Importing a Complex Static Mesh - UDK Tutorials by Javahawk

[genome5]

Thank youuuuuuu :D

[Oceanic180]

Not specifically on topic, but do you know how to export Sketchup models and their respective materials into UDK? I've tried using 3ds Max, but never got the hang of it.

[yohoyoho123456]

How do you get the licensed version if your a noob designer? I really need it and how much does it cost? Please help

[superxcm]

Thanks for the help!!

[Doronsmovies]

If you all want to import material do this i always do it. Save the texture as 1024x1024 or 512x512 as TGA. And then just import it. And then you will get a texture. Then in your package right-click and select add material. Then double click material and in the top right corner in the search type find texture sample. Drag it on there, connect diffuse with the top black cube on the top of texture sample. And click on texture sample and just in content browser select texture and click thegreenarro

[IloveDAGAMEZ]

I just wanna ask, do you UV map the model and then multi-sub material it, im confused as to how you do it.

[ncshuriken]

Its not working for me. I cant get any subobject materials to work at all on my model. Its a pretty simple model, and I've already set the two material ID's up (some polygons using ID1, the rest using ID2), plus I've unwrapped it, so I dont understand why nothing appears on my model, after setting up a multi-sub material, assigning a texture for each slot, then dragging onto the model and pressing "show maps in standard viewport". Its all standard procedure AFAIK, so what could I be doing wrong?

[ncshuriken]

Does this not work if you've already unwrapped the UV's on your model? I've modelled a pillar, and I want to give it two sub-materials (one for the lights), so I selected all the faces of the lights, then set them as material ID-2, while the rest of the model is set at ID-1. After that I unwrapped the model, then added a multi-subobject texture, applying a material to both the channels, but when I try to view the materials in the scene, theres nothing. Its like it erased my UV mapping...

[infinitesimotel]

So if I had a large mesh, would it be better to have one 2048 texture than two 1024 textures to cover it? Or is there a trade off point somewhere on this level?

[Menethilos]

ok thk m8 i found it..

ur tutorial help me realy..

about colission AND REALY AT THE MATERIALS ;)

[Menethilos]

nice tutorial .. but when i inport my mesh in to udk i have only 1 material :(

why .. ??

i use multy sub material and i have only 1 element in udk :(

can u help me ?

[infinitesimotel]

Ah you have that warning too when you import into UDK, the 'excees expected blah bla'.  What is that exactly? Because Ive had a couple of meshes which didnt have that.

[wwwtum]

Thank you

Great Tutorial :)

[Anton0witch]

Thank You Sir from the interwebz

[JustPcGaming]

is that the fire tower from dungeon defense?

[Swanton0014]

LOL i messed up, i have 21,052 ELements !!! lol

[momopirou]

hey i have a problem. i have imported a model with 13 sub materials, but in the udk, there are only 9 slots. what did i do wrong?

[Laban510]

I have a problem when I import my 3dsMax model My Mesh is only black in UDK even when I apllied a material it also doesn't have the UDK default material at the import please help!!!

[jazzwing]

@Laban510 Press 'G' to activate game mode.

[Laban510]

@jazzwing Nah it's fine it was my mistake I didn't tick some settings when I was exporting the mesh from 3dsMax but thanks for the help

[Laban510]

Wow this is so great I always wondered how to add the materials to my imported meshes thanx for the tutorial!!!

[jazzwing]

This is a well done tutorial and it works superbly. I had trouble with using Blend_translucent blending method on one object with alpha channels (a building with windows). This separated the two and everything worked fine. Thanks!!!

[sm4llbit]

To all people having problem with getting only one ID material slot in UDK :

There are two thing to have in mind to get it working, 1st is that in 3dmax in material editor in multi/sub object, each material must have unique name, and 2nd is that each material must be based on a bmp (or jpg, something must by shove into map slot) . It works for me !

[Nanovarium]

@sm4llbit That totally did the trick! Maybe one should also add the fact that a model has have a minimum size to display all vertices/faces, otherwise they will be set to zero and won't display. Hope this information will be useful for others, too

[shalunn]

I have got an issue with ASCII. It dont make more than 1 element in UDK for texturing. But the solution is - export in .fbx ... i dont know, why ASCII is getting a problem... Can someone tell me what I do wrong ???

[mpgaming]

I'm doing what you do but the texture does not showup on the mesh for some reason :/

[UDKoder]

OMG I CAN FINALLY STOP MAKING DOORWAYS OUT OF FIVE DIFFERENT BLOCKS!!!!!! THANK YOU!!!!!!

