102 replies to this topic

[unclewilly]

I only have the ones from the fp editor.
I haven't tried to reshape any.

@gtxjoe. I don't modify the textures at all.
Some objects I've had to uvmap and make textures for as fp just sets them as a color.
If you'd like I can give you all the standard models already in ms3d format.

[kiwi]

 

SS and table updated in first post.

 

Added Gates and Spinners

Play the template table and plunge a ball to see the gate and spinners in action

 

Set a timer on the table with interval of 1

Add a Gate or spinner and uncheck visible

Place mesh overtop of the vp gate/Spinner

 

Sub Timer1_Timer()

              GateHeavyT1Primitive.RotZ = -(GateName.currentangle)

              SpinnerT1Primitive.RotZ = -(SpinnerName.currentangle)

End Sub

 

Have you come across the more V shaped one? For example, the ones on Spiderman?

If not, I will try to modify one of the ones you posted and share it

 

 

An easy way to create wire gate with FP, is to use the guide wire, easy to shape.
With blender you have to delete the pegs, rotate and position the 0 (Z 0, X 0, Y 0) in the pivot point of the gate.

 

Max

[freneticamnesic]

unclewilly thanks so much, you're changing the way I build tables, the future is now!

[gtxjoe]

I think I have all the remaining FP models converted to .obj format and scaled for VP (342 objects total) I am running a screen capture script overnight to hopefully create a PDF catalog of all these objects for easy browsing

Like you said some of these will require UV map textures if FP was just assigning a color to it. I need to learn how to do that...

I will share the converted obj files and PDF tomorrow if all goes well...

[unclewilly]

Sweet. That's awesome.

I guess people will be on their own if they want to do plastics, wire guides, apro, etc.

Maybe I can make a tutorial for that

[ICPjuggla]

Sweet. That's awesome.
I guess people will be on their own if they want to do plastics, wire guides, apro, etc.
Maybe I can make a tutorial for that

I would love to see a tutorial for that when time permits.. :-)

[zany]

When exporting in blender....have the mesh selected and in the export panel also check "selected" if there is more then one object in the scene.
If you bake an UV-map in blender you will not get the shinyness. You have to bake one more UV-map with just the shinyness via the node editor, and then merge the two images together in ie. Photoshop.

[gtxjoe]

I was able to automate the FP object extract and scaling for VP use (I just used a macro recorder utility). I have only sanity checked a few of the models so report any issues.  

 

I would recommend using UW's template table if the object is already available there.  Use this collection if its not .  You may have to create the texture if an appropriate one is not located in the texture folder

 

Summary of what the collection contains:    Primitives Collection.pdf   888.87KB   157 downloads

 

And here is actual download:  https://www.dropbox.... Collection.zip

Edited by gtxjoe, 01 July 2014 - 04:25 PM.

[Shoopity]

When exporting in blender....have the mesh selected and in the export panel also check "selected" if there is more then one object in the scene.
If you bake an UV-map in blender you will not get the shinyness. You have to bake one more UV-map with just the shinyness via the node editor, and then merge the two images together in ie. Photoshop.

I know this is off topic, but I wanted to comment here, I actually followed this tutorial and was able to create a single UV Map with specular baked in.  It uses an Extended Material node and Mix node.

[zany]

Oh...sorry...my bad. Didn't know of that one...Extended Material and Mix. Thanks for telling!!!

And yes...it worked perfect.....and saves a few steps!

Here's my test using the Extended Material and Mix in the Node Editor! 

 

Attached Files

•  Untitled._blend.jpg   19.08KB   5 downloads
•  Untitled._VP.jpg   36.1KB   5 downloads

[dark]

Hi UW,

 

I am working through the process of learning to export FP models for VP primitive use and having some success.  I am essentially following Fuzzel's post here:  http://www.vpforums....=24883&p=230694.  I want to make sure I am not missing any steps.  

 

The only additional steps I have done are:

- Use Blender to scale it down by factor of .019.  (Open Blender, Create New. Delete default object.  Import FP .obj file.  Use Scale to reduce X, Y and Z by .019.  Export .obj file making sure "Write Normals", "Include UVs", and "Triangulate Faces" are checked)

- In Visual Pinball, place Primitive, Load Mesh and select the .obj file, set Primitive Rotx = 90, import texture and assign to the primitive.

 

Are you doing any additional steps other than those outlined in Fuzzels post and the additional steps above?  

Did you have to manipulate the FP textures at all before using?

Does anyone know how to rotate the co-ordinate system in Blender, so rotating the Primitive in VP becomes unnecessary?

