Upon request, I have been asked to make this a dedicated tutorial. Vectors scale better than rasterized images. An even simpler, although worse looking, method can be found here that uses images to display franchise icons: Textured Results Screen Franchise Icons with Improved Shader

I think I found a way to quickly get decent looking custom franchise icons for the results screen, even for complex shapes. This method uses Brawlbox, 3ds Max and Photoshop / Illustrator to convert an image to vectors. I will also assume you have basic understanding on how to use the mentioned programs. It's fairly simple once you get the hang of it. I think the example shown below took 10 minutes to make. This method is a compromise between making optimized vectors and the simplicity of images.



In Brawlbox (this part only needs to be done once to obtain reference files):
1. Export a stock franchise icon model from STGRESULT.pac as .dae to use as a reference.
2. Export the material, shader, and color sequence (CLR) of that stock franchise icon.

In Adobe Photoshop (Skip this section if you have a .svg file and Adobe Illustrator):
1. Import your new franchise icon image (easiest with a mono-color franchise icon on a mono-color or transparent background).
2. Select the relevant parts of the franchise icon to identify it from the background. One method is to use the quick selection tool. Refine edges if needed.
3. Right-click selection -> Make work path -> set the tolerance to 1.0 (adjust if needed) -> OK
4. File -> Export -> Paths to Illustrator -> Save the resultant .ai file

If you have Adobe Illustrator and a .svg file:
1. Open your .svg
2. Save as a .ai file.
3. Set the version to Illustrator 8. This is the latest version compatible with 3ds Max, as far as I can tell.

In 3ds Max:
1. Import the reference .dae
2. Import the .ai file. It will become an editable spline.
3. Rotate and move the spline so it overlaps the reference and is centered on all axes.
4. Scale the spline to match the size of the reference. May need to be larger, see asterisk at the end.
5. Add a "Turn to poly" modifier to the spline and limit the polygon size to 3 for triangulated polygons.
6. (Optional) Add a "ProOptimizer" modifier to reduce the number of vertices if needed. Keep in mind that this can oversimplify the shape of your franchise icon if overdone.
7. Use the compact material editor to apply the material of the reference to the new franchise icon.
8. Add a "Skin" modifier that includes all bones. Weigh all vertices completely to "mark4".
9. Select your new finished franchise icon and export the selection as .dae

In Brawlbox:
1. Use the existing MDLO and CLR filename structure to import/replace your created .dae. If adding a franchise icon rather than replacing one, import the CLR file and give it the same name.
2. Replace the material and shader of the imported .dae with the reference material and shader.
3. Set the imported .dae object's Draw Pass to XLU, Draw Priority to 251, and uncheck "Doesn't matter" for Draw Priority.
4. Save and test in game.

*If your icon is too small, I manually scaled mine to the proper size. If you need to rescale, unfortunately you must delete the skin modifer, rescale, then return to step 8 of the 3ds Max portion. The resultant file can be used as the new reference in the future for properly sizing the franchise icon.

Examples: http://forums.kc-mm.com/Gallery/BrawlView.php?Number=220285

[Post Merge: December 20, 2019, 07:42:57 AM]

AIScriptPad 2.0.1 (current version at the time of writing this post) can be used to edit the AI of characters. Often, when a character is given a teleporting recovery move but has an AI configured for a non-teleporting recovery, the character will fail to recover. Note that this is a quick fix and can sometimes be improved upon by further customizing the AI code to a specific moveset, but it's much better than a character that almost always fails to recover.

After extracting scripts from original Brawl characters, I've found that 2040.as usually contains recovery move mechanics. Zelda's 2040.as can properly use a teleporting recovery move. Diddy Kong's 2040.as can properly handle teleporting recovery moves that require holding UP+B. Simply add or replace 2040.as on the character that fails to recover, recompile the Fit*MotionEtc.pac, and you'll likely see a significant improvement!

Examples of this change:
AI recovery improvement: Princess Amaterasu
Ultimate-ish Palutena PSA v1.0a

Some characters that have benefited from Zelda's 2040.as:
Palutena
Princess Amaterasu
Isaac
Sword Ganon

Some characters that have benefited from Diddy Kong's 2040.as:
Phantom Ganon
Tidus

Some of the above mentioned characters either have many revisions or were leaked so it's best to make this simple change yourself rather than asking me to do it.

