Tutorial: How to Create Any Cyber Face in Blender

To begin with, I need to explain that I just want to share my personal experience in modding. I am sure that there are moments that can be made easier, faster, better, so if you have solutions to some issues, feel free and share with others in the messages below.

STEP 1
First you have to download all the tools. You will find almost everything you need in the Downloads section for NBA 2K14.

Blender 2.69 (I use 2.72 why? No idea!)
3DM tool
Import/Export script for Blender 2.69
NVIDIA DDS Texture Tools
Photoshop (Or any other image editor (but it seems to me that it is much easier to find instructions and tips on the Internet for Photoshop))
RED MC

*Advice: If you have any problems with the RED MC program, just use THIS.

STEP 2
Now we'll find the resources. All I use is the gettyimages website. But sometimes YouTube can also be very useful. It is especially useful to look for side images there. Download all the references that will seem more or less useful to you, even if in the end you use only 3-4 out of 15-20.

*Advice (My personal opinion!): Do not try to take as a basis images of faces expressing any emotions. The game HAS the physics of faces and displays all the emotions itself. But this is of course strictly according to your wishes!

STEP 3
Next, we will continue with importing the default face into the Blender. In order to find out which file we need, go to RED MC. Open the roster, look for our player in the search, then in the Appearance section we need a CyberFace ID. If we see 326, then we need the png0326.iff file.
The next step is the 3DM tool. Open the default file with the program, take out the texture of the face and save it in dds format (Open it in Photoshop and save it as a PNG file). We also get the model of the face in the same place.
I will not describe each step in detail, there are enough materials on the forum for both RED MC and 3DM tool. Everything is quite simple there and should not be any problems for you.

And now we go to the Blender. It is assumed that you have already downloaded the program itself and installed a script in order to import files .n2km format. Blender (any version of it) can be downloaded on the official website. And the script is installed as follows: File -> User Settings -> Addons -> install from file...

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STEP 4
Make a copy of the head using the usual ctrl+c -> ctrl+v and just rename it for example "Default_Head" or whatever you like. Next, we will slightly change the model for easy editing in the future. We use double-pressing the R and down keys (the program did not display correctly).

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After that, we add our references that we have previously prepared in Photoshop (cut off everything unnecessary, turned as we want). And just adjust the model to our reference carefully and slowly. Do not try to repeat everything perfectly, sometimes the reference is not the best and you should see the correct position of the head so keep this in mind.

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And in my opinion, we are coming to the most interesting and useful moment that will help you in the future getting better and better. In the video I show that the references (even if the All views settings are in the Blender) disappear when the object moves with the mouse wheel. That is why we use the R key and also R+R to move the object. This is what will help you in the future to do more detailed work using a ton of references if you want to make the most realistic cyber face.

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*Advice: When editing the model, try to move the vertices only along the coordinate lines (XYZ). Use the G key only if you are sure that it is necessary.

Each part in the model has its own number of verts, edges and faces. For a face, it's always 1399, 4065 and 2664. These values cannot be changed, if you delete or add something, then you will get an error when exporting this particular part to the 3dm tool. Be careful!

STEP 5
So, if your reference during modeling has changed the position of the model itself, do not rush to return it to its original position. Of course, I'm talking about the case when your reference for the model will also be a new texture.I remind you that I use the Blender version 2.72. In the version that you use, some details may be more or less different. Also change the size of the default image from 512x512 to 2048x2048.

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After saving the first texture, you can move on to the next ones. Remember, the more references you use both when modeling and when working with textures, the more detailed your work will be. Before applying the texture to the model, you can pre-edit it in Photoshop or any other editor that you use.

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You will have to learn how to select the correct position of the model and image. Don't worry if the texture doesn't look smooth the first time. Practice, practice, practice.

Now you've finished editing the model, you've been turning it back and forth, and how do we get it back to its original position? In general, everything should return after using these two commands alt+G and then alt+R. BUT either it's the version of my Blender or the conflict of some scripts, or I just don't understand something (which is most likely the truth) this doesn't always work. But don't be in a hurry to get upset and just use the lower part of our Default_Head to put a new model in the right place. And remember, the more you practice, the better the result!

*Advice (My personal opinion!): Try to understand the structure of the face. Not a specific person, but in general. And start applying the texture not on the object, but on the face. It's hard to understand at the beginning, but the more work you do, successful and not so successful, you will begin to understand more what I'm talking about now. It may seem superfluous or unnecessary, but believe me, it can help you reach new heights in the future. This is not about modeling in a basketball game, it's probably even a small step beyond.

STEP 6
We have reached the final stage. So you have made the number of images you need using references, processed them in your editor and returned to the Blender. First of all, we export our model and look at it inside the game. If we are satisfied with the size of the head, then we go back and continue. I decided that my model can be slightly increased in size. I used this increase S=1.03 .

