BG3 model extraction and editing tutorial

Not my usual SWTOR content, but, truth be told, I set SWTOR aside during the Mandalorians arc. Still hoping to return to it one day! But I'm firmly in the Baldur's Gate 3 mindrot right now.
This tutorial is for those who what to get into BG3 datamining but don't know where to start (I dure didn't, so I thought that it might be useful for someone). The tutorial presupposes that you can unzip an archive and locate your PC's User folder though. Still, if you have any questions, feel free to ask!
BG3 Modder's Multitool github.com/Shi...
BG3 Export Tool github.com/Nor...
Blender 3.6 www.blender.or...
Blender gr2 addon github.com/Nor...
Many thanks to Aloija for helping with the datamining part of this process! / _aloija_
And Nyarl for helping with figuring ouе Blender! / darksideofnyarl

[@麦門冬湯-g5h]

Thank you so much for your tutorial! It helped me a lot when dealing with bg3 models. However there are some small issues I think can be improved. First, the normal map bg3 used is different with regular normal maps. Instead of R/G/B, it uses Alpha/G/B as its 3 channels, so is might be more accurate to fix the normal map before displacement. Also, the default exported model is triangulated, which made it much harder for the computer to do the subdivision, so you can do a CTRL J to convert them into quad mesh beforehand.

[@Roksik]

Thank you for the clarifications! I'm only starting to figure 3d modeks out, so I'm not very knowledgeable. How does one go about fixing the normal maps?

[@麦門冬湯-g5h]

@@Roksik Open up a new file, copy the original tex's Alpha/G/B channels to the new tex's R/G/B channels and you get a right normal map for DirectX. Blender is using OpenGL though, so for the normal map to work in Blender, you'll also need to reverse the G channel by selecting the G channel and press Ctrl I. Btw the shortcuts to convert triangulate mesh into quad mesh is actually Alt J. I got it wrong in my last comment XD

[@Roksik]

@@麦門冬湯-g5h I'll have to try it next time I'm exporting anything! Thank you so much for the info!

[@Roksik]

@@麦門冬湯-g5h I feel silly asking, but what software shold I use to do that? Will opening and saving the dds file in Photoshop work? I seem to be getting a different shader effect if I do.

[@MrSteven156]

When youtube needed her the most, Roksik return. Welcome back, we have missed you.

[@Roksik]

Waah thank you! I didn't expect to get feedback since the video is technical and on a different fandom, but this is so sweet! Made my evening :)

[@MrSteven156]

@@Roksik it was your videos that made me wanted to get back into swtor, it's also great to see you trying other things. I can't wait to see what you do next.

[@katm8128]

Simple and to the point, thank you. Going to try my hand at this

[@thefairylovesniper]

Cool to see you post again :D

[@алексейсоколов-т2г]

Это идеальный гайд, все по полочкам и максимально понятно! Спасибо большое

[@Roksik]

Благодарю! Когда начинала втягиваться, все было непонятно и гайды были такие себе, так что хочется надеяться, что кому-то это поможет))

[@diximurmur6507]

@@Roksik Да. Большое спасибо. Как в меме ничего не понятно, но очень интересно. Буду смотреть несколько раз и много думать.

[@cavik977]

Oh hello there 👋

[@nobody-special000]

There's a video on YT of a webinar with the Larian Art Director, and she explains how the Textures are set up differently. There's some issues with the addon Importer/ Exporter-- LODs seemingly can't be exported properly, and I also can't seem to import the skeletons of character bodies as GR2s either. People must have a way of getting around it but I've not seen how.

[@Newgodlove]

The KZbin Recommendations strike again.

[@aspirineye3412]

большое спасибо

[@darksidecreative3508]

Hi there! Firstly thank you for the amazing tutorial, I am currently working my way through it and learning blender and your tutorial has really helped me so thank you again. Just a couple of questions hoping you can answer them :) Firstly, how did you know what to look for for the textures like how did you confirm the right values? And secondly, I am not sure about this step where you mention at 11.32 to "enable the other extensions if you changed something". I was a little lost there and when I view the textures in the tool I don't see the textures like you do so I think I did something wrong. Thank you again for your tutorial 😁❤ Nevermind, managed to find the textures :) Will most likely be asking more questions if I can't find the answers myself, thanks again!

