--- name: "P3D File Format - ODOLV4x" type: topic aliases: ["ODOL v40 File Format", "P3D File Format - ODOLV40 Revised"] source: https://community.bistudio.com/wiki/P3D_File_Format_-_ODOLV4x revid: 378841 updated: 2026-07-14T11:39:20Z --- # P3D File Format - ODOLV4x > **Disclaimer: This page describes internal undocumented structures of Bohemia Interactive software.** > > This page contains unofficial information. > > Some usage of this information may constitute a violation of the rights of Bohemia Interactive and is in no way endorsed or recommended by Bohemia Interactive.\ > Bohemia Interactive is not willing to tolerate use of such tools if it contravenes any general licenses granted to end users of this community wiki or BI products. ### Introduction #### Acknowledgements This body of work is due to Synide's sweat and tears. To whom, all honour and glory. Ably assisted by T_D and Mikero that further detailed the data and gave this article a more general and correct structure. #### General The general format of an Armed Assault's ODOLV4x p3d model is similar to the ODOLV7 (OFP) format. The **major** differences are that Armed Assault models have: - the use of rvmat material files - an optional model.cfg, and - LODs occur in the file from highest to lowest LodType value. ##### Legend see [Generic FileFormat Data Types](../topics/Generic_FileFormat_Data_Types.md) ##### Relative Coordinates All coordinates are **relative** to [ModelInfo](../topics/P3D_Model_Info.md).CentreOfGravity ##### File Paths **All** file references are absolute to the Linux \ (root). As a convenience a drive letter is used (such as P:\\) for sanity when modelling. The engine knows nothing about C:\my documents or P:\\. The leading \ is generally optional. both `\my_project\data\some.paa` and `my_project\data\some.paa` point to the same file. All file references imply a beginning \slash. #### Versions This Document covers ODOL versions: ##### V40 (Armed Assault) - Original Armed Assault binarised p3d ### File Format ```cpp ODOLv4x { StandardP3DHeader Header; struct ModelInfo; Animations Animations; ulong StartAddressOfLods[Header.NoOfLods]; // offset relative to start of file. ulong EndAddressOfLods [Header.NoOfLods]; LODFaceDefaults LODFaceDefaults; ODOLv40Lod ODOLv40Lods[Header.NoOfLods]; } // EndOfFile ``` ### Structures #### StandardP3DHeader Common header structure for all P3D file formats. ```cpp struct { char[4] Filetype; // "ODOL" ulong Version; ulong NoOfLods; // alias NoOfResolutions; } ``` [ModelInfo](../topics/P3D_Model_Info.md) #### Animations ```cpp Animations { tbool AnimsExist; if (AnimsExist) { ulong nAnimationClasses; // eg NoOfAnimSelections; AnimationClass AnimationClasses[nAnimationClasses]; long NoOfResolutions; // is -1 if nAnimationClasses == 0 Bones2Anims Bones2Anims[NoOfResolutions]; Anims2Bones Anims2Bones[NoOfResolutions]; // For every bone there is a list of Animations for each resolution // And, a reversed table of every Animation gets a Bone. // The reversed table optionally appends axis info dependent on the AnimTransformType } } ``` #### AnimationClass ```cpp AnimationClass { ulong AnimTransformType; asciiz AnimClassName; // "RightDoor" asciiz AnimSource; // "rotor" float MinMaxValue[2]; float MinMaxPhase[2]; ulong junk; // used to be sourceAddress, no longer, always 953267991 switch(AnimTransformType) case 0://rotaton case 1://rotationX case 2://rotationY case 3://rotationZ float angle0; float angle1; break; case 4://translation