http://jerome.le.chat.free.fr

I'm a big fan of Starcraft since the first release in 98. Yesterday I was looking for info about the .m3 file format which is used to store the models in Starcraft II, and if there was a way to extract them from the game then  import them in Blender. I found blendm3, a Blender script that allows you to read .m3 files:

this is the original mesh, its textures and its UV, imported and rendered in Blender. ALL units, buildings and more are available :)

Here is the recipe ( january 2011) :

• obviously you need Starcraft II.. an evaluation version, limited in time, is available. Blizzard
• you need a MPQ editor like Ladik's MPQ Editor : http://www.zezula.net/en/mpq/download.html. this tool allows you to brownse Starcraft II content and to extract datas (textures, sounds, meshes).
• download blendm3 : http://code.google.com/p/blendm3/ I used the 0.14 version
• download Blender 2.55 beta : http://download.blender.org/release/Blender2.55beta/ blendm3 0.14 does not work on Blender 2.56 beta.
• Open the MPQ editor and load ...StarCraft II\Campaigns\Liberty.SC2Campaign\base.SC2Assets. this file contains tons of models but there's other SC2Assets files. these files are like .zip files and group all the game content. you'll see for example a Units folder and a Buildings one that you should browse :) the Textures folders group all the images. the search function is useful as you retrieve all the textures, meshes and sounds linked to an element once in a row, for example by typing marine*. once you selected the .m3 files and the textures you want to use, right clic > extract. the files are now available, including the .m3 files which contain  meshes, l'UV, and animations. for now blendm3 retrieve faces, UV and linked textures.
• open Blender 2.55 and install the blendm3 script from the add-ons page. the installation process is detailed on the blendm3 project page. now just select the extracted .m3 file you want :
  
• smile :)
  mmmh, the Blender console complains but it's ok. if you extracted the linked textures, they'll be applied. I'm not very experimented in 2.5x, so I export in .obj to rework the textures mapping in 2.49 : blendm3 configure the materials slots and their textures, but I'm not sure that the mapping options (specular, normal, reflexion textures) are already properly configured.

I don't know if this is legal... there shouldn't be issues if you use blendm3 at personnal and non-commercial purpose and that you don't publish .blend with imported meshes inside. Blizzard 'appreciate the creative energies of customers', for example for maps mods. the starcraft II EULA and the legal FAQ have some contradictions, here are the links :
http://us.blizzard.com/en-us/company/legal/sc2eula.html
http://us.blizzard.com/en-us/company/about/legal-faq.html
meanwhile I asked to Blizzard support.

edit : they answered, a first good news : you can publish animations that include starcraft II content in a non-commercial purpose. read the policy :
http://us.blizzard.com/en-us/company/legal/videopolicy.html