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StudioMDL (Source)

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For a guide to studiomdl's usage, see Compiling a model.

StudioMDL StudioMDL is the command-line tool used to compile models from intermediate formats exported from modeling packages to the binary .mdl format that is read by the Source engine.

It can be found at 🖿common\<gamename>\<gamefolder>\bin\studiomdl.exe.

Tip.pngTip:The name "studio" is a throwback to the development of Half-Life Half-Life, during which Valve used 3D Studio Max to create their models.
Icon-Bug.pngBug: Attempting to use Studiomdl or a shortcut of it pinned to the taskbar in Windows 8 will result in an invalid target path, even when -game and an associated path are specified. Using a shortcut on the desktop, however, still works. This is an issue on Microsoft's end, unfortunately.  [todo tested in?]

Parameters

The only parameter required is a QC file. Any others must come before it.

studiomdl [options] <path\QC>

General

-game <gamedir>
Override the VProject game path.
-quiet
Suppresses some console output, such as spewing the searchpaths.
-x360
Enable Xbox 360 output, overriding the Gameinfo.txt
-nox360
Disable Xbox 360 output, overriding the Gameinfo.txt
-nowarnings
Disable warnings.
-maxwarnings <int>
Print no more than the specified number of warnings.

Animation

-definebones
See $definebone.
-printbones
Writes extra bone info to the console.
-printgraph
Todo: Appears to dump xnode data for each node?
-overridedefinebones
Equivalent to specifying $unlockdefinebones in QC.
-checklengths
Prints engine-ready keyframe data for each animation.

Performance

-fastbuild
Skip processing .sw.vtx (DX6/DX7), .dx80.vtx, and .360.vtx variants (use .dx90.vtx only). This speeds up compiling.
Icon-Important.pngImportant:In games before Left 4 Dead, if the .dx80.vtx is absent for a static prop, VRAD will fail to generate lighting for that prop!
-preview
Skip splitting quads into tris and building tristrips. This changes the rendering flags for the model, most likely resulting in slower performance or buggier rendering in-engine.
-fullcollide (only in Source 2006)
Don't truncate really big collision meshes
Note.pngNote:(in all games since Source 2007) use $maxconvexpieces, as -fullcollide does nothing.
-striplods
Ignore all $lod commands.
-minlod <lod>
Throw away data from LODs above the given one (see $minlod).
-mdlreport <path\model.mdl>
Report performance info for an already-compiled model. A QC file is not needed when using this command.
-perf <path\model.mdl>
Same as -mdlreport.
-mdlreportspreadsheet
Report performance info, per-LOD, as a comma-delimited spreadsheet. It will appear in the form:
Path to VTX, VTX file extension, LOD number (1 is the root lod), tri count, number of batches rendered, number of materials used
Must be used with -mdlreport or -perf!
Note.pngNote:It doesn't actually write a spreadsheet to disk; use > to Wikipedia icon pipe output to a CSV file.

Debug

-d
Dumps various glview files (10 per LOD per VTX file),
-h
Dump hitboxes to console.
-n
Tag bad normals.
-dumpmaterials
Dump names of used materials to the console.
-i
Ignore warnings.
-t <material>
Replaces all materials with the specified material.
-parsecompletion
Prints an easily parseable message indicating whether the compile was successful or a failure.
-collapsereport
Prints info on which bones are being retained and which bones are being collapsed.

Other

-nop4
Disables Valve's Perforce integration. Unless you actually have Perforce set up for your game/mod (a highly unlikely scenario), you should use this.
-verify
Compile the model, but don't actually write the results to disk.
-a <normal_blend_angle>
Auto-smooth faces equal to or below specified angle in degrees. By default, Studiomdl blends normals that are 2 degrees or less apart. Will override normal data for all meshes.
-f (removed since Source 2007)
Flip all triangles.
Icon-Bug.pngBug:Does not work in Orange Box and later builds of Studiomdl. You can achieve the same behavior with $body, however.  [todo tested in?]
-vsi <path\[QC|MDL]>
Generates a VSI file from a QC or MDL.
-stripmodel <path\model.mdl>
Strips down a model, removing its LOD info.
-stripvhv <path\sp_hdr_x.vhv>
Strips down hardware verts (VHV) of their LOD info.
-makefile
Generates a simple makefile for later compiling. It also parses the QC for any errors, and runs in -quiet mode.
-basedir <path>
Runs studiomdl in the context of the provided path.
-tempcontent <path>
Adds the provided path as a content search path.

Nonfunctional

-r
"Tag reversed".
-ihvtest
Probably meant to test the model collision for any physics errors. Skips whatever argument is provided after it.

Input Files

StudioMDL supports a range of input formats. These include SMD, DMX, OBJ, and VRM for reference meshes, SMD and DMX for skeletal animation, and VTA and DMX files for vertex and flex animation. Counter-Strike: Global Offensive Counter-Strike: Global Offensive also supports FBX, but with limited functionality. Flexes are not directly supported, nor are FBX sequences, however an SMD/DMX sequence can be used on an FBX model.

Note.pngNote:While FBX does technically support flex animations, an SMD file is required to generate the VTA file, making the use of an FBX file for flexes redundant.
Format Mesh Skeletal animation Vertex/flex animation
SMD
SMA (in all games since Source 2006)
PHYS (in all games since Source 2006)
Yes Yes Yes
DMX (in all games since Source 2007)
XML (in all games since Source 2007)
MPP (in all games since CS:GO engine branch)[confirm]
Yes Yes Yes
OBJ Yes No No
FBX (in all games since CS:GO engine branch) Yes (only in NekoMDL) (only in NekoMDL)
VRM Yes Yes No
VTA No No Yes
Note.pngNote:Formats listed in the same row are treated identically by compilers; i.e. file.xml will be treated as if it were a DMX file.

Output files

mymodel.mdl
Skeleton, animations, bounding/hit boxes, surface materials, LOD index…
mymodel.sw.vtx
mymodel.360.vtx
mymodel.dx80.vtx
mymodel.dx90.vtx
Vertex data optimized for DirectX 6/7, Xbox 360, DirectX 8, and DirectX 9 respectively.
Note.pngNote:.360.vtx files are just byteswapped .dx90.vtx files.
mymodel.vvd
Remaining hardware-agnostic vertex data, including the UV map
mymodel.phy
Collision mesh data. Omitted if no $collisionmodel is defined.

See also