Note: If you use Blender, you’ll want to use the Blender plugin created by Skyslide instead.
¶ 3D app setup
This step-by-step guide assumes you have already imported/created your 3D mesh and are somewhat familiar with your 3D software.
¶ Create/import your mesh
Create your mesh as you would for any other game.
- Be aware that you need to keep an eye on the scaling units of your 3D software. 1 meter in your 3D software should be 1 meter in-game. If you’re unsure of your scaling, you can always easily assign different scaling in the Nadeo Importer file setup after exporting your mesh.
- NadeoImporter will read smoothing groups (hard edges, soft edges) assigned to the mesh file as well, so make sure you set these up as well.
- Ensure your normals are facing outwards.
- Check for duplicated faces and vertices. Although small, these things can add to the overall file size in the Trackmania Map Editor. They will also cause noticeable z-fighting (flickering).
¶ Assign named material(s) to your mesh
In future steps you need to refer to your 3D software material names, so it’s good practice to give your mesh’s assigned materials proper names.
¶ Set up your UV1 & UV2 texture coordinates
Nadeo Importer needs two UV layers; UV1 for BaseMaterial typically mapped as your Diffuse texture. UV2 for the Lightmap, which is used to calculate and bake lighting in the Trackmania map editor.
Basic materials (e.g RoadTech, ItemBarrier etc.) require UV1 for the texture information, and UV2 for lightmap information.
Custom materials(e.g CustomRock, CustomPlastic etc.) only rely on UV2 since they are projected materials.
You need to set these up correctly and efficiently or risk getting shadow artifacts on your items. Read our Texture coordinates guide for an in-depth look and best practices.
¶ Name your UVs in your 3D software
Nadeo Importer needs the UVs to be named or it will fail the exports. UV1 should be named BaseMaterial and UV2 should be called Lightmap (they’re case sensitive).
¶ Export as .fbx
Nadeo Importer only feeds on .fbx files. Luckily almost every 3D software can now export as this file type.
Export your .fbx file as MESH-NAME.FBX to Documents\Trackmania\Work\Items\PROJECT-NAME\Mesh\.
¶ Nadeo Importer files setup
¶ Importer assistants
If you don’t want to bother with manually setting up files, there are two tools that make the process a lot easier:
- Rocky’s ImporterAssistant eliminates the need to create
.xmlfiles and run console commands. You can find the documentation and download links on the Github repository. - Maxi’s ConvertAssistant has been around for a bit longer - it serves the same purpose and was mainly used in the older Trackmania games (but it should also work fine for TM2020). You can download it on the project’s website.
¶ Manual setup
Setting up the Nadeo Importer files is very simple. Make sure you have the NadeoImporterMaterialLib.txt file in your game directory after installing Nadeo Importer to get the correct link names.
1. Go to (or create) Documents\Trackmania\Work\Items\PROJECT-NAME\.
2. Create a new text file in any text editor and paste this in. Make sure you adjust the AuthorName value (this name shows up on TMX in the item list):
<Item Type="StaticObject" Collection="Stadium" AuthorName="YOUR-AUTHOR-NAME">
<MeshParamsLink/>
</Item>
3. Save this file as MESH-NAME.item.xml in Documents\Trackmania\Work\Items\PROJECT-NAME\.
4. Go to (or create) Documents\Trackmania\Work\Items\PROJECT-NAME\Mesh\.
5. Create another new text file in any text editor and paste this in. This time, make sure you adjust the Material names to fit the ones in your 3D software:
<MeshParams MeshType="Static" Collection="Stadium" Scale="1"
<Materials>
<Material Name="A" Link="Name1FromTheMaterialLib" Color="F00"/>
<Material Name="B" Link="Name2FromTheMaterialLib" Color="F00"/>
<Material Name="C" Link="Name3FromTheMaterialLib" Color="F00"/>
</Materials>
</MeshParams>
6. Save this file as YOURMESHNAME.MeshParams.xml in Documents\Trackmania\Work\Items\PROJECT-NAME\Mesh\.
¶ Tips
- You can copy/paste your
.MeshParams.xmland.item.xmlfiles for other meshes! Just copy, paste and rename the.MeshParams.xmland.Item.xmlfiles and change attributes in the new.MeshParams.xmlonly! Parameters in.Item.xmlfiles never change! - You can have as many material names as you want; if there are ones that are not being used for a particular item, Nadeo Importer will just ignore the parameter.
- There are many more parameters you can use, including
Scale,Color,PhysicsIDetc. For a full list, refer to the official Nadeo Importer documentation.
¶ Exporting with Nadeo Importer
This final part is where the Nadeo Importer tool comes into play.
¶ Download and install Nadeo Importer
If you haven’t already, download the latest Nadeo Importer version from the official website.
¶ Start up PowerShell
Go to the folder where your Trackmania.exe and NadeoImporter.exe files are located. While in this folder, press SHIFT + RIGHT CLICK on empty space inside the folder window and click “Open PowerShell window here”. If you’re on Windows 11, you’ll find the option under “Show more options”.
¶ Insert PowerShell command
Paste the following command into PowerShell and adjust it according to your own mesh name: .\NadeoImporter Item Items\PROJECT-NAME\MESH-NAME.item.xml.
Now hit ENTER on your keyboard. If you did all the steps correctly your item should now be located in Users\you\Documents\Trackmania\Items\PROJECT-NAME\.
¶ Batch export
If you have a lot of items you’d like to export at once, you can type * instead of MESH-NAME.item.xml and it’ll export all files within that folder.
For example, this exports all files it finds in the PROJECT-NAME directory: Items\PROJECT-NAME\*.