Post Merge: December 20, 2019, 07:42:57 AMAnd here is a visual representation of how this helps recovery. Palutena is used in this example.
A -> A' represents location pre-recovery -> location post-recovery.
Red indicates bad, Green indicates good.
The E -> E' case (slightly below stage vertically, far from stage horizontally) can still be a problem but this is still a significant improvement.
These aren't all of my test cases but you'll get the idea.

Before my changes:


After my changes:

It works! Gameplay is somewhat slow but we're getting close. I'm using a Samsung Galaxy Note8 but keep in mind that a lot of older phones can't even run Dolphin Emulator. My setup is loaded through Minima Launcher and combined with a virtual SDHC card. Other launchers can also be used. I average ~37 FPS with Minima Launcher and Gecko OS.

If you get stuck on setup issues or driver bugs, https://forums.dolphin-emu.org/ is the best place to ask Dolphin-related questions. Setting up a Dolphin environment for Android is similar to PC. Here is some non-intuitive information if you do decide to go for this. This project is under active development so these things may change:

1. Android can't emulate the Wii Memory Management Unit (MMU) yet.

2. This isn't an issue unique to Android but it's worth mentioning: SDHC read times are very slow

3. This isn't an issue unique to Android but it's worth mentioning: Gecko OS DSI exception occurs when Emulated or Real Wii Remote is connected.

4. This isn't an issue unique to Android but it's worth mentioning: Project M Launcher is the only launcher that can load masterpiece demo games but it suffers from Project M Launcher can't use DSP HLE Emulation (average FPS ~30 with DSP LLE workaround)

Helpful information from JosJuice regarding applying a launcher workaround without changing global settings:

The file 00000000.ini should get applied to all DOLs and ELFs and also the GameCube IPL (if you're choosing to boot into the IPL itself rather than booting to a game when the Skip IPL setting is disabled). It isn't possible to be more specific than that.

Can somebody tell me what this code does? I've seen it pop up in a few places but I'm not sure when it is useful.

Enemy SFX Fade Fix [ds22]
* C21C7574 00000004
* 2C1A2431 41800010
* 2C1A26F8 41810008
* 38000005 901F0000
* 60000000 00000000

The lack of documentation on the process for adding an external .brstm reference for smashbros_sound.brsar indicates that the feature is still WIP or I'm misunderstanding something.

GitHub issue: https://github.com/libertyernie/brawltools/issues/84
"I added a new external reference to my .brsar file. There appears to be a few problems with this process.
1. I cannot choose an external file path outside of the folder that my .brsar is in.
2. Adding a valid path to a .brstm does not change the InfoHeaderOffset
3. The last bgm folder in the .brsar is for Z58.brstm. I tried adding Z59 and adding a new sound for my new external reference. The InfoIndex remains at 0.

Since there is a lack of documentation on adding external references, I'm assuming that this process is still a WIP. I'm logging this issue in case I'm missing something that a Brawlbox notification could help clarify."

Please let me know if you can shed any light on this issue. Thanks!

This thread contains information that requires a thorough understanding of how Brawlex works. If you are new to Brawlex, start with the information in the first post of the Brawlex thread (http://forums.kc-mm.com/index.php?topic=65113.0).

The idea of this thread is to add information that was not covered in the Brawlex thread's first post. This important information can get lost among the questions. I've started by adding my own information but others are welcome to add their findings too. Please don't post requests for a tutorial here. Please limit posts to new (well tested) information or questions/clarifications about the information that has been posted on this thread. Ctrl+F will be your friend here!

Also, PmEx (Project M + Brawlex) has some different specifications than Brawlex although they share many similarities. Please look here for PmEx information: http://forums.kc-mm.com/index.php?topic=74722.0

4GB (or larger) virtual SD for Dolphin usage

15 Costumes per moveset (BX Clone Engine v2.0.0.0 Stable only, see BrawlEx Clone Engine v2.0.0.0 Extended Edition (RSBE.Ver) if you are using that):

I managed to get 15 costumes working for every character!

Note: * is a wildcard character and refers to the Internal Name of a character assigned in Fighter##.dat

Brawlex supports Fit*00-11, Fit*Dark, and Fit*Spy for a total of 14 costumes per moveset. It also supports Fit*Fake but somehow the path for that file became corrupted (except for Bowser). It turns out that Brawlex was looking for the wrong file in the corrupted path so the solution only requires some creative renaming.