You know that weird not-a-sound sound you hear in your head when something you have been thinking about ceaselessly finally makes sense? I just heard it.

Also, will this work in Apex Destruction you think? Im gonna try!

[Adardardar1]

is it possible to create a whole level in max and then import it into udk, WITHOUT using any BSP brushes?

[ShauniMaple]

This tutorial saved my ass, thank you. xD

[warhawk]

awesome tutorial great teacher!!!! very well presented and nice model as well

[peterkentonfilms]

So, your mesh is broken up into four meshes that were unwrapped and textured separately? I have a mesh and I'm trying to UVW unwrap it but its really complex and I can't fit all the components into the small work space to export for a texture. I'd imagine, I'd have to break it down into parts and make a unwrap of each part with a separate texture?

[ADEdge]

Cheers, finally found someone who explains all this properly, textures, collision mesh and all. You have no idea how many crap tutorials I went though before I came across this one! :/

[gordon1201]

Is it possible to have one material with multiple textures? My character has loads of seperate parts. It seems like a waste of resources to make a seperate material for each texture that will do exactly the same thing.

[kyleisreallycool]

whenever I go to edit poly my uv gets fucked up, help.

[OP3NGL]

To solve the LOD Slots problem, is necessary to use in the multi/sub-object(max) textures, no diffuse color. Is yoy export your model only using diffuse color you will have only one slot for your material, You must use textures to have "N" slots for each material

[narutodamp]

pls can you answer this question?... when i had done a full room of custom stuff and then i saved it... then when opened the saving it says "the following resources where not found" D: pls help me!!!!

[sameherow]

@narutodamp you have to make a new package in the content browser left bottom of the content browser click new. Put all the custom 3D models in there that you imported and and save it. Normally a package is created in udkgame/content and it will load/find your custom stuff when you reopen it.

[narutodamp]

@sameherow ya i figured that out ^^ but ty for taking your time

[cromepistola]

HELP HELP HELP!!!! Im pulling out all my hair (and im bald) LOL - Ive watched about 100 times and i have followed your directions to a T but still when i import into udk to add my materials in the LOD it only comes up with 1 material slot. IDK WTF im doing wrong and now i have an entire level built but can go no further because half the models are default material. (they would look silly as just one material, i.e. wall locker, and lounge chairs etc... Please help!!! O BTW i have 3ds max 2010?...

[LuckyST]

@cromepistola

same problem for me... did everything also.

I even tried dettaching/reattaching mesh but still no solution.

[Cha4k]

@cromepistola

I'm getting the exact same problem, And I've never had it previously. Even when I load up old models that are working fine in udk, if I rexport them suddenly they only have 1 material again. I guess either UDK has changed or maybe there's something wrong with my exporter. Frustrating

[Cha4k]

@cromepistola

Oh wait, I found out why. You have to have a material in the diffuse slot when you export otherwise udk discards the slot. Mine weren't working because I was using a different shader in max that somehow messed everything up.

[katana2665]

Thank you very much for doing this....

[magnusmaynard]

...

...

Thanks for the tutorial but can some explain how to get the material to be imported along with the model. Because when I do it, it just imports the model and material are not in the content browser anywhere. The materials are all BMP/diffused images just in case you want to know. Please Help?

Thanks :)

[RossKilgariff]

Great tutorial. Are you sure adding a new material requires another draw call? Multi-texturing has been available in graphics hardware since 2000 (R100 and NV20), and I'm fairly sure the UDK doesn't re-draw the entire mesh for each material.

[LordTharapita]

Nice, this helped me make my first hand-made collision for a UDK static mesh. The built in auto collision tool just doesn't cut it past simple shapes, glad I found this tutorial.

[LolFishFail]

Very good tutorial! Explained so much to me, I was puzzeled as to how I would allow multiple materials in UDK on one mesh, but now it's clear! Thank you very much, I subbed :P

[LimitlessB0Xstudios]

how well can the UDK handle 2000 polygons, i made a simple island model out of a heightmap

[LoboLoko007]

great vid, I'll be trying this tomorrow and hopefully I'll get it done.

thanks

[SSJ4JAXMAZON]

Thanks for these videos Javahawk I seem to have an issue of UDK not showing my collision and I have followed ur guide word 4 word thx

[SSJ4JAXMAZON]

Thanks for these videos Javahawk I seem to have an issue of UDK not showing my collision and I have followed ur guide word 4 word thx

[nickdavijhon]

i need some help when i export the model, i cant find the material that come with the mesh. can someone please help me!

