Tools and plugins for modeling & animating

[kingsal]

Hello!

 

Tracking down information on software and plug-ins that work with D3 / TDM can be a tough. So I have created a thread here where people can post what software/ plug-ins/ tutorials or other references they've had success or failure with in TDM.

 

3DS MAX 2013 64bit

• .ase - Default .ASE model exporter works. However you have to open the .ase file in text edit and manual change the *BITMAP line on each material to read something like: "//base/textures/common/collision" which allows the engine to read the correct material path.
• md5.mesh / animation - Beserker's md5 exporter/importers for 3dsmax. http://www.katsbits.com/tools, Importing and exporting works. The model must be textured, UV'd, with a skin modifier attached to the bones to export. PM me (Kingsal) for help with this. Imported models using the script will not be weighted appropriately, so this is not recommended if you are simply trying to edit existing tdm content. (Use blender instead)

 

MAYA 2011 32bit

• md5.mesh - So far I've not had any luck with Maya 2011. I am using Greebo's MayaImportx86 for Maya 2011. I've got the importer working however I get a "Unexpected Internal Failure(kFailure)" and the import fails. This could be due to something finicky in Maya that I am not doing correctly. Will keep trying..

 

Blender 2.7

• about - Blender is commonly used and pretty well supported on the forums/ wiki. Various versions may work as well - https://www.blender.org/download/
• md5.mesh / animation
  • Blender MD5 importer/exporter (io_scene_md5.zip): https://sourceforge.net/projects/blenderbitsbobs/files/
  • Sotha's guide

 

• Blender Male/ Female rigs by Arcturus - Here

 

Edit by Dragofer: more links found in this post.

[Anderson]

Good idea!

[Bikerdude]

I have pinned this thread as it seems logical to have a post that lists all this info, Kingsal can you update the OP as th info comes in please, I will edit as and when etc.

[SeriousToni]

So I assume the newest 3ds Max tools don't work with the plugin?

[kingsal]

Biker- Thanks and sure thing! I'll update this thread as it grows.

 

Toni- The .ase exporter is native to max, so that should work on newer editions. I'm still trying to get a .md5 exporter working. It looks like beserker's md5 script works with some minor caveats and should work with newer versions of max. I'll update the thread once I've fiddled with it a little more.

[demagogue]

This should be copied into a wiki page too.

[Sotha]

Modeling stuff for Blender. These will work on Blender 2.7. Newer version compatibility has not been tested.

 

Arcturus made a blender rig file for male and female AI:

http://forums.thedarkmod.com/topic/14970-blender-rig-for-standard-male-npc/

 

It works, and I've been using it in my animation activities. Exporting with ARX:EOS md5 exporter is possible. Everything seems to work, but the animation file sizes sre slightly larger than with other exporters. Be careful though, some other blender md5 exporters bork the AI bounding box which causes weird shadow clipping. The Arx exporter works fine. Link:

http://arxendofsun.solarsplace.com/downloads/io_scene_md5.zip

 

I made a very short instruction guide here:

http://forums.thedarkmod.com/topic/14970-blender-rig-for-standard-male-npc/?do=findComment&comment=325423

[kingsal]

Updated.

Thanks for the info, Sotha. I'm sure a lot of people will find that helpful. I will test it out myself once I have a chance.

[Bikerdude]

Cleaned up the OP.

[Destined]

I have a problem: When I click on a link under the blender topic in the OP, I just get either rerouted to this same page or to the start page of the forum.

The 3DSMax, Maya and the original Bleder links work, but the last three links do not. Could someone please check if it just happens for me or other people as well?

Edited November 21, 2016 by Destined

[VanishedOne]

Yes, those links have incorrect destinations. They look okay in Sotha's post though: http://forums.thedarkmod.com/topic/18456-tools-and-plugins-for-modeling-animating/?do=findComment&comment=396127

[Destined]

Thanks! I needed the md5exporter. I hope it really also works for Blender 2.78. I had to restore my PC recently (of course, my restore point was quite old) and have no idea, which version(s) I had before...

[kingsal]

Sorry everyone, I fixed the links in the OP.

[Gast]

Hey, this thread is a good idea !

 

I've just tried to import a simple .ASE file in Dark Radiant with 3ds max 2017 and it works as you described for 3ds max 2013 64 bits. Just change the *BITMAP line and you're good.

 

ASE files can also be exported from older blender versions. I tried to make these plugins work with 2.70 but it failed so you might want to install an older version of blender dedicated to .ASE exports.

