bis has released ArmA 2 Sample Models in MLOD format (P3DM), which is infact a single model only of russian soldier character.

Previously in ArmA they release all models, but now they want to limit and otherwise hamper community editing so no more sample models. Releasing only this one soldier model is insult for anyone interested in editing models. So you have to do it yourself then. This tutorial tells you how to extract bis sample models by yourself using Mikero's, T_D's tools or P3D Analyzer.

This setup assumes Mikero's tools are installed on \tools\mikero\ directory in the same drive as ArmA 2, T_D's tools are installed on \tools\td\ and finally ArmA 2 is installed to \arma2\ directory. If your installation is not the same, then you have to adjust the paths in the batch file.

Create directory where you want to store the MLOD sample models (we call it now d:\armatools\armawork\samplemodels\ in this tutorial), it can be any dir on the same drive as the tools and ArmA 2.

In this directory create a DOS batch file, lets call it “_run_make_sample_models.bat” for now. The underscore at the beginning makes it nicely pop up first in the file list on windows explorer.

_run_make_sample_models.bat

@echo off
rem extractpbo all pbos
for %%x in (\arma2\addons\*.pbo,\arma2\common\*.pbo,\arma2\expansion\addons\*.pbo) do (
\tools\mikero\extractpbo -F *.p3d %%x d:\armatools\armawork\samplemodels\
)

rem then convert to MLOD :)
for /f %%a IN ('dir /b /o /s *.p3d') do (
 
echo converting: %%a

rem extract model.cfg
\tools\mikero\extractmodelcfg %%a

rem convertp3d
rem \tools\mikero\convertp3d %%a >>log.txt

rem p3ddebinarizer
\tools\td\p3ddebinarizer %%a %%a >>log.txt

rem p3d analyzer
rem \tools\p3d_analyzer\P3DConsole %%a >>log.txt
)
pause

Make sure you have enough free HDD space in the drive as all the MLOD models take quite much space.

When you execute the batch file, it will first unpack all PBO's with P3D models using ExtractPbo, then it extracts model.cfg from the models using ExtractModelCfg and finally it converts ODOL P3D into MLOD/P3DM P3D format using P3dDeBinarizer.

If you wish to use ConvertP3D instead, you should comment “rem” out the p3ddebinarizer line and uncomment convertp3d line, like this:

rem convertp3d
\tools\mikero\convertp3d %%a >>log.txt

rem p3ddebinarizer
rem \tools\td\p3ddebinarizer %%a %%a >>log.txt

rem p3d analyzer
rem \tools\p3d_analyzer\P3DConsole %%a >>log.txt

And obviously if you wish to use P3D Analyzer (or any other possible future converters) then uncomment (remove rem) from that line and comment the others out.

When the process is complete, you can use O2 to open the P3D models.

You should notice that because of the conversion, there is extra points in the model, to get rid of these do the following:

1. Open model in O2
2. Select whole model by hitting CTRL-A
3. Select Points → Merge Near… it should by default have value 0.0001 so just click OK and extra points are merged/deleted
4. Select whole model once again (even if it shows as selected) by CTRL-A and then hit F5 to recalculate normals

Extra points makes your model just larger and more heavier GPU wise in-game. Recalculating normals fixes the lighting effects on the model.

If you want to only extract character models, do it like this. Change the intial paths of the above batch file to read this:

for %%x in (\arma2\addons\characters2.pbo,\arma2\expansion\addons\characters_e.pbo) do (

That would extract only default ArmA 2 and Operation Arrowhead characters.

If you want to only extract weapon models, do it like this. Change the intial paths of the above batch file to read this:

for %%x in (\arma2\addons\weapons.pbo,\arma2\addons\weapons2.pbo,\arma2\expansion\addons\weapons_e.pbo) do (

That would extract only default ArmA 2 and Operation Arrowhead weapons.