case 5://translationX case 6://translationY case 7://translationZ float offset0; float offset1; break; case 8: //"direct" float axisPos[3]; float axisDir[3]; float angle; //in radians whereas the model.cfg entry is in degrees float axisOffset; break; case 9: //"hide" float hideValue; break; } // corresponds to model.cfg class CfgModels { // ... class whateverModel : Default { // ... class Animations { class RightDoor // AnimClassName { type = "translation"; // AnimTransformType source = "rotor"; // AnimSource // etc }; }; }; ``` ##### Bones2Anims ``` Bones2Anims { ulong NoOfBones; Bone2AnimClassList Bone2AnimClassLists[NoOfBones]; } ``` ##### Bone2AnimClassList ``` Bone2AnimClassList { ulong NoOfAnimClasses; ulong AnimationClassIndex[NoOfAnimClasses]; // a (sometimes repeating) list of zero based indexes into above animation classes } ``` ##### Anims2Bones ``` Anims2Bones { AnimBones AnimBones[Animations.nAnimationClasses]; } ``` ##### AnimBones every lod contains an identical list of animation entries that declare the position and axis of the each animation classes ``` AnimBones { long SkeletonBoneNameIndex; // zero based index to the SkeletonBoneName name & parentname // equivalent to selection = "LeftDoor"; eg in the model.cfg /* ** SkeletonBoneNameIndex== -1 when no skeleton bone is for this Anim and (obviously?) no axis information follows. */ if (SkeletonBoneNameIndex!= -1) && (AnimationClass.AnimTransformType != 8 || 9) { /* ** AnimationClass.AnimTransformType 8 (direct) and 9 (hide) never require axis information. ** This because the "direct" (type 8) already has axis info in it is AnimationClass structure, ** and "hidden" (type 9) clearly doesn't need it. */ XYZTriplet axisPos; //describes the position of the axis used for this anim XYZTriplet axisDir; } } ``` #### LODFaceDefaults ``` tbool UseDefault[Header.NoOfLods]; FaceData { ulong HeaderFaceCount; ulong aDefaultLong; //ffffffff or 6f 7a 80 fa eg byte UnknownByte; //generally zero byte aFlag; // zero or one bytes Zeroes[7]; }[Number of false UseDefault's]; ``` A face data struct only exists for those lods who's UseDefault is zero #### ODOLv4xLod ``` ODOLv4xLod { ulong nProxies; LodProxy LodProxies[nProxies]; // see P3D Lod Proxies ulong nLodItems; ulong LodItems[nLodItems]; // potentially compressed, except for v64 and later ulong nBoneLinks; LodBoneLink LodBoneLinks[nBoneLinks]; float UnknownFloat1; float UnknownFloat2; XYZTriplet MinPos; XYZTriplet MaxPos; XYZTriplet AutoCenterPos; float Sphere; // same as geo or mem values in modelinfo, if this lod is geo or memlod of course ulong NoOfTextures; asciiz LodPaaTextureNames[NoOfTextures]; //"ca\characters\hhl\hhl_01_co.paa" ulong NoOfMaterials; LodMaterial LodMaterials[NoOfMaterials]; LodEdges LodEdges; // compressed see P3D Lod Edges ulong NoOfFaces; ulong OffsetToSectionsStruct; // see below ushort AlwaysZero; LodFace LodFace[NoOfFaces]; // see P3D Lod Faces ulong nSections; LodSection LodSections[nSections]; // see P3D Lod Sections ulong nNamedSelections; LodNamedSelection LodNamedSelections[nNamedSelections]; //See P3D Named Selections potentially compressed ulong nTokens; NamedProperty NamedProperties[nTokens]; //See Named Properties ulong nFrames; LodFrame LodFrames[nFrames]; //see P3D Lod Frames ulong IconColor; ulong SelectedColor; ulong special; // IsAlpha|IsTransparent|IsAnimated|OnSurface byte vertexBoneRefIsSimple; ulong sizeOfVertexTable; //(including these 4 bytes) if (v5x) LodPointFlags LodPointFlags; // Potentially