license.

[MirceaKitsune]

To partly answer my own question, and help anyone else who is looking for this: The md5 exporter for Blender can be found over on this page. The latest version appears to be for 2.63, but I assume it should still work for 2.73.

[nemyax]

MirceaKitsune

I wrote another MD5 exporter, compatible with Blender 2.66 and later. See here for details. I'm also going to add import some time this year. If you have any questions, feel free to ask.

Apparently Arcturus uses this addon sometimes.

 

[nemyax]

As promised, the latest update adds support for mesh and animation import.

Download: http://sourceforge.net/projects/blenderbitsbobs/files/io_scene_md5.zip/download

Readme: https://sourceforge.net/p/blenderbitsbobs/wiki/MD5%20exporter/