Okay, I was playing a certain level in Super Mario 64 DS(Tick Tock Clock to be exact) today and I had an oddly interesting thought.
Wouldn't it be incredibly neat if I built a custom Test chamber based on that level with hammer?

A few things I need to know though; I'll go ahead and list them in order.
1: If anyone at all would like to join me in this project (Optional lol )
2: If there's a way to import custom models with their own animations into Hammer?
3: What's the best application for creating models to use in hammer?
4: Is there a program to convert models and animations into formats Hammer can use?
5: What do I need to add custom textures to Hammer mods?

Tick Tock Clock is a seemingly very complex level, but it's actually quite simple.

I'm going to warn you against making custom models for your first project unless you already know a program like Maya or Blender. It's much harder to learn than Hammer. Instead, you can build simple models out of brushes and tie them to func_details (prop_static), func_breakables (prop_dynamic), or func_physboxes (prop_physics).

To import new textures, use a program like VTFEdit to make your texture into a VTF (Valve Texture File). Then copy a simple VMT (Valve Material File) to give it extra parameters such as footstep sounds and portalability.

It's not quite going to be my first project xD I'm going to wait until I fully understand Hammer and can make a decent level out of it first before I start on this.

I can use 3DS Max on my computer at home, and I'm not the best model maker but for this particular Mario Stage (Well the Aperature test chamber based on it xD) I can make all the models required.
Though since the models needed are simple enough, I might be able to use the hammer stuff.

If you're good at 3DSMax then by all means use it. I'm not sure how to get SMDs from those, but you can import to Blender and then export an SMD file.

I wonder why you ask for applications if you already have one.

To create models, you should take a look into this:

https://developer.valvesoftware.com/wik ... y:Modeling

If you have any questions, ask me.

To get your models into Hammer, just put them (as you do it for all custom content) into your Portal 2 directory (here models of course).

I was once playing the N64 version and thought this. use rice's video thingy to rip textures!