New version of MS3D Thumbnail Provider
-- Wednesday 11 September 2013

A new version of the MilkShape 3D thumbnail viewer has been released by Slion. Version v1.1.0 adds now support for 32-bit architecture. You can download it from here.

Progress report
-- Monday 7 November 2011

This is just a small update, because development on MilkShape 3D has been slow recently. I have finished the new FBX importer using the Autodesk FBX SDK 2012.2. As soon as the exporter is finished I will release MilkShape 3D 1.8.5. A new version after a long time :).

MS3D Keyframe Manager
-- Saturday 15 October 2011

MS3D Keyframe Manager is a program for managing keyframes on base of Milkshape 3D ASCII files (e.g. model.txt). Keyframes can be cut out, copied, moved, renamed and inserted at other positions again. You can add comments to keyframes (e.g. animation names).

Read more about it here.

Auto Smoothing Groups
-- Thursday 13 October 2011

This new plugin from dAlex65 can generate smoothing groups automatically. This can be useful, if you import a mesh with hard edges, but without smoothing group information.

You can download it from here.

MS3D Thumbnail Provider
-- Friday 26 August 2011

A MilkShape 3D thumbnail viewer has been released by Slion. It works for Windows 7 x64 and should also work on Windows Vista x64. You can download it from here.

Forum and @gmail.com email addresses
-- Friday 17 December 2010

Unfortunately I had to disable user registrations in the forum for all users with @gmail.com email addresses. There are too many spammers registering with @gmail.com email addresses. If you have such an email address (like me :)), then just let me know and I'll activate the forum account.

chumbalum.swissquake.ch is up again!
-- Wednesday, 12 August 2010

The chUmbaLum sOft website is up again on http://chumbalum.swissquake.ch.

Website down
-- Wednesday, 11 August 2010

The MilkShape 3D website has been down for almost one week. The reason for this, is that the host www.swissquake.ch has moved to new servers and did not move all its hosted sites yet. I have put together this small site, so that links to download, forum and order pages are accessible again.

Book: Hands On Milkshape: now also in electronic format available!
-- Friday, Dec 25 2009

Hands On Milkshape is now also available in electronic format. It is PDF with no DRM security, so it will work on any device that supports PDF, such as Kindle DX.

MilkShape 3D 1.8.5 BETA 1 released!
-- Wednesday, Jul 08 2009

This new version will be compatible with The Sims 3, Unreal 3 static meshes and XNA .FBX files. The new FBX export is not finished yet.

Upcoming book: Hands On Milkshape!
-- Monday, May 25 2009

Digital Skills is working on a MilkShape 3D book, which is soon to be finished. It is called Hands On Milkshape - First Steps In 3D Modelling. The Hands On Milkshape book will be available from August 2009. It's about 300 pages in length. If you'd like a sneek preview of the book, you can download a PDF copy of Chapter 3 and the 3D models needed to work through the activities in Chapter 3. You can check out chapter 3 by following the link to Digital Skills and then clicking the book cover.

Forum updated!
-- Friday, May 08 2009

The forum has been updated to vBulletin 3.8.2.

MilkShape 3D 1.8.4 released!
-- Sunday, Aug 24 2008

This is mainly a bugfix release with a few little helpful new features requested by forum users. Here is what's new:

• fixed: it's now possible to enter a pivot in the TCE
• fixed: initial normals for create plane, create cylinder and create face
• added: save/load TCE settings and window placement
• added: SDK functions: msMaterial_Set/GetDiffuseTextureWidth/Height
• added: play sound, when pressing the delete group button

You can download it from the MilkShape 3D download page.

MilkShape 3D 1.8.3 released!
-- Tuesday, Jun 03 2008

Finally, I got MilkShape 3D 1.8.3 finished! My regular job kept me too busy the last few months. Anyway, here is what's new: the Wavefront OBJ importer can now import UV coords only. This comes in very handy when using an external UV mapper and you don't want to loose skeletal information. Then there is a new material mode, which will ignore the alpha channel on 32-bit textures. Sometimes the alpha channel is used to encode a glossmap or similar. The Sims support has been updated with 4 new skeletons. GameStudio support has been updated to the latest MDL7 format. And now you can select multiple vertices and each one of them will be welded to the nearest counter-part. This is the full list:

• added: import UV coords only for Wavefront .obj. For RoadKill 1.1 UVMapper support.
• added: Sims PET mesh support
• added: 'Ignore Alpha' material mode, useful if the alpha channel is used for something other than alpha channel (glow map, etc.)
• updated: using the latest MDL7 library for GameStudio MDL7 models
• improved: pivot in TCE (don't set pivot in rotate/scale, update editboxes)
• added: weld to nearest vertex
• fixed: filename with dots and without extension was completed wrongly
• updated: added SDK functions msBone_RemovePositionAt() and msBone_RemoveRotationKeyAt

You can download it from the MilkShape 3D download page.