To use the corrupted Fit*Fake path you'll need to rename the Fit*.pcs you want to add to FitKirbyFighter65Ex.pac, where Fighter65Ex is the Internal Name assigned to Fighter65.dat (use Fighter65Ex if Fighter65.dat does not exist). The extension change is also important, Brawlex wants to load a .pcs named .pac.

Place your properly named FitKirbyFighter65Ex.pac in ...\pf\fighter\*\Fit*Fakekirby

Transforming characters (Pokemon Trainer, Samus/ZSS, Zelda/Sheik, Wario/Wario-Man) require an additional step. Although the game initially loads Fit*Fake from a corrupted pathway (except Bowser), if a character transforms it will load Fit*Fake from the proper pathway. Transforming characters should have files in both the corrupted and expected locations to utilize Fit*Fake.

An example, if the Internal Name of my Fighter65.dat is "Vaati" and I want to use the corrupted Fit*Fake pathway for the Zelda moveset, I would rename FitZelda00.pcs to FitKirbyVaati.pac and place it in ...pf\fighter\zelda\FitZeldaFakekirby
Since Zelda is a transforming character, I would also place FitZeldaFake.pcs and FitZeldaFake.pac in ...\pf\fighter\zelda and repeat the process for Sheik.

Use costume ID 0D to call the Fit*Fake slot in CSSSlot##.dat. Don't forget that some characters will require Fit*Entry## files to be used! I highly recommend looking at Dolphin logs to see what happens if you have a freeze.

Tested with multiple characters on both Dolphin and a real Wii. No regressions found so far!

20 Costume slots per moveset MenSelchrFaceA_TopN__0.pat0 (adapt the rest of Brawlex's config files to this layout) Note, we can't use all 20 of these slots yet though:

I'm was a little hesitant to answer Nebulon's question because I know someone will eventually try the "20 CSPs for all Brawlex characters" setup and waste hours improperly renaming files.

For my peace of mind, I'm going to post my working MenSelchrFaceA_TopN__0.pat0. It can be used in troubleshooting or a base for setting up Brawlex.

If you download this file, do note that you can deviate from what I chose. You will also end up renaming/editing A TON (POSSIBLY THOUSANDS) of files depending on how many characters you have.
http://www.mediafire.com/download/vtjobu85187fipj/MenSelchrFaceA_TopN__0.pat0

50 Costume Code Implementation Guide (incompatible with BrawlEx Clone Engine v2.0.0.0 Extended Edition)

AIScriptPad 2.0.1 (current version at the time of writing this), which can be used for AI teleporting recovery for custom movesets based on non-teleporting characters

Alternate Stage/.rel Loader (vBrawl compatible) (ASRL, virtually unlimited stages with almost any module file)

A few notes for anyone who tries to use ASRL with Brawlex:
1. The layout of the custom SSS code that accompanies the new ASRL is slightly messed up but well documented. You can use your old custom SSS code and just replace the new STGCUSTOM26-28 if you want too. Switching the association of STGCUSTOM26-28's stage cosmetics with their replaced stage is easier than making whole new stage cosmetics (and PAT0 entries...).
2. Big Blue is missing from the ASRL setup but it works fine if you add it. (Unlike Castle Siege and Lylat Cruise)
3. The DATA section of "ASRL - Stages" and "ASRL - Modules" codes are identical (except Flat Zone 2, which uses 0x47570E50 for "ASRL - Stages" and 0x47570E52 for "ASRL - Modules" (credit to secretchaos1)). The ASL tool edits the "ASRL - Stages" code so you can just copy over the changes for the "ASRL - Modules" code, with the exception of Flat Zone 2.
4. The old Custom Sound Engine is incompatible with the new ASRL. The new Custom sound engine must be used. Keep in mind that it loads files from a different location and has slightly different acceptable filename ranges.
5. The Tracklist Modifier code is compatible with STGCUSTOM26-28 too (don't forget about the byte count!)

Best resolution images in BX CSS Expansion v2.0.0.x's cs_tex###.brres:

cs_tex###.brres's size limit is 250 KB. Since we now can use up to 15 costumes for each moveset, we can exceed this size limit.
To prevent this, at 128*160 pixel CSP's, you can have one of the following:
12 CI8 encoded images @248-250KB
11 CI8 and 2 CMPR encoded images @248-250KB
10 CI8 and 4 CMPR encoded images @248-250KB
9 CI8 and 6 CMPR encoded images @247-250KB

Also, this link is useful for creating shared pallets to reduce texture sizes if applicable: Shared CSP data - near CI8 quality, sub-CMPR size

BrawlEx AI Final Smash usage glitch:

Brawlex clone AI players tend to immediately use their Final Smash when possible.

