How do you create ped mods with GIMS EVO?

mattcackles

Can't find a single tutorial anywhere...
Maybe someone could give a basic step by step?

NotCrunchyTaco

@mattcackles I believe on Youtube and even on this forums in the tutorials section you can find some very good tutorials.

ReNNie

Links then?

The biggest problem I have with GIMS, is the fake bones... and the fact that only the head and hands appeared to be rigged to the main skeleton.

When you rig a mesh and apply the skin modifier to the bones, moving those bones moves the mesh (or it should do). So how are you supposed to rig a mesh to a set of bones that appear to do nothing, whilst dealing with a huge collection of fake bones that you can't see... that appear to hold all the weighting information?

What exactly is their purpose, do they need to be there etc...?

I think this is ultimately the problem with all the GTAV tools, they're made by people who don't use them in a creative sense. It's no good just saying "Hey, I can do clever things with the data" if you don't understand how to work with that data and demonstrate how the tool should work, from the perspective of the creative users that are going to be using them.

It's like the ZM3 tutorials... frantically waving your cursor around near an option you might be doing something with, is not a tutorial. And then proceeding to click a whole collection of controls with no indication of how you are interacting with them is just as bad. Tutorial... to tutor, to help, to teach... not "to demonstrate how quickly you can do something to prove how clever it is".

As someone who has written tools and then had to teach people how to use them, I know how critical it is that you teach people in a away they can relate to. With modding, it's like "Here you go... work this out for yourselves..." and the end result is a select few that know the secret and a desperate community that gets left behind.

This is sadly what happens when creative tools are created by purely technical people... it's why Gimp was such a mess when it was first released./rant over.

As you might have guessed, this is the result of another failed session with Ped rigging with GIMS.

AHK1221

@LeeC2202 Fake bones problems is solved mate. Make a folder, and extract your ped model into openformats and put it into the folder. Then, right click the .yft file(skeleton) and extract the openformats of it(skel file) to the same folder. Go to that folder, and rename the .skel file so that it has FULL at the end. Mind you, there is a space between the main filename and the FULL, so if my .skel filename was "ig_bankman.skel", my new filename would be "ig_bankman FULL.skel". Then import the .odd file and boom, fixed fake bones I found this out in the GTAForums thread I linked you, the one created by the author. All the info is given to you, you just need to read it.

I might make a vid about that since you like vids

Rarefacer kinda gave me a little insight to ped rigging, unfortunately, now I can't find any models

AHK1221

@LeeC2202 I think I might've been successful..?

I basically exported the uppr model, opened it in blender, made that simple model, rigged it in 3ds max, boom, it works!
Next step: make a completely new uppr model. Ooh that will definitely go well! /s

AHK1221

@LeeC2202 New uppr test - Check. This is really fun!

(ignore that tie casually sticking out, I removed it later).
This was also made using 10 mins of blender and some time of 3ds max.

@AHK1221 said in How do you create ped mods with GIMS EVO?:

All the info is given to you, you just need to read it.

You would probably have got an upvote for your info had you left out the condescending bit on the end. I already explained in another thread how I struggle learning from text, yet you still felt the need to say that... completely uncool.

I had read all the info, I read every single post in that thread... I had tried it and I had got errors about it being unable to find a path... yet today it worked. not sure why but that's how it goes sometimes. $:\$

You should never jump to premature conclusions as to why people are asking questions about something you have managed to figure out... it's not always as clear cut as "You didn't bother to read the information I told you to read". If that was the case, I would answer every help thread with that... but I don't. Even when the answer has been given numerous times, I would never dream of ending my answer with that kind of statement.

@AHK1221 said in How do you create ped mods with GIMS EVO?:

Rarefacer kinda gave me a little insight to ped rigging

And we also don't all get handed those insights... it's 20 years since I last did any kind of biped skinning, that's a long time to forget a lot of information, especially when it's information you don't use a lot.

So thanks for the info... no thanks for the baggage it came with.

AHK1221

@LeeC2202 I'm very sorry, I never meant it as a harsh statement, and I still don't. You're a huge influence to me, I never would've started if it wasn't for your post on my thread. I just wanted it as a kind and polite reply to your statement:

I think this is ultimately the problem with all the GTAV tools, they're made by people who don't use them in a creative sense. It's no good just saying "Hey, I can do clever things with the data" if you don't understand how to work with that data and demonstrate how the tool should work, from the perspective of the creative users that are going to be using them.

I'm sorry if it didn't come out politely enough, I'm not a native English speaker.

I know different people learn things differently, which is why I volunteered to make a video for you. I have, it's just unedited, but since you've already figured it out, I don't think there is a need to put it up. Maybe I will for other people.

About the "insight" thing, he just told me to go and watch a GTA 4 ped rigging tutorial. Here, this is the one I used:

Again, I'm deeply sorry.