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Remember, if you have made an increase in the size of the head, then you will need to increase each object by the same amount! That is , in my case, I have to increase all objects by the value S= 1.03 . Try not to change the position of the inner part of the lips. In order to see how to put the parts 0-2,3,4,5 correctly, just look at how they stand in the default model. That's actually all. When you change all the other parts of the model for a new face, save it again and export the finished model to the game using the 3dm tool and enjoy your work! As for the model, I have shared with you all that I have reached myself. As I said before, if you have any other ways to edit or better ones, you can share them in the comments below with other users. I won't get tired of repeating, your success depends on how much you practice! In the beginning, as in any other business, it will be hard, but over time I am sure you will become an excellent modder!

In fact, in this way you can edit the Cyber Face of any NBA 2K game. All that will be different is the way to get the default model and texture from the game, in the blender the differences will be only in the number of polygons of the model and of course the blender itself will be a newer version. So having learned the basics of modding 2K14, you can apply this knowledge in other games (and not only). Good luck to you friends!

Last edited by icecr on Sat Jan 08, 2022 3:03 am, edited 4 times in total.

This tutorial deserves more attention than it is getting.

Making cyberfaces is not an easy process, it takes a lot of patience and artistic ability. And making tutorials is a selfless act, it is someone going out of their way in order to help others. And making tutorials like this is not easy.

Hopefully this will encourage people to get into making cyberfaces for 2K14. 2K13, etc.

This tutorial deserves more attention than it is getting.

Making cyberfaces is not an easy process, it takes a lot of patience and artistic ability. And making tutorials is a selfless act, it is someone going out of their way in order to help others. And making tutorials like this is not easy.

Hopefully this will encourage people to get into making cyberfaces for 2K14. 2K13, etc.

Thanks man! When I first started doing my work and tried to find some guides or more or less detailed instructions for working with the model, I could not find anything structured and detailed. Only one video helped me take the first step, which I couldn't even find to give a link to it right now But today, even though 2K14 already seems to be considered a retro game, there are quite a lot of materials for modders. Maybe it's all not so step-by-step and shown in detail, but it seems to me that there is more information. You may not believe me guys, but before I created this topic, I was not interested in this issue, but when I made a request on YouTube a couple of days ago, I was very surprised. I understand perfectly well that the guide is not relevant at all and I did it not for recognition or gratitude, but simply because I felt that I could share something useful. And Dee4Three, I absolutely agree with you, I hope this will all help people who want to start modding NBA2K games take their first steps.

I believe that there is still not enough information and I have already prepared new materials, but I will publish them a little later. Just use it and practice more!

I think R4zor made a solid video back then when he wasnt at 2K, but he deleted it.

Anyway, great thread and nice share. It would be great if you record a full session when you create a thread, i'm sure we can learn new techniques or tweaks

I think R4zor made a solid video back then when he wasnt at 2K, but he deleted it.

Anyway, great thread and nice share. It would be great if you record a full session when you create a thread, i'm sure we can learn new techniques or tweaks

Thanks! It may even be, I remember for sure that Kris Humphries was edited there.

I added a couple of new videos to be more complete with the work in the Blender.

I didnt remember the name of the player, but we talk about the same video.

im a 3d artist myself who mainly works with zbrush. thanks for showing us how it's done, but i wish you would have directed us on how it was done. we need you guys to speak in these videos. I would gladly pay you for a real laid out detailed step by step tutorial. please understand that you're showing us blender, a program that's weird even opening it up.

im a 3d artist myself who mainly works with zbrush. thanks for showing us how it's done, but i wish you would have directed us on how it was done. we need you guys to speak in these videos. I would gladly pay you for a real laid out detailed step by step tutorial. please understand that you're showing us blender, a program that's weird even opening it up.

Hmmm. After you watched these few videos with, I don't even know, 10-15 fps, did you decide that it would be nice to watch it for 60+ minutes? Hell no! The technical part does not allow me to do this, and it is unlikely that I would, to be honest. It seemed to me that I explained each moment in some detail, reinforcing it with a small video.

If you mean a more detailed review of modeling, then there is nothing complicated there. Having a reference in front of you and a model amenable to any movement, it is not difficult to move the vertices under the picture. I don't use any special scripts or any special tools, it's just ordinary work. I also edited the first post a little. I've divided everything into steps and added a couple of tips.

im a 3d artist myself who mainly works with zbrush. thanks for showing us how it's done, but i wish you would have directed us on how it was done. we need you guys to speak in these videos. I would gladly pay you for a real laid out detailed step by step tutorial. please understand that you're showing us blender, a program that's weird even opening it up.

Hmmm. After you watched these few videos with, I don't even know, 10-15 fps, did you decide that it would be nice to watch it for 60+ minutes? Hell no! The technical part does not allow me to do this, and it is unlikely that I would, to be honest. It seemed to me that I explained each moment in some detail, reinforcing it with a small video.

If you mean a more detailed review of modeling, then there is nothing complicated there. Having a reference in front of you and a model amenable to any movement, it is not difficult to move the vertices under the picture. I don't use any special scripts or any special tools, it's just ordinary work. I also edited the first post a little. I've divided everything into steps and added a couple of tips.