BrawlEx Clone Engine v2.0.0.0 Extended Edition (RSBE.Ver) [JOJI] notes:

Thanks for posting Lillith! I previously used the unstable BX CSS Expansion v2.0.0.x anyway so this is perfect for me! I can confirm the character select screen (CSS) portion of BrawlEx Clone Engine v2.0.0.0 Extended Edition (RSBE.Ver) works with both a real Wii and Dolphin. In my current setup shown below, I am able to use 101 CSS slots!

Important notes regarding BrawlEx Clone Engine v2.0.0.0 Extended Edition (RSBE.Ver):

1. This is based on BX CSS Expansion v2.0.0.x and has its limitations. There will be significant lag on real Wiis when loading character selection portraits. This problem is minor on Dolphin Emulator though.

2. There are 2 versions of bx_fighter.rel included in the download on JOJI's website. One is for using special characters (ex. Warioman) and the other does not use them. I haven't tested the special character version but it seems to modify some of the incomplete slots for characters not included in the final roster. This can cause problems if you've already repurposed those slots with elevated config files. The non-special character version had no problem with my elevated config files.

3. Now that a large number of movesets can be used in Brawl, there isn't much room for character names announced by the announcer. I've already replaced all of the Wiimote SFX and some unused sounds for 100 announcer names. I foresaw running out of space so I decided to remove them. I did this by redirecting or replacing the announcer names, "The Winner Is..", and team color names with blank audio files. I plan on seeing if the SoundBank Expansion System v1.4 works with announcer names in the future.

4. The "Ready to fight" bar is definitely in the way now so you may want to check out How to move the "Ready to Fight" bar offscreen

5. If you plan on using the Fake slot for characters, the corrupted path bug is still around but the path has changed:

* Bowser - for some reason Bowser is unaffected by this bug. The Fake slot works as expected.

* Mr. Game and Watch - Rename your .pcs to FitFighterEDEx.pac
The extension change is important. Brawlex expects a .pcs named as a .pac
Place FitFighterEDEx.pac in ...\fighter\Gamewatch\FitGameWatchfightereeex\FitFighterEEEx.pacfighteredex
If you care about transforming or P:M All-star mode, place the normal Fake .pcs AND .pac in their expected locations too.

* All other characters - Rename your .pcs to FitFighterEDEx.pac
The extension change is important. Brawlex expects a .pcs named as a .pac
Place FitFighterEDEx.pac in ...\fighter\*\Fit*Fakefighteredex
Replace * with the character's name.
If you care about transforming or P:M All-star mode, place the normal Fake .pcs AND .pac in their expected locations too.

Images (The sideways names are an experiment unrelated to Brawlex. I wanted to include names without obscuring images. I simply changed sc.selcharacter.pac -> MiscData[30] -> 3DModels -> MenSelchrCname4_TopN -> Bones -> MenSelchrCname4_TopN -> nameNEn's rotation to (0,0,-90) and translation to (8.5,2,-0.3)).

Max potential slots adapted to my setup:


Current setup (101 moveset slots exceeds the previous max of 100 moveset slots!):


I'm liking what I see so far and this is going to be my new default setup!

I believe that All star VS Beta 10.01d [wiiztec] won't work with BrawlEx Clone Engine v2.0.0.0 Extended Edition  

Brawlex .rel conflict glitch:

Try to avoid having a player select an original brawl character for one match and then select a clone based on that character for the next match as this can cause instability (backing out of the CSS after every match can avoid this problem but the crash is infrequent enough for me that I don't think it's worth it). Probably the cause of SSBB Alloc Buffer failed. Some of the codes on JOJI's website may help with this problem.

CSS Expansion, homerun, multiman Wifi fix:

Another update for CSS Expansion stuff; Same process as before, just replace the sora_menu_sel_char or miscData[13] in common3 with this and you will be able to use homerun contest and multiman brawl with CSS Expansion in Wiimmfii

Vanilla
PMEx

Custom Franchise Icons

ds22's Code Showcase

"Elevated config" definition:

I believe Elevated config refers to setting "0x0C Edit Flags" in the config files to 0x01. This allows the game to read "Not set unless specified in Edit Flags" values. I use them for making Brawlex Boss slots usable. They also seem to be necessary for transforming Brawlex characters, though I have not set one up myself. Although pikazz has: http://forums.kc-mm.com/index.php?topic=66478.0

GLITCH Brawlex Record ID:

I noticed a problem with the way BrawlEx handles single player records (Break the Targets, Multiman, etc.) It's character specific, and I can't seem to find a work around.

