Topic: PHOTO NOVELISTS LOUNGE -

[hangarbay94]

Folks, this thread is here to offer support and a place to chat and share ideas and skills -

Please feel free to ask questions, post images and links that you feel will be of benefit to other novelists here on the forum.

[CloneCrazy]

What an awesome idea HB!!! This is such a great way for us to create a community of photonovelers on the yards!!!

[hangarbay94]

I have a question.

This is directed a Kualan mainly. I've been trying to suss the method you use for posing figures and scenes using Jedi Academy. If at all possible can you share your method with us.

Also if anyone knows of a character creator program that doesn't take moths to figure out it would be a great help. I've been looking at Poser, does anyone have any experience with it?

HB

[hangarbay94]

What an awesome idea HB!!! This is such a great way for us to create a community of photonovelers on the yards!!!

CC, you have really inspired me this week.

I think that by supporting one another we will enjoy our hobby even more. Also I think that it's a good idea to have a Novelists lounge area where we can share ideas etc. 

[Kualan]

I have a question.

This is directed a Kualan mainly. I've been trying to suss the method you use for posing figures and scenes using Jedi Academy. If at all possible can you share your method with us.

Also if anyone knows of a character creator program that doesn't take moths to figure out it would be a great help. I've been looking at Poser, does anyone have any experience with it?

HB

I shall have to find time at some point to make a video tutorial of the method I use, since it can be tricky to explain. But the jist of it is that if you have Jedi Academy, then you need to download a tool for it called 'Modview' - this tool might not be available on its own, as I can only find it here, as part of a package of tools for JKA:

http://jediknight3.filefront.com/file/ModelingSkinning_Guide_and_Tools;18807

The tool, when opened, looks like this (I'm using random Google'd images for this):



But how did I get that model to appear? Here comes the tricky bit - getting everything in the right folders, subfolders, etc. For now I'll just give you a step-by-step on what to do, since I guess the why isn't so important. I'll save that for the video.

1. Find where you have installed Jedi Academy. C: Program Files / Lucasarts / Jedi Academy / GameData / Base is the directory we're looking for (or whatever the equivalent is in your version - the Base folder is the critical thing though).
2. Create a new folder inside Base and call it 'Models'. Then inside that folder create another one called 'players'. 
3. In order for Modview to access the models that come with the game, you will need to use WINRar to unpack the relevant .pk3 file (pk3 files work the same as .rar or .zip files, in essence, and contain all the game's data).
4. The .pk3 file you need to unpack for character models is assets1.pk3. This can be found in the Base folder. If it doesn't do so automatically, you will have to set WINRar as the default program to run that type of file (this is done by right-clicking any pk3 file, choosing Open With, then selecting WINRar as the default program).
5. With WINRar as the default program, double click on assets1.pk3. It will open a RAR window, like this (again, not a screenshot of the actual assets1.pk3, just a random RAR Google pic):

6. Yours will be filled with folders like 'effects', 'menu', etc. Ignore all those. We just need the 'models' one. Go into the 'models' folder, then 'players'.
7. There will be a long list of folders, starting with '_humanoid'. Select them all, and extract them to the 'models/players/' directory you created in Step 2.
8. Now open Modview. Click Open. Find your 'models/players' directory and open any of the folders that aren't '_humanoid'. Take 'kyle' for example. Inside will be a .glm file (it will probably be the only one ModView's Open window will show). Double click and bam! The model opens up!
9. You can now access any model in the game. You can download additional models at websites like jediknight3.filefront.com. All you need to do is, after placing their .pk3 file in the Base directory, extract their 'models/players/[CharacterFolderHere]' from inside that .pk3 to the extracted 'models/players' folder, just like you did with assets1.pk3 in step 7.
10. For tips on actually using ModView, positioning models, etc, follow this link: http://hapslash.tripod.com/jkii/modview.html

Phew! If there's anything I missed out and you get stuck on, just let me know.

[hangarbay94]

Kualan,

Thanks for giving me this insight. I really need something like this to help me along with my own work. I'll be doing some heavy photoshop work on the figures, so I won't be cramping your style in terms of presentation style, it's just by using this method it will speed things up for me no end.

I'll give this a go later on.

Thanks so much for this.

HB94

[hangarbay94]

Kualan,

I think I'm almost there. Unfortunately Winrar would not extract the .pk3 files into the "players" folder in the Jedi Academy base/models/players file that I had created. Instead I had to extract the .pk3 files into a folder on my desktop then copy paste them into the Jedi Academy location.