Another thing, I didn't have to do any weight painting, what I simply did was first select all the vertices of the uppr model(the original one, that comes with importing). Then I attached my model(the ones you can see above) while the vertices where still selected. I hit delete, and then the original mesh was gone while I did have my new one. I didn't do this for the first model though, since it does use the uppr model.

@AHK1221 Don't worry... honestly, I feel at breaking point today, so I am going to have to try and confine myself away from the keyboard.

I equally apologise... I should remember to breathe before I post but I don't. The switch flips and I can't turn it off... and before I am thinking straight, I have lashed out at people being helpful.

I do appreciate the info and the help... I will watch that video later but I think I need to take myself away from the screen for a while, seeing as I am in destructive mode.

And again, I am sorry... I hate myself when I am having days like today. The real me isn't the one I like to bring to the forums, I need to lock it away again and bring back the slightly more pleasant version.

AHK1221

@AHK1221 Did you move your quit-o-meter? Because it's different than when you put it in your signature.

AHK1221

I think I know why my game was crashing; i deleted the unneccary bones, for e.g. teef, feet, etc etc. I'm gonna add em back and see if my game still crashes.

@AHK1221 said in How do you create ped mods with GIMS EVO?:

@AHK1221 Did you move your quit-o-meter? Because it's different than when you put it in your signature.

It changes most days... it's a psychological tool to try and keep myself under control. Being unstable comes at a cost, so I have to really work hard to control it.

AHK1221

For some reason, changing all the parts(uppr, lowr, acc etc etc) doesn't work and the game crashes. I'll keep looking into it.

@AHK1221 Yeah, that's the problem I got last night. The ped I am converting (trying to anyway) had to have the uppr, lowr and feet all merged. So I tried deleting all the other parts and got a crash.

So today I am going to try leaving all those parts in place, but delete all the geometry in them. Then if it works, I will remove the excess components in the ymt file, which should prevent them from being selectable in-game. Don't know if it will work but I figure it's worth a shot.

AHK1221

@LeeC2202 Never thought about the ymt file. The reason i thought why it wasnt working was because of the skeleton (we cant edit the yft files right now).

@AHK1221 If you look at the Storm ped on the main site, it is based on the main character from what I can see, and has 34 drawable sections in the torso, with up to 16 variants in some of them. By editing the ymt file, I was able to remove every invalid/empty drawable and texture variant until that same ped had just 1.

So it's possible to build with excess data and then trim it back by editing the ymt file.

I have discovered another one that had problems just by doing a simple ymt export/import with no changes, so it's not a bullet-proof solution. I'll know more when I get back to it later... only just woke up so my brain isn't ready for Max just yet.

AHK1221

@LeeC2202 You do that while I catch up on schoolwork

When i finish, I'm going to edit the model part by part meaning I have all the parts of my model, uppr lowr hands and head. I'm going to replace them one by one since editing only one part does work.

ReNNie

Eazy-E and Ice Cube and 50 Cent, same thing as Storm

@AHK1221 I noticed earlier you said you were looking for models.

This converter might be useful https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B7LFvItVrwd0Q2dldTZzM19Ub0E/view?usp=sharing

It is a Max Script that allows you to import XNA Lara (XPS) models straight into Max.

Then try XNA Lara Game Models for a whole host of rigged and ready models.

AHK1221

@LeeC2202 Thanks, but at this moment I can't do anything since the new OpenIV version doesn't work with GIMS Evo. The author says hes gonna update it and maybe release it tomorrow.

Thanks for the models tho, they really look awesome!

AHK1221

@LeeC2202 http://xnalara.org/viewtopic.php?f=15&t=1467&sid=d39207478c021b457d8e3fd50a2bb6bf

Time to get to work! Wow, they have models for the CW series too! This is awesome!

@AHK1221 That's where I got the Overwatch D.Va character I am trying to rig from... there's pages and pages of models on there, all great quality.

Well I don't know about anyone else but all I seem to be able to use GIMS for, is making the game crash.

I took a fairly brutal approach to things and I don't know if this is the cause of the problem. My thoughts were: get the model in-game, then rig it properly. I thought half the battle was just getting it to display at all... it shows in the OpenIV model viewer with all textures intact, so I thought it was a good start.

To avoid endless hours of rigging for nothing, I simply rigged the head and hair to the SKEL_head, then rigged everything else to the SKEL_root. It didn't matter if it moved correctly but I thought it being attached to any bone would have been sufficient. I left all the component parts in the heirarchy and duplicated my new mesh parts into them. In OpenIV, it shows all the relevant component parts, which again, I thought was a good sign.

Exporting only creates the ODD file, so I created the YTD and added my textures to it, which OpenIV was quite happy to use. The YMT file I took from a_f_y_runner_01 and renamed that to the same model name as my ped, and did the same with the YFT file.

My Ped spawner says the model is valid, so that was a good sign but spawning it causes a total crash. So progress so far = Can make the game crash... so not a success.

ReNNie

I'm no help. All I did so far is install 3ds Max. So I'm leagues behind you