The issue is that playing as certain characters saves their records over other characters. For instance, King Dedede's records save as Pokemon Trainer, and Wolf saves as Toon Link. Others, like Mario and Link, save perfectly fine.

I've experimented a lot and found out that it has to be the BrawlEx Common2.pac file. I tried to set up the configs for characters to redirect the save slot, but it didn't have an effect. No codes are impacting this either. I've tried to look through Common2 but I wasn't able to determine what was causing this issue.

I contact Ebola16 about this, and he came to the same conclusion as me, that it must be either Common2 (specifically the sora_melee.rel) or the main BrawlEx .rel file (bx_fighter.rel).

GLITCH Kirby Spy costume crashes

Using Kirby's Spy costume slot outside of Clear brawl can cause crashes relating to the copy ability, even if it is replaced with another model. Dark and Fake costumes do not have this problem.

After a few matches (2-4) in a row where Spy costume Kirby copies an ability, there is a high chance that Brawl will freeze when trying to start the next match with Kirby. Dolphin logs indicate the crash occurs shortly after beginning to create Kirby's fighter instance.

How to move the "Ready to Fight" bar offscreen

JOJI's SSBB HACK website (Japanese language, English translation is WIP)

Some example codes:
BrawlEx Clone Engine v2.0.0.0 Extended Edition allows for 242 moveset slots and their associated cosmetic data! See this for an example.

The SoundBank Expansion System and Hitbox Sound Effect Change System got bug fixes!

And BrawlEx Clone Engine Final Smash Music Fix (RSBE.Ver) actually works with the SoundBank Expansion System enabled!

I'm fairly confident that SoundBank Expansion System (RSBE.Ver) [JOJI] depends on smashbros_sound.brsar to be at a certain offset on Brawl's ISO.  The code won't work for people who recompile their ISO with WIT from an extracted filesystem.

[Legacy TE] Always use PACs instead of PCS files [DukeItOut]: Brawlex's corrupted Fake costume path workaround

[Legacy TE] Always use PACs instead of PCS files [DukeItOut]
* 0484CB40 60000000

saves a lot of space and works around Brawlex's corrupted Fake costume path bug. Fit*Fake.pac loads as expected with this code.

Official font for CSP Names

Pyotrluzhin's Lab

Tracklist Modifier

The Tracklist Modifier v1.0 code causes Brawlex mods to freeze if a player backs out to the start screen and then pushes start again due to "Can't Alloc Heap Buffer." Use Song Forcer Codes or Tracklist Modifer [standardtoaster] instead.

Wiimms ISO Tools (WIT) modified ISO file size limit

WIT has the ability to increase the size of an .iso. There is a limitation to this however. As explaind by Wiimms on gbatemp:

"There is at least one limit:
The H3 checksum area is limited (always constant 0x18000 (=98304) bytes). So it can hold 4915 checksums. This limits a partition to 9.,5 GiB.
I never tested, if a larger H3 is possible.

details (I wrote it in german): https://wiiki.wii-homebrew.com/Wii-Image#Verschl.C3.BCsselung_und_Pr.C3.BCfsummen "

I know there's a lot of Roy movesets available but do any of them have Roy's Project M 3.6 final smash for a vBrawl compatible moveset?

Edit: Found it http://forums.kc-mm.com/Gallery/BrawlView.php?Number=210282

Can someone convert this Cinema 4D file into an .obj?

http://tf3dm.com/3d-model/phantom-hourglass-6414.html

Thanks!

jerm of cgsociety did this for me. He rocks.

I turned this into a Brawlbox issue: https://github.com/libertyernie/brawltools/issues/63

Do you have Titanoverlord (Deleted Hack)? http://forums.kc-mm.com/Gallery/BrawlView.php?Number=24160

This has probably been mentioned elsewhere but it should be emphasized by having its own topic.