Ok for instance, in the very first video. You have a gary paton OBJ files of his head, eyes, and so on. How did you even create those OBJ files for gary? You already had a very nice setup for your files to be found and used. WE ARE FRESH MEAT when it comes to programs like blender. Maya, Blender, these programs are the most un user friendly 3d applications to me personally lol....One day i will try to get into it, but as of now it seems like the only program that modders use. Again, thanks so much for showing us your process of doing this. But this type of tutorial would be considered a level 4 or 5 based on the students experience for the program.

For instance in that first video. You could show like

Step 1: Create & import gary patons OBJ files
Step 2: Turning on and setting up your views in Blender.
Step 3: Importing your OBJ files of gary paton into Blender.

Something like that. Im asking you this because im a self-taught 3D artist who have been threw tons of tutorials in my life. And I have seen and paid for the good and the bad tutorials. Again, thanks for showing

Ok for instance, in the very first video. You have a gary paton OBJ files of his head, eyes, and so on. How did you even create those OBJ files for gary? You already had a very nice setup for your files to be found and used. WE ARE FRESH MEAT when it comes to programs like blender. Maya, Blender, these programs are the most un user friendly 3d applications to me personally lol....One day i will try to get into it, but as of now it seems like the only program that modders use. Again, thanks so much for showing us your process of doing this. But this type of tutorial would be considered a level 4 or 5 based on the students experience for the program.

For instance in that first video. You could show like

Step 1: Create & import gary patons OBJ files
Step 2: Turning on and setting up your views in Blender.
Step 3: Importing your OBJ files of gary paton into Blender.

Something like that. Im asking you this because im a self-taught 3D artist who have been threw tons of tutorials in my life. And I have seen and paid for the good and the bad tutorials. Again, thanks for showing

It seems to me that you completely ignored it:

STEP 3

Next, we will continue with importing the default face into the Blender. In order to find out which file we need, go to RED MC. Open the roster, look for our player in the search, then in the Appearance section we need a CyberFace ID. If we see 326, then we need the png0326.iff file.
The next step is the 3DM tool. Open the default file with the program, take out the texture of the face and save it in dds format (Open it in Photoshop and save it as a PNG file). We also get the model of the face in the same place.
I will not describe each step in detail, there are enough materials on the forum for both RED MC and 3DM tool. Everything is quite simple there and should not be any problems for you.

And now we go to the Blender. It is assumed that you have already downloaded the program itself and installed a script in order to import files .n2km format. Blender (any version of it) can be downloaded on the official website. And the script is installed as follows: File -> User Settings -> Addons -> install from file...

The topic was originally about working with a Blender, so I didn't want to pay attention to anything else at all. But still, I added steps 1 and 3 . The Blender that you see in the video will be exactly the same if you download it and install it from the official website. I don't use any special settings. Everything I press on the keyboard is displayed at the bottom left in the video.

I also updated the guide, added more tips, added new links and explanations. And of course the video.

Great tutorial, but I've got question, where default clean arms textures are located?

Great tutorial, but I've got question, where default clean arms textures are located?

Thanks. It seems that they are not in the global.iff file. You can just take textures from players without tattoos. It's easier to find them in a retro roster

Its a good tuto thanks.... Its will Be Nice if somebody can make the same for jersey, courts....

i mod on the newer games (2k21/22) and this is a great tutorial which still applies to the new game models. idk how i even ended up here lol but I can't believe you can rotate the model using r and have the reference pic still show up. absolute game changer for me. that has always been the one crutch for me and finding exactly perfectly straight refences. thanks for this.

i mod on the newer games (2k21/22) and this is a great tutorial which still applies to the new game models. idk how i even ended up here lol but I can't believe you can rotate the model using r and have the reference pic still show up. absolute game changer for me. that has always been the one crutch for me and finding exactly perfectly straight refences. thanks for this.

This is true, the only difference is only the versions of the Blender and the graphics editor. By the way, a lot of new doors opened for me too when I discovered this method for myself I'm glad I could help!

Absolute legend, thank you!!

Could you upload the eyes, I can't find them anywhere

Absolute legend, thank you!!

Could you upload the eyes, I can't find them anywhere

The original files for the eyes are in the global.iff file in the folder with the game, you can just use any textures taken from the Internet. They are only for previews if you post them publicly and for yourself. I'm using a version of some old NBA 2K, which one I can't remember, maybe 2K9 or 10.

But if, as I see, many people have problems finding similar textures, I share what I have.

You do not have the required permissions to view the files attached to this post.

Absolute legend, thank you!!

Could you upload the eyes, I can't find them anywhere

The original files for the eyes are in the global.iff file in the folder with the game, you can just use any textures taken from the Internet. They are only for previews if you post them publicly and for yourself. I'm using a version of some old NBA 2K, which one I can't remember, maybe 2K9 or 10.

But if, as I see, many people have problems finding similar textures, I share what I have.

Ah okok and thank you, great tutorials