Tutorial: Getting Star Citizen ships into 3D rendering programs (with pictures!)

[Jetbo]

"Noesis no longer works for a large number of files. Until the Cryengine plugin can get updated, this thread is probably a dead end".  Refer to

https://forums.robertsspaceindustries.com/discussion/comment/833426/#Comment_833426

 

A quick tutorial on how to export the Star Citizen ships from the Hangar Module with proper material setup. You don't even need the CryEngine SDK to do it! (but it helps)  This method can also be used for any Star Citizen asset currently in the Hangar Module.  This usually isn't a seamless method, sometime you will have to combine methods and use a little bit of ingenuity to get things working correctly.  I'll update this with the CryEngine method soon.
Updated 2/28/2014.

 

If you don't have success using this method, try just exporting the ship directly from the CryEngine Editor as .obj file.  Refer to the Known Issues sections for more info.

 

Example of the 300i in 3dsMax with sexy shaders and HDRI lighting:

 

Software you will need:

7-Zip or WinRAR

Noesis

CryEngine model plugin for Noesis

Blender or 3dsmax or Maya or whatever rendering program you use. The program must support importing .obj files!

CryEngine SDK (optional, helps with the construction of materials)

 

 

The Tutorial:

Getting the geometry:

1. Install the software listed above

2. Navigate to where you installed the Hangar Module. (it's usually installed at %USERPROFILE%\Documents\StarCitizen)

3. Make a backup of the StarCitizen folder just in case you fuck something up. (optional)

4. Navigate inside the StarCitizen folder to \CitizenClient\Data.  In the Data folder you will find .pak files.  Look for the ship you want.  Ships are named "Objects(ShipNameHere).pak"

5. Using 7-zip or Winrar, extract the .pak file you want to work with.

6. Open up Noesis and go to the folder you just extracted the .pak files into.

7. Navigate down till you see a .cgf file.

8. Click on the .cgf file and go to File -> Export.

• Set your destination folder to where you want to export
• Set "Main output type" to ".obj - WaveFront OBJ"
• Check "Flip UV's"
• Hit "Export"

9. Import the resulting .obj file into whatever program you want!

10.  IF THE OBJECT YOU ARE LOOKING FOR IS A .CGA FILE, RENAME THE EXTENSION TO .CGF AND THEN EXPORT IT.

 

 

Getting the geometry into a rendering program tips:

• The different parts of the ship may be imploded and/or exploded (as seen below)  Basically you will have to move the various parts into the right place.

• The vertices may be exploded, make sure you fix that.  You can do this by welding all vertices within a margin of 0.001.
• Smoothing groups may not export.  Fix the exploded vertices and then apply an AutoSmooth.  I recommend doing an AutoSmooth by an angle of 30-35 degrees.

 

Getting the textures:

1. All the textures will be in the "textures" folder.

2. If your program supports .dds files then you're done! Otherwise proceed to step 3.

3. Open up Noesis and go to the folder you just extracted the .pak files into.

4. Navigate to the "textures" folder.

5. Click on the .dds files you want go to File -> Export.

• Set your desitnation folder to where you want to export
• Set "Main output type" to ".tga - TGA Image" OR ".png - PNG Image"
• Hit "Export"

6. Repeat for any other textures you want!

7. IF YOU EXPORT YOUR MODEL FROM THE CRYENGINE SANDBOX, YOUR UVs WILL NEED TO BE FLIPPED VERTICALLY.

 

 

Figuring out which textures go where: YOU NEED CRYENGINE SDK FOR THIS!

1. Install the CryEngine SDK and register at CryDev.net if you have not already done so

2. Follow the steps listed here: https://forums.robertsspaceindustries.com/discussion/44486/so-i-loaded-the-assets-of-the-hangar-into-the-sandbox-editor

3. Once you have successfully added a ship to the Editor and applied the right material to it, click on the ship and the click on it's "Mtl:" slot.  That will bring up the Material Editor.

 

4. In the Material Editor you can click on the different material and check what texture are in the Diffuse/Specular/Bumpmap/etc. slots.  Match those textures in the Material Editor to your shaders in your rendering program.