Textures designed for real Wiis should follow the Power of Two rule for proper display. Dolphin and Brawlbox are able to correct for violations of this rule so textures may properly display in those programs but not on the real Wii.

http://www.katsbits.com/tutorials/textures/make-better-textures-correct-size-and-power-of-two.php
The above link gives an adequate explanation of the Power of Two Rule. A quick summary from the link:
"In short [the Power of Two rule is] a set of simple criteria ensuring 2D image assets conform to regulated sizes and dimensions, which typically manifest as; 1) width/height being divisible by "8", and/or 2) width/height that can be doubled-up or divided-down by "2". In other words any image that is "8", "16", "32", "64", "128", "256", "512", "1024", "2048" (or higher for more modern games) pixels in one or more width/height direction, is considered valid and properly optimised for quick loading into a game and processing into memory. These two simple points in practice means texture assets being "64 x 64", "128 x 64", "2048 x 512" and so on."

Most violations of the rule can be corrected by simply resizing the texture to conform with the Power of Two rule. If not, the uv map will need to be manually edited after resizing.

Texturing isn't my field of expertise so feel free to add on / correct me!

Happy texturing!

This is a basic model importing guide made for the purpose of pointing newcomers in the correct direction. It heavily relies on the skin wrap modifier, which is a great starting point for skinning. I also assume that the reader has basic knowledge about 3ds Max terminology. I realize that many of these already exist but no one guide has satisfied my needs.

In order to get the most out of this guide, you'll need the following:
Windows 7 or above
3ds Max (free for most people with University affiliations)
The newest Brawlbox (0.76b at the time of writing this)
Brawlbox 0.68b (used when the newest version fails and PSA editing)
A "base" brawl model. Exporting textures of the "base" Brawl model to the same folder will help with visualization
A "new" model that you want to rig to the "base" model's skeleton
Patience and good trial-and-error skills
 
1. Read this guide thoroughly: DAE Model Importing for Dummies. The same settings can be applied for .fbx and .obj imports too. You can substitute the suggested versions of Brawlbox with the ones I recommend once you are familiar with Brawlbox. Follow the guide until you reach Part II step 4. All changes made until this point have been done to the "base" model.

2. Open the "new" model in a separate 3ds Max instance and delete all bones, helpers, and skin modifiers. A T-posed model is easiest to use. Technically you can use any model, but you will need to reposition your "base" to match the "new" as closely as possible. Apply a Welder Modifier with a low threshold (0.001) to all objects for improved looks (in many cases). Save your model using the same settings described in step 1's tutorial (I prefer a .fbx with embedded media). You can close the 3ds Max instance with the "new" model now.

3. In the tutorial from step 1, jump to Part III and complete all of Part III.

4. At this point, you will prep the model for the skin wrap. It is CRITICAL that you resize (proportionately) and move the "new" model to match the "base" as closely as possible, i.e., you want to come as close to complete overlap as possible. Also remember to keep track of all materials if a model has more than one. Pay extra attention to matching the position of shoulders, hands, and legs. If the "base" doesn't match up well with the "new" model, you can try disproportionately scaling the "base" model. A good skin wrap prep can actually make skin wrap do ~90% of the work for you.

5. Time for the skin wrap. Watch this 3 part Youtube series to understand how skin wrap works and give it a try: Using Skin Wrap - Part 1 - Variations. Then, delete all material that belonged to the "base" model (KEEP the helpers though!).

6. Now you are ready to finish up the skinning (which is the hardest part)! Rotate bones to see where problems lie but be sure to return them to their original positon. Using Auto Key Mode can make this process easier. Watch this 13 part Youtube series to understand how skinning works and give it a try: Skinning the Character - Part 1 - First Pass. Part IV from the tutorial in step 1 explains the same process with less details.

7. The hard part is done! Complete Part V from step 1's tutorial to finish (Part VI and VII are optional). Another popular optional process is rim lighting. See Scout's Smash 3 Rimlight Tutorial for that (use the version of Brawlbox in the rim lighting tutorial for rim lighting as many variables have been renamed and relocated).

