Changing helms into scarves, changing hair to pink. How do I do this?

[Limstella]

Lately I've gotten the idea of editing the models of the mask-type helms like Red Defias Mask and Blood Elf Bandit Mask, and making them shorter and thicker so that they go around the neck like a scarf. I've been trying to figure out how to do this, but after reading various guides and how-to's on model editing, I still can't make heads or tails of it. I can't even locate the file for the mask model. I've found they're under Helm_Leather_A_03Defias.M2 and Helm_Leather_Blood_C_02.M2, but when I try to look for the models in MyWarcraftStudio all I can find are files with things like HuM, HuF, ScF and other race/gender abbreviations on the end of it that, when clicked, cause MyWarcraftStudio to stop working and crash.

And so I come to my request, if someone could do what I couldn't and change the masks into a scarf-like model (and also maybe re-color two of them to pink and yellow scarves), I would be greatly thankful. Heck, even tips on how to go about editing these helmets so I'm not just sitting in the dark would be awesome.




While I'm at it, I have a second request: I was told of a pink hair edit that was made some time ago, but it seems to only work on elves and draenei. Would it be possible for someone to make it so the female human's faded blonde hair (not the bright blonde) color is replaced by a pink color?

[Limstella]

I'd just like to add a note onto this, I want to double this as a question, for someone to give me some instructions on how to work with editing helmets. I'd really much prefer to create this on my own.

As mentioned before, I find myself unable to figure out how to get to the model files for the masks to edit them. No Helm_Leather_Blood_C_02.M2 file is present, only things like Helm_Leather_Blood_C_02_HuM.m2 and Helm_Leather_Blood_C_02_BeF and such, which cause MWCS to crash. It seems to me like I should be able to work with helm models if I could find the right m2 and work on it in 3ds Max, but I really have no clue. Am I even on the right track here, or am I just shooting completely in the dark?

[lysaara]

First, delete or rename M2Craft.dll in your MWCS folder to stop it crashing when you select M2 files. MWCS can no longer display models, you'll have to figure out which is the correct model using Model Viewer or something.

Every helm model has a different version for each race/gender combination, because of differing head shapes and sizes. So if Helm_Leather_Blood_C_02 is the right helm model for the bandit mask, then just extract alll the copies of that - unless you just want to make an edit for a specific race/gender, which would obviously be much less work.

To actually edit the extracted M2 files, I can't give the best advice because I'm not 100% sure, but people seem to have good results with TrollPaxton's tool for getting them into a Max-readable format(.obj)

[Limstella]

Thanks very much on the deleting M2Craft.dll part, that let me access the models. I'll give you some rep for the help.


Now I'm hung up on another problem, though. I used TrollPaxton's tool to get an .obj file of the mask m2, and then proceeded to edit it in a trial of 3DS Max 2010. All I worked with was resizing and moving the faces to try and compact the mask into the shape of a scarf. The result was... amateurish at best, but I decided to give it a go just to try and familiarize myself with the process.

Now I had to get this obj into the game, so I decided to use Glitchy's beta MES for 3.0+. However, trying to use that gives me an "Incorrect OBJ format Number 2" error when I try to save it as an M2. It seems I don't know the right steps to take to get my obj into the game, so perhaps someone could instruct me how?

[Limstella]

Just hoping someone will see this better. Perhaps someone could direct me to something that can convert m2s to .obj, and vice versa? I'm not sure TrollPaxton's tool may work that well, considering his hi-res thing was meant for character models, and whatever's going on with my obj is making it unable to turn into an m2 with Glitchy's MES.

Perhaps someone with experience in making custom helm models could lend me some assistance?


While I'm at it, some tips on how to change the color of certain hairstyles would be great, as I still intend to work on getting some pink hair for female humans. This stuff has got my head spinning.

[lysaara]

Changing haircolours is easy; the human hair textures are Character\Human\Hairxx_xx.blp and Scalp(Lower/Upper)Hairxx_xx.blp so pick whichever you want to replace, extract using MWCS, tint it in PS or GIMP or whatever, use the BLPConverter to change it back to BLP and stick it in a new MPQ.

They're not gender-specific though so male humans with that hair colour will also get a pink dyejob. If you like things to match, you might want to find the corresponding facial hair textures for that colour and tint those to match.

[Limstella]

I'm assuming the Scalp files are the colors for the flat hairless base each character has, which is displayed whenever helms and hats are worn? Because I left those untouched yet all my humans' hair is pink for color number 6.

Thanks once again, anyhow. Though now I'm wondering about how to edit hairstyles...

I'm getting a bit ahead of myself, of course, I still can't figure out how to get my scarf object working.

HALP! D:

[Limstella]

I believe I've managed to create a successful (albeit cheap-looking) scarf-like model using Tigurius' M2-Injector plugin for ArtOfIllusion. Though I haven't tested it in-game yet, it works in WoW Model Viewer. Now I should probably spruce up the stuff a bit...

Anyway, I might as well ask as I busy myself with my current tasks, but might anyone be able to instruct me on how to edit hairstyles? A lot of the female human short hairs make me look like a mushroom from behind...