compressed endif VertexTable VertexTable; } ``` ##### VertexTable all arrays are subject to compression ``` struct { UvSet DefaultUVset; ulong nUVs; UvSet UVSets[nUVs-1]; ulong NoOfPoints; XYZTriplet LodPoints[NoOfPoints]; ulong nNormals; ulong nMinMax; ulong nProperties; VertProperty VertProperties[nProperties]; //optional related to skeleton ulong Count; VertexNeighborInfo neighborBoneRef[Count]; //optional } ``` - All non zero counts counts are the same. - Points,PointFlags, Normals and UV1 arrays are an integral group, they are either all there, or not specified (RacetK.p3d, a [FrameTime](../topics/P3D_Lod_Frames.md) lod has no counts at all) - UV2,MinMax, VertProperties and Unknown are optional in the sense that their counts can individually be zero, else they are the same as the others - In Odol7 PointFlags are part of this stucture, in Arma, they are a separated table. ##### CompressedFill Arrays LodPointFlags, LodUV's and LodNormals arrays are not only subject to the standard 1024 rule compression, but also have a fill byte. ``` struct { ulong Count; tbool DefaultFill; if (DefaultFill) type Array; // default fill for all Counts else type Array[Count]; // potentially compressed } ``` The structure either contains a single set of type variables, or, an array of type variables. If a full array is declared (DefaultFill =false) then that array is subject to the 1024 rule as per normal. ##### UVset ``` LodUV LodUV; ``` ##### LodUV ``` CompressedFill type = UVPair // eg float U,V; ``` ##### LodNormals ``` CompressedFill type = XYZTriplet ``` ###### CompressedXYZTriplet contains 3x 10 bit fields in a 32bit 'integer' code for converting back to a standard XYZTriplet is: ``` void DecodeXYZ(ulong CompressedXYZ, XYZTriplet *triplet) { double scaleFactor = -1.0 / 511; trp->X=trp->Y=trp->Z=0.0; int x= CompressedXYZ & 0x3FF; int y = (CompressedXYZ>> 10) & 0x3FF; int z = (CompressedXYZ>> 20) & 0x3FF; if (x > 511) x -= 1024; if (y > 511) y -= 1024; if (z > 511) z -= 1024; if (x) trp->X = (float)(x * scaleFactor); if (y) trp->Y = (float)(y * scaleFactor); if (x) trp->Z = (float)(z * scaleFactor); } ``` ##### LodPointFlags ``` CompressedFill type = ulong bits ``` This table is the equivalent of Oxygen's points->properties dialog box. It specifically stores the user values and other flags for that point. In ODOl7 it was part of the vertex table. In ArmA, it is separate. See [P3D Point and Face Flags](../topics/P3D_Point_and_Face_Flags.md) ##### LodMinMax ``` CompressedArray { XYZTriplet MinMax[Count][2]; // 2 == min vs max } ``` ##### VertProperty ``` CompressedArray { ulong index;// seen range 0..4 ulong a,b; // definite not floats. might be flags, or indices } ``` ##### VertexNeighborInfo ``` CompressedArray { ushort vertexIndex _posA; AnimationRTWeight _rtwA; ushort vertexIndex _posB; AnimationRTWeight _rtwB; } ``` ##### LodBoneLink ``` LodBoneLink { ulong NoOfLinks; //range 0..3 ulong Value[NoOfLinks]; //the 'Value' seems to reference the 'LodItems' structure, resulting in a circular-reference. } ``` ##### LodMaterials Basically... A direct replication of the information in the given .rvmat file The stages in the p3d include a default stage and a TI stage that are not normally listed in the rvmat. The first stage (in the p3d) is unconditionally the default stage. It is defaulted to empty (RvMatName=""), unless, specified in the rvmat The last stage is the TI stage, and is also defaulted empty, unless specified in the rvmat. TI Stages