This thing sucks out the life out of me, I swear to God, and don't you get me started on DSAS
For the sake of being able to search for the steps if you're skimming or forgetting something, I'll put them here.
I. Tools
Mmm... maybe I should make a donation account, how about Pat- No... Ko-Fi, yeah Ko-Fi'll do
For the sake of being able to search for the steps if you're skimming or forgetting something, I'll put them here.
I. Tools
Mmm... maybe I should make a donation account, how about Pat- No... Ko-Fi, yeah Ko-Fi'll do
Let's make do with the preparation with the tools needed and the installation process. Preparation is Half the Battle....Sun Tzu did not said that... I think...?
I. Tools
1.a.] Dark Souls Animation Studio (DSAS) , naturally you'll need this big baby to export and import and most definitely edit the anibnd.dcx you want.
Although, you'll specifically need the 4.8.6 or lesser version which is available in Meowmaritus' Patreon as to have the most stable aspect in terms of exporting, somehow the ones after that just makes you crash when trying to import the animations to 3ds Max. So yeah, there's that out of the way... though, you can contact me and/or Denivla for that...
1.b.] Yabber, an unpacker/repacker for common Demon's Souls, Dark Souls 1-3, Bloodborne, and Sekiro file formats. Supports .bnd, .bhd/.bdt, .dcx, .fmg, .gparam, .luagnl, .luainfo, and .tpf.
We're definitely gonna need this one for unpacking the anibnd.dcx.
Speaking of, I already provided the tutorials for Yabber : Mini-tutorial : Knowledge on using Yabber to merge Wolf's moveset and Yabber Advanced Tutorial : How to both swap and keep an original if you're still lost on what to do with Yabber
1.c.] UXM , enables file modding for DS2, SotFS, DS3, and Sekiro by unpacking game archives and patching the executable to load loose files instead.
So yeah, just Unpack the game files and let them as is.
2.] 3ds Max 2016 up until 2019, no more and no less than those numbers, and alongside those are the VERY needed plugins and templates below:
2.a.] 3ds Max Havok Content Tools 2018, DM ?Rainer? or rain.er in Discord to ask for the links, or DM me matalayudasleazy or matalayu#2304 if he doesn't show up, yes he allowed this. You can DM us on how to install this also ...classified reason on why I didn't put the how-to install here.
2.b.] 3ds Max Helper Manager , is for replacing object in 3ds Max into bone object.
You can get either versions, old(2.4) or new(2.5), also don't worry if they show you error messages, they are mostly redundant warnings.
I recommend 2.4 , since that's the one I uses, and you're more than likely to get lost trying to get used to the new stuff added in 2.5 , but hey, you do you.
And I'm not sure if this'll be important later, but it's stated on the website that the requirement is 3ds Max 2019 ~ 2023 and so on...
Drag and drop this into 3ds Max while it is open, and you will get a pop-up saying :
[ Helper Manager 2.4 has been installed. Find it in the Category > LB Tools. ]
, and you can set in Customize > Custom User Interface > Toolbars [or however you want to set it in there], then Drag and Drop Helper Manager 2.4 orHelper Manager 2.5 to the Toolbars.
- OPTIONAL , you would also want to put Rotate, and Angle Snap Toggle while you are at it, they'll be the main supporter we're going to have on 3ds Max in the 3rd part that'll be in the RETARGETING article of its own.
2.c.] 3ds HavokMax Plugin , is for importing havok file into 3ds MAX(not for exporting, it could however but not reccomended).
Installation is by going onto the directory of your 3ds Max (e.g. C:\Program Files\Autodesk\3ds Max 2019\Plugins\) and copy-paste the respective HavokMax.dlu version of 3ds Max you've installed (2018 for 2018's HavokMax.dlu, 2019 for 2019's HavokMax.dlu, etc.), and you can then see if it's installed by going to Customize > Plug-in Manager.
2.d.] 3ds Max Havok Export Template
You WILL need this before exporting into .HKX in the 3rd or last part but
for the sake of not forgetting something while getting started, let us install this in the beginning.
Just open Havok Content Tools (if it's not at the top overlay, it's most possibly over at the >> sign), Export, and you'll see plethora of stuff which you should NOT touch.
Soon after, go over the File , Load Configuration Set , and load the Template.hko
- OPTIONAL , go over to Spline Compression and change the Sample Controls from in-between the middle to the Highest , this is to ensure that the quality while editing and especially RETARGETING is as close to the original as possible. You don't want some weird jiggly bones acting their own ways, do you?
And finally, you'd want to go over to Customize > Units Setup . . . , and make sure your Metric is ticked on Meters. This'll be important later down the line after RETARGETING since we'll also change the Metric for the retargeting software to be Meters, as to ensure no floaty legs and all that I hate them, I freaking hate them, my perfectionist self can't handle such oversight
When that's done, just Close, it's gonna be absolutely essential after you're done editing the animations, whether that be Cutting/Speeding/Slowing/Stitching and such other REARRANGING.
And lastly,
2.e.] 3ds Max HavocCli , is the last essential thing you'll need before you can chuck the edited .hkx to their respective anibnd.dcx. Again, you can ask me or anyone who's ever retargeted for this one absolutely very needed thing.
Honestly, it's basically Yabber but for .hkx instead, so just chuck 'em .hkx into this after you're done with them, just make sure to make backups first and foremost, who knows if you'll need to edit them back?
Also apparently only works with 2018 but eh, prove me wrong.
3.] Retargeting software (DO NOTE THAT YOU CAN USE Cascadeur or Unreal Engine or Motion Bulider or whatever else for the retargeting process, using Blender is just how I roll), let's go with Blender for the most beginner friendly one and most definitely not saying this because I don't want to spend another cent. Continue to the respective Articles of PART 2 of 3 which they will have their own sub-titles as to which software will be used for retargeting (if I even have the guts to use other software). Believe me when I say that, it'll be a different battle for each.
Okay then, with all said and done, let's go towards the first step. I sure hope you've picked your poison ... on with the suffering...
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