Random helpful notes:
1. SteeringWheels are useful when navigating in 3ds Max, especially when using a touchpad, and can be accessed by pressing Shift+W
2. Adjust Pivot Rollout can be useful for centering the pivot to the object or world. Sometimes the translation gizmo is not centered when importing into 3ds Max.
3. Working Pivot can help you scale your model while keeping it on the ground if needed.
4. To keep things simple, each material should correspond with one only texture
5. To merge multiple objects, convert one to an editable poly and attach the others to it
6. Fine tuning the shoulders and hands is EXTREMELY annoying. Don't feel bad if it doesn't go well at first.
7. Ensure that every bone is included in at least one skin modifier, even if its weight is zero. This prevents "Null" related errors.
8. If you see the errors: "...Null not supported by COLLADA" or "...not part of the BindPose definiton" while EXPORTING, your model will likely not work in Brawl and something will need to be redone. Gimbal Lock errors can be ignored as long as your animations are properly made (beyond the scope of this tutorial).
9. 3ds Max hotkeys can be set in Customize -> Customize User Interface to make some repetitive processes easier.
10. Don't change the ForceFloat* Brawlbox import settings to False. Brawl doesn't support this. See Update warnings for (or remove) non-float Import Settings for more information.

CHARACTER FREEZE TROUBLESHOOTING:
Does your imported character freeze at the character select screen or in the middle of a fight? These types of errors need to be evaluated on an individual basis. Check these things and try to correct them:
1. Have all errors been addressed when exporting your .dae (see random helpful note #8)?
2. Does the boneset of your model match the boneset of a model that works with the moveset?
3. Brawlbox shows information about a model when looking at the MDL0 file under ModelData[]. Does your model have NumFacepoint, NumVerticies, and NumNodes values that are less than or equal to a model that isn't causing a crash? There's usually a small amount of room for larger values but some PSAs can be very restrictive. If they're significantly higher you'll need to reduce those values. These problems usually require deleting unneeded objects, reducing texture sizes, changing the "WeightPrecision" value to 0.1 while importing in Brawlbox, and/or re-rigging with ProOptimizer modifiers (beyond the scope of this tutorial) to reduce those values. Do note that Brawlbox saves the last import settings used so you'll need to manually change to default values after modifying them.
4. If your model crashes at the results screen and all other causes have been ruled out, the model's node count is likely too high.

I have almost certainly left out some details but this will make your trial-and-error significantly easier. I have never taken a computer related course but I was able to make many model imports using this information. It may not be as difficult as you think! Importing is a work in progress and it gets easier over time, but I'm still learning. Let me know if I missed anything!

It can also be hilarious when you mess up.

Version 1 of my SloSheik import

[This will only work with Dolphin 5.0-5044 or later for SDHC support. Don't forget to use the SDHC Extension 1.1 code when using SDHC.]

This will only work with Dolphin 5.0-5044 or later for SDHC support. Don't forget to use the SDHC Extension 1.1 code when using SDHC.

After looking at mksdcard documentation (http://developer.android.com/tools/help/mksdcard.html), I realized a virtual SD card of any size can be created. I modified ifrit05's "Dolphin SDCard Maker v1.0.bat" to include a 4GB option for more room. My modification can be downloaded here (for Windows, extract before using): http://www.mediafire.com/download/713qu5m08tf8av9/mksdcard+menu.rar

To use:
1. Run "Dolphin SDCard Maker v1.0.bat"
2. Press the appropriate number to generate a virtual SD (SD.raw) of the specified size.
3. Once mksdcard finishes, a SD.raw file will be generated. Place it in Dolphin's SD Card Path, which is the "Wii" folder in your Dolphin Emulator setup by default.

To change a SD.raw filesize option to something other than the given choices:
1. Right-click "Dolphin SDCard Maker v1.0.bat"
2. Select "Edit"
3. Find "start mksdcard.exe -l SDCard XM sd.raw" where "X" could be any filesize in megabytes.
4. Replace X with the size that you want
5. Run "Dolphin SDCard Maker v1.0.bat" and select the option you edited

Notes:
1. Make sure "Insert SD Card" is checked in Dolphin Config options "Wii" Tab.
2. Using a 4GB SD.raw caused a brief "Receiving Vault Data" message to pop up before Brawl's intro video started. Interestingly, this message does not pop up if my SD.raw size is 2 or 3GB. I filed a report for this issue here: 4GB or larger SD cards cause "Receiving Vault Data..." message to display before title screen in SSBB
3. Use a program such as WinImage to add files to SD.raw

I recently figured out how to get rid of the "Ready to Fight" bar. Editing the bones of the bar did not seem to work since its animation would return it to the original position. Editing the animation will get the job done. The file I provide below moves the bar 200 units in the Y direction, but any direction will do as long as it's a large enough translation.

