Legacy:Importing Milkshape Characters To UT2004

A tutorial on importing characters from MilkShape to UT2004.

It is presumed that you have a character mesh in Milkshape at this point and you only need to know how to import it into UT2004.

Go to UnrealEd. Using the textures window, you should import your model textures. Unlike UT(99), you can have more than 4 textures assigned to each model. They do not need to be named using the same method as UT(99). Name them whatever you like, but be sure that each texture has a unique name.

In Milkshape, make sure the textures on the Materials Tab have identical names to the textures you wish to use in UnrealEd. By doing this now, it will automatically apply the named textures to the model upon import.

All vertices must be assigned to bones on a skeleton before you can import anything, otherwise nothing will export.

If you wish to utilize a currently existing UT2003/2004 Skeleton, you can find the .PSK files necessary on one of the CDs the game came on. The benefits to this are that you will not need to create new animations for the character.

If you wish to use a custom made skeleton, you must create all of the animations yourself and import each animation separately. This will be covered more in depth later.

Assuming you intend to use a currently existing skeleton, exporting is a simple affair. Go to FileExportUnreal/UT PSK/PSA. Export your model as <ModelName>.psk. The PSK model format controls the relationship between vertices and bones, as well as data pertaining to the shape of the model, and texture placement. In layman’s terms, what the model looks like.

On the other hand, if you intend to use a custom made skeleton, you would also need to export .psa versions of the model as well. The .psa format controls animations for the model’s .psk file. Seeing as we are working with Milkshape, the best way to handle this would be to rotate the model 90° to the left. The reason for this is as follows: In Milkshape, the front of the model is on the +Z Axis, while in UnrealEd, the front is +X. By rotating it in Milkshape, it takes away one potential spot for errors to occur. You can rotate your model in UnrealEd, however there have been times where animations will not play correctly when translating from one program to the other. This shouldn’t be an issue when using an existing skeleton.

You will need to create animations for every action. Each .psa file should contain one animation, so it makes sense to name your .psa files in reference to what animations are contained.

In UnrealEd, you will select the Animations window to import characters and their animations. If you are using an existing skeleton, you will only need to import the .psk file, and reference which animation set will be used. Be sure to match the correct animation set to your skeleton.

If you are using a custom skeleton, you will need to create a new skeletal subsystem upon import (you will be prompted to do so, name it something unique and make it in its own file). You will import each animation and append each new one to the existing animations, not overwrite existing ones. You can name every animation through the menu on the right side of the window. Once it is all in place, save your information in UnrealEd.

From this point on, it is now up to setting the model up as a character, which is explained elsewhere in the wiki.

How?!

The solution is simple, so here it is in a nutshell:

In Milkshape, after making the mesh for your model, and before animating it for use in UnrealEd, you must first rotate your model 90 degrees to its left

(-90 on the Y axis). Now that it's facing the right side of your screen, you can now animate each individual sequence, and save and export them as .psa files, while your mesh is to be saved as a .psk file. After this, it should become easier to transfer the info to UT2004.

If you rotate your model in UnrealEd instead of Milkshape, that's where you open the door for problems.

Test my solution. If it works, spread the word, and eventually someone with more time and patience will make a comprehensive tutorial on here. Have fun. : )

~SpectreRose

Related Topics

• MilkShape
• Topics On Modeling
• Static Mesh

Discussion

This is just a dump of the information provided by SpectreRose into a new tutorial page to get the information out here from the wiki page he posted it on. It still needs some help. Formatting, Links, Illistrations maybe. If this tutorial helps you, please help it. thx.

---

Category:Legacy Tutorial | Category:Legacy Modeling | Category:Legacy To Do