I moved to Helsinki, Finland
-- Monday, May 15 2008

There was a lot to do for me in the past few weeks, so I couldn't answer all my emails right away. I moved to Helsinki, Finland for a year or more. From now on, everything is starting to get back to normal routine.

IRC channel for MilkShape 3D
-- Monday, Apr 28 2008

The IRC channel for MilkShape 3D has been registered now on www.gamesurge.net. The server is irc.gamesurge.net and the channel is #milkshape3d.

Receiving the MilkShape 3D registration code
-- Monday, Mar 24 2008

Sometimes I receive emails from customers ordering at setSystems.com, who ask me, when they would receive their registration code? I send out the codes every day and you should receive it within 1-2 days after ordering. When you do not receive the code within the next 1-2 days, then it might have been filtered out by your spam filter by accident. Please check your spam filtered email folder or make sure that you can receive emails from mciragan@gmx.net. Anyway, you can contact me right after 1-2 days and do not have to wait a week or a month to ask me for the code :-). I want the code sent to you as soon as possible.

MilkShape 3D USD price adjustment!
-- Tuesday, Dec 07 2007

I have to adjust the USD price at setSystems from USD 25 to USD 35 by January 2008. Here I will explain you why:

You have surely noticed, that the price at share-it and setSystems have diverged more and more. Many users have asked me, why does it cost USD 40 at share-it and USD 25 at setSystems? The reason for that is the constantly dropping USD/Swiss Francs exchange rate compared to the fairly constant exchanged rate of EUR/Swiss Francs.

A little USD exchange rate history: in May 2001 the rate was 1.77 and MilkShape 3D costed USD 20. Then within 2002 - 2003 the rates dropped from 1.64 to 1.25 and I had to increase the price to USD 25. Within 2004 - 2007 it was always around 1.2 and now is 1.13. Considering that MilkShape 3D always costed around 40-42 Swiss Francs I have to adjust the USD price to USD 35, which is still cheaper than the EUR 25 at share-it.

In case the USD rate will rise again, I will lower the USD price again. If you want to get MilkShape 3D for USD 25, you can get it still for the old price for one month (Jan 07 2008).

MilkShape 3D Binary Model Viewer released!
-- Tuesday, Nov 06 2007

This is a model viewer for binary MilkShape 3D files (*.ms3d). It comes with full source code and shows how to load and animate the latest MilkShape 3D files using a skeleton and weighted vertices. This viewer is meant for people who want to integrate the .ms3d format easily into their 3D application or maybe for those who want to write an importer or exporter for another modelling program. Please be sure to check out the include readme.txt.

You can download it from the MilkShape 3D download page or directly.

MilkShape 3D 1.8.2 released!
-- Thursday, Okt 25 2007

Version 1.8.2 can optionally snap to grid when creating geometry or using the manipulation tools. This can be very helpful for precise modeling. It's now also possible to scale a selection into a specified box. Another useful feature is, that it's now possible to manipulate texture coordinates with input values. It is even possible to mirror texture coords with negative scale values around a user settable pivot.

• added: snap to grid, when moving/scaling/creating geometry
• added: a warning when saving in animation mode, because it could mess up your animations
• added: a warning, if the license file could not be written (for those who use DeepFreeze for example)
• added: scale into option for the scale tool
• updated: "Tools->Show Model Statistics ..."
• improved: vertex weight editor
• added: SDK: added msMaterial_Destroy(), msModel_SetFileName() and msModel_GetFileName()
• fixed: SDK: fixed memory leaks with comments
• improved: Texture Coordinate Editor: move, rotate, scale, set pivot with input values
• added: an animation speed slider
• added: start / end frame animation editboxes

You can download it from the MilkShape 3D download page.

Two new MilkShape 3D plugins available
-- Sunday, Jul 8 2007

The first plugin is PhytonShape made by Ion Fusion. It allows you to call the MilkShape 3D SDK API from Pyhton. In combination with wxPython it's a powerful tool to easily write MilkShape 3D plugin scripts with GUI. You can read more about it or post comments about it here.

The second plugin is an exporter for BVE Trainsim. A free train simulation.

You can download both of them from the MilkShape 3D download page.

MilkShape 3D ASCII coding tutorial for smartphones
-- Thursday, Jul 5 2007

A tutorial for coding a minimalistic MilkShape3D Ascii file format reader for Symbian Series 60 smartphone platform based on symbian and OpenGL ES. Thanks to Antti Hovi.

MilkShape 3D 1.8.1b released!
-- Wednesday, Jun 27 2007

This is another bugfix release. This release removes the annoying UAC warnings on Windows Vista. Also note, that there is no security shield on the desktop icon anymore, because MS3D starts now "asInvoker", which means it doesn't need special administrator rights to run. This is true, if you run/installed the standard version, but if you run/installed MilkShape 3D in trial mode, then you will get a UAC warning.