 

I am trying to create a macro to export all the FP models to .fpm, then export to .ms3d, then export to .obj, then re-scale the .obj file in blender.  I can share them if the macro works or are you already close to finishing? There are a lot of FP models...

 

The difference between 3D software's view port orientation and how VP orients it's mesh's is usually you have to rotate X axis by 90 degrees.  From the 'front' view port in 3D software you need to rotate objects onto their "backs" in order for them to be imported into VP without needing to rotate.  Or in other words in your 3D software from the top view the model needs to be facing you - my guess is because VP's POV is essentially a top view.  An example of this is, if you export Fuzzle's champion pub fighter model and bring it into a 3D program you'll notice he's lying on his back.  Another thing that is noteworthy is that you cannot determine an objects pivot point by normal means.  What I mean is in 3D software you can specify an objects pivot point where ever you want to place it, how ever once imported into VP this information is ignored and instead goes by the "world axis"  In 3D software you will see a grid of axis point in the view ports, in the centre of that grid the axis will cross to form an "X", you want to centre the objects pivot point to this axis and it will effectively pivot from this point once imported into VP.

 

Hope you find this useful.

Edited by dark, 01 July 2014 - 07:04 PM.

[zany]

I guess this can be improvements in VP, how it handles imported meshes, so that VP handles meshes like 3D software does.

[unclewilly]

@dark: vp can use the pivot point from the 3d software. It's just a matter of either using rotx/y/z or objrot/y/z.
Look at the drac ulna model from monster bash. He pivots based on the 3d software origin.
Objrot... pivots around the center of the mesh
Rot... pivots at the 3d software orgin


That's what you said, isn't it

Edited by unclewilly, 01 July 2014 - 10:41 PM.

[Shoopity]

Oh...sorry...my bad. Didn't know of that one...Extended Material and Mix. Thanks for telling!!!
And yes...it worked perfect.....and saves a few steps!
Here's my test using the Extended Material and Mix in the Node Editor! 

I often say that sometimes it takes a lesser mind to figure something out.  I'm working on making meshes for Party Zone (Dark said he would see about B. Zarr), starting with the Space Ship.  Since I'm so new to this stuff I'm doing tutorials/forum posts like crazy; I came across your post about the nodes which led me looking into doing nodes at all, which led to that post about the mixer node.

[Shoopity]

@dark: vp can use the pivot point from the 3d software. It's just a matter of either using rotx/y/z or objrot/y/z.
Look at the drac ulna model from monster bash. He pivots based on the 3d software origin.
Objrot... pivots around the center of the mesh
Rot... pivots at the 3d software orgin


That's what you said, isn't it

I noticed that about your drac, when I brought him into Blender he was off from center.  One question might be, would it better to do that, or to put the object's pivot point in the middle of the object, then use VP's transx/y/z to move the mesh from the primitive's center?  My $0.02, when possible keep the mesh's origin in the center of the mesh to help with modders in the future (so they won't have to do 3D work if some adjustment is needed).

[zany]

Shoopity...again...thanx for the tips. I haven been using Blender since 2.48, and alot of stuff is new. Not sure if Extended Materials is new or not, but i remember looking for a tutorial for baking speculars, and only found that other....alot more fiddly solution. Extende Materials helped alot!

Btw...the space ship looks awesome!!

[freneticamnesic]

just handled the primitive spinners and gates... it's seriously easier to use and deal with than the standard spinners and gates, getting the images right and everything, there's no excuse anymore... the conversion took 5 minutes for 4 spinners and half that was spent mapping the textures to match the spinner template. Thanks a ton unclewilly 

 

I can see it being easier to build a table using primitives from the ground up. You still need walls but you don't need to make them pretty with ramps and everything anymore, going to do that on my next table using all of this

[dark]

@dark: vp can use the pivot point from the 3d software. It's just a matter of either using rotx/y/z or objrot/y/z.
Look at the drac ulna model from monster bash. He pivots based on the 3d software origin.
Objrot... pivots around the center of the mesh
Rot... pivots at the 3d software orgin


That's what you said, isn't it

I'll have to export the Drac model some time.    But if shoop is saying it's off centre in the 3D software that would still imply that it's using "world axis" centre as pivot point.

I was using the X/Y/Z rotation when I tried to have Fren's suitcase open up but it was rotating from the centre of the object until I offset it so the pivot point was at the centre of world axis in 3DSmax and then presto it started working.  It was the same deal with the slot machine cylinder for Hotel Lex on the Kingpin build for ICPJuggla.  Maybe I'm missing something here but regardless of where I put the objects pivot point in 3DSmax when I went to rotate it in VP it would always rotate based off the world axis centre.

 

@Shoop:

The space ships look good, you texture bake that? It has nice mapped lighting.  How many polys?

