Author Topic: FF8 3D battle models update  (Read 29673 times)

Qhimm

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FF8 3D battle models update
« on: 2004-11-26 21:47:02 »
Thanks to the FF8 battle model viewer that floated up a while ago, I was able to make some important progress on the decoding of FF8 models. I have made my own battle model viewer which improves on the original viewer in a couple of ways, most importantly the elimination of visual artifacts and correct display of transparency and additive blending.

Also, inspired by mirex' Biturn, I've tried to implement ASE exporting to the viewer, which is really the point of this topic. Now it's 7:42 in the morning here (and I'm not up early), so I'll limit the explanations to that these images are 3DSMAX renders done a few minutes ago.





I shall now sleep.

Radiosity

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FF8 3D battle models update
« Reply #1 on: 2004-11-26 22:56:32 »
3dmax renders? Holy sweet potatoes :D That looks so much nicer than in the game (hardly surprising mind you). Are you going to be releasing this tool?

Jedimark

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« Reply #2 on: 2004-11-27 10:46:24 »
Them models looks very impressive.

mirex

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« Reply #3 on: 2004-11-27 10:58:49 »
Thanks to cooperation with Qhimm on FF8, Biturn will be able to load FF8 battle models too. Right now its only able to load FF8 field models.

Qhimm

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« Reply #4 on: 2004-11-29 02:57:54 »
Which reminds me mirex, did you manage to export bone information to ASE?

James Pond

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« Reply #5 on: 2004-11-29 07:49:01 »
Damn Ifrit looks nice....so much smoother.

Good job Qhimm ^_^

mirex

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« Reply #6 on: 2004-11-29 10:55:43 »
Qhimm:  Ehhh... iirc i did (export to ASE only, not bone loading from ASE)

Qhimm

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« Reply #7 on: 2004-11-29 12:15:49 »
Right, I'll need to have a talk with you about that... I haven't found any solid info on how to do anything in ASE except geometry and materials.

UPDATE: Some new renders.




Meditation

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FF8 3D battle models update
« Reply #8 on: 2004-11-29 13:09:15 »
That's amazing!Good job,Qhimm!
One day we could modify FF8 by ourself.
Exporting,improving,and then importing the models back into the original game data,we could get another edition  of FF8 with high definition.
Luckly, I see the good future of such work.
I will always on your back, if Square Enix, Inc. would do some frustrating on you.

Alhexx

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« Reply #9 on: 2004-11-29 14:16:25 »
Holy cow!

Nice job!
It seems like I have to show some results, too, to be able to compete with you...

 - Alhexx

mirex

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« Reply #10 on: 2004-11-29 14:49:54 »
wow, rendering can do nice things to 3d models

Cyberman

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« Reply #11 on: 2004-11-29 15:51:18 »
Quote from: mirex
wow, rendering can do nice things to 3d models


Tell me about it!  It does help that you can use bilinear filtering on the textures and the models are not 'permanently' lit so some depth is managable.  The models IN FF8 look kind of washed out a bit because of that.  Hmmm I suppose if one could extract the walk meshes, one could have a bit of fun with the 'scenary' or at least make some of it.

Qhimm:
I like the miniature.. but don't you think a glass Odin is a collectors item?

Glad someone has made progress.

Cyb

Almighty_gir

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« Reply #12 on: 2004-11-30 13:56:43 »
really great work qhumm....but ehm...your renders could be a bit better :P

make sure you have a grey/white background and that the "floor" plane is also a nutral colour. try using omni's instead of a spotlight. or, if you dont mind waiting about 10 minutes for a render, put a skylight above the model, and turn cast shadows on (it might take longer than 10 mins, depends how busy the scene is and your graphics card etc..)

alloy

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« Reply #13 on: 2004-11-30 15:39:50 »
in 3dsmax change the filtering to Catmull-rom. The defaul area filter is cheap and it showld be burned in a butcket or somethin. Catmul rom will make the rendering way sharper thant what is it now.

Qhimm

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« Reply #14 on: 2004-11-30 17:00:24 »
Quote from: Almighty_gir
really great work qhumm....but ehm...your renders could be a bit better :P

make sure you have a grey/white background and that the "floor" plane is also a nutral colour. try using omni's instead of a spotlight. or, if you dont mind waiting about 10 minutes for a render, put a skylight above the model, and turn cast shadows on (it might take longer than 10 mins, depends how busy the scene is and your graphics card etc..)

Heh, I have limited materials to work with seeing as I can't modify the model materials without actually redoing them (I use multitexturing in my ASE exporter). The exception is Odin and Ifrit 1, where I completely replace the materials.

The background is black since I wanted to highlight the central object of attention, i.e. the model. Also it has the nice feature of hiding where the floor pane ends. The floor itself is lambertian white, with the models being illuminated by three omni lights set up around them, with fine-tuned attenuation distances to provide a good spectrum of colors in the model and in the shadows. The lights, floor and model are then rendered using mental ray with global illumination.