That done I opened ModView and found the model.glm files and hit the open button. this is the error message that came up:



Have I missed anything?

J

[hangarbay94]

Oh yea baby!!!! it looks like I'm getting somewhere...

I re-extracted the .pk3 files to a folder I created on my desktop then copied the filed into the folder created in the LucasArts folder. Tried again, got a couple of errors, one about a "shader" and another about a type of file but after I hit ok a guy has appeared!

I'll now look into the manipulation side and let you know how I get on.

This is so cool!

HB
 

[Kualan]

Don't worry about error messages - ModView can not display the shaders anyway, but looks for them despite this. The other one probably mentioned something to do with 'stormtroopercaps' or something like that? Again, I get the same - doesn't affect the result.

For the issue where it won't let you extract the pk3s directly into the right folder - right-click your Lucasarts folder and edit the Security settings to allow whichever user profile you're on (assuming you use Windows) to modify, edit, etc folders. I think they might automatically be set to 'view only'.

Any other issues just give me a shout!

As for the warning message in the image you posted - that's because you need the '_humanoid' folder extracted. It contains animation information, whereas all the others just contain model data.

Once you're familiar with ModView and played around with it and got a feel for the software, I can show you new animation files that add new movements/positions/etc to the list, to expand what can be done, how to get weapons into the software, etc.

[hangarbay94]

Yes, I've got it! I'm eager to find out more!

J

[Kualan]

I'll package some of my customised animation files into a rar and upload it for you tomorrow. For now, hear are the useful tips I can recall by memory;

1. Some models - such as the rebel pilot - appear to have blocky textures where it should be see-through (such as the pilot's visor). To enable the correct texture, just click View->Alpha Blend.

2. To use weapons, extract the 'weapons' folder from the 'models' section of assets1.pk3. This is the exact same process as characters, except they have their own folder alongside 'players'. Then, in ModView, open your character's command tree down the left hand side. Under 'Tag Surfaces' find r_hand or l_hand (some weapons will be positioned incorrectly for l_hand due to the way they are designed, unfortunately there is no way around this).
Right click that surface, then select 'Bolt model (...) deleting any others still there'. You'll be prompted to open a new model - find and select your weapon of choice.

3. When downloading customised models from Jedi Academy websites, some of them will offer models for the previous game - Jedi Outcast. These can be opened in ModView too, but you will require some of the files/instructions I upload for you to tomorrow as it takes some tweaking. If you try to open an Outcast model normally you'll receive an error regarding the number of 'bones' in the model.
If you already own Jedi Outcast too, however, I can tell you what to do:
- Go into your Jedi Outcast / Game Data / Base folder. Extract the Outcast version of the '_humanoid' folder in the same way you did for Academy. You don't need anymore models from Outcast, as every single one of them has an Academy compatible version already in Academy.
- Rename this _humanoid folder something like "_humanoid_jko". Move it into your Academy models/player folder, so it sits alongside the _humanoid folder you already have there.
- Then, whenever you want to open a model designed for Outcast rather than Academy, extract them to your Academy models/player folder as you would any other model, but when you go into ModView click Edit->Prompt for GLA overrides.
- Whenever this is ticked, everytime you open a model you will be asked if you want to load a different animation file. For Outcast models you click Yes, then select the _humanoid.gla file in the new _humanoid_jko folder.

Phew! Sounds complicated I know, but it'll become second nature to you soon.

[hangarbay94]

This is really excellent. If you have any conversational stances that would help. Also any characters would be great.

You've been a great help, thanks so much.

I'd love to know how you do backgrounds! maybe some other time.

HB94

[Kualan]

Backgrounds! Oh boy, it's not until you're typing it all out that you realise just how much there is to learn when you first start using this method xD Into the breach!

1. Backgrounds are taken as in-game screenshots whenever I load a level. Now this doesn't mean I have to play through the game everytime I want to get to a certain level to take screenshots, since we can use cheat codes to do the hard work for us.

2. Launch Jedi Academy. On the main menu, open the game console by pressing SHIFT+` (the key above TAB, and to the left of the 1 key).