 

KNOW ISSUES:

• The .obj files WILL NOT import correctly into After Effects.
• Large ships (like the Constellation) are really heavy models and will probably crash your rendering program if you import it all at once.  So instead, make sure you import it in parts and fix the exploded vertices as you go to reduce the total poly count.
• Some ships (like the Avenger) will look exploded and/or imploded when imported, for these ships, you will have to move all the parts into the correct spots. Tip: Use the CryEngine Sandbox to figure out where the parts go.
• YOU CANNOT EXPORT VERTEX COLORING.  You will have to recreate this effect by yourself.

 

FAQ:

Why are the models so messed up?

Many of the models will not import perfectly, you will need to bridge the gap with some good ol' hardwork and elbow grease.

Are there anymore tutorials on this subject?

Yes! Located here.

Why don't you just export the model from CryEngine SDK?

CryEngine SDK exports models as one single mesh instead of separating them by material, it also exports many polygons with wrong normals.

Why is this tutorial so shitty?

Post a reply of what you think I should change and I'll change it!

[Roger Wilco]

downloading now....lets see how this works

[Zander]

I've done all these steps MANY times -- if someone provides me with the .obj and corresponding textures for a 315 or 300 i will love you forever

 

Edit: Reason -- When i get the .obj's they are always 3/4 of the ship. Something always goes wrong

[Jetbo]

@Zander are you saying it's not working?  Maybe I can help you troubleshoot?  It works for me (obviously).

[danredda]

Hmm.. Might try this when I get home from work. Would be sick to see the lancer variants for myself

[Zander]

@Zander are you saying it's not working?  Maybe I can help you troubleshoot?  It works for me (obviously).

i've followed the steps from the original rsi thread several times and every time i import into After Effects I'm getting 3/4 of the model

[Jetbo]

i've followed the steps from the original rsi thread several times and every time i import into After Effects I'm getting 3/4 of the model

After Effects isn't exactly a 3D program.  Use a 3D program like Blender and render it out, then use that render in After Effects

[Draegar]

Great tutorial @Jetbo! Pinned it.

[Orinx]

I found this tutorial really helpful for getting and obj file of the 300i, but I was also trying to get the 315p and 350r into blender So I could 3d print them.  I found that the 315p/350r models seem to depend on cga files as well, so I tried to use the cryengine sdk to import them but I found that when I added them with Geom entity they lacked thrusters.  Does any one have any suggestions about what I might be doing wrong/how to get 315p/350r models into blender so I can print them.

 

[Jetbo]

For the time being, you can just pull the 300i engine off and merge them together.  I'll see if I can figure out how to get the actual engines out though.  (It might be that the actual engines are from the 300i model anyway)

 

Also if you're trying to 3D print the ships, you might to contact @Rattler.  He has already had success in printing the 300i.  He has a thread about it here.

[Orinx]

I did see rattlers post, though he had only managed to get the 300i exported.  It seems that the thruster for the 315p is in the 315P_Dragon_Stellar_STC_TR4.cga file and I'm not surt where the dual thruster for the 350r is.

 

EDIT: I did some research and have found that changeling cga files to cgf file lets you use Noesis to convert them to obj files, the one problem with that is all the parts looks like they have exploded away from the ship. Do you know if there is some way to easily unexploded the ship?

 

[Jetbo]

Great find! I do not know of anyway to solve that exploding problem other than working by hand.  It takes, but it is doable. (I've done it for a couple of ships as seen in this thread: )

 

EDIT: IT would SEEM that the objects explode from the center, so theoretically if somebody could find a formula for measuring the explosion distance and growth....you could write a function to move it all back to normal.

 

BUT speaking from experience of moving the objects back by hand....some of the objects are ALSO ROTATED in the wrong direction.

[Orinx]

I think I'll have to go about this by hand then, at least the base 300i_land.cgf file is all in one piece so I can use that for the parts that the variants don't change.  Another annoyance I found it the body, engine, thrusters and nozzles for the variants are not all in the same files to I have to combine them together, and I have yet to find the file for the 315p engine cover, but that just means for now I will start with the 350r.

 

EDIT: do you know any way to make the parts come closer to the origin? it's really hard pulling every little part in when you can't even see all the far away parts.

 

[Jetbo]

I use 3ds max, there's an easy 3 step system to do that in that program...you just select all the objects set pivot to center and then zero them to origin.  I'm sure blender has something comparable.

[Orinx]

so I've been working on getting this model working for a little while trying to take the laziest root as possible, and today I succeeded!

