First off there are certain rules that must be followed in order to properly use QTiP.
This is important, so pay attention...
 

1. All animation frames MUST have the same vertice/triangle count. This is not to say the model must be the same in all frames so be creative.
2. All maps MUST fit into a 480x480 skin size or less. QTiP will take your textures and compile them into the smallest possible skin size provided it is no bigger than 480x480.
4. QTiP only exports the currently SELECTED object from th Max scene.
5. Make models that ROCK!
6. Give credit where credit is due. We made this for everyone and we want everyone to know it. In your readme files, in BOLD 150 point fonts type, "THIS MODEL WAS MADE WITH DARIN PETERSEN'S QTiP!" also include our web address in the file.
7. Send us mail and models. We want to see and hear about all the cool shi.. stuff, you're doing.

Foreword

This tutorial is not to teach you how to model, map, animate and use Max. It's just an in depth explanation of how to use QTiP. Everyone has a different procedure for modeling and animating. QTiP is a very flexible tool, and hopefully you will find it jives well with your methods.

QTiP has been tested. However we cannot guarantee it is bug free. You may try to do things we didn't think of and QTiP will crash Max. It will not damage your system. Just restart, and everything will be fine. QTiP does not "trap" errors, so if something does go wrong, Max will simply shut down. We cannot make any guarantees or warranties for QTiP, and cannot be held responsible for any problems it may have or cause. In the event a problem arises, send us indepth info on what you did that caused QTiP to choke. We will lock Darin in a room with no food, water or sunlight, and play Susie Q's 80s pop smash "Two of Hearts" over and over until he fixes it. I have every faith that QTiP will work for you, and you will find it a valuable tool provided you use it as prescribed in this tutorial.

OK ramblers, let's get rambling!
For the purposes of this tutorial, I will use a model that I have built in Lightwave. The model is closed mesh. Sections of faces were selected in LW and assigned different colors. the model was exported as a dxf, then imported into Max with all the options unchecked and separated by color.This gives me a model that appears to be a solid mesh, but is actually a series of seperate objects. These objects were then mapped using planar and cylindrical mapping as needed. The objects were then attached, and the mesh was then welded giving me one closed mesh. The skeleton is nothing more than a bunch of linked boxes. Vertices of the model were then linked to the skeleton boxes for animation.

Some quick notes on model building, mapping, linking, and animating.

Modeling
You can model in ANY program you want. All you need to do is have a way of getting your models into Max. Please, for player models keep, the face count to less than 7 or 800. Your models can be either closed meshes or segmented. Just be certain to select ALL the objects in the scene that will be exported to the MD2.

Mapping
You can also map in any program you want. You just need a way to get the model with UV coordinates into Max. An excellent program for doing this is Polytrans from NuGraf. For example, you can model and map in Softimage and use Polytrans to export a 3DS file. Import that file into Max, get materials from the scene and insert the correct maps (the UV coordinates are already there.) You can also use 3D paint programs such as 4DPaint, and Painter 3D. Both of these programs support Max files and allow you to seamlessly work between them and Max. QTiP will compile all your maps into the smallest possible skin file, 480x480 or less. Make sure all your maps can fit in those dimensions (this means all maps laid next to each other like puzzle pieces, NOT that each map must be 480x480 or less!)

Linking
You should be able to link your models to any type of skeleton you want. QTiP will ignore any unselected objects in the scene when you export your MD2. This will allow you to use Bones, Bones Pro, IK, Character Studio, or Linked Xforms as I am in this tutorial. QTiP should also ignore any links between segmented objects and export only the transformed selected mesh.

Animating
As with modeling and mapping, you can do this in any program you want, provided you can get the model and it's animation into Max. Polytrans can do this, but often there will be problems. I really recommend you animate in Max, unless you have a sure fire method for transporting animation from your chosen software. As stated above, QTiP will export only the transformed selected mesh. This will allow you to edit vertices that may be causing joints in your mesh to pinch. Also, although the face and vertecie count must be constant from frame to frame in the MD2, this does not mean that the model must be the same. I can think of some pretty wild stuff that is now easily possible knowing this info. Maybe you'll see an example of what I'm getting at in one of mine or Ben's models soon.

Keep your frustration to a minimun!
Max's world axis seem to be 90 degrees off of Quake 2's.QTiP compensates for this problem. Model with your object facing foward in Max and it will be rotated to face foward in Quake 2 by QTiP. If your model floats in Quake 2, move the object down slightly in Max until it touches ground in Quake 2. You can do this before you even map or animate the model by exporting the model to an MD2. Simply select an arbitrary frame start and end from the frames list and export the MD2. Stick the MD2 in the players directory with a weapon, and a fake skin and _i.pcx. Load it up as a bot or whatever and check to see if it's feet are on the ground. You can also check the model's scale using this method. Scale problems can be corrected by entering a value in the "scale" box in QTiP, or by loading up the Quake 2 male model we thoughtfully included with QTiP for size comparisons. Oh, and be certain to build your model in the CENTER of Max's world. Aslo, don't allow your model to travel off it's axis when animating. i.e. Your model should walk in place.

QTiP Overview   This is the QTiP interface. QTiP can be found in the Utillities menu of Max.
 
 

About The about button gives you info about the plugin  Frame List The frame list contains the names of the animation frames for the MD2 file. The default list is for player models, and vweps.  Import Frame List Selecting this option will allow you to import the frame list for any MD2 file. Simply select the MD2 of your choice, and the frame list will be extracted from it. This option will allow you to replace the objects and enemies in the single player game.  Start and End These buttons set the start and end frames of the MD2 animation frame list. Click a start frame in the list window and then the start button, then select an end frame and click the end button. This sets the animation segment that will be added or updated in the MD2 file.  First Frame Enter a value in the box that corresponds to the first frame of the animation segment from the Max file that you want to export. (i.e. You have selected the 40 frames for the stand animation from the frame list box to export. Your active time segment in Max is frames 0-100. The actual stand animation in the Max file runs from frames 1-40. You enter the number 1 in the box, and frames 1-40 from the Max file will be written to stand frames 1-40 in the MD2 file.)  Start Frame and End Frame Displays the currently selected start and end frames from the MD2 frame list.  Save BMP Texture Check the box to export a 24 bit BMP skin file for paletting and color correction in a 2D art package.  Save PCX Texture Check this box to export the skin texture to a PCX file that has been remapped to the Quake 2 palette. You will acheive best results if the initial textures you use are 256 color images already set in the Quake 2 palette.  Skin Name Allows you to specify a name for the PCX and/or BMP skin file. The default name is tris.  Scale Enter a scale value to enlarge or shrink your model when exporting an MD2. Leave the default value, and the model will not be scaled.  Save MD2 The is the button that makes it all happen. Clicking this button will do one of two things. If you are saving a new MD2 file it will write a complete MD2  using the time segment from the MAX file, and place the animation you export into the correct set of frames in the MD2. (i.e. You have a model and have only animated the taunt. You select the taunt frames from the frame list and enter the start frame. Click on the Save MD2 and save to a new tris.md2. Qtip will write an MD2 repeating the taunt animation for all animations in the MD2. Qtip will then make a second pass replacing taunt01-17 with the correct taunt animation frames.) Secondly, the Save MD2 button can update a selected animation in an MD2 file. (i.e. As in the example above, you now have an MD2 that repeats a taunt for all animations. Now you have animated the stand cyle. Select the stand cycle start and end from the frame list and enter a start frame. Click the Save MD2 button and select the tris.md2 you just created. QTiP will replace the Stand frames in the MD2 with the correct stand animation. You now have an MD2 with taunt and stand frames!) QTiP will only export the currently SELECTED objects to the MD2 file. Why you ask? Well suppose you build a skeleton out of boxes to animate your model with linked transforms. You obviously don't want to export the skeleton to the MD2 file, just the model. This also comes in handy for doing vweps. You can load them all into the scene at once, link and animate them together, then export them one at a time by selecting them individually.

Let's build something

This is a model that was built in Lightwave and imported into Max as a DXF. The object was divide by color, giving me individual objects to map. As you can see, the model has only one arm and one leg because we are going to mirror them after applying the maps. This will save you a bit of work.