were introduced for operation arrowhead. Lod Material Types 9 and 10 do not have a TI stage at all. Neither of these two special, hidden, stage types use uvsets. The transform matrix for them is defaulted empty (so-called 'TexGen0'). When specified in the rvmat (class Stage0 and StageTI respectively), no class uvTransform is declared for them. It is assumed default empty. In an rvmat, uvTransforms are ordinarily declared within each stage body. In a P3D, identical UVTransforms are declared once, and multiple 'stages' refer to them. There is, always, a default UVSet0 Transform as the 1st entry. (IE some stages dont require uvsets) This P3D style can, if preferred, be used in rvmat syntax as ``` class TexGenX { ....... }; ``` ``` class StageZ { ......... Texgen=X; }; ``` where X and Z are numbers ##### LodMaterial ``` LodMaterial { asciiz RvMatName; // "ca\characters\data\soldier_captive_hhl.rvmat" ulong Type; // 9 == ArmA D3DCOLORVALUE Emissive; D3DCOLORVALUE Ambient; D3DCOLORVALUE Diffuse; D3DCOLORVALUE forcedDiffuse; D3DCOLORVALUE Specular; D3DCOLORVALUE Specular2; //Usually same as Specular float SpecularPower; // ulong PixelShaderId; //See enumPixelShaderId ulong VertexShaderId; //See enumVertexShaderId LongBool mainLight; // 1 or zero ulong ul_FogMode; /// 0..4 Asciiz BiSurfaceName; // "ca\data\Penetration\plastic.bisurf" LongBool Arma1Mostly1; //rarely zero ulong RenderFlags; //Generally 0 ulong nTextures; ulong nTransforms; // always same as nTextures LodStageTexture StageTextures [nTextures]; LodStageTransform StageTransforms[nTransforms]; } ``` Each lodmaterial entry contains a default StageTexture and StageTransform as the first entry. It is not shown in the rvmat file and has no PaaTexture It is the only entry if a SurfaceName exists. #### D3DCOLORVALUE ``` D3DCOLORVALUE { float r,g,b,a; } ``` ###### RenderFlags - Bit0:AlwaysInShadow (A1 only) - Bit1:NoZWrite - Bit4:NoColorWrite - Bit5:NoAlphaWrite - Bit6:AddBlend - Bit7:AlphaTest (clutter) - Bit8:AlphaTest64 (clutter) - Bit19:Road (a1only) - Bit11:NoTiWrite ###### LodStageTexture ``` LodStageTexture { ulong TextureFilter; // see below asciiz PaaTexture; // "ca\characters\data\civil_tvreport_body_as.paa // alternatively "#(argb,8,8,3)color(0,0,0,1,CO)" (eg) ulong TransformIndex; // zero based, see below }; ``` The first stageTexture is a dummy entry. For N humanly readable stage classes, there are 1+N LodStageTextures TextureFilter maybe 1 of the following values. - 0: Point // sometimes - 1: Linear // rarely - 2: TriLinear // not seen - 3: Anisotropic (default) ###### LodStageTransform ``` LodStageTransform { ulong UVSource; float Transform[4][3];//a DirectX texture space transform matrix }; ``` UVSource corresponds to the 8 possible uvsets available - 0 "None" - 1 "Tex" default - 2: "Tex2" - ........ - 8:"Tex8" - Tex1..8 cannot be taken literally as uvsource 1..8. They can mean anything, according to the template and are scarcely encountered ##### NamedProperty ``` struct { Asciiz Property;// "noshadow" = "1" eg Asciiz Value; } ``` - See Named Properties ### Decompression see [Compressed LZSS File Format](../topics/Compressed_LZSS_File_Format.md) see [Compressed LZO File Format](../topics/Compressed_LZO_File_Format.md) In ODOL v40 format files, some of the data structures present in the file are compressed by using LZSS compression. Unlike pbo compression, in ArmA model files, one only knows the number of items to decompress, the expected output size (in bytes) and the expected