Milkshape3D Tutorial

1.1 - Making models with Milkshape3D:

First we need the program Milkshape3D. If you haven't got it yet, get it here at Chumbalum Soft. It's shareware that you may test 30 days before registering with 20$.

Next I would like to thank Scarecrow for his detailed tutorials that helped me a lot understanding to work with Milkshape3D and create models/actors. I chose the same 'test-object' as he did, you can find his tutorials at Planethalflife.

After starting the program the screen looks a bit like GEdit1.0:

I prefered closing the message-window below, but showing details of the viewports (windows). We can do this by opening the menu 'Window':

There we deselect 'Show Message Window' and select 'Show Viewport Caption' instead, that the screen looks like this:

On the right side are some registers and buttons like in GEdit. I'll explain the Buttons of the model-register, cause we'll need most of them:

'Select' lets you select dots, surfaces or groups. 'Move' moves the selected parts, 'Rotate' lets rotate them around an axis and 'scale' changes the form.
The six buttons below are the basic shapes we may create with Milkshape3D: 'Vertex' is a single dot, 'Face' is a surface between vertexes, 'Sphere' creates an orb, 'Geosphere a more detailed orb, 'Box' a cube and 'Cylinder' a cylinder.
Do not worry about that, it will all be explained later.

Like in Scarecrow's tutorial we'll begin with a humanoid.

First we'll generate a trunk with the help of a little box that we create by clicking the 'Box'-button on the right side and pulling the left mouse-button in one of the windows (except 3D). Let's take the 'Front'-window:

The box should match to one field of the grid. You needn't care about the origin (the yellow and blue bars). 'Redraw All Viewports' on the right side below the buttons should be activatet to see the modifications in all windows.

Except of the 3D-viewport you can drag the content of the other windows by pressing the strg.-key and the mouse. The content of 3D-view you can rotate around the origin by using the mouse, with shift-key pressed you can zoom in and out, and drag with pressed strg.-key. Try a bit, for now assign the cube like on the screenshot.

Allright, now we'll deal with selecting and extruding. We wish to extend our box nine times. Initially we wish to mark the right side of the box. For that we click the 'Select'-button and make sure that 'Face' is shown in the selection field below. Then we drag a frame around the right side of our box. Oup, all red! Now we have to deselect all unnecessary faces by pressing the shift-key and dragging a frame around the faces not wanted. The result should look like this:

Now we click 'Extrude' on the right side to multiply the box two times. These input -fields appear in the register below:

We now just could use the mouse to extend the box but the more exact method is to enter values in the 'Extrude Options'. A positive X-value extends the face to the right side, a negative one to the left. A positive Y-value extends to the top, negative to bottom, positive Z in front, neagtive backwards. We enter 20 in the X-field and click the 'Extrude'-button beneath two times. After re-adjusting the content of the 'Front'-window (strg.), our model looks like this:

Now we repeat the game and mark the faces at the bottom of the bar:

We will extrude this selection two times. Click 'Extrude', and enter -20 into the Y-field this time:

After clicking 'Extrude' beneath two times we should have a block one box deep, 3 boxes high and 3 boxes wide. Now it's time to adjust the 'Front'-window to have a full view at our block. For this we change the value in the second field above the window from 4 to 2, what decreases the view:

In the first of these fields you can change the view of each window:

Please change the grid-size of the other windows to 2 too, so that you see the block everywhere again (it's a matter of taste, but helpful at the beginning).

Now we add the head by selecting the middle face on top of the block (still do all modifications in the 'Front'-window):

Now click the 'Move'-button on the right side and drag the selection a quarter of a 'grid-box' to the top, our neck:

Extrude that by entering 5 for Y, then 20 again:

Now we add another face in front of the head that later helps modelling a face. Now we have mark the left side of the head inside of the 'Right'-window and extrude Z about 5. Who can't follow now should begin with the box again. Who succeeded should see this on the screen:

Now we should be able to add arms. Choose the top face of the right side of the trunk inside the 'Front'-window and extrude the following:

X 15 and six times 'Extrude'. Now we wish to grant some structure to the bar and deal with vertexes, copying and mirroring selections.

So press select again, and change from 'Face' below to 'Vertex':

Now we can select single dots of our model. We mark the first four vertexes at the edge of the first arm-segment behind the trunk (drag a frame around the two visible ones in the front-window):

Then activate the scale-button and increase the area by dragging the mouse inside of the right-window to make a biceps:

Next segment should be decreased, next increased..., until the arm looks like:

Now we mark this arm (don't forget to change vertex to face) and copy it by choosing 'Duplicate Selection' in the 'Edit'-menu:

Now we have to mirror the (still nearly invisible) copy to the left side. For that we choose 'Mirror Left <-> Right' in the 'Vertex'-menu:

After that the copy should appear a bit left from the trunk. Now we have to prepare the right shoulder of our model to attach the arm and to connect it to the body. We have to select the top face at the right side of the body where the arm shall be attached:

Then we choose 'Delete Selection' in the 'Edit'-menu to make an opening.

