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Texturesadvanced13 min readupdated 11 Sept 2026

From Blender to a FiveM weapon with Sollumz

The short answer

Import a vanilla weapon .ydr with Sollumz as a reference, match your model’s scale (1 unit = 1 metre), orientation and origin to it, keep the attachment bones the weapon uses (such as WAPClip, WAPSupp, WAPFlshLasr, WAPScop), assign Sollumz weapon shaders with correctly named textures, then export. Convert CodeWalker XML to binary with CodeWalker if your Sollumz version exports XML, stream the files and test.

Sollumz is the Blender add-on that reads and writes GTA V’s model formats. With it, a weapon modelled in Blender becomes a .ydr the game can load. The safest way to get there is to start from a vanilla weapon, so scale, origin and bones match what the game expects.

From Blender to a FiveM weapon with Sollumz — illustrated with a FiveM-compatible minimap render

#Step 1: set up Blender and Sollumz

  1. Install a Blender version supported by the current Sollumz release (check its release notes).
  2. Install the Sollumz add-on and enable it.
  3. Extract a vanilla weapon close to yours (for example w_pi_pistol.ydr and its .ytd) with CodeWalker or OpenIV.
  4. Import it in Blender through the Sollumz import option.

Tool overview: OpenIV, CodeWalker and Sollumz.

#Step 2: match scale, origin and orientation

  • Scale your mesh so it overlaps the vanilla gun — GTA uses metres.
  • Put the origin where the vanilla weapon’s origin is (around the grip), or it floats away from the hand.
  • Match the forward axis: the muzzle points the same way as the reference.
  • Apply transforms before export.

#Step 3: bones and attachment points

Weapons carry a small skeleton. Components attach to named bones listed in weapons.meta — magazines on WAPClip, suppressors on WAPSupp, flashlights on WAPFlshLasr, scopes on WAPScop, grips on WAPGrip. Reuse the reference weapon’s armature and move the bones to your model’s mount points, so existing attachments line up. Positions are covered in flashlight and scope positions.

#Step 4: shaders and textures

Assign Sollumz shader materials — the weapon shaders the vanilla gun uses (for example a weapon_normal_spec… variant) — rather than plain Blender materials. Name textures clearly (w_pi_mypistol_d, _n, _s) and keep sizes sensible; see normal and specular maps and texture resolution.

#Step 5: LODs

A drawable can hold several levels of detail. At minimum, keep the high model light enough for a weapon; add a medium and low LOD so weapons carried by distant players cost little. Details: weapon LOD models.

#Step 6: export and convert

  1. Select the drawable and export with Sollumz.
  2. If it wrote CodeWalker XML (.ydr.xml), import that into CodeWalker to produce the binary .ydr (recent Sollumz versions can also write binary files directly).
  3. Put the .ydr and .ytd in your resource’s stream folder, next to the weapon meta files.
  4. Test with GiveWeaponToPed and check the model in hand, in first person and on the ground.

Registering the weapon (weapons.meta, archetypes, animations) is covered in adding custom weapons.

#Common export problems

ProblemCause
Weapon floats away from the handOrigin or bone positions differ from the reference
Invisible weaponWrong model name in weapons.meta / archetypes, or failed export
Pink or white weaponTexture names do not match the shader parameters
Attachments in the wrong placeAttachment bones not moved to the new mount points
Crash when equippingBroken skeleton or unsupported shader — compare with the vanilla file
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Questions

Can I make FiveM weapons in Blender?
Yes, with the Sollumz add-on, which imports and exports GTA V model formats.
Why does my weapon float away from the hand?
Its origin or bones do not match the vanilla weapon. Align it to an imported reference.
What are WAPClip and WAPScop?
Attachment bones: magazines attach to WAPClip, scopes to WAPScop. weapons.meta refers to them.
Does Sollumz export .ydr directly?
It exports CodeWalker XML that CodeWalker converts to .ydr; recent versions can also write binary files.

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