 

- I actually just set up the scene with references for the Captain so it's ready to start.

[Shoopity]

 

@dark: vp can use the pivot point from the 3d software. It's just a matter of either using rotx/y/z or objrot/y/z.
Look at the drac ulna model from monster bash. He pivots based on the 3d software origin.
Objrot... pivots around the center of the mesh
Rot... pivots at the 3d software orgin


That's what you said, isn't it

I'll have to export the Drac model some time.    But if shoop is saying it's off centre in the 3D software that would still imply that it's using "world axis" centre as pivot point.

I was using the X/Y/Z rotation when I tried to have Fren's suitcase open up but it was rotating from the centre of the object until I offset it so the pivot point was at the centre of world axis in 3DSmax and then presto it started working.  It was the same deal with the slot machine cylinder for Hotel Lex on the Kingpin build for ICPJuggla.  Maybe I'm missing something here but regardless of where I put the objects pivot point in 3DSmax when I went to rotate it in VP it would always rotate based off the world axis centre.

 

@Shoop:

The space ships look good, you texture bake that? It has nice mapped lighting.  How many polys?

 

- I actually just set up the scene with references for the Captain so it's ready to start.

 

 

I can't speak for 3DSmax since I've never used it so I can only comment on Blender (which is common knowledge that there is a significant learning curve because it's designed with efficiency in mind, not ease of use).  You've got the grid lines where the X and Y axes cross, I would call that the world axis.  Any time you select an object, an indicator with a small circle and X/Y/Z arrows show up to let you manipulate the object; this is the object's origin or Object Center.  If I were making Drac in Blender, I would create him at the center, move him to the side, make sure the 3D cursor was at the world axis center, then set the object's origin to the 3D cursor.  Viola, I've offset the object's origin and in VP you don't have to translate anything; spinning the mesh makes him rotate in a circle instead of spinning in place.  However, I wonder if it would make it easier for possible modders if you kept the object's origin in the center and used VP translations.

 

Yeah, the texture is baked, using Blender's nodes (Extended Materials which has extended options, then a mix node where I mixed the specular lighting and the texture).  I don't have any sort of environemental mapping, I think I need to figure out how to do that so I can get some better looking reflections.  Blender says there's 2844 faces for the Blender file; if I import the OBJ it says it has 5851.  Is that a lot?  I'm not sure what's a good number for VP.  UW's original Drac had 4,000.  It looks like I might be able to Decimate it down to under 2k without a single noticeable difference.

[Shoopity]

Does anyone know how to rotate the co-ordinate system in Blender, so rotating the Primitive in VP becomes unnecessary?

 

I am trying to create a macro to export all the FP models to .fpm, then export to .ms3d, then export to .obj, then re-scale the .obj file in blender.  I can share them if the macro works or are you already close to finishing? There are a lot of FP models...

 

Two comments, one is to give a different example than what Dark did, then to comment on your/Fuzzle's method of getting FP objects into VP.

When I created the the Rocket Ship for Party Zone, I had to point the nose of the ship down and the top of the ship (with the cockpit and tail fin) pointing towards the Y axis.  When I open this in Blender, I first select OK to the first option (Mirror Object), then the object is pointing straight up field and it's level.  So it seems like VP is on a Z/X axis; that is X is still left/right, Z is up/down the playfield, and Y is gravity.  Someone please correct me if I am wrong.  As a note, this was a default export of Blender, there is an option in the OBJ export to choose the forward and up axes.  I haven't experimented with this, but I'm pretty sure I could choose Y as my forward and Z as my up (that's positive Y and positive Z), then I wouldn't have to rotate anything in Blender (I just noticed this option so I'm gonna go try it).

 

The other comment, there is a plug-in for Blender to import FP objects and tables.  Of course this is a plug-in, so it's bound to not be 100% accurate.  But, you can export from FP as an FPM, Import straight into Blender, then export as an WaveFront OBJ (making sure you select Triangulate faces and Write Normals).  That's my experience anyway.  I will add a note, I must've done something wrong because when I was working on the spaceship, I had to flip the Normals to be pointing inwards; I don't know why.

 

**Edit**

OK, so I played with the export options.  I oriented the ship so the nose was point towards the positive of the Y axis and the tail was pointing towards the positive of the Z axis.  If I choose -Y forward and Z up, then when I import into Blender I choose No to Mirror Object and Yes to Convert Texture and the rocket is pointing up the field and level.  So... it looks like VP is actually +Y is toward the player, -Y is the toward the backbox, +Z is up in the air, -Z is gravity, +X is right, and -X is left?  At least in relation to Blender.

Edited by Shoopity, 03 July 2014 - 03:28 PM.