Need help with Zmodeler

[stevenew95 77]

I've downloaded some different models of lightbars and lights for vehicles i want to make. They come in the z3d or zmodeler format with the textures so i have to open them that way. When i open the file it says that the textures cant be found. I can not figure out how to make it able to load the textures with it. It already should by my understanding but its not fo some reason and i cant figure it out. I know i open it and then export as a wft but, if i cant even get the textues to load on the z3d model it wont work when i export it to my thinking

[Matosh 91]

You can try and import all the vehshare, vehicle, lightbar textures and import the vehicle model then merge it with the lightbar .z3d file.

[stevenew95 77]

So your saying open all my textures for the vehicle, the vehshare, and the lightbar ones. Open up the car that i want to put it on and then merge the .z3d into that model. You think it would load the skins then?

 

EDIT: Okay i tried that and the textures loaded for it, but..i dont know where the model went. I saw the light textures but the models for it went somewhere. Also, these are grill lights im trying to put in

Edited August 29, 2013 by stevenew95

[Matosh 91]

Open ZModeler > import vehshare, vehicle, lightbar textures > import vehicle model > in the upper left corner click on File > click on Merge > select lightbar .z3d file and that should import lightbar model and texture will apply on it, I think.

[stevenew95 77]

Okay, i got it to work. For some reason though, i get a lot of warnings about my textures when i export. Saying thats its using this but its not matching that or something. Any idea why?

[Matosh 91]

It's referring to your material settings aka shaders. (http://www.gta-modding-chest.com/board7-grand-theft-auto-iv/board41-modding-discussion/board45-tutorials/492-vehicle-materials/)

[stevenew95 77]

Okay so what exactly do i need to do with those? Open my texture browser and change the setting in the edit part?

[Matosh 91]

You need to know how to arrange the textures in the material editor. Use BxBugs' Whelen Justice as an example so that you can get things like that lightbar (i'm assuming that lightbar is causing texture warnings) to work. First import all the textures then import the Whelen Justice. Then open the material editor and look in to each material of the Whelen Justice and how the texture files are arranged it in each material. Then apply it to the lightbar you want to use.

[stevenew95 77]

How exactly do i do that if the textures are already applied to it

[Matosh 91]

You said that you are receiving a lot of warnings about the textures on export which means your materials aren't setup the right way.

[stevenew95 77]

Not to sound noobish but i dont know how to set them right way.

We all gotta start somewhere

 

Also, is there any way to change which png file a model reads to get the texture? Like the whelen talons read emerlights and so does the whelen liberty. So i was wondering if i could change one of them so they both dont read the same file because they need different ones.

Edited August 30, 2013 by stevenew95

[Matosh 91]

I gave you the starting point few post back with the BxBugs's Whelen Justice as an example or take a GTA stock model, study the materials, how their setup and learn the shader settings. I gave you the link for the GTA shader options. If you look through each material and look at it how it's structured like what texture comes 1st, 2nd, 3rd, etc you will start to figure things out. It could be intimidating but the more you mess around with it the faster you will learn.

 

They need to be in this order:

 

Basic texture (UV#1 Mod)
Dirt texture (UV#2 M/A)
Normal texture (UV#1 DontProduct3)
Spec texture (UV#1 Spec M/A)

 

As for the emerlights textures, i'm not sure what you exactly need to do but I think you have to rename one of the textures and mess around with it in the material editor. Someone who is more experienced with ZModeler can help you with that.

Edited August 30, 2013 by Matosh

[stevenew95 77]

Okay thank you i will try and teach myself. Thats what ive done with everyting else! Haha. Do you know who i could ask to get the other info from? I cant really find it on google

 

Actually I figured out how to do it myself so if you would like to know ill tell you. You were right. You do it through the material editor. Just a few more steps.

Edited August 30, 2013 by stevenew95