The simpler renders take 2-3 minutes on my computer, while the more advanced (glass Odin) took 15-20 minutes. Also, graphics cards don't affect offline renderers. ;)

Quote from: alloy
in 3dsmax change the filtering to Catmull-rom. The defaul area filter is cheap and it showld be burned in a butcket or somethin. Catmul rom will make the rendering way sharper thant what is it now.

I was not aware of this filtering technique... though could you define "sharper"?

EDIT: Ah, explains why I never saw it. Mental ray does not have any implementation of Catmull-rom, possibly due to different methods used in rendering. Catmull-rom produces sharper imagery by edge enhancement, apparently. Could be argued that it's a destructive filter then, since it shows things that aren't really there. :) Still, the images do look like they've been through an improved version of Photoshop's "Sharpen"...

James Pond

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« Reply #15 on: 2004-11-30 21:28:48 »
I think he means more crisp.

If you look at the edges on ultimaceia, it does look rather soft and makes it hard to define a definate edge.

Almighty_gir

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« Reply #16 on: 2004-11-30 22:11:00 »
oooh wait a minute.... ase isnt a max native format is it? and you should still be able to adjust things within it, try for example, turning ifrits texture to grayscale, adjust the conrast a lil to make it more contrasting. then use that as a bump map.

as for the black background, place a white plane going through the floor, at a slight angle. this will iliminate the edge being seen.

sorry, it looked like a spotlight on edea.

edit: i mean ultimecia....forgive me, ive been on the bottle with a friend tonight :P

alloy

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« Reply #17 on: 2004-12-01 03:00:00 »
Quote from: James Pond
I think he means more crisp.


Yup thats what i meant. Area filter leaves a fuzzy blurry look to the rendered scenes. Catmull-rom was meant to address that flaw. Oh i think they have another name for the filter in mental ray. I think the last one in the list has the same qualities of camull-rom.

Qhimm

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« Reply #18 on: 2004-12-01 03:57:58 »
Quote from: Almighty_gir
oooh wait a minute.... ase isnt a max native format is it? and you should still be able to adjust things within it, try for example, turning ifrits texture to grayscale, adjust the conrast a lil to make it more contrasting. then use that as a bump map.

Heh, if you look at the non-textured Ifrit model you can actually see the bump map, which was created in exactly that way (or rather, letting max do the grayscale conversion and contrast enhancements from the same image source). ;)

Quote from: alloy
Oh i think they have another name for the filter in mental ray. I think the last one in the list has the same qualities of camull-rom.

Thanks for the tip!

Almighty_gir

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« Reply #19 on: 2004-12-01 07:31:00 »
in that case i eagerly await your improvements on this exporter. sorry for my useless and alcohol induced arguments :D

any way i can help?

Alhexx

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« Reply #20 on: 2004-12-01 10:10:56 »
Heh, I' looking forward to see the first renders of Shiva and Siren  :love:

 - Alhexx

Qhimm

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« Reply #21 on: 2004-12-01 10:20:30 »
Quote from: Alhexx
Heh, I' looking forward to see the first renders of Shiva and Siren  :love:

Heh you're in for a bit of bad luck then, since I've only been able to decode battle enemy models... i.e. only people and monsters you encounter in battle. So no Shiva or Siren, at least not yet. :P

Alhexx

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« Reply #22 on: 2004-12-01 10:38:44 »
Duh... well, I think I remember that when testing around with that old FF8 monster viewer...
GFs have other model formats then... looks like I have to do some hacking on my own then - or wait until some of you do ;)

I'm going to start working on FF-X and FF-X-2 next year, maybe I'll get some useful info there...

 - Alhexx

 - edit -
Erm, just an off-topic question:
Qhimm: You're currently in Tokyo?!?

mirex

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« Reply #23 on: 2004-12-01 11:18:47 »
Quote from: Qhimm
Alhexx wrote:
Heh, I' looking forward to see the first renders of Shiva and Siren  

Heh you're in for a bit of bad luck then, since I've only been able to decode battle enemy models... i.e. only people and monsters you encounter in battle. So no Shiva or Siren, at least not yet.

So what kind of creatures are these, where do you encounter them ? Are they summon models ? How many types of models are there ? I know only about 2 kinds, battle ones and field ones (which can be exported too |).

Er sorry that I don't know Shiva and Siren, but I have played FF8 only for 5 minutes :erm:

Radiosity

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« Reply #24 on: 2004-12-01 11:32:21 »
They're both GF summons. Shiva is initial equip after visiting the computer console (or outside the gates of Garden if you don't do that), along with Quezacotl. Siren is acquired shortly after that on your SeeD exam.