1. Open sc_selcharacter.pac in BrawlBox
2. Expand MiscData [30]
3. Expand AnmChr(NW4R)
4. Download this: http://www.mediafire.com/download/zxaoqy20pzwxdgp/MenSelchrReady_TopN__X.chr0
(The Y Translations are set to 200 for each keyframe)
5. Right click MenSelchrReady_TopN__0, select replace, and replace it with the downloaded file
6. Repeat step 5 for MenSelchrReady_TopN__1, MenSelchrReady_TopN__2, and MenSelchrReady_TopN__3
7. Save

Goodbye "Ready to Fight" bar that blocks the bottom row of Brawlex!

A regular Brawl compatible Alternate Stage Loader has been released here http://forums.kc-mm.com/index.php?topic=20291.0
This makes the AFL now obsolete for loading alternate stages.

Apparently not too many people know about this, so I have good news! This doubled the amount of stages I could use via Brawlex with Stage Expansion.

The Alternate Stage Loader (ASL) and Brawlex are currently incompatible. This code allows multiple stages to be loaded as "alternate" stages using a "base" stage .rel. If you are interested in the Brawlex incompatible ASL, see http://forums.kc-mm.com/index.php?topic=31070.0.

While ASL does not work with Brawlex 2.0.0.0, its predecessor does. Almas' Alternate File Loader (AFL) can load multiple types of files when a customizable button activator is pressed, but stages are the ones of interest for me. A full explanation of its capabilities can be found here: http://smashboards.com/threads/the-alternate-file-loader-aka-the-clone-engine.250370/. I currently use a GameCube button activator, but I have not been able to get button activators from other controllers to work.

ASL is able to have many alternates for a stage whereas the AFL can only have one per stage. The alternate stage loaded will use the same .rel as the base stage. Only one instance of AFL will be recognized by Wiis (the first one if you have multiple), so only one function of the AFL and one button activator will be recognized. The AFL and ASL do not alter cosmetic, sfx, or strm data.

Codes for AFL (see spoiler): AFL (Core code, configured for stage loading), AF Data (Button Activator set to GameCube Y+A)

Alternate File Loader [Almas]
C23FA350 00000020
90C20000 90E20004
91620008 90A2000C
90620010 91220014
91420018 9182001C
3D800004 618C86C0
3D60805A 3CA0452F
60A57066 90AB7C14
816B7C22 3C608057
60639FF0 84A30010
2C050000 4182008C
7C055800 4082FFF0
3CC04545 60C62F53
7C062800 4082001C
3D60804D 616BE4B0
A16B0000 A1430008
7C0A5800 41820050
88A30004 A1430008
39200000 A0C30006
64C68152 7CC66214
3CE0804D 60E7E4A8
39290001 7CCC3050
38E70008 2C090005
4182FF94 89660000
7C0B2800 4082FFE4
A1670000 7C0B5000
4082FFD8 A143000A
3D60805A B14B7C16
80C20000 80E20004
81620008 80A2000C
80620010 81220014
81420018 8182001C
8C040001 00000000

Alternate File Data (Gamecube Controller AY)
0657A000 00000010
45452F53 0000E27B
09804159 00000000

Setup: This method works using Gecko code handler. I have not tested other code handlers.
1. Insert the codes into your .gct file (check to make sure you didn't copy a code that already exists in your .gct).
2. Create these folders in you SD card (Alternate Stages will be loaded from here):
private/wii/app/RSBE/ay/stage/melee/
3. Add alternate stages to the new "melee" folder (they must have the same filename as the base stage)

How to use in game with my button activator:
1. Move your hand over a base stage (I'll use Final Destination as an example).
2. Hold down Y on a Gamecube controller
3. (Don't let go of Y) Hold down A on the same controller. Based on the Final Destination example, private/wii/app/RSBE/ay/stage/melee/STGFINAL.pac will now be loaded instead of Final Destination

Notes: This button activator is specific to the stage selection screen, so pressing the button activator elsewhere will not cause problems. If an alternate stage cannot be found (like naming your alternate Final Destination as STGFNIAL.pac), the base stage will be loaded instead. If a stage that uses a different .rel than the base stage is loaded, the game will freeze (there are some rare exceptions to this however).

This is why I have been working on achieving .rel-less stage porting. I am having progress!

Enjoy your stages everyone!

Update 3/15/2015: Bytecount typo has been corrected thanks to secretchaos1. While this did not cause any problems for my setup, it did for his.