/mksheet_vtex_gui

A simple GUI interface for creating animated vtf files.

Primary LanguageC#

mksheet_vtex_gui

A simple GUI interface for creating animated vtf files, primarily intended for use in TF2 particle effects.

Installation

Download and run mksheet_vtex_gui.exe from the latest release.

If you encounter issues related to Visual C++, use mksheet_vtex_gui_selfcontained.exe instead.

Usage

  1. Ensure that "Team Fortress 2 folder" points to the location of your TF2 installation.

    • This is most commonly "C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\steamapps\common\Team Fortress 2".
  2. Place desired animation frames in an accessible folder, naming them with a common prefix and numbering them in order.

    • For example: foo\bar00.png, foo\bar01.png, foo\bar02.png, etc..
  3. Click the [ ... ] button next to "Folder containing TGA frames" and select the folder you put the images in. In our example, this would be foo.

  4. Enter the common prefix you used in step 2 into "Frame filename prefix". In our example, this would be bar.

  5. If your frames are saved as .png files, click "Batch convert PNG to TGA. If your frames are saved as .tga files, continue to 6.

  6. Enter a desired sprite name.

    • Check "Multiple sequences" if you would like every frame to be contained in its own sequence (commonly used in tandem with the Sequence Random initializer to randomize particle appearance)
    • Check "Loop Animation" if you would like your animated sprite to loop.
  7. Click "Generate MKS File". If you would like to edit the mks, do so now.

  8. If you would like to set any Vtex compile parameters, click "VTEX Config" and type them into the popup.

  9. **Click "Generate VTF" to compile the animated texture.

  10. Optional: Use the "Blend Frames", "Depthblend", and "Additive" checkboxes to configure common VMT parameters and click "Generate VMT" to create a VMT file.

Common Issues

  • All frames should fit on a 2048x2048 canvas. If this is not the case, Vtex will silently fail and the program will crash.
  • Sometimes, frames will be ordered incorrectly in the MKS. If you cannot get the program to correctly order the frames automatically, manually edit the MKS file after it is generated.