[@Roksik]

I'm so very glad that it came in handy! I'll answer the questions just in case! You're looking for the value that comes right after 'GTexFileName' in the same paragraph as the 3d model's name. Sometimes the 3d model's name isn't exact; for example there migh be several files using the same texture (aka Table_Rich_Small_A, Table_Rich_Medium_A, Table_Rich_Big_A, etc). In that case you should be looking for the abridged version of that name (just Table_Rich in my example). There was also one time when I found a texture's value and couldn't find its file (night orchids), and I'm not 100% sure what happened there. The multitool allows you to filter the files you find by extension (the drop-down menu next to the Search button). If you don't find what you expected to find, check whether the software is only showing you one file format. Feel free to ask if you need anything else! :)

[@darksidecreative3508]

@@Roksik Thank you so much for replying and for taking the time. Would you ever consider creating a more in-depth tutorial about extracting player character models for BG3? Some tutorials out there touch on some things, but nobody has done one from beginning to end that shows beginners who are interested in this type of thing how or where to start :) Anyway, thanks again!

[@Roksik]

@@darksidecreative3508 I would, but I don't know how to extract them beginning to end :) Even less so for setting up the shader for the skin. And then there's the hair/eyes color and the dyed clothes - I have no idea how to set that up. I managed to sorta kinda assemble Abdirak with a lot of external help, but it can be used for costume reference and nothing more, really. Luckily, the most prominent characters are already extracted and compiled here: www.deviantart.com/tosyk/gallery/88891285/baldur-s-gate-3

[@darksidecreative3508]

@@Roksik Yeah, I thought it would be difficult before I started learning about extracting assets, but now I can see why people pay for Patreon to get the Blender files. It is a huge undertaking and can be complicated. I saw someone say that it can take days just to put one character together.

[@Newgodlove]

🎉

[@joshuaseitler6003]

I've been trying to find the texture files for the female dragonborn Homely Clothes, (pretty sure they share a model with the Swarthy Wayfarer set, if that's important) but I can't find the GTexFileName line in any of the lsfs for either set, I can only find three for the dragonborn underwear. The name of the model still appears in the file though, are texture files for clothing formatted differently?

[@joshuaseitler6003]

If the textures would be shared between all versions of the model then there might be a single location for the texture file, but I have no idea where that would be located

[@Roksik]

@@joshuaseitler6003 if the clothes the dyeable, there won't be a texture file with color. At this point I would recommend to look for tutorials for the newly released BG3 mod tools - they say you can load your saves and export files from there

[@joshuaseitler6003]

Found it! I found a wiki page suggesting that shared clothing files are usually in the male human lsf. The wiki is also super useful as it has the file names for probably most items.

[@joshuaseitler6003]

Dang it, I'm pretty sure it's the right textures, it's the ONLY textures, but the UV mesh isn't aligned at all, so I'm at a loss.

[@CommanderLex]

Welcome back! Is there any chance you'll go back to doing your old SWTOR content?

[@Roksik]

Thanks! Not right now I'm afraid, I fell down the cosplay hole:(

[@CommanderLex]

@@Roksik Bummer, but I get it.

[@rettbull9100]

How does this work with character models?

[@garmblaka]

kzbin.info/www/bejne/gXKllHuhZd6Li9ksi=Yxk7JXSRU3ucb0jA Here's a huide to that! Works completely differently and is a lot more work, but it works. One of the apps used in the process (Nomad Sculpt or ZBrush, depending on one's choice) wasn't free, but the same should be able to be done in Blender as well! Hope I helped, and that I'm not late woth this.

[@MRSAncunín-l3k]

Hello I am trying to follow your tutorial to the T but when I get into blender I see the Collada tool but it doesn't give me an option for a path way to divine folder, please help!

[@Roksik]

@@MRSAncunín-l3k can you please link a screenshot? I set this whole thing up once, I'll need to remember what it was that I was doing myself

[@MRSAncunín-l3k]

@@Roksik file:///C:/Users/enich/Pictures/Screenshots/Screenshot%202024-08-04%20095145.png Thank you !

[@Roksik]

@@MRSAncunín-l3k that's a file on your pc. You need to upload it somewhere on the internet and link it

[@MRSAncunín-l3k]

@@Roksik www.youtube.com/@MRSAncun%C3%ADn-l3k/community does this work?

[@Roksik]

@@MRSAncunín-l3k Yeah. Here's what my add-on looks like: imgur.com/Yv4wBv3 Have you checked under the Interface and Object tabs? Also, are you sure you got the correct one istalled? Looks like you need this one instead: github.com/Norbyte/dos2de_collada_exporter

[@LouiseWards]

I am trying to find the characters models, but no lucky .(

[@lauranefertari4448]

Can you do this also with characters??? I'd like to extact my tavs!