checksum. With this information and the size of a given data item one has the necessary information to expand the data to it is original format and size. > [!NOTE] > Data structures that are identified as being compressible will only be compressed if the 'expectedSize' is ≥ 1024 bytes. ### Reference Tables #### Material Stages The number of material stages is dependant on the type of Shader that is used to process the material by the ArmA game engine. A reference table is used when processing materials where depending on the shader specified the given number of stages should be processed. ``` refShaderStages { int PixelShaderId; int NoOfStages; }; ``` | ID (Hex/Decimal) | Name | Description | NoOfStages | |---|---|---|---| | 0x00, 0 | Normal | diffuse color modulate, alpha replicate | 0 | | 0x01, 1 | NormalDXTA | diffuse color modulate, alpha replicate, DXT alpha correction | 0 | | 0x02, 2 | NormalMap | normal map shader | 3 | | 0x03, 3 | NormalMapThrough | normal map shader - through lighting | 3 | | 0x04, 4 | NormalMapSpecularDIMap | VBS2 only | 2 | | 0x05, 5 | NormalMapDiffuse | ? | 2 | | 0x06, 6 | Detail | ? | 1 | | 0x07, 7 | ? | ? | ? | | 0x08, 8 | Water | A1 only sea water | 2 | | 0x09, 9 | ? | vbs2 | ? | | 0x0A, 10 | White | A1 only | 0 | | 0x0B, 11 | ? | vbs2 | ? | | 0x0C, 12 | AlphaShadow | shadow alpha write | 0 | | 0x0D, 13 | AlphaNoShadow | shadow alpha (no shadow) write | 0 | | 0x0E, 14 | ? | vbs2 | ? | | 0x0F, 15 | DetailMacroAS | ? | 3 | | 0x10, 16 | ? | vbs2 | ? | | 0x11, 17 | ? | vbs2 | ? | | 0x12, 18 | NormalMapSpecularMap | ? | 2 | | 0x13, 19 | NormalMapDetailSpecularMap | Similar to NormalMapDiffuse | 3 | | 0x14, 20 | NormalMapMacroASSpecularMap | ? | 4 | | 0x15, 21 | NormalMapDetailMacroASSpecularMap | ? | 5 | | 0x16, 22 | NormalMapSpecularDIMap | Same as NormalMapSpecularMap, but uses _SMDI texture | 2 | | 0x17, 23 | NormalMapDetailSpecularDIMap | ? | 3 | | 0x18, 24 | NormalMapMacroASSpecularDIMap | ? | 4 | | 0x19, 25 | NormalMapDetailMacroASSpecularDIMap | ? | 5 | | 0x38, 56 | Glass | ? | 2 | | 0x3A, 58 | NormalMapSpecularThrough | ? | 3 | | 0x3B, 59 | Grass | Special shader to allow volumetric shadows to be cast on grass clutter | 0 | | 0x3C, 60 | NormalMapThroughSimple | ? | 0 | | 0xxx, 102 | Super | Arrowhead | 0 | | 0xxx, 103 | Multi | Arrowhead | 0 | | 0xxx, 107 | Tree | Arrowhead | 0 | | 0xxx, 110 | Skin | Arrowhead | 0 | | 0x6F, 111 | CalmWater | Arrowhead | 7 | | 0xxx, 114 | TreeAdv | Arrowhead | 0 | | 0xxx, 116 | TreeAdvTrunk | Arrowhead | 0 | ### Enums ``` int enum VertexShaderId { case 0: return "Basic"; case 1: return "NormalMap"; case 2: return "NormalMapDiffuse"; case 3: return "Grass"; case 8: return "Water"; case 11: return "NormalMapThrough"; case 15: return "NormalMapAS"; case 14: return "BasicAS"; case 17: return "Glass"; case 18: return "NormalMapSpecularThrough"; case 19: return "NormalMapThroughNoFade"; case 20: return "NormalMapSpecularThroughNoFade"; case 23: return "Super"; case 24: return "Multi"; case 25: return "Tree"; case 30: return "CalmWater"; case 26: return "TreeNoFade"; case 29: return "Skin"; case 31: return "TreeAdv"; case 32: return "TreeAdvTrunk"; } ``` ### Links Article Author - Sy (Synide) -- Sy 17:16, 11 August 2007 (CEST) [Original ODOLv40 Article detailed by Bxbx (Biki'd by Mikero)](../topics/P3D_File_Format_-_ODOLV40_Obsolete.md) Source: [BI Community Wiki — P3D File Format - ODOLV4x](https://community.bistudio.com/wiki/P3D_File_Format_-_ODOLV4x) (revision 378841).