Plugins and supported versions -> http://www.katsbits.com/tools/#ase

[VanishedOne]

https://code.google.com/archive/p/ase-export-vmc/ can be used with Blender 2.78, though I've had trouble when using multiple materials.

[nemyax]

 

• md5.mesh / animation
  • ARX:EOS md5 exporter.

Please change the link to this: https://sourceforge.net/projects/blenderbitsbobs/files/

The download at arxendofsun.solarsplace.com hasn't been updated since the game was released.

[kingsal]

Please change the link to this: https://sourceforge.net/projects/blenderbitsbobs/files/

The download at arxendofsun.solarsplace.com hasn't been updated since the game was released.

Fixed, thanks!

[nbohr1more]

This substance generator looks cool...

 

[Guest]

Not future, it's the present already. Just from the forum members alone, @Epifire and I have been using Substance tools for a year or two. It's very helpful and very affordable, even for hobbyists.

[Dragofer]

I've recently searched the internet with the aim of finding importers and exporters for all model formats used by TDM, both for older and newer versions of Blender and any other common modelling apps. Here's the result:

As a precaution I've made a backup of these importers and exporters on TDM's FTP server in case these links go dead. I won't provide download links to them here so we don't compete with the authors' links, but if at some point in the future someone isn't able to model something for TDM because the right import/export scripts don't exist anymore they can contact a team member. If the original authors want their work removed from this backup they can post here, send a PM to a team member or write an email to the address found at the bottom of this page: https://www.thedarkmod.com/team/

ASE

• Blender 2.80+: Orbweaver and chedap's importers and exporters for ASE & LWO, should be regularly updated (ASE importer only imports geometry, no materials or UVs) Link
• Blender 2.79b: Orbweaver and chedap's exporters for ASE & LWO Link
• Blender 2.79b: JediAcademy importers and exporters for ASE & MD3: Link
• Blender 2.76b: JediAcademy importers and exporters for ASE & MD3: unknown
• Blender 2.76b: Motorsep's updated importer for ASE (download link access has been restricted): Link

LWO

• Blender 2.80+: Orbweaver's importers and exporters for ASE & LWO, should be regularly updated (2.79b scripts no longer available): Link
• Blender 2.80+: douglaskastle's importer for LWO: Link
• Blender 2.79b: ken9's importer for LWO: can't find the link anymore, used to be on Blenderartists.org

MD5

• Maya: idTech and greebo importers for MD5: Link
• 3DSMax: Berserker importer and exporter for MD5: Link
• Blender 2.80: KozGit importers and exporters for MD5: Link
• Blender 2.79b: Nemyax importers and exporters for MD5, made for 2.66 and still works for 2.79b: Link
• Blender 2.72: RPGista's guide for MD5: Link
• Blender 2.66: Sotha's guide for MD5 (access to the link for Arcturus' rig has been restricted): Link

MD3

• Blender 2.79b: JediAcademy importers and exporters for ASE & MD3: Link

[Zerg Rush]

Quote

Infinigen is a procedural generator of 3D scenes, developed by Princeton Vision & Learning Lab. Infinigen is optimized for computer vision research and generates diverse high-quality 3D training data. Infinigen is based on Blender and is free and open-source (BSD 3-Clause License). Infinigen is being actively developed to expand its capabilities and coverage. Everyone is welcome to contribute.

https://infinigen.org

https://github.com/princeton-vl/infinigen

[Arcturus]

https://www.metahuman.com/en-US/license

Meta human characters are free to use outside of Unreal engine - as long as you make less than 1 million $.

[Bikerdude]

Im not sure if im comfortable using anything made by or linked to Epic/Tencent.

While the models maybe free to uses, what does the lic. say being distributed as part of a project like ours..?

Edited September 22, 2025 by Bikerdude

[Wellingtoncrab]

@BikerdudeThere are open source options like MakeHuman/MPFB. If you stick to the core assets the output will be CC0.

https://static.makehumancommunity.org/about.html

Not as fancy as metahuman, but some of the results were pretty okay looking to me. I ran into a wall when it came to adapting the rig for the animations to TDMs though. 

 

[Arcturus]

7 hours ago, Bikerdude said:

While the models maybe free to uses, what does the lic. say being distributed as part of a project like ours..?

What they wrote in FAQ seem pretty permissive to me. Mostly heads would be useful I think, as they would be easier to port than the whole body.