Well if you're looking to replace the hat just for a mod (like for gamebanana), just compile using the new compiler and then rename the .mdl file.

Also remember that the new steam pipe system doesn't read from the /tf/models/ or /t/materials/models/ folders anymore. You'll need to place all custom materials into your /tf/custom/ folder.

Example: If you had a custom material you wanted to replace in-game, simply make the appropriate vmt and put it into /steam/steamapps/common/team fortress 2/tf/custom/<foldername>/materials/ folder. You can also make .vpk files for custom skins as described here: http://steamcommunity.com/workshop/discussions/-1/828937979093285534/?appid=440

Answer: http://napydawise.tumblr.com/post/27698557650/so-i-made-a-facial-flexes-tutorial-for-blender

Export 9 .smd files corresponding to your hat model for each class. Each character has the bip_head bone at a different height, so you'll need to import each character into a fresh scene each time (also make sure to import your hat as well). I each blend file, position/modify your hat accordingly and then export each smd file. When you are ready, open TF2 and using the new beta importer, import your hat for each class (click scout > import model > import textures > click soldier > import model > import textures > etc.).

When you hit preview, you will be able to choose among different classes to see your model.

The basic process is the same as described in that link; however the main difference is getting the in-game importer to recognize several materials. In blender, you will need to add two materials: http://i.imgur.com/8zQ9DMc.jpg

1) Go to the material tab
2) Create 2 new materials (give them names) in object mode by pressing the “+” button and then clicking “New” (the orange ball icon should turn grey if this worked)
3) Your first material will be your main texture (set this up normally/paintable). Select the polygons of your model that will be NON-transparent and in edit mode select your first material’s name and press “assign”. Now select the polygons of your model that will be transparent and assign the 2nd material to them.
4) Export your model to .smd format (you can check to see that your model as 2 materials applied by right clicking the .smd file > "open with" > notepad++: If you see 2 material names in the file, it worked).

NOTE: Since you are using 2 different textures, you will need 2 different texture files… duh. This means that you’ll need to unwrap the transparent parts separately (it actually doesn’t matter how you unwrap the transparent parts as you’ll soon see). For the transparent texture, simply make a small 256x256 square texture that is grey.


At this point you should have your .smd model file and 2 .tga texture files (1 texture is your main texture set up for paint and the other is a grey square). Open up TF2 and navigate to the importer. When you load your model, you should now see 2 vmts (and these should be listed as what you named them in blender): http://i.imgur.com/T88YDxF.jpg

Click the checkbox for "Paint VMT1" and leave the second one unchecked. For your first vmt, load in your main texture and configure it however you want. For the second vmt, load in your grey square texture and configure it like this: http://i.imgur.com/VttR7aP.jpg

NOTE:

• Check the additive box
  
• Check the translucent box
  
• Change the phong exponent to 65 and the phong boost to 6

That's it! Compile and preview.

Question by wekateka:

wekateka lähetti viestin:

Hey, awesome tutorial you've got here, you're really good at explaining stuff. I have a question though: I have read the link you've posted in the comments here about paintable items. I was wondering, is there a way to make a model paintable AND make it have transparent parts? Do I need to use multiple textures for this? I would appreciate your help, anyway, thanks for this tutorial!

If you still want an explanation:

Models have faces, and each face can only be textured from one side (there are exceptions). The side which corresponds to the texture is said to have a normal vector pointed away from this face orthogonally. If your normal vectors are flipped, the texture will appear inside your model, and from the outside it will be transparent. Therefore when you recalculated your normals, you basically ensured that the normals were facing the right way.

I hope this explanation helped. And good luck!

Hm... are you sure the neckpiece uses only 1 bone? Doesn't sound right to me, although I haven't checked Tusk myself. The problem most likely lies in the rig. "Not showing up" equates to not being rigged properly. I would try to re-rig your model. In a different blender scene, open tusk's model and check to see if the neck piece really is only applied to 1 bone.

Some items are pretty straightforward (like nature's prophet's staff only uses 1 bone), but others are applied to multiple bones. Sometimes the process by which Valve rigs their models to the bones is automatic, and some parts have many bones-- like brewmaster's shoulder pieces.

Thus it would be impractical to list every single bone that each model needs to use. You can check yourself using weight-paint mode, though (google this... it's very useful).

Anyway, good luck.

You ALWAYS need to apply bones to your model. Where did you read that you shouldn't? Figure out what bones you need, parent your model to those bones and then adjust the weights (manually or using weight paint mode).

As for the missing faces problem: select your model, go into edit mode, click "recalculate normals" in the panel to the left (I think press ctrl+n works too), and then re-export and compile your model.

Check out this guide: http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=157717488