For non-max4 users I have included a 3ds file so you can follow along. Make sure you hide the one object called Reference.

You can download the files here

I am going to show you the steps I use when bringing a model from max to Serious Modeler. Every step I put into this tutorial is done and tested to ensure accuracy.

It is assumed that the reader has read Croteam’s documentation on model creation.

I don’t have this model set up all the way its missing the alignment polys (attachment triangles) as well as a few other things. It’s meant for tutorial purposes. I recommend you read the docs before you dive here.

To begin I will use a model that is not in Serious Sam game. This model is in the public domain to be used for these tutorial and personal purposes. Any use of it for commercial applications please share some of the profits.

I modeled it using the standard method and made it as symmetrical as possible. You do not have to make it symmetrical but it helps to make most of it that way. You can save texture space using this method.

First, open 3dsmax and begin by loading the scene file anubis.max.

This model has already been modeled and set up as 3 separate model files. This is in case you want to do a player model. You can follow the steps for one object and achieve the same results for a non-player.

Once you have loaded the anubis.max scene you will notice that the units are set for 100.0 and the grid spacing is 10 with n lines every 10th place. If you do an export on any of the body parts now you will see in the Serious Modeler that they are HUGE. This is not our goal to make an object that you have to mess with in the script to resize it. So here is how we fix it before it gets into the editor.

There is an object that is frozen in the scene. Keep this object frozen at all times during this tutorial. You may not see it at first because it’s small. This object is called Reference. We will use this Reference object as a guide in the overall size we want for our Anubis character. Select the entire character so you have all of it selected. Click on the lock button that is near the bottom middle. That will lock your selection so you don’t accidentally unselect any part of the character. Now size the character to fit the overall size of the box and it will be the same height. For me I think of an Anubis as slightly larger than a man so I am going to make it a bit bigger than the box. The box was the box taken from the 3ds model of Serious Sam released by Croteam. Look at the screen shot (pic2) and you will see that the arms stick out of the box, which is ok. The box is only a guide to help with average size. I will not include the model unless Croteam approves.

You will be using the uniform scale tool that is located in the top tool bar. Once you have the character to your liking you will be applying a Reset Xform on your selected body parts. Click on the Utilities icon located at the upper right of the rollout panel. Now depending on if your using default layouts you may or may not have the Reset Xform button available. You will either see it in the rollout or not. In either case locate the tool. You can select the more button to see hidden tool options.

The image below this text is what you should see the tool and I have already selected it. Next you click the Reset Selected to apply a modifier that resets the models size. Here is the main reason you need to do this. When you export max object the models size information will match to what it started with. So by not doing this step it will be as huge as it was before we used the uniform scale tool. And as you can see that is unacceptable for our purposes.

Now that you have reset the object size using this utility go back to the modifier panel. And scroll down for the next segment and image.

*NOTE* I use a visual style to my tutorials because I believe they help the newbies as well as the more advanced users of max.

The above picture shows what it looks like when you have the head only selected. If you turn off the lock and unselect the lower half you will see what looks like I have here. Now the next step is to collapse each parts stack so you will only have Editable Mesh in the modifier stack. You can check out the progress by exporting using the export selected option under the File menu. Then import the model into the Serious Modeler. You should have something similar to what I have below.

You may be wondering why his head is not facing forward. Well it will be once we rotate the model to orientate it to the axis Serious Modeler uses. For now we will leave it as is so its easier to work with. If you rotate it to the right position its harder to rotate the perspective or user view. You will need to do that in order to select polys and size/rotate gizmos. Now back to Max. Hide all the body parts except for the head. You may notice that the perspective view will not display your model when you zoom in closer to the head. I will often use the USER view instead of PERSPECTIVE. It is easier to rotate and control and you will be able to see the model better. Turn off the grid it will mess with your eyes too. Now the next step is and can be confusing. Everyone has his or her methods. Follow mine for now just so you get the idea of how to do it the first time. If you chose to go another direction that will achieve the same results that’s perfectly fine. Just for now follow what I have here exactly. I have put a lot of effort here and am doing each step as I type so to prevent any errors.

Next start assigning ID’s based on the objects surface. For the head I had set up at least 9 ID’s. You will select the plus sign next to editable mesh and then click on polygon or face. This will allow you to select any polygon in the model. Select half the model. We are going to reduce the model at its symmetrical point. See the picture below so you will see what I am talking about.

You want to delete these selected faces/polys. Say yes to the delete isolates vertices dialog box. Your going to map half then later mirror it to make the mapping go a bit easier and save texture space for more detailed textures.If you like you can do either side but be consistent with the rest of the models. Now you have to make a determination on how you would like to proceed on the texture map placement. What I mean is you have to decide what polys will be grouped and where they will sit in the final map. Ok now after you brilliant planning on what will go where I will continue on how I do things so as to take the thinking out of you for a little while. I start off by assigning ID’s to the groups of polys. Take a look at the screen shot below to see each group so you can see the several completed steps in one image. I have grouped 9 different poly groups. See pic below.

