How to EASILY port stuff into sfm (for idiots like me)

Porting from source games

VTFEDIT
GcfScape
Crowbar (make sure its configured for sfm in the set up games tab)

For porting from blender

Blender
Blender Source tools

For addons simply find their file in steamapps>workshop>4000

then use gmad (Found in gmods bin folder) to open your gma file, it should generate a folder with your models material and mesh

after that you should be able to simply copy and past the models and materials folder into wherever you want them to be, if not you may need to decompile and recompile it in crowbar for sfm

some models come in strangely posed in sfm from gmod, just add the ragdoll/proportions sequence to them to fix it

L4d2 is a little harder for workshop items, but still relatively easy

Start by going to your l4d2 addons folder (Left 4 Dead 2\left4dead2\addons\workshop) and find your items vpk

After you have found it open it with gcfscape and extract the root to an easy to access location

after that find your models mdl file and decompile it with crowbar

Find the models qc file and then open it with notepad and change $modelname to something that isn't already existing in your sfm file and then save

After that recompile it with crowbar, if it is unable to compile there are a few common reasons why

1: to many vertices on 1 smd file, solved by splitting any smd files above around 10,000

2: duplicate animations/sequences, simply find any duplicates and delete them

3: other, usually crowbar will give you a good idea as to what to do

If your able to recompile it, simply take the new models, and take the old materials, and put them wherever you want them in sfm

If your model has materials that match another models materials, you will need to edit the materials folder name, and then update $cdmaterials to match that name, as well as each vmt

eg: many item models use the same material names as base l4d2, so if you wanted to port multiple you would need to change the subfolder they are in

Finally if your model comes in weirdly posed, just run the proportions sequence on it

Very similar process to l4d2

go to \Steam\steamapps\workshop\content\220 and find your file and open the dir vpk file with gcfscape

After that simply extract the root, decompile it in crowbar, open the qc and change the models $modelname, and then recompile it. Once again it may have the same issues as other compiles Ie high vert counts so solve those as well Once you've recompiled add the materials to the new folder and put it into sfm

Blender is probably the hardest to port from, but its not impossible

First thing you will want to do is triangulate your models entire mesh by selecting your mesh, pressing f3 and typing triangulate mesh

(Optional) if you are making a prop add a simple bone and parent your object to it so you have more than the root transform to work with

second, you want to make sure all your materials have an actual image texture behind them, as well as an easy name, as each material will have to have a matching vmt with the same name. Sfm will not accept blender materials like unity unless you bake them as image textures

thirdly you want to go to Scene tab in the bottom right
(Its got a cone and a circle on it, right above the globe icon)

and then scroll down and find "source engine export", after that set export format to smd, and select a folder to export your mesh into and then export it

Now you will write a qc file for your mesh make a text document and change the .txt to .qc, here is a basic barebones one

$modelname "MyMesh.Mdl"

$bodygroup Mesh //<---You can name this part anything but it has to have some name
{
studio "Mesh.smd"
blank
}

$surfaceprop combine_metal
$cdmaterials "models/mesh" //Your models materials path, everything after materials is the path

$sequence idle "Mesh.smd" //Name it the same as your meshes smd

Your model name can be anything, as long as it ends with the mdl, you can have multiple bodygroups, the blank allows it to be toggled off, and you can add another studio smd to be able to switch between the two. and adding another bodygroup makes a seperate bodygroup

You will need a $bodygroup for each mesh to be in the final compile

Now with allat dealt with you should be able to compile your models qc with the smd in the same folder, if not double check your qc file, and read why crowbar wont compile it

Once you're able to compile it, make a materials folder under the same name as referenced in qc file (Materials>models>mesh in this case) now you will convert your textures

We're in the final strech, you will want to take your models texture files into vtf edit by using file>import and then exporting it as a vtf, in this case our texture will be called meshtex

Now you will generate a vmt file, there are many types, but for this example we will use VertexlitGeneric as our model is an object, here is a very basic one

"VertexLitGeneric"
{
"$basetexture" "models/mesh/meshtex"
}

Make sure both the vmt and vtf are in the material path of the qc, once you do all of that you should be able to import your model you should end with your model in sfm with textures like this

If not open sfms console and check for errors

Here is a google drive link to the model so you can compare yours, contains the compiled version and qc,vtf, and smd
https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1-9QTGHME1EzfpNlwjnnqtPnRjYs3qNK3?usp=drive_link

If you run into any issues not covered, or are lost, try to consult tutorials, wikis, people, or even chatgpt (very helpful sometimes)