 

(sorry for the low quiality pic)

 

To do this I exported the model from the CryEngine sdk using this tutorial then I alined the objects in 3ds max, exported them to an object file and used Project Miller to re-surface them.  I was then able to easily print the stl file from that, while not the best way to do it, definitely the fastest way.

[Shootter]

Nice 3D model there!

[Scramjet]

Greetings Jetbo;

 

I have Solidworks and am having issues;

1) The entire ship is too many surfaces to bring in as one part, plus that would make it one solid piece, not movable parts.

2) Importing the Hull which I separated in Blender gives an error " facet is not normal" any clue what causes this or how to fix it?

Also, How much does 3dsMax cost?

I've had the "exploded ship" issue and got around it using another cgi file.

I too want to model the 315P, I will work on the other parts later once I can import the hull.

 

Thanks

[Jetbo]

1- I'm not familiar with solidworks and so I can't help you with that.

2- Importing the hull into blender give you the error or importing the hull into solidworks gives you the error?

 

3ds max (and almost all autodesk products) is free with a .edu email, just go signup for a free one somewhere.  Then go to http://www.autodesk.com/education/student-software and signup.

[Scramjet]

Jetbo;

Solidworks is a professional 3D Modeling program I use for work.

I model built up Circuit boards and wiring them in enclosures in it but some companies model up entire factories in it.

 

I can import into Blender OK but to get to Solidworks I export in .stl format then Import that to Solidworks.

Solidworks is where I get the error.

It's looking like I will just have to do my modeling in Blender.

Corp Logo and all that ya know.

I'm the 3D guy.

I do still need to determine if I have the correct Main Thruster and then get the Tractor Beam under the nose to properly model the 315P.

That's what I fly.

[Jetbo]

Did you fix all the exploded faces in blender first before you exported to .stl?   You could also try exporting it from blender first as a .obj file and then re-importing the new .obj file into blender and then exporting it as .stl.  Some programs use different methods when exporting .obj files and so exporting it from blender first as a .obj file might clean the file.

[Orinx]

I'm not sure if this is usefull, but I've made a 3d printing star citizen ships for dummies guide on the RSI forums 

 

https://forums.robertsspaceindustries.com/discussion/124108/3d-printing-star-citizen-ships-for-dummies#latest

 

@Jetboy, to get the proper 315p model it would be best to work with the cga, files as they will have the body, power plant, and thruster you need. I found this guide better at exporting files then the Noesis, though it exports the ships as one object, not a ton of small parts.  

[DeMoN]

so I've been working on getting this model working for a little while trying to take the laziest root as possible, and today I succeeded!

 

(sorry for the low quiality pic)

 

To do this I exported the model from the CryEngine sdk using this tutorial then I alined the objects in 3ds max, exported them to an object file and used Project Miller to re-surface them.  I was then able to easily print the stl file from that, while not the best way to do it, definitely the fastest way.

 

Well done. I wonder what level of detail is possible. Did you retopologize the surface to only be an outer shell? Or is it a single, solid piece?

[Orinx]

Well done. I wonder what level of detail is possible. Did you retopologize the surface to only be an outer shell? Or is it a single, solid piece?

 

Part of my method of 3d printing is to resurface the model with software, it doesn't get the best model, unfortunately it doesn't make it a single solid model, theres seill detail it doesn't fully delete on the inside, but it gets some reasonable results.  here are some of my better ship prints.

 

 

[blackzaru]

Thanks for the post! 

 

I decided to start working on the Constellation on my spare times. (ambition got me)

 

That is what I fell upon (warning, big picture):

 

 

Well... I,ll tell you wre I'm at in 3-4 months...  XD (but seriously, if any have kept files of some of their work on any spaceship of even completed work, it might be an idea to upload them onto something like mediafire to share with the rest of us)

[Orinx]

 

Well... I,ll tell you wre I'm at in 3-4 months...  XD (but seriously, if any have kept files of some of their work on any spaceship of even completed work, it might be an idea to upload them onto something like mediafire to share with the rest of us)

 

 

 

I would suggest looking at this post as an easier way to export a model, it will get the sip out in one piece, but the issue is it will be in one piece the tons of desperate pasts that the noesis exporter gives you.

 

https://forums.robertsspaceindustries.com/discussion/comment/833426/#Comment_833426