Exporting custom models to RE2, RE3 and DMC5 with Noesis

I have made a big update to the Noesis MESH plugin (originally by Gh0stblade and modified heavily by myself). Now the plugins for all the RE Engine games (RE7, RE2, RE3, DMC5, RE8) have been consolidated into one that works for all of them. Read the previous threads (linked above) to see the existing preview and import features of the plugin, which include the automatic texturing of models from MDF files and textures automatically detected from your extracted game files.

In addition, I have given the plugin the capability to export FBX and MESH models to the MESH format, like the Maxscript (which I also maintain). This means that you can use Blender or any capable 3D program you want to work on your RE2, RE3 and DMC5 mods. I created this because Noesis is free, and 3DS Max is not. Also to allow people to work in other programs that they might prefer over Max (though I personally prefer Max myself).





BLENDER USERS: Be sure to try this special FBX importer to fix any issues Blender's default FBX importer is likely to create with the root bone

JUNE 2022 RAY TRACING UPDATE:
This update has completely changed the RE Engine versions of Resident Evil 7, 2R and 3R to the latest, so the file formats used are all updated and are now much closer to the formats of RE8 and MH Rise than of their original release versions. Of course, this has made it so that basically all older mods will no longer work. 
Noesis can convert old RE2R and RE3R mods to make them work on the Ray Tracing versions of the game (and I am working on making sure RE7 convert too). Here's how you can do this:

• Open each mesh file in your old mod with Noesis and export it as RE2, 3, 7 RayTracing MESH, converting it to the current format and then replacing the old version with it in your mod folder.
• Open each tex file in your old mod with Noesis and export it as RE2, 3, 7 RayTracing Texture, also replacing the old version with it in your mod folder.
• Change the main root folder of your mod folder from x64 to stm, if applicable.
• Some fileformats containing RSZ data (such as SCN and PFB) will likely have to be recreated using the extracted files from the updated game, as those files cannot be converted. I will try and find ways to convert motlists, chains and other files soon.

UPDATED 6/15/22:
The beta version available in my Modding Tools thread has been merged with this main version, adding numerous features:

• Full support for RE8, Monster Hunter Rise and Ray-Tracing updated game versions of RE7, RE2R and RE3R
• Use the Advanced Parameter "-rewrite" to export meshes independently, without needing to pick a similar mesh to use as a source. Noesis will create the mesh entirely from the FBX.
• UVs.7 files can be previewed as meshes inside the Noesis Model Viewer
• Numerous bugfixes and optimizations

UPDATED 8/16/21:

• Added support for previewing, importing and exporting Resident Evil 7 Meshes and textures, including rewriting the RE7 skeleton with "-bones"
• Meshes can now be greater than 60,000 vertices. If meshes are automatically split apart and renamed by Noesis, they will be recombined by the plugin when they are exported back to the mesh format
• Some small bugfixes and optimizations

UPDATED 4/30/21:

• Added support for importing and exporting RE8 meshes and textures

UPDATED 4/9/21:

• Added support for importing and exporting ReVerse meshes and textures
• All textures are saved as streaming-type

UPDATED 2/28/21:

• The plugin now matches materials by their material hashes, like the game does
• Debug log cleaned up and gives you more concise and accurate data
• The plugin now comes with a Maxscript called "REEM Noesis CMD" (by mariokart64n and myself) for remote controlling it in 3dsmax

UPDATED 12/22/20:

• The plugin can now write entirely new skeletons from your fbx to any mesh file. Just use the " -bones" option

UPDATED 10/19/20:

• The plugin can now encode TEX files. Load any image into Noesis and export it over an existing TEX file to encode it as that TEX file's texture
• bNormalizeWeights global option (on by default) ensures that each vertex's weights add up to 100%
  
• Changed preview-window render settings to make models look less shiny and more realistic
  
• ATOS occlusion / shadow maps now work in the Noesis preview window
  
• Extra LODGroups are no longer textured
  
• Improved file-picker
  

UPDATED 10/11/20:

• The plugin can now export TEX files. Save your DDS file from Photoshop (at any resolution), load it into Noesis, and export it over a TEX file that uses the same compression

INSTALLATION:
Get Noesis, then place the plugin in your Noesis\Plugins\Python\ folder, and re-launch.
If you have any previous versions of the plugin, such as fmt_RE2_mesh_1_7a.py, remove them.

GUIDE:
Noesis can now import MESH models at the correct scaling and rotation (and with real bones and correct rigging) by loading a MESH file up normally and saying File -> Export , then picking FBX from the drop-down list.
This exported FBX can be loaded into Max, Blender, Maya or whatever program you prefer, as long as it can read the new FBX format.

Once you have finished your work on your model inside your 3D program, you can send it back to the game by selecting the components of your model, then exporting as FBX using these settings:

The selected objects should use the original armature and be exported with that full armature, and each one's name must be the same as whichever mesh from the original model it is replacing, with no duplicates. Textures / materials are assigned by mesh name, so if you want your new submesh object to use Claire's pl1000_jacket_albm textures, you must name it to replace a submesh that used those textures in her original model. Names appended with numbers like ".001" by Blender are okay, these numbers will automatically be removed during the final export from Noesis.


Then, load your new FBX into Noesis, select RE Engine MESH from the export list, and select the mesh that your model is structured on (or was originally imported from) to export over, when prompted:


Use the new MESH file in the game and it will work correctly. Meshes without bones are also supported. This model here was exported from Noesis in about three seconds:

(I deleted vertices from her legs across multiple UV islands to see if it would corrupt the UVs or the normals, but I had no such issues. Re-importing is not necessary when exporting with Noesis.)



Video Tutorial
Here is a video tutorial of Blender mod-making in RE Engine by Marcos RC that shows steps for correcting weights, separating and joining meshes, deleting verts etc:


Additional info:
-You can use Noesis to change the bone positions of a model by exporting over another model of the same type that has modified bones.

-If you have any issues with the lighting on the model, it is likely because the model has the wrong handedness and its normal map is inverted. You can fix this by typing " -flip" as a parameter after the filename of the model you are exporting over, which will flip the handedness the other way.

-You can change the default file extension from RE3's .1902042334 to RE2's .1808312334 or DMC5's .1808282334 by editing the fmt_RE_MESH.py file itself. At the top of the file, there are global options.
-Another global option is to add bone numbers to the model, to make it compatible with the Max Script. And there is also an option to give the submeshes the same numbering scheme as the Maxscript.


The export parameters are entered here, after the name of the MESH file to export over:


Writing New Skeletons:
As of Dec 22, the tool has been updated to be able to write new skeletons to exported MESH files. Coupled with the motlist tool for animations, this offers full control over a model's bones and how they move, potentially allowing for total model + animation ports from other games with minimal changes. To use this feature, use the " -bones" parameter as explained above for changing bone positions. The entire skeleton of the resulting model will be only the skeleton you have in your FBX file. By default, it will make every single bone part of the MESH's usable bone map (not all bones can be rigged to, but ones in the skin bone map can). If you have more than 256 bones in your model, the skin bone map will be cut-off at that number.
You can get around this by enabling this bAddBoneNumbers option and putting bone numbers like "b001:" in front of the names of the bones you want to be in the bone map: