3ds/gmax Model Hierarchy Collection (56k Warning)

[mschoeldgen[Xww2]]

I collected some hierarchies out of 3DS as a help to get your own right

Legend:

root_nnnnnMesh_myObject: PointHelper

geomN, lodN, nonvis_ : Dummy

Bones are represented by Pyramids

Everything else are meshes. Here we go....

A simple StaticObject:

A Static where i want to add children to from within the editor ( Bundle):

A destroyable object (Oiltank in this case).

A simple Car with Steering Wheel:

A tank with main turret and gun( 2 pictures. This tank has no additional hullgunner) :

A prop driven aircraft with landing gear and control surfaces:

The aircraft needs explanation. If you watch cosely, there's a bone in the rear wheel. This bone makes the rear suspension move with the wheel, meaning the main mesh has a skin modifier.

A Rotor (this time its a propeller for the above BF109)

geom0 is the solid model , geom1 is 2 planes with opposing faces carrying the blurtexture

A boat with additional gunner and a moving enginedummy:

Note that any floatingBundles, Wings and the shipengine is later added with the editor.

A stationary AT gun with a rotating main gun (frame) on a stationary base:

Machine Gun handheld weapon. 1 = magazine, 2 = trigger, 3 = reload handle, 4 = shoulder holder:

Sniper Rifle handheld weapon. 1 = magazine, 2 = trigger, 3 = reload bar :

A visible projectile ( note that most small projectiles are code-only objects) . This here is a torpedo:

A particle ( used in destruction effects ):

Kits hierarchy with 3 Infantry sets, a pilot and a tanker set, and 4 dropkit geometries (4 pictures). Note that most of the second half is occupied by the imported skeleton, starting at 'root_skeleton_3p_setup' . The 'ger_Kits__SimpleObject' is the headwear (helmet or cap):

Note also, the name of the object is only chosen for congruency among the objects. The bagpack of the pilot e.g. would really be a parachute, while it is the vest for the tanker.... I did this to avoid problems while exporting. The skeleton is a child of the soldier_root. This worked best...

A sample hierarchy for a soldier (3 pictures ):

Again , most of the hierarchy is occupied by the skeletons. (1P and 3P) 1P primary mesh : Left Arm , mesh1 = Right Arm. 3P primary mesh : Body with Legs, mesh1 : Arms , mesh2 : Head

A sample animation export scene for 1P animation. Again, most of the hierachy is occupied by the 1P skeleton. mesh1 to mesh7 are my weapon parts:

A little explanation:

Hierachies are necessary to bring the model into a structure the game understands. Your model hierarchy will be exported to the .con file in text form and of course is saved in the bundled-,skinned- or staticmesh.

Hierachies are created by two basic buttons in the toolbar of gmax and 3DS. The first is the common 'Select by Name' button:

This opens the window where all of the above screenshots come from. Checking 'Display Subtree' in this window enables the above view.

The tool for parenting objects is the 'Select and Link' button in your toolbar :

Select the object you want to make a child then press the 'Select and Link' button. This will open a window very similar to the 'Select by Name' Window and lets you choose a parent. This process is called 'parenting an object' mostly in this forum.

The 'root' is just that : The Parent to all other objects. From there on, the geoms are children to the 'root', the lod's (level of detail) are children of the geoms. These objects are purely for organizing the meshes which will be the children of these basic 'tree' helper objects.

Hope that helps

Edited December 4, 2010 by mschoeldgen[Xww2]

[tim]

thx man, this really helps

[Shipwreck]

VERY nice thread! I know most of these now, but it would have helped when I was figuring them out and will help ALOT for anybody trying to figure out heirarchies. Great info! Thanks!

[BEEX]

good stuff mschoeldgen!

will really help the new comers.

.

funny thing is i was going to post this same tutorial yesterday..im glad ya beat me to it...lol

i can post some more,i have an apc,rhib,attack helo and transport helo hierachies,ill pm them to ya so you can add it to your first post.

[mschoeldgen[Xww2]]

Sure thing I thought about adding some specials like Battleships , but i wanted to cover the basics first. As you might have noticed, there are no particles, no helis and no boats. Boats are so simple, helis we don't have in XWW2 and particles is stuff for advanced users so any heli or special is welcome

[junk]

particles is stuff for advanced users

I'm pretty sure these are set up like simple objects. Just named __MeshParticle instead of __SimpleObject. It's been a while so I'm kinda forgeting but I do remember particles being surprisingly one of the most simple elements to create.

How about soldier and kit heirarchies too? I know soldier, but I don't know kits and I know a lot don't know soldiers so I know it'll be good info to know. Ya know?

TY for the resource, I'm gonna bookmark this page.

