Ingame model to pepakura halp!

[s0ulger]

As stated in the title, I would like to take an in-game model I ripped and turn it into a nice pepakura file. I figured this would be the best place to come to with such a request. I'm looking for links or videos of people doing just this, as most pepakura videos are of people doing the same old intro to pepakua thing, or people already working with models already made into sweet pepakura files. I'm looking for info on how to accomplish the hard work of taking a model, that isn't necessarily one solid piece, but multiple "parts" that are floating together, as apposed to what I need of one solid printable pep.

You see the reason I'm doing all of this is because the model I'm using is from a very popular game, and although people have scratch made models of it to be pep'd, they're always disproportionate, and being the perfectionist I am, this bothers me. If anyone has ripped the file and converted it to a pep, they haven't shared it, cuz lets be honest, it woulda popped up on this site by now. Also I need this thing to be a damn good pep as I plan to be reverse rondoing it like this guy did http://www.therpf.com/f9/my-tcw-arc-pepakura-helmet-building-project-113884/ . The first bunch of image links are broken, but if you scroll down you can see what I'm planning to do. Basically what he did was he made the pep, then layered rondo on the inside to make a base to work off of, then soaked it in water to scrape the pep off. He later said he should have built the pep with the tabs inside out which would've given him a cleaner base, and that's what I plan to do.

Lastly, I'm no good at 3D modeling, let alone modifying them to make a working pepakura. I'm more of the hands on detail oriented type that does all the building to finish work. So if you guys think this is too much of an undertaking for a pep noob like me to handle, I'd gladly pay someone a small fee to do the job for me.

Thanks in advance for any help whatsoever.

 

[TrentR]

To start, first we need to know what game you want to rip from. There isn't a standard format for video games, and to rip from a specific game you need to know how rip them or figure it out or find someone who can/has.

Second, you should understand that the in game model isn't always as perfect as it looks in play. This is due to "normals", which are a concept in 3d graphics that effect how light bounces off of the surfaces of the model. Given the right lighting algorithms and normal values, a very blocky shape can appear/be rendered perfectly smooth.

This is likely why crafters before you have modeled it from scratch.

Sent from my Nexus 4

 

[s0ulger]

I already ripped the model and it looks spectacular in comparison to the peps of seen that were scratch made. Granted it's kinda ugly with all the intersecting pieces, but that's only seen on the inside of the model. Here in lies the problem. With the way i wish to glue the pep flaps on the outside of the pep so that the rondo can build up smoothly and the pep can then be scraped off, the seems of the pep need to be as clean as possible. So like i said, the model is kinda ugly how it fits together in 3DS Max / pep as it wasn't made for this purpose. I just need to find someone, or if necessary stitch it together myself if it comes down to it.

I understand that I could save myself a lot of work if I did it the old way by making the pep and building details upon that, but that won't work for me. I want the best surface to build upon, and traditionally if i were to work on top of the pep if sanding back on it i may eventually hit the paper and have to reinforce that if i need to go deeper. I'd rather do it the rondo way because I'll have a much better foundation to work on, and doing more work up front will save a lot of work I may run into later ya know.

The bottom line is this, I have the model as clean as I can get it. The model still doesn't fit together all that great in terms of being a pep with the way the developer put it all together, but it is still an amazing model, and will make for the best damn pep I'll ever see of it. I honestly have absolutely no idea how to move on from where I'm at, and don't know if it'll be worth the time attempting anything further with my skill level. I really think I need some help with this one to get it into shape.

 

[Hexvas]

While I'll be upfront and say I'm not the person with the skills, in this matter at least, to be of much help. As vague as your description of the model is, will make it difficult for others to offer assistance/advice. Many times, images speak more than words

Help us help you

 

[SriLanKING]

could you post pics? or the file even? just wondering maybe I can help..

 

[laellee]

Yeah, you're not going to get very far without pics. And even with pics, that's not an easily accomplished task for someone new to 3d modeling. You should at least tell people here what the item is, the work may have already been done by someone else that you didn't know about.

 

[DarkJester]

you could always hide the flaps, and, there's a video on this forum somewhere of someone who cuts off all the flaps to make round pieces easier to sand smooth and level, if anyone knows whose video it is they can point you further in the right direction, but that idea may solve your problem, you could hide the flaps and use that method on the outside, which leaves the inside smoother and easier to sand after you remove the paper, btw which model are you tryng to make? i may already have a foam version of that file on my HD which would also solve your problems

 

[CyberPaddy66]

Why not make the pep file as normal and then rondo the outside to get a thin coat and then soak the card carefully off the inside and slush more rondo in there when it's dry?

As for someone taking your model and making a pep out of it it all depends on how difficult the model is to work with, I've pepped a few 3D models so far and they are all difficult but once you break the back of the job it gets a lot easier.

What game have you ripped the files from?

 

[s0ulger]

Here's the thread I have going right now, if you want to check out what not to do when rondoing go there, I really messed it up. http://www.therpf.com/f9/rondo-halp-207468/#post3221137

Also the model was something from Mass Effect. I found a decent pep that was close to the model, but I still ended up having to modify it to get the proportions and look right. In the end it's dead now, and I'll have to start all over again.

 

[rundown]

You will have to search for boolean joining. This is a technique for merging 2 objects as one whole. You will also need to redo some topology. Remove some extreme details.