VMT Editor - I programmed an editor for editing VMTs with ease - Developers

[img]https://dl.dropbox.com/u/15346799/vmthead.png[/img] Heya Facepunch community, over the last year I have slowly programmed a tool which allows for "faster" VMT Editing than the pure text-editor approach. It verifies VMTs, groups the parameters, previews textures and some more stuff. The options allow for some changes so just check them out. Yanzl, a fellow mapper, has helped me immensely by designing every graphic image you'll encouter. He also dedicated quite a lot of time in testing the editor and pushing me into finally releasing it. This is a beta version, so if you find bugs just post them here in this thread. Have some images because everyone loves images: [thumb]https://dl.dropbox.com/u/15346799/shader1.png[/thumb] [thumb]https://dl.dropbox.com/u/15346799/param.png[/thumb] [thumb]https://dl.dropbox.com/u/15346799/proxies.png[/thumb] [b]Updates[/b] 1.2b - 28/04/2013 - Batch dialog added, it compares the value of $basetexture to $bumpmap, $selffillum, and some others and detects suffixes. The suffixes will then be used to group different images together in order to create a VMT. Other parameters will be simply copied. - Source Filmmaker is now a selectable game, when the game is selected, another ComboBox with the directories shows up - VTFCmd will use version 7.4 for the VTFs from now on - Open... will remember the latest location - The color preview will reset to a white, not a grey - Decal checkbox is now in the Transparency groupbox - Fixed strange behavior in hiding the groupboxes when the shader is changed (it hides unmodified groupboxes when the shader changes) - The convert images dialog should now display the proper icons in the ListWidget, before it was somewhat random - Converted images, when you browse from them through $basetexture, will be put in the directory of the VMT - Save as... defaults to the directory of the VMT when one is loaded - $reflecttexture and $refracttexture have the right values - $color2 finally fixed - $texture2 is now registered as a texture and has quotes 1.1b - 26/03/2013 - VTF Creation tool added, it uses all the parameters VTFCmd offers and you can input one or multiple images - The Browse... buttons on textures allow images (png, bmp, etc.) aswell. When you select a regular image, it gets converted to VTF automatically. - $color2 works on all shaders now, not only on VertexLitGeneric - $model fixed, it can be checked on: VertexLitGeneric, LightmappedGeneric and WorldVertexTransition - Browsing for VTFs now defaults to the last opened folder [b]Downloads[/b] Here is the installer which requires admin rights so it integrates into the installed programs and allows file extension support: [url=http://www9.zippyshare.com/d/47836348/93/VMT%20Editor%20Installer.exe]Installer[/url] But if you don't trust me, check out this version with the extracted files: [url=http://www9.zippyshare.com/d/75928315/251/VMT%20Editor.zip]Archive[/url] [b]Thank you[/b] It is made with Qt Creator and C++. I would glady continue to work on it if the community likes it, just feed me with your feedback! PS: Shoutout to the creators of Nem's Tools ([url]http://nemesis.thewavelength.net/[/url]) whose tools were extremely handy for the entire mapping community.

Definitely going to use this, awesome work. [editline]1[/editline] Would adding VTF creation inside the program be a possibility as well?

good job, trying out right now

[QUOTE=GameDev;40026087]Would adding VTF creation inside the program be a possibility as well?[/QUOTE] Yeah, my TODO-list for the next releases it already filled with stuff like GCF support and a cleanup of my source code so I might release it to the public. I'll certainly work on VTF creation as Yanzl complained aswell :P But I finally wanted to release it to get some feedback on the current state :)

the preview doesn't work, at least for me

The preview only works when you have a Game selected in the "Game and Shader" tab. That's a problem when you have a mod for instance, but no worries I'll add it soon. Regarding the process of previewing, after you have browsed for a vtf, let's take $basetexture or Diffuse. It will try to search for the vtf starting from the materials like: $basetexture nature/rock_cbm ---> will be searched for in: "Steam/steamapps/common/left 4 dead 2/left4dead2/materials/nature/rock_cbm.vtf" when Left 4 Dead 2 is selected as the Game or when you have a VTF relative to the VMT. This is more of an option when you just want to edit VMTs outside the Steam game folders. PS: Check out the "tiny" Help file I have written which you can access by hitting F1 or over Help > Help... in the menu.

Very useful for those who can't remember all the parameters. I'll probably stick to a simple text editor unless this gets support for batch editing (like selecting a bunch of VTF basetextures, making your settings and entering variables like the filename of the VTF which can be used for the VMT filenames (and of course for the basetexture)). Because that is really a pain in the arse. When you finished this project, a QC editor would be very welcome! There are a lot of parameters. Batch editing is what I could really need here as well. But that's just a suggestion/idea, not a request. Great work!

When you are in a beta stage, you do not see suggestions, you see requests :D I'll try to add Batch Editing this night and being able to browse for images directly (for instance in $basetexture) which get automatically converted to VTFs. GoldPlatinum, did you manage to get it to work? The preview is accomplished with OpenGL so I assume that the fault lies more in the location of the VTF or the "current limitations" I posted before.

This is a welcome addition to an array of third party software I haven't seen any new of in years :) I am happy to check it out, and applaud you for your effort of getting this far.

Very impressive!

Does this work with materials for models too or only for mapping?

