For this tutorial you will need the following things:
1) A Counter-Strike model file (.MDL)
2) Milkshape 3D program installed
3) Swift3D version 2 installed
Decompiling you MDL file
The reason we need to decompile the model is because Swift3D v2 requires a file of type 3DS and will not recognise MDL files and I have found this to be the best conversion method. Also, this way you can edit the model in Milkshape 3D before importing it into Swift3D.
Ok first of all copy your MDL file into its own folder. We do this because decompiling it will create several files, so this avoids confusion.
Now launch Milkshape 3D and goto the menus at the top of the screen and select "Tools>Half-Life>Decompile Normal HL MDL File...". Now select your model file in it's folder. A box should pop up with 4 tickboxes. Untick sequences and click OK.
Voila you have sucessfully decompiled your MDL file.
Converting your decompiled model into a 3DS file
With Milkshape 3D still open, goto the menus at the top again and this time select "File>Import>Half-Life SMD..." Browse to your models folder if it isn't already there and select the SMD file that should be residing there. A box will appear with two tick boxes. Untick the skeleton box and click OK. Your model should now appear in the four viewports. Now goto the menus at the top once again and this time select "File>Export>Autodesk 3DS..." Leave the two tick boxes ticked on the window that appears and choose a location to export your 3DS file to. Click OK and you're done. Now close Milkshape 3D.
Importing your converted model into Swift3D v2
Launch Swift3D v2 and select "File>New from 3DS..." Select the 3DS file that you created with Milkshape 3D and click OK. Your model should now appear on the stage and you can do with it as you please! Drop some colour onto it and play with your lighting and create an animation. You can then export the animation as an SWF using the Ravix 2 renderer.
You can do some pretty neat effects with this as you can see below in my example. You aren't restricted to just Counter-Strike models either! anything that Milkshape 3D supports can be exported as a 3DS model so there are many options.
Please let me know if you come up with anything good. I'd love to see somebody use this tutorial and I hope it was usefull to you.
Happy flashing :)
This is the desert eagle model from CS with my own colours and light effects addedDownload the files used in this tutorial. Download (456 kb)