Mapping

I then assign UVs to each individual object. For this model, I will use only cylindrical and planar mapping. You may choose to use Max's other mapping methods such as Spherical or Shrink. QTiP will support any of these methods. It is important here to be certain that the mapping gizmo completely encompases all edges of the object you are mapping. You can either use the "fit" function or  blow the gizmo up slightly larger than the object. QTiP will trim the unused areas of the textures before it compiles them into the skin. Another option is to use multi-subobject maps. QTiP can handle this method as well.

Once you have your model mapped, you mirror th arm and the leg. Select one object from the model and collapse it's modifier stack. Click on "attach multiple" and select all the parts of your model. Once the model is attached, you need to weld it. Perform an edit mesh and select all the vertecies of your model. Weld your model with a threshold of 0.01. This is to be sure you weld only the vertecies you want. Double check to make certain there aren't any cracks in the mesh.

Linking

You can use any type of skeletal structure you want. QTiP will ignore all objects in the scene that aren't selected and export only the transformed mesh. Character Studio, Bones and IK, and Linked Xforms will all work with QTiP.

Animating
The Quake 2 model is nothing more than a series of frames (transformed meshes) in a single file. The frames are picked apart by name. You will notice a scroll window in QTiP labled frame list.

The default list is for player models and vweps. You can import a frame list for any MD2 by clicking the "import new frame list" button directly below the window. The import feature will extract a list of frames from the MD2 you select.
You will notice (if your are unfamiliar with Quake models) that the animations are broken down into types. The first 40 frames are the stand animation so we'll start there. (Understand that you can start with any set of animations you want, and animations can all be in different MAX files.) Animate a 40 frame stand cycle. Once you're happy with it and ready to export, click on "stand01" in the frame list, and then the start button. Next click on "stand40" in the frame list and click the end button. You will notice that the start and end frame boxes have updated and now say "stand01" and "stand40" as
shown below. You have now defined the animation segment you want to export.

The next thing to do is to tell QTiP where the animation begins in the Max file. I know you are a reasonably normal person, so you started your stand cycle animation at frame 1. Type 1 in the "First Frame" box if it isn't already there. QTiP will now export frames 1-40 from your MAX file to "stand01-40" in an MD2 file.

Skinning
QTiP will take all the images associated with your model, and compile them into the smallest possible skin file, 480x480 or less. As previously mentioned, you must make sure your maps can fit into those dimensions. Also, QTiP will trim your maps to the dimensions of the object that they are mapped to. This means if the mapping gizmo is larger than the object, the unsed area will be cut and not compiled into the final skin.

QTiP can export your skins as a 24bit BMP or a 256 color PCX set to the Quake 2 palette. Check the option you prefer. If neither is checked, QTiP will not export a skin. If you plan to use the PCX option, you will get best results if your original maps are already set in the Q2 palette. QTiP will dither your maps if they are in the wrong bit depth or palette, and you may not like the results.

You can use the "Skin Name" field to specify a name for the skin that will be exported. The default name is tris.

Scale
This will allow you to scale your model when it is exported. Enter a larger value to scale up, and a smaller value to scale down. The default value of 1 will not scale your model. The easiest way to prevent scaling problems is to load up the Q2 male once you have built a model, and compare it for size.

Exporting the MD2

Now  that you have selected the frames from the frame list and entered your export options, it is time to export your model. Select the model, and ONLY the model and click the button.  When you save a model for the first time, QTiP will write a new MD2 looping the animation you have selected. QTiP will then make a second pass and replace the frame set you selected with the proper animtion. After exporting a single animation, you have a complete MD2 that can be dropped into Quake 2 for testing. Just make a phony _i.pcx for it and put a weapon in the directory and it's ready to go.

Adding the rest of the animations

Make a new Max file and another animation for your model. Repeat the steps above making sure to choose the proper frame set from the frame list. Make sure your model is selected and click "Save MD2." Since you want to add frames to the MD2 you are making, choose the file you saved with your stand frames. QTiP will simply add the new animation frames into the MD2. You now have an MD2 with two sets of animations. Continue making animations and adding them in this matter until your model is complete.

Vweps

QTiP can also be used to create vweps very easily. We will be posting a vwep tutorial the weekend of November 6th.
 
 

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