Now we mark the whole right arm and attach it with 'Move' to the trunk. Now it has to be connected to the body by connecting the four pairs of overlapping vertexes. For that we switch to select-mode and change face to vertex. Then drag a little frame around each of the four pairs of vertexes, where the arm fits in the trunk (deselect unnecessary vertexes inside the right-window):

Connect both vertexes (looks like only one) using the'Vertex'-menu, there first 'Snap Together', then 'Weld Together':

Now thr right arm is attached to our model correctly and we can do the legs. For that we mark the right face of the bottom of the trunk:

Extrude 5 times '-20' in Y-direction:

Now scale the vertexes (in top-window) to get some structure:

Now we add a foot by marking the front face on bottom inside the right-window and extrude 20 in Z-direction:

Voilà, now repeat copying and mirroring like we did with the arm, so mark, duplicate, mirror, cut the face at the bottom of the trunk and attach the leg. Do the vertex-connection and our model should look like this:

Okay, still no Lara Croft, but a promising blockhead, the rough edges we will smooth now (an illusion, the edges remain as they are). We mark the whole model and activate the 'Group'-register on the right side. There we make sure that 'Auto Smooth' is active below and click 'Assign', then '1'. With that we declared the model 'Smoothgroup 1' and the smoothing shall be done, what is visible at the 3D-model:

You could declare single areas as smoothgroup, up to 32.

Last fine-tuning is to take care of single vertexes to create more human shapes, so that it looks like this:

The thing in the background is the skeleton of a common Halflife-model that can be used to resize our blockhead. If we would add him to a level now, he would be much too tall. You can resize by marking the model and scaling it to about 4 fields of the grid:

or you download the Halflife-skeleton here and import it by selecting 'Merge' in 'File'-menu. Then you can put both beneath each other to adapt to the size:

This size is related to Halflife, I admit I don't know how it would fit in Genesis3D, cause now I'm at the end of my knowlesge so far. I have to work through the next tutorials of scarecrow now to be able to inform you how to add skin to our blockhead. That follows in the next chapter.

There are still some things to mention like the register appearing when clicking the right mouse-button inside of a window:

Here we can adjust the view of each window, at 'Projection' are the settings similar to the first field above the window if we enabled 'Show Viewport Caption'. 'Wireframe' is the default setting we used, here an example of 'Flat Shaded':

and 'Smooth Shaded':

To use 'Textured' we must have applied a texture to the model, next chapter. 'Show Axis' switches on and off the origin-bars in the middle of the grid, 'Show Grid' switches the entire grid on and off. 'Center View' centers the viewport and 'Maximize' switches the active window to full screen.

You may use the modes Select, Move, Scale and Rotate either by using the mouse in a window or by entering positiv and/or negative values in the concerning fields of the options.

To create more abstract surfaces to f.e. create a realistic face, we have the possibility of dividing faces. Our model should have 292 faces now. To not treat our system too much we shouldn't exceed the number of about 700 faces. We may choose a single or more faces and choose 'Subdivide 3' or 'Subdivide 4' in the 'Face'-menu what divides every face in three/four:

And we can create new faces, what we'll practice now. Click the button 'Vertex' on the right side and then three times in the grid like this:

Now click 'Face' in the model-register and connect the vertexes by clicking them one after another. The connection is shown by a red line. After the third last click we should have a triangle on the screen:

So we may create complex new shapes.

The last lesson of this chapter is related to temporary appearing ugly side-effects when our actor later is moving, and strange overlappings of faces occur. We can avoid this by cutting extremeties, editing the cut-points and re-attaching again. So come on:

First we mark an arm, duplicate it and delete the original after moving the copy a bit away. In the middle in front of the holes we create a single vertex and connect it with the 'Face'-function to the edges of the hole, will say we create four new faces for each part:

I admit, it took me over an hour, cause I after the first two faces I only selected the wrong vertexes laying behind of the needed. Then I had the idea to switch the view of the windows. Try it, you'll see what I mean. Here the whole thing detailed (click the pics to enlarge):

As you can see in the fourth pic, we added a kind of pyramid to the cut-points, repeat that to prepare the other three (1 arm/2 legs). Then we attach the parts again like below:

Same with the other arm and the two legs. Allright, done with that chapter, in the next we'll cover our blockhead with skin.