Introduction

Below is a very simple method to create low poly animated characters which may be loaded as IQM models in the CompactStar engine.

Prerequisites

You will need the following applications, all of them are free and may be downloaded from their official website:

• Makehuman
• Blender
• The Inter-Quake Model exporter for Blender
• HxD Editor

An account to the Adobe Mixamo website is also required, you can create one for free if you still don't have one.

Create the character with Makehuman

The first step is to create a character with Makehuman. The application provides a very large range of parameters allowing to create a huge variety of human characters, and in addition, the application provides a large library of clothes, topologies, and accessories, created and shared by other users.

To create a character exportable as an .iqm model, you will need to:

• Under the Geometries=>Topologies tab, select the Proxy741 proxy, or any available low polygon proxy. Don't use a proxy containing too many polygons, otherwise the export to .iqm file may fail later.
• Configure your model as desired.
• Under the Pose/Animate=>Skeleton tab, select the Game Engine skeleton.
• Once ready, under the Files=>Export tab, select the Filmbox (fbx) mesh format. Ensure that the Feet on ground and Binary FBX options are checked, then select a name and click on the Export button.

Animate with Mixamo

The second step is to animate your character with Mixamo. The website provides a very large range of ready-to-use realistic animations, you just need to select which you want and to configure it.

To animate your model, you will need to:

• Once logged, click on the Upload Character button, and select the model you exported from MakeHuman. Check if the model is well animated on the import end.
• Select the animation you want.
• Check the In place checkbox, and configure your animation.
• Click on the Download button, and select FBX Binary (.fbx) and With skin options. Click again on the Download button.

Convert to .iqm with Blender

The third step is to convert the animated .fbx model to .iqm with Blender.

To do that, you will need to:

• Create a new scene and clean it completely.
• Click on File=>Import=>FBX (.fbx) and select the animated model you exported from Mixamo.
• Select the Animation view (Ctrl+PgUp/Dn) and correct the animation length.
• Play the animation to check if all is working well.
• On the right panel tree, expand the Game Engine=>Animation items, and rename the Game_engine|mixamo.com|Layer0 item to a name describing your animation.
• Optionally you may also rename the Game Engine item to your model name.
• Select Object Mode and select your whole model (press the A key).
• Click on File=>Export=>Inter-Quake Model (.iqm, .iqe). In the Animation edit, enter the animation name you set on the tree item.

• Ensure that all the checkboxes are checked, except the Vertex Colors one. Under Materials, select Image.
• Click on the Export IQM button.

...and voila!

NOTE in order to be opened with CompactStar, you'll need to copy the textures exported by Makehuman next to the .iqm model. You'll have also to convert the image to Targa (.tga) format and to change the png to tga format in the .iqm file by using an hex editor like e.g. HxD.