Importing Source maps into Blender

A easy and simple to follow guide that explains how to import Source maps into Blender.

Introduction

While there are many ways to import Source maps to blender; I believe I have found one of, if not, the best way to import source maps into blender.
This will import everything from brushes, textures and materials, lights, overlays and more, and will remove anything else that shouldn't be imported.

Resources

Needed resources

You'll need:

• Java [Required for BSPSrc] - https://www.java.com/en/
  
• BSPSrc - https://github.com/ata4/bspsrc/releases
  
• Blender Source Tools - http://steamreview.org/BlenderSourceTools/
  
• IO VMF Importer - https://github.com/lasa01/io_import_vmf/releases

Download the latest release of BSPSrc, Blender Source Tools and IO VMF Importer

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Using these resources

Java:
Download the latest version of Java and launch the installer and
download Java. This is all you need for Java. 

BSPSrc:
Download the .zip file from the Github link, uncompress it
and make sure that Java is installed before use.

Blender Source Tools and IO VMF Importer:
Download the .zip files from the Github links, and  DO NOT UNCOMPRESS THEM,
and open Blender. Once on blender, go to: Edit > Preferences > Add-ons > Install | And select the the .zip files 

Converting the maps

Preparing the Source maps for Blender

Let's say we are importing the maps from Half-Life 2. You'd first need to locate the maps you want.
Locate the 'maps' folder; it should be at

[(Drive):\Steam (Or name of the library)\steamapps\common\[(Game)\(Game {Like 'hl2' or 'garrysmod'})\maps]

. This folder location is the same for most Source games. Once in this folder, locate the map you wish to import, let's say that the map is 'd1_canals_06'; locate the .bsp file in the maps folder, this will be '[mapname].bsp'. For our map, it will be called
'd1_canals_06.bsp'. Once you have located the map, remember where it is.

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Converting the maps to VMF
Due to '.bsp' files not being able to be read by anything but the Source engine, they will not work as they are right now.
Because of this, we want to convert them into '.vmf' files; this is where BSPSrc comes in handy. Open the BSPSrc folder
[if you uncompressed the '.zip'] and launch the file called 'bspsrc.jar' or 'bspsrc.bat'. One opened, click on the button called 'Add' and
locate the '.bsp' file we found earlier, for our map we would go to where 'd1_canals_06.bsp' and add it. Next, click the decompile button and let BSPSrc do it's work. It will create a '.vmf' version of the map, and it will be located in the same folder as your
'.bsp' file

[(Drive):\Steam (Or name of the library)\steamapps\common\[(Game)\(Game {Like 'hl2' or 'garrysmod'})\maps]

.Now the map is ready to be imported to blender.

Preparing Blender for the import

Preparing Blender for the maps
Make sure that you have the Blender Source Tools and IO VMF Importer addons enabled in Blender [If you have not, read "Using these resources"]. Go to: Edit > Preferences > Add-ons and search for

Import Valve Map Format / Valve Material Type

. Click the triangle icon next to the addon's name, this will open the details and preferences for the addon.

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Setting up the addon for the '.vmf' file

1. Create a cache folder somewhere on your computer [name it something like 'Cache'], and add it to 'Cache Directory'.
   
2. Create a game definition at 'Valve game definitions', name it whatever your want. For our map, we will name it 'Half-Life 2'.
   
3. For 'Game directories', add the game folder from

   [(Drive):\Steam (Or name of the library)\steamapps\common\]

4. For Game VPK archives, add the '.vpk' file with '_dir' [Like 'pak01_dir.vpk'] on the end. it should be in

   [(Drive):\Steam (Or name 
    of the library)\steamapps\common\[(Game)\(Game {Like 'hl2' or 'garrysmod'})\maps]

   . For older games like Half-Life 2, you will
   need to add two more '.vpk' files, they should be called '[Game Name]_textures_dir.vpk' and '[Game name]_sound_misc_dir.vpk'.
   
5. You do not need to add anything for 'Game wildcard directories

Importing the maps into blender

Go to: File > Import > Valve Map Format [.vmf] and import the '.vmf' from the folder it was decompiled to.
Leave everything checked unless you want to only add certain things, and click import, but if you are going to add the map into a software like Unity, MAKE SURE YOU ENABLE "Simple Materials" IN THE MATERIALS SECTION.
Once everything here is what you want, click 'Import vmf' and wait for it to import, this may take a little while.
It should eventually import with the textures already applied [Make sure you are in viewport shading], but this will take a while
until all texture are applied. I'm pretty sure the textures will be in the cache folder you set.

End

That's all

That's all you need to do for this, you should now have the Source map you want in Blender. You can also do this with maps that are not from any base Source game, although I don't recommend this.

Import Source 2 maps into Blender: https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2815879008

Thanks for reading the guide, I hope it helped.

[zonked]

You make the VPK yourself. Using BSPSrc, you can unpack all custom assets from the map like textures and models, then using vpk.exe (Found in the game files in bin) you can put them into a .vpk for Blender.

[DJToasterWaffle]

would one have to add all the textures manually if they do not have any .vpk? i pulled a map from the workshop and everything worked to get it into blender, there just is no .vpk in the files, just a bunch of .vtf and .vmt

[zonked]

No I literally mean blender source tool is required for the VMF IO Import addon, atleast it was when I made the guide.

[Mr Mage]

incorrect. sourceio doesn't have any dependencies as of today, and blendersourcetools does everything that sourceoi does, but less and worse

[zonked]

Yeah, my Blender guide for Source literally says use SourceIO, I only have Blender Source Tools here as it is a requirement for the addon.

[Mr Mage]

just to point out, sourceio is actually reliable unlike blendersourcetools and doesn't depend on other, additional addons to work, not to mention setting it up is a world easier, but I'm mainly posting this because it doesn't seem that simply unticking the subscribe to thread box is enough to actually unsubscribe from a guide comment section

[zonked]

Make sure you selected the VPK consisting of the materials. If the map has custom content such as materials, use BSPsrc to extract the content from the map, then use vpk.exe from a Source games bin folder by dragging the folder with the content onto it which will then create a VPK containing all of the materials. After that, add it to your Blender with the other VPKs.

[Nug]

all of the textures are black

[zonked]

Try re-installing the addon or restarting Blender? Make sure its enabled!

[Mr Mage]

the vmf option in the import tab is missing??