[6thchambermadness]

Hi, I followed the tutorial but when I got into UDK and expand LODInfo there's only one element and not 4 :S Any ideas? Thanks :)

[Screamus]

What's the maya equivalent to a multi sub object?

Is it just a group made of different meshes?

[WorldOfWar147]

from the window browser thing when i drag a staticmesh it dsoesn't show,

help please?

[xawel]

I just have a question in general... Why is it bad to use the brushes for walls and floors and stuff? They work fine and you can simply convert to a static if needed. I'd just like to know the exact reason why they are not used or preferred to not be used??

[KittenKiller]

I have a plane for the floor and a plane for the ceiling with 1 material and 2 UV maps for each one, but UDK only recognizes them as a single object with 1 material and 2 UV maps, therefore it's complaining about overlapping UVs, and is putting one material on both the floor and ceiling.

[grendayza]

This lesson was so extremly useful, nobody can imagine. And that "UCX_"-thing for creating collision simply in 3d-package is brilliant as well. Thank You so much!

[cerzzz]

when I import my model into UDK I get the following error:

(Generated/Imported vertex count ratio ([n]/[n]) exceeds expected percentage ([n] percent vs [n] percent expected)

I also tryed with a primitive object, a cube to be more precise and it still gives me that error, but when I add more segments to it the error doesn't appear...

Any help would be great thanks in advance

btw I'm usind 3DS Max 2010 .ASE exporter with the options you showed in your video

[MrKhaern]

I've followed through this exactly as you have explained and everytime i import my model there is only one material in the LODinfo. In 3ds the material id's are set up right and i can see all 3 parts of the model selected individually. What could be the problem?

[MrKhaern]

@MrKhaern Okay i sorted it out, just so that if anyone else is having this same problem make sure that on each part of the multi texture you import an actual texture and not just a 3ds colour :)

[MissingLink101]

I think I love you!

[CandGPxexpert]

Are you at all familiar with the program "Blender"? will the custom collision box work the same way in blender as in this?

[rrenovatioo]

This is great! thank you.

[vekien]

thank you for this!

[alaknas]

I'm having trouble to do this, im doing exactly as you (as far as you describe) with a 3 subobject model, 2 different textures, no errors on export or import, but the imported model in UDK only has one Element in the LODInfo instead of the two (as for materials) or three (as for subobjects), do you know what this is due to?

[heuykiller]

@alaknas I've got the exactly same problem.

How to fix it?

[heuykiller]

@heuykiller Nevermind, I read that the material needed an Bitmap/defuse to work.

[alaknas]

@heuykiller

indeed what i had missed was that you need a image map as diffuse (bitmap)

[jm08aco]

excellent tutorial, you did however forget to directly mention one important bit

u NEED a diffuse map in the materials otherwise UDK wont recognise the different elements in the static mesh editor

[DanteLovesPizza]

Question, I see you are able to apply materials in the UDK to only the specific parts like you've specified in Max. e.g. Material one only applied to that "neck" part, is that because the UVs are save and hence when the same material is chosen to apply to in the UDK, it knows which part the material needs to be on?

I've not textured my meshes, so, I'm wondering if it's possible to apply a material to a "face" like with the UDK brushes, where I can select one face of a box to apply a material to.

[DanteLovesPizza]

@DanteLovesPizza

Also, what if I don't want to apply materials, but rather just a plain colour?

Or is that not possible and I'll have use a material?

I am required to a a map for my assignment, some of my interiors just require a plain colour, such as the bath, sink, lamp shade etc.

Rather than using a material, is it possible to just apply a colour to it?

[dsalimander]

i wanted a tutorial on how to import the model and i got a tutorial on how to make the model. thank you for wasting my time.

[Justin712]

So, following the same design discussed below, would it be possible to have a basic map made completely of static meshes? (no world brushes)

[udkTutorials]

@Justin712 Yes, absolutely, this is exactly what many high tier development teams prefer actually.

[Zeemis]

@udkTutorials for the most part they do, not all. Team Fortress 2 is an example of a game composed of maps that use minimal amounts of static meshes and really focus on brushes. It's all preference to the company.