3. Inside the console, type 'devmap [map name here]'. For example, if I wanted to go to the level on Hoth, I would type 'devmap hoth2' . The name of the map you want to warp too can be found by going into the pk3 of that map (when you download custom maps, they will be in pk3 form just like when you download new characters), in the 'maps' folder. Whatever the name of the .bsp file in that folder is is the exact name you want to use in the game console. For maps that come with Academy, they are found in the assets0.pk3.
NB: Unlike character models, there is no way to run Outcast maps in Academy.
NB 2: Whenever you load a map, you should get an automatic saved game appear in your 'Saved Games' menu. This is a nice way to quickly revisit maps you've loaded in the past without having to remember the exact code.
NB 3: If you are ever told by the console that 'cheats aren't activated' or something similar, just type 'helpusobi 1' without the quotation marks. This will activate cheats.

4. Once you have warped to the map you want to take screenshots in, there are some more console commands you need to do: The good news is that if you're only planning on using the game for screenshots, then you only have to enter the following three console commands once, as they will save automatically. If you wish to play the game itself some time, you will need to reverse some of these commands first.
Type the following commands into the console, one after the other:
/bind O screenshot : this doesn't have to the 'O' key, it can be any button that you want to press to take screenshots. I use O because the game doesn't seem to use it for anything else. All screenshots will be saved automatically to your Base folder.
/cl_noprint 1 : this makes sure that no text messages display in the game; this allows for faster screenshot taking as it means there is no 'screenshot taken: *date*' message that appears after every shot, meaning you have to wait several seconds before taking another. To reverse this effect, just re-enter the code and replace the 1 with a 0.
/cg_draw2d 0 : this removes the map, healthbar, etc, allowing for a cleaner screenshot. To reverse this effect, just re-enter the code and replace the 0 with a 1.

5. Now, here's the fun stuff. Type the following commands, in the following order:
/god : this activates god mode. It's not hugely necessary, but it means if you accidentally fall off a cliff trying to get a good shot, you won't die and have to restart the level.
/npc kill all : this won't matter for the vast majority of custom maps (as they don't have any NPCs), but whenever you're loading a map that serves as an actual level in the game, this will kill off all those pesky Non-Player Characters running around and give you a free, empty map to run around screenshotting to your heart's content.
/give all : this will outfit your character with all the weapons in the game. We only need one for screenshotting. Press 4 to activate the sniper rifle. You can then press right-click to activate the zoom feature; usually this would have a complicated crosshair overlay, but because of the earlier cg_draw2d 0 command, we instead just get a clean, zoomed view, which can be great for close-up shots.
/noclip : this makes your character non-corporeal! The laws of physics no longer apply, and you can fly all over the map, through walls, etc, to ensure you get the best possible angle.

6. Once these are in place, you can zoom around the map taking whatever screenshots you wish with the 'O' key, or whatever key you chose to bind the screenshot command to.
NB: Whenever you want to use screenshots - NEVER rename or remove them inside the screenshots folder. This is because Academy lists the screenshots by number, and if a number is edited or missing, the next time you try to take a screenshot the game will pick up from that number - overriding any still there. For example:
I take 32 screenshots, labelled shot_0001 to shot_0032. I rename shot_0020 to 'Jedi Fight'. Next time I go into the game, Academy will not register that there are still shot_0021 to shot_0032 already taken. It simply sees shot_0020 missing and assumes that's where it needs to start from when I take more screenshots, meaning it will overwrite shot_0021 to shot_0032. If you ever want to rename/edit a screenshot, copy and paste them to a new folder.

7. Phew! I think that's it for that one.

As for where to get maps and characters:

http://jediknight3.filefront.com/ is the best resource, though if you can't find something in particular let me know and I'll be able to tell you if there is a model/map for it out there or not.

And here are those custom animation files: Each of them contains the basic Academy ones, but any that have been edited, changed or added are found at the bottom of the animation list (so anything under ROOT in the Sequences tree is unique to that specific animation file you've chosen). I've put each one in its own _humanoid folder ("_humanoid_tcw", "_humanoid_rp", etc). Follow the same instructions I gave you for Jedi Outcast models in the last post to activate each animation file whenever you want to use it. I included a screenshot to show you which part of the ModView command to edit to the relevant folder name:

http://www69.zippyshare.com/v/25533130/file.html

Never used that file hosting site before, but hopefully it's reliable and the download is intact. Good luck!

[hangarbay94]

Thanks Kualan, I really appreciate your tips and resources. If I can be of any assistance for anything please let me know by posting here and I'll keep an eye on this thread.

HB

[CloneCrazy]

I'd be interested to know if anyone has experience with green screen software? Good programs, hints, etc.. Thanks!!!