These are screen shots from max that I set up in Photoshop so you can see each group in one image. If you are like me and like to see what you have selected as a shaded solid then you can do so by clicking on the custom menu then select viewport configuration. In the dialog box put a check mark in the option shade selected faces. In this max scene file I have included it already has ID’s set up so if you want to follow the tutorial you can skip assigning them for now. Now that you have all your ID’s set select id 1 polys, then apply a UV mapping modifier to it. It will not be aligned to the faces we selected so you will have to select the axis you want it to align on. For what I have here I picked X axis under alignment in the modifier roll out. Next apply a unwrap UVW modifier. Then click edit.

Here is an image of what you should see. On the left is what it first looks like. The right is where you need to place the vertices by selecting them and moving them to that location. I will explain later why we do this. I rotated the vertices so the head is orientated so the ears are up.

Now you will do this with every part of your object using planar mapping. When your doing this you may have some polys that look like they are overlapping. You can fix this by moving the vertices around to a better location for better mapping. I will show you a perfect example of what I am talking bout in the next image. You will see there the teeth for the back molars of the character here are over lapping. If you carefully select the verticies for the top or bottom of the polys you can separate them. Look at image for example of what it looks like before and after. Now you can’t expect to have exactly what I have here because I work different than most. So as long as you understand what I am doing you will do fine. Now you should have every ID mapped. Here in this file there are 8 of them. Once you get to the last one you will add another Edit Mesh modifier then select all the polys then add a unwrap UVW modifier. This will show you all of your ids and allow you to adjust all of them at the same time. Select edit you should see something like what I have below.

The first thing to notice is the red circle I did. This is very important here. You can select any ID/poly group you want here. So if you go to ID 1 only that poly group will be displayed. You can adjust its placement in the black square, which will be your bitmap. Now move all the vertices in the square in a logical order. Label them later in your paint package so your texture artist won’t pull his hair out trying to figure out what goes where.

Now you repeat this for every model you have. Your modifier stack will grow. If you want you can collapse it when your finished but it doesn’t matter on export. Now if your work looks similar to mine go ahead and do a test export to serious modeler to see the mapping only.

You should see something similar to what I have in the next image. This is a screenshot from serious modeler.

Now as for texturing you can use textporter or any other means you wish. Now all you have to do now is rotate the finished model on the X-axis –90 degrees then 180 degrees on the Z in the top view. Next you will move the model so its feet are on the center vertical and hormonal line and the body is on the left of the center vertical line line. See the image below. After that apply Reset Xform again to make sure it exports right side up in Serious Modeler.

But wait there is one more thing before wrapping up this tutorial. I did not tell you how to do cylindrical mapping! Keep reading this is important cause I used it for the midsection and legs.

Now that the head is done unhide the rest and hide all but the midsection.

Now just for arguments sake I am going to have you select the arm polys. The ID’s are already set. I want you to notice how they are set up. A couple of them were planner-mapped cause they were flat anyway. The arm was broken up into 2 groups. Look at them carefully and follow the next set of instructions to see how to properly map them. Here is a pic to see it now.

Now in the picture on the right you will see 2 black ink blobs. What they are there for is to show you that the gizmo has a seam. You need to look for it. 3dsmax programmers didn’t make it flash or put it in a color that is easy to see. Once you locate it will be either green or red depending on your eyes and monitor. It must lie on the spot where you don’t have any selected polys like in the image above. This is so you get a nice mapping result. Now you may have to rotate it the gizmo several times to get it to flow with the object nicely. Took me several times myself. The main reason for creating the partial grouping on the arm this way is stated in the help for Serious Modeler. Serious Modeler will not map right if you just map completely the entire arm. So to prevent any problems use the method I have described here. Last now are the materials for the model of the head. I will now go over how to set up the material editor that will allow you to name your poly groups so you can select them in Serious Modeler. Open the material editor and select the button I have circled red and you will get the Material Map/Browser dialog. In it you will select Multi/Sub-Object by double clicking on it. See image below.

You will see a change in the material editor slot. You will have a button that will have Set Number. That button you will hit and set the number to the same amount of ID's you have. Here on the anubis head we have 8. So if your following along set it to 8. after that you will have 8 sub materials below. You can select one then in the name spot change its name to mouth or even face. Name it something you recognise. Go a head and name them to what you like. but make them different. I don't apply the mapping to this material editor because texporter takes the uv's out and I can use that information to paint the texture. Once I am in Serious Modeler I can apply the map and it works fine. I use the material editor here just to get the group names on the model so while in the Serious Modeler I can select them via hitting the Z key.

Thanks for viewing my tutorial. If find any errors and write better than me feel free to contact me and let me know. If you ever need assistance hang out in the Serious Sam channel on west.games.net on #serioussam as I visit from time to time.

Thanks for Admir for the go ahead on this and his input. Thanks for Croteam for an awesome game and the really awesome tools/help to be able to create new character and models.

- Hivoltage (Stephen Cook)

Last word: CROTEAM OWNS!!!!!