[@nomypfpisnotanimeitsffxiv3689]

Is this the same post-patch 7, or is there a new way to do this?

[@Roksik]

@@nomypfpisnotanimeitsffxiv3689 I don't know yet, I haven't had time to look I'm afraid.

[@vergil3322]

thank you for the tutorial s2. its possible extract the animations too?

[@Roksik]

Probably! There's an animation folder in the game files, I assume that's where all the animations are. I know nothing about the extensions used for them though, so I can't say whether any additional conversions are necessary.

[@dexday6361]

Is this only valid in bg3, can we do it in other games?

[@Roksik]

@@dexday6361 the software was created for Larian's games, it should also work for Divinity original sin 2

[@Imogen89037]

Would you be able to get Tav/Durge models this way?

[@Roksik]

You can eventually find all the gear/hair/accessories assets, but you'll have to search and export-import them one by one. And I don't think that custom faces can be exported that way, but don't quote me on this

[@jacobtherobertson]

How do you change an icon?

[@Roksik]

@@jacobtherobertson which icons are you asking about?

[@jacobtherobertson]

@Roksik For an item specifically. I have tried this already but it didn't work: bg3.wiki/wiki/Modding:Creating_Item_Icons

[@Roksik]

@@jacobtherobertson I'm not a modder, just a dataminer. Patch 7 is supposed to give the community tools for mod creation, so if nothing else works, you can always wait for September's patch

[@Wolfrikx27]

Привет, благодарю за гайд! Относительно недавно заинтересовался моддингом BG3. На данный момент пишу шаблон для работы с файлами игры с комментариями и тд. Хотел поинтересоваться, может ли он кому-то пригодиться из вашего окружения? Так же хотел узнать, не знакомы ли вы с человеком из ру комьюнити, кто более-менее разбирается в моддинге BG3? Я сам провёл 8 лет в сфере моддинга Dota 2 и сейчас решил взяться за изучение нового движка. Именно поэтому я ищу информацию и людей, с кем можно было бы сконектиться и поделиться опытом из русскоговорящих ребят. Заранее благодарю за ответ!

[@Roksik]

Рада, если в чем-то помогло! Я знаю только aloija, можно написать ей в ВК, но, уверена, любой софт/туториалы помогут много кому. Если вдруг нужно, могу помочь с переводом!

[@Wolfrikx27]

​@@Roksik Благодарю за ответ! Да, я хотел бы поддерживать связь. Если сочтёте нужным ответить мне, то мои контакты находятся в профиле. KZbin сносит комментарии из-за того, что я указывал свои контакты, поэтому пришлось пойти на такую хитрость 😄

[@user-pd9yg3us8r]

Привет) Подскажи, пожалуйста, даже после копирования файлика granny2.dll в корень как у тебя на видео, Multitool выдаёт ошибку, моделька так же не импортируется в blender: "Error loading .dae: Error importing file: Unable to open file "C:\Users\lukoy\OneDrive\Рабочий стол\Moders Multitool\UnpackedData\Models\Generated\Public\SharedDev\Assets\Decoration\Generic\DEC_GEN_Lathander_Statue_ABC\Resources\DEC_GEN_Lathander_Statue_A_Broken_B_Flipped.dae".. Inner exception: " В чём причина? 😅 Переделал 2 раза всё по видео, но результат не изменился :(

[@Roksik]

При этом работает поиск? Когда находишь модель и открываешь папку, там три файла?

[@iamthemorrigan]

У меня там два файлика, один gr. А второй .dae ,должно быть что-то ещё? ​@@Roksik

[@Roksik]

@@iamthemorrigan можно 1) попробовать погуглить dll и скачать сторонний, потому что люди его выкладывают отдельно, 2) импортировать в блендер dae, только модель будет не отзеркалена

[@iamthemorrigan]

@@Roksik я попробую, благодарю)

[@Respawner005]

⁠подскажи пожалуйста, какой dll нужно гуглить?) такая же проблема, выдаёт ошибку, хотя вроде по инструкции делал

[@Bluur9]

Is it possible to create my own custom character and export it that way? How can I do that? Thanks for your video, it helped in many matters.

[@Roksik]

Not to my knowledge. Most armors can be found somewhere in the game files though. You might want to try to unpack all of the game files and go through them folder by folder

[@nobody-special000]

You can make a custom head model and then create a new instance of a "head" in CC using the XML.