Welcome to the 3DS MAX Exporter documentation! The 3DS MAX Exporter (hereafter referred to as the Exporter) can be used to export models from 3DS MAX versions 5, 6, or 7.
Supported Versions
The currently released plug-ins support 3DS MAX versions, 5, 6, or 7.
File Structure
Models must follow a very particular folder and file structure for the exporter to recognise them. For the following folders, we will assume you have installed the game in the folder C:\Program Files\THQ\Dawn of War\ and you are using the MOD, “My_Mod”.
The first thing you must do is place the model in the appropriate folder, C:\Program Files\THQ\Dawn of War\ModTools\My_Mod\Art\EBPs.
You must follow the model folder format. For example, if we have a model named “Tyranid_Spore”, you would have the following folders/files:
Tyranid_Spore/Reference/REF.MAX – this is the “reference” for your model. From this, the export script will export mesh geometry, skeleton information, rigid linking and/or skin weighting info, and textures and UVs.
Tyranid_Spore/Animations/ – this is the folder where your animations will be stored. For example, you might have run, idle, melee_attack, ranged_spit and die MAX scenes, with each scene storing a single animation clip.
The above model should be placed in an appropriate location, so for example, C:\Program Files\THQ\Dawn of War\ModTools\My_Mod\Art\EBPs\Races\Tyranids\Structures\.
Exporting Models
First, DO NOT use File->Export to export a model. This WILL NOT WORK! To export a model you must use our Exporter Script. This will export the MAX Scenes to DataInt\, merge them into a single model under DataGeneric\, and then “burn” optimized files for DataFinal\ (i.e. under the Game's data folder).
To use our Export script, do the following steps:
Load one of the MAX scene files that comprise your models
Select the Utilities Panel on the right side (the “hammer” icon in MAX5)
Select the MAXScript rollup panel item.
In the newly opened sub-panel (MAXScript) select the “Warhammer Model Export” script in the Utilities drop-down list.
In the resulting rollup panel (Warhammer Model Export) the following info should be populated:
Name of your model should appear in the Exporting field (Tyranid_Spore using the example above).
The complete list of files (including REF) in the Files drop down
To export your model, click the “Export” button. If everything is successful you will have a *.SGM under DataGeneric and 3 *.WHM's under “Data Final”.
If you load a new model after exporting another model, you will have to click the “refresh” button to update the UI (however clicking Export will export the new model).
You can click “Force Full Export” to remove the cached scenes from DataInt and a do a completely fresh export of your model.
Internal / External Textures
If you want to have a texture that is internal to a model, then you should supply a *.TGA, and put it in the models Textures for example, C:\Program Files\THQ\Dawn of War\ModTools\My_Mod\Art\EBPs\Races\Tyranids\Structures\Textures\. Internal textures are only used by a single model, and are not team colourable.
If you have a texture that will be reused between multiple models, or you want to team colour it, then you need to supply it as an external texture. To indicate to the exporter that the texture is external, you need to have a folder with the name “Texture_Share”. So, for example, to supply an external texture for the Spore, you might have a texture like: C:\Program Files\THQ\Dawn of War\ModTools\My_Mod\Art\EBPs\Races\Tyranids\Texture_Share\Spore.tga. You could then supply additional TGA layers to provide team colour information. For example of this, look at the Space Marine files in C:\Program Files\THQ\Dawn of War\ModTools\My_Mod\Art\EBPs\Races\Space_Marines\Texture_Share\.