Here is what's new:

• improved Windows Vista compatibility
• fixed a crash when importing Wavefront OBJ files without groups
• fixed a crash when exporting MD3 files without $sequence tags
• the *_GetComment API could cut the last character of the comment

You can download it from the MilkShape 3D download page.

MilkShape 3D 1.8.1a released!
-- Saturday, Jun 9 2007

This is just a small update with bugfixes and some MD3 export improvements:

• added a new sequence command for MD3 export to be able to name frames
• fixed a crash with plugins (3ds)

You can download it from the MilkShape 3D download page.

Forum updated!
-- Saturday, Jun 02 2007

The forum has been updated to vBulletin 3.6.7 PL1.

MilkShape 3D 1.8.1 released!
-- Thursday, May 31 2007

Here is the complete list of new features:

• updated: latest UniMesh V4.09 plugins for The Sims 2 by Wes Howe (including AutoJoint, MakeSGrps, Normal Data Merge and Vertex Data Merge plugins)
• added: looped animation for Max Payne 2
• added: joint size, transparency mode and alpha ref are now saved in the .ms3d file
• added: new material mode: combine alpha, which is useful for The Sims 2
• added: lock X and Y when moving/scaling in the Texture Coordinate Editor
• changed: 'Draw vertex weights' and 'Draw vertices with joint colors' are not persistent anymore
• changed: double-click a joint in the list to select it
• fixed: SMD export crashed in certain cases
• added: new DestroyPlugIn procedure in SDK
• changed: SDK update to version 1.8.1
• changed: removed checks for regmon, filemon, etc.
• added: weighted vertices support for Max Payne2 skd files
• fixed: couldn't delete comments
• fixed: check texture filename length and give warning
• fixed: ms3d starts maximized and resizes to normal quickly (flashes)
• changed: SMD export: if there is no material assign, then "default.bmp" is used
• changed: SMD export: if there are no joint assigned to a vertex, then it is assigned to joint 0
• fixed: SHPathPrepareForWriteA didn't work on Win98
• fixed: selecting vertices with the ignore backfaces option didn't work
• changed: trial mode is now optional using the -trial option
• added: a custom config directory can be set using the -config option (useful to run from memory stick)

You can download it from the MilkShape 3D download page.

MilkShape 3D 1.8.1 beta2 released!
-- Sunday, May 20 2007

The main new feature is weighted vertices support for Max Payne 2. I also removed the 2 minutes message loop stuff and all checks against regmon, filemon, etc. See here what's new compared to MilkShape 3D 1.8.1 beta:

• changed: removed checks for regmon, filemon, etc.
• added: weighted vertices support for Max Payne2 skd files
• fixed: couldn't delete comments
• fixed: check texture filename length and give warning
• fixed: ms3d starts maximized and resizes to normal quickly (flashes)
• changed: SMD export: if there is no material assign, then "default.bmp" is used
• changed: SMD export: if there are no joint assigned to a vertex, then it is assigned to joint 0
• fixed: SHPathPrepareForWriteA didn't work on Win98
• fixed: selecting vertices with the ignore backfaces option didn't work
• changed: trial mode is now optional using the -trial option
• added: a custom config directory can be set using the -config option (useful to run from memory stick)

You can download it from the MilkShape 3D download page. Check out this thread in the forum to read more about the new -trial and -config option.

You will have to enter your registration code again in this version.

New Blitz3D B3D Exporter
-- Thursday, May 03 2007

The new Blitz3D B3D exporter has been fixed. All direct struct accesses have been replaced by procedure calls to make sure, that the exporter stays compatible with future versions of MilkShape 3D. New is that you can export materials and animations only and that weighted vertices are exported. I've tested the output with PaceMaker.

You can download it from the MilkShape 3D download page or directly here with source.

MilkShape 3D 1.8.1 beta released!
-- Friday, Apr 19 2007

The main new feature in MilkShape 3D 1.8.1 is the combine alpha mode for materials. This is useful for The Sims 2, where skin and cloth textures are used.

• added: joint size, transparency mode and alpha ref are now saved in the .ms3d file
• added: new material mode: combine alpha, which is useful for The Sims 2
• added: lock X and Y when moving/scaling in the Texture Coordinate Editor
• changed: 'Draw vertex weights' and 'Draw vertices with joint colors' are not persistent anymore
• changed: double-click a joint in the list to select it
• fixed: SMD export crashed in certain casesv
• added: new DestroyPlugIn procedure in SDK
• changed: SDK update to version 1.8.1

You can download it from the MilkShape 3D download page.

Book: Hands On MilkShape

This book covers MilkShape 3D in detail from modeling, texturing to animation! Each chapter gives a detailed step-by-step description of its topics and is filled with activities with complete solutions for you to perform!

MilkShape 3D
Create and edit models for games like Quake I, II, III, Half-Life, Unreal Tournament, including full animation! Or write your custom export plugin with the SDK!

HL Model Viewer
View models and change skins for HL, TFC and CS!

MD2 Viewer
View Quake2 models directly from PAK files!