Yes, it does work with models. Just noticed a bug in which you can't enable $model on the VertexLitGeneric shader... Awwwww Stay tuned for an update tomorrow.

works great GiraX (previewer included). What would be great would be a texture preview like a sphere that you can rotate so you can check specularity/phong etc... not sure if it's possible but it would be so useful.

A huge thank you for your feedback. Sorry for the late update and the late response but here it finally is, hope everything works. Next update will likely include Batch support and I will look into a preview sphere. Source Phong should be sufficient documented, so I can give a go. GoldPlatinum: Can you make a quick test by creating a VMT containing only $basetexture "test" in S:\Program Files\Steam\steamapps\common\left 4 dead 2\left4dead2\materials" (for instance, whereever Left 4 Dead 2 or a supported game is installed) and placing a test.vtf in the same directory and preview it?

[QUOTE=GiraX;40046195]A huge thank you for your feedback. Sorry for the late update and the late response but here it finally is, hope everything works. Next update will likely include Batch support and I will look into a preview sphere. Source Phong should be sufficient documented, so I can give a go. GoldPlatinum: Can you make a quick test by creating a VMT containing only $basetexture "test" in S:\Program Files\Steam\steamapps\common\left 4 dead 2\left4dead2\materials[/QUOTE] I don't have L4d2 installed

Just try any supported game, I kinda derped and didn't finish my last sentence, your response time was too fast :P

Would it be possible to make it support SFM?

Awesome! gonna give this a try!

[QUOTE=Pw0nageXD;40064953]Would it be possible to make it support SFM?[/QUOTE] What exactly do you mean by "supporting"? I haven't used SFM yet, so I have no idea how the VMTs differ. What I can do though, is implementing SFM as an option in the Game and Shader tab with the different directories SFM uses.

[QUOTE=GiraX;40070654]What exactly do you mean by "supporting"? I haven't used SFM yet, so I have no idea how the VMTs differ. What I can do though, is implementing SFM as an option in the Game and Shader tab with the different directories SFM uses.[/QUOTE] That's what I meant by support. Sorry, should have been more specific.

And there we go, finally a new update: 1.2b Added a Batch dialog and pretty much fixed a lot of broken stuff! Releasing the editor before final exams at school and before doing some blog-stuff was a huge mistake on my part. Sorry for the lack of updates :'( But the next update, which will hopefully arrive faster, should include a preview sphere and a toolbar for showing/hiding groupboxes as the keyboard approach may not appeal to everyone. PS: Is a moderator able to change the Post Icon to a Release icon and a map one?

[QUOTE=GiraX;40458305]PS: Is a moderator able to change the Post Icon to a Release icon and a map one?[/QUOTE] It's either one or the other; you can't have both.

Not proof-reading my post is the worst part of my life... I'd like to have a Release icon, if possible :)

I have an idea that could make your program significantly better. Say you're making like 30 textures. All of these 30 textures have some similar parameters ( like "$ssbump" 1 and etc for instance), but it's very time consuming to create individual new .vmt's with changes only to $basetexture and $bumpmap for many textures. What I propose is making some sort of function that batch creates .vmts with different $basetextures and $bumpmaps. I don't know how hard it is to program that but if you can pull it off, you'd save hours of time for people who port over tons of textures.

What you described was just added. It's under Tools > Batch VMT [quote]Batch dialog added, it compares the value of $basetexture to $bumpmap, $selffillum, and some others and detects suffixes. The suffixes will then be used to group different images together in order to create a VMT. Other parameters will be simply copied.[/quote]

Do you have a website for this program?

No, not yet, but it should happen sometime soonish.

3 years later, an update. Includes new look, support for new CS:GO parameters and a lower version number. [url="http://gortnar.com/vmt/VMT_Editor_0_9.7z"]DOWNLOAD[/url] [thumb]http://i.imgur.com/WMGbQNu.png[/thumb] [vid]https://zippy.gfycat.com/AngrySharpAquaticleech.webm[/vid] [url]https://www.mapcore.org/topic/20131-vmt-editor-fast-and-simple-editor-for-vmt-files[/url]

[QUOTE=Yanzl;50295606]3 years later, an update. Includes new look, support for new CS:GO parameters and a lower version number. [url="http://gortnar.com/vmt/VMT_Editor_0_9.7z"]DOWNLOAD[/url] [thumb]http://i.imgur.com/WMGbQNu.png[/thumb] [vid]https://zippy.gfycat.com/AngrySharpAquaticleech.webm[/vid] [url]https://www.mapcore.org/topic/20131-vmt-editor-fast-and-simple-editor-for-vmt-files[/url][/QUOTE] This looks awesome, thank you so much!

Hey guys, haven't really posted any updates here, but it's now up to version 1.3.10 with a lot more improvements, the biggest being new VTF conversion. There's also a website now: VMT Editor And the user guide: VMT Editor User Guide You can download the latest version here: DOWNLOAD Here's a video to demonstrate how fast you can make a material, no other tools required: https://files.facepunch.com/forum/upload/132556/552f502b-8356-46a3-acf8-a4c9922d4ef5/2019-04-25_06-50-35.mp4 What happens in the video: files get automatically sorted, specular channel is combined with the normal map, and the textures are automatically renamed to your preferences (once you save).