Pikmin 3 / Deluxe Title Creation Tool by emma

Disclaimer: this document assumes that you are already familiar with
how to use Blender in a basic capacity, this is not a Blender tu l.

if you want an extremely bad and unedited video showing an example modeling process click this lol

Overview
The tooling provided consists of a .blend file that contains several tools to assist creation of
custom titles. Specifically, it consists of 2 main geometry node graphs (albeit very similar in
function), and a couple python scripts exposed to the “Edit” side tab. The workflow established
here is as follows:

1. Model the letters / symbols using bezier curves

a. Use the geometry node modifier to generate flowers and leaves along the curves
b. Optionally: manually adjust the output of the geometry node graph by realizing
the instances and transforming them by hand
2. Generating the final armature using the Generate Skeleton operator
3. Export the armature
a. Export from Blender as an FBX
b. Use Noesis to convert from FBX to DAE (kudos to @PishPish for this part)
4. Import/replace the skeleton from the DAE using Switch Toolbox
Getting Started
Opening the blend file, the first thing you will see is a warning about the tooling “PKHelpers”,
this is a protection against running arbitrary code on your computer, in this case the script
registers the menu items that allow you to generate the skeleton. Press “Allow Execution”.
(Unless you don’t trust me, which I totally understand; I am a stranger on the internet after all. In
which case, you can review the code in the Scripting panel and then run it from there)

After that you will be presented with an example custom title:

The blend file comes with a calibrated camera and reference images to aid you in positioning
and adjusting your titles. Pressing numpad 0 will show you the camera view, which shows you
exactly how it will appear
ingame (give or take a few
pixels). You can hide the
references in the outliner as
shown on the right.
Modeling
The flowers and leaves are generated using bezier curves that have a geometry nodes modifier
applied to them, the object specified in the node settings sets which one will be instanced.

There are several properties that can be configured for the graph.

● Float: How far apart from the curve the objects should be placed.
● Resolution: How many objects should be placed between curve control points.
● Height Seed: Seed for the random heights distribution and wiggle.
● Height Variation: How extremely the objects should be distanced on the z axis.
● Wiggle: How much the objects should have random rotation about the z axis.
● Preview Curve: Show the control curve, you want this on during editing.
● Invert (for cyclic variant): Swap objects to the other side of the curve.

Many times when modeling the leaves, it makes sense to use cyclic curves to cap off the ends
of the shape, you can do
this by setting the spline to
cyclic, and then using the
Cyclic variant of the
geometry nodes.

If, after you get the rough shape done, you want to make minor tweaks to the result, you can
use the “Realize TGN Geometry” operator in the Edit panel while having the curve selected to
replace the curve instances
with individual object instances
of each flower/leaf so that you
can adjust the positioning
and/or rotation to fit the desired
look.
Modeling Tips

Use “Text” objects as a reference to make

getting the latter shapes and proportions
correct. (I like Calibri Bold for the font)

Try to use the camera view (num 0) as much as

possible when modeling, it has been pre-calibrated
to give the same result as it displays in-game. Do
not just use the top view (num 7) as it shows the
view orthographically which makes the view
inaccurate.

Experiment with the different handle types

for the control points to achieve certain
looks with less effort.
Generating the Skeleton
Once you’ve finalized your title design, it’s time to export the
design from blender so that we can import it into the game. To
start this process, we need to first generate a skeleton (armature)
from the leaf & flower positions and rotations. In the Blender
viewport Edit tab you should be able to run the custom
“Generate Skeleton” operator. To use this, just select all the
curves and/or realized instances of the flowers and leaves that you want to include in the export,
and press the generate skeleton button, this will automatically generate and orient the final
skeleton.

(Note: It is correct and expected that the armature will be rotated relative to the original design, this is a quirk of the workflow)

Exporting the Title

To export the title from blender, there are a few specific conditions and options that must be
used. One important thing to note is that the export must contain a mesh/model in addition
to the armature. If all you care about is testing in Yuzu, you can have this be any of the random
meshes in the blend file, however if you want the title to work on real hardware (or on Ryujinx)
then you will have to include the original model in the export (since pure skeleton replacements
are broken in Switch Toolbox as of the time of writing). You can get the original model by
exporting it from Switch Toolbox; it is not included in the blend file. Aside from this, to export,
select the skeleton and your mesh, export via File > Export > FBX.

You need to set these

settings in the export
window in order for it
to export correctly
Converting to DAE
Converting the FBX from blender to the DAE that Switch Toolbox accepts is done using a
program called Noesis, which can be downloaded here. It is very simple: just open Noesis,
navigate to the exported FBX, right click > Export.

Importing into Switch Toolbox

The process of importing the final DAE into Switch Toolbox is also fairly straightforward. Simply
open the game NSO (or title_logo.szs directly), navigate to the title_logo.szs which is located at
Romfs > CMCnn > nonactor > title_logo.szs. Then right click, replace. Navigate to the
exported DAE, skip past the first import window. On the second import window make sure
Import Bones is enabled, and Use Material is disabled. Then import.

IMPORTANT: The import process can take a very long time depending on how many
flowers/leaves are in your title, and Switch Toolbox will freeze during this process.
That’s It!
Congratulations! If you’ve come this far you should be able to drop the new szs file into your
mods folder and load the game with your custom title :)

If you encounter any problems or issues with the tooling or these instructions, please let
me know in the Hocotate Hacker discord (emma「エマ」#1234).