Fire Emblem 3 Houses - Model Rips (Hapi, The Immaculate one, War Cleric)

[ninetalescommander]

Can't people just use the Data Transfer Modifier in Blender to move the driver armature over to the main model? That's how I do it for the Hyrule Warriors models.

Interesting, I didn't know this modifier at all. Could you elaborate a bit please and give more details about your workflow? I'd love to learn more about it since my process is very tedious rn

So I actually make it a policy of mine to type personal guides so if I ever forget how to do something I can refer back to that, here's a copy and paste of that document. Keep in mind this is for Hyrule Warriors back when I typed this so I do not know how well this will transfer over to Fire Emblem Three Houses.

Ripping Guide for Ascii Models

Phase 1: Ripping the Contents
NOTE: If you already have the xcii models and their respective drivers, skip to phase 2.
1.      Go to raw dump you have for Hyrule Warriors.
2.      Locate the .Bin files for the content you wish to rip. For example, if you want to rip Link, you will go to Hyrule Warriors>Action>Model and then in the model folder locate all files that have Link’s name in them
3.      Copy the relevant files to the folder that has a "FFsnt" in it.
4.      Drag the .Bin files over the “ffsnt” icon, this will automatically start the process and new files will appear. Do this for all the .bin files you copied
5.      Contained in each folder you will find 2 files, 1 called “00” and 1 called “01”. You want to cut and paste these files into the folder with the ffsnt program in it.
6.      Repeat step 4 only with the 2 files you just moved. The “00” file is for the model while the “01” file is for the textures. The textures will appear in a new folder and will be in DDS Format.
7.      Load up Noesis and provided you have the “PY” plugin installed, you will then be able to read the models and export them. Export them as FBX and from there run the standard Blender process. DO NOT export straight to .DAE format as that causes unintended effects on the armature.

Phase 2: Applying the Drivers
Sometimes when you perform action 6 in phase 1 you will notice that 1 or more file with “Driver” in it’s name will appear. What this means is the model has a separate armature for specific parts of the model. For example; Link will have 1 of these Driver files as his scarf runs on a separate armature from the main armature. Follow these steps on how to properly attach them to the model.
1.      Once you have the Main Model Files in addition to the driver models, convert them both to FBX in Noesis and then import them into Blender. DO NOT adjust the size of the model until both of them are in the Blender file.
2.      Before anything else, you want to shift-click the “Driver Armature” followed by the main Armature and then pressing “Ctrl + J”. This will make the armatures pair into 1.
3.      You will notice the “SM” files are separate from the armature in the outliner. Drag and drop them into Link’s Armature, make sure to select “object” when you attempt to place them. However; DO NOT put the 1 with “Driver” in it’s name, leave that 1 alone.
4.      Select the mesh that the driver armature is relevant to. For example; Since Link’s Driver Armature is for his scarf, you will want to select that.
5.      With the mesh selected, go to “Modifiers” in the properties tab. Click on “Data Transfer” and then set it as the following;
Source Object: The name of the armature you are attaching; In Link’s case it’s “Driver_0”.
Tick the box for “Vertex Group” and choose “Nearest Face Interpolated”.
Make sure the “Vertex Groups” box is highlighted.
Click “Generate Data Layers”.
Once all that has been set, click “Apply”. The armature should now be attached to the main model and will work as intended.

From this process, there is 1 minuscule flaw that I honestly do not know if it can even be called a flaw. When you move the attached driver bones with the relevant mesh, the bones/sticks/etc will not stay in line with the mesh. This seems to be inconsequential as from my experience, even when they do not align, the bones still move the model as intended.

Alright, that's the process, if you have any questions let me know.