[Genesisjadon]

ur an absolute legend... i had a mesh that i was usin as a bridge and my pawn was just walkin thru it and fell through the floor but ur collision method has taught how to sort my level out for uni now cheers buddy :)

[PrivationProductions]

Thanks for making this, but I'm a little concerned because I'm about to begin making entire levels (like static floor plans) using 3d studio max, but do you think I will be restricted in my textures by using multiple IDs for the multiple materials such as the difference between the floor, the wall, the bed, the desk, etc.? Is there any way around this while still primarily using Max as the editor?

[udkTutorials]

I would separate each object in your scene and NOT import the whole scene as one mesh. If you did it as one mesh you would have to use tons of ID's, and that's just not practical for what you want to do.

By separating them you can limit each object to 1-3 ID's (you really shouldnt ever need to go more than 3-4 IDs per object to be honest). And most objects should just have 1 ID.

[PrivationProductions]

So let's say the floor is a type of tile, I could just import the floor-mesh by itself first. Then the surrounding walls are a felt, green, with a wooden molding. I could just import the wall-mesh with the two IDs and set them on top of the floor. Does this look like it is working?

[udkTutorials]

Yeah, that's sort of the strategy you want to take. You got it.

[PrivationProductions]

thanks a million

[alexsoundwave]

Great tut thanks for this. But i can only get one LOD group to come up in the static mesh editor no matter what I do. Will keep trying. Any ideas?

[alexsoundwave]

got it working! Had to make sure all my material names matched in max multisub and in content browser before exporting & importing mesh.

[udkTutorials]

Sorry for not responding earlier, but great to hear! Any more questions let me know.

[IIXcessive]

when i import my model and i spawn in i can walk right through my model. Plz help and be specific because people keep telling me stuff i cant find

[lildragon5555]

@IIXcessive make sure you have some kind of collision setting on for the model

[mizas]

When I pull the imported model out of the content editor, there is no model even though the editor shows one. What am I missing?

[udkTutorials]

I suspect your scaling is off, either you have a HUGE model or a reallly tiny one. If you send me your max file I can take a look.

[mizas]

I found that my model position in 3DS Max was way off.

Is there a limit to the collision box generated by the UCX model? Only pieces of my UCX model are being used for collision detection.

[udkTutorials]

Make sure you collapse your collision meshs into one mesh. Also, as a good practice, make sure that mesh doest have intersecting elements when collapsed.

[l2edl2ain]

I have solved the polygon ID problem, now i am having troubles finding the perfect setting in 3DMax to extract the materials to a 2D material for the UDK. I am using the "render to texture" option to bake my object. Did you use this option as well? If not how to did u do it?

[udkTutorials]

You can use this option for I know sure, I think you have to bake a "complete map" but Im not 100% sure.

Im confused though why you are having to do this when you should just be using the same textures you use in MAX to begin with. Why arent you just using the same textures you use in MAX?

[l2edl2ain]

In your video did you already have your materials from your FB_Tower in the content browser or did it also import them and turn them into 2d maps? I am having problems with it reading my polygon material IDs when i export from Max10 and also i do not have the materials in the content browser. Any Help?

[michabentoby]

Cheers dude I understood that perfectly and it really helped :)

[udkTutorials]

Thanks, glad it helps!

[udkTutorials]

Thanks guys!

[ceribral]

You don't have to have multiple ID's in order to create different fx in different areas (e.g. The different animated glows.) You can accomplish this in many different ways through the shader system. If you simply want different animation's in different elements, then you are taking a longer road. It is a simpler to use other methods.

-Jeremy-

[udkTutorials]

There are many ways to do this - One of the most popular was is through vertex painting. I have a tutorial on that too for those interested.

Joshua

[Priest909]

Thanks for the info!

[nioxin3031]

the vertex count ratio error occurs because this model has overlapping (mirror) UVs and no secondary lightmap UV channel. This model is actually a skeletal mesh and uses ENV lighting, so we didn't need a second UV channel. You can fix that by properly laying out UVs that do not overlap. I know this because I am working with Mr. JavaHawk on the project that uses this model. I think we will get Josh to make a lightmapping tutorial for all of you soon.

[Priest909]

@nioxin3031 So... After a few tests it seems that the vertex count error still occurs even for simple meshes.

If you make a simple sphere there are no erors popping up.. That's a start... But if you make a cube (like a crate I made) the errors pops up even with the UVs settted.

This is so darn frustrating. :0\

I just hope that it won't affect the performance.

[Priest909]

Very nice job! Thanks.

By the way, any idea what is that vertex count ratio error that pops up every time someone imports a mesh?

I notice you get it too.

[GreasyMnky]

great tutorial!