[lalmatte]

..watertower..the geom1 (3rd person) and geom2(wreck) is it destroyable..just confused because i did it without the geom0 n 2 and it works fine

[mschoeldgen[Xww2]]

@junk: You're right , of course Particles are not advanced in modelling, only in usage. Its just a simple object with the suffixes you mentioned. Only thing i noticed with them is their changed orientation related to world coordinates.

@lalmatte: Watch again both statics only have a geom0. They only use lods.

Kits to come. Its just an long list and i'm running into space trouble in this forum. But they will be here soon. I have no soldier hierarchy here worth mentioning. So if anyone has a hierarchy for the soldier, you're welcome to post it here

[mschoeldgen[Xww2]]

:bump: Updated for kits hierarchy and the *complete* plane picture

[junk]

I posted a soldier heirarchy sometime ago. Maybe 3 weeks or something? I'll try to find it. FOUND IT!

I do have one idea for this topic. In realizing that this is perhaps the single most important thread on the entire site, should you change the subject title from "heirarchies" to "heirarchy", just for searching purposes? I think it'll make a big difference.

[e-Gor]

Feel like copying this post to the wiki? As junk said, it's probably the most useful thread here.

[mschoeldgen[Xww2]]

Thanks to junk, i included your soldier hierarchy into the first post , if thats o.k. for you ? I also changed the title a bit. Copy to the wiki ? Hell yeah, if i knew how that works :oops:

As i'm already spending about an hour or two per day in this forum, i'm lacking the time to fill the wiki....

[mschoeldgen[Xww2]]

Added hierarchy for a stationary AT gun.

[kysterama]

Does anyone per chance have a helicopter hierarchy screeny for max? I'm aware of the simple heli tute for maya on the forums, but that is largely an incomplete hierarchy to go off. So if anyone has a heli imported and wouldn't mind opening max, taking a screen shot of the hierarchy and posting it here, it would help a HUGE amount. Thanks.

[BEEX]

here ya go mate.

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@ mschoeldgen..you can move that helo hierachy up into the first post of this subject if theres any need..lol

[kysterama]

Beex, you're a legend mate! i've already got the heli into the editor and flying after a bit of trial and error, but the rest of that hierarchy will come in very handy as I add more to the heli. You're the first person to post a complete hierarchy for a bf2 heli as far as I know. Great work and looking forward to playing as a fellow Aussie in the mod

[BEEX]

no worries mate.glad to help!

btw if the barrel needs to rotate on the co-gunners gun just make the barrel a rotational bundle instead of a generic firearm,but you will need a small mesh hiden inside the rotating barrel,that small mesh will be the generic firearm.either a box or a flat plane will do the job,and dont forget to aply a material and uvmap it.

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and also make sure you have a look at an existing helo's physical mesh in the editor,you will see a pyramid on the top of the main mesh,this pyramid plays alot on the helos flying physics,without it most of the tweaks physics code will do nothing..i racked my brain for months trying to figure out the problem,but there it was,fixed in 5 minutes with a bloody pyramid...lol

[kysterama]

I stripped apart all the pieces of the uh60 in max to get an understanding of what dice did. through trial and error and matching it up with the uh60's .con file, there was one extra small piece that I could find no reference to. It's a tiny little flat triangle located about a meter in front of the origin. Is this what you're talking about? If so what should the pyramid be named in max so the ed recognises it?

[BEEX]

well i have no idea what that small triangle is,seems like there is no need for it whatsoever.

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heres what i meant about the pyramid.and in this pic it seems wierd that the pyramid ontop has the same colision material as the hull,it should have a seperate colision material "rotor blade " mat id,but who knows there may be a reason..lol

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just upload the uh 60 into the editor and select "draw colisions" and select the physics mesh to see exactly what im talkin about.

[kysterama]

That is weird. The pyramid doesn't show up in max at all with any of the helis unless the tools don't actually import everything from the bundlemesh correctly.

Thanks for your help though Beex, mucho appreciated!

[mschoeldgen[Xww2]]

It might be a collision mesh to avoid tipping over the heli. Render the physics collision and see if it shows there.

[BEEX]

yeah thats exactly what it does,also without it when doing loops the helo will pickup speed with each loop,entertaining but not the desired affect..lol

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some of the importers out there dont import collision meshes,so that might explain its absence.

[Fatlock]

could also be their model for geom0.. ont he ground vehicles they use a little one sided triangle for the geom0 pco instead of the actual model. but you guys know more about helos than i do

[mschoeldgen[Xww2]]

Finally pinned this topic as it seems to help more than a few ppl

[bountyhunterx]

Which helper objects are dummies and which are locators? Like, what is PlayerControlObject? Is it a dummy, a locator, or the mesh? I can never remember. Also, What's with lod0 for geom2? Are those two sets of cols the same? What are they supposed to be under, as they seem to just be floating in the middle there. My stationary gun isn't going to have any rotationalBundles so I just need to figure that out.

Edited July 13, 2006 by bountyhunterx