need help here

Post by **chuck_starchaser** » Mon Dec 12, 2005 6:44 pm

I though "exporter" was mesher or something. I don't know what "exporter" means. Anyhow, my post was clearly talking about some rules and standards to add at ship submission time; --totally unrelated to game engine or runtime crashes.

Post by **klauss** » Mon Dec 12, 2005 6:53 pm

"exporter" is mesher, but without mesher you can't punch in ships, so it's indeed an engine restriction.

Anyway... let's clear things up for the rest: mesher does not have such a limitation. If if barfs, it's because of something else.

Tarran · Post by **Tarran** » Mon Dec 12, 2005 11:58 pm

Ah Ha! I figured out what I was doing wrong.. I was using blender 2.40, and not the stable 2.37

Post by **chuck_starchaser** » Tue Dec 13, 2005 12:00 am

Damn! I've been using Blender 2.40 all along. Is that what was giving you trouble importing .obj?

Tarran · Post by **Tarran** » Tue Dec 13, 2005 12:11 am

2.37 lets me import all manner of file type, including wings.. the only options I had for 2.40 was 4 file types.. it also seems to handle one of my models way better than 2.40 does (finally found an external program to convert, then tried out 2.37)

Ryder P. Moses · Post by **Ryder P. Moses** » Tue Dec 13, 2005 1:50 am

If it's an option for you, .3ds format works like a charm. Preserves UV coordinates, too, so if you have MAX or some equivalent you can use the far more powerful unwrapping tools available in those suites.

However, generally speaking you want to stick to formats native to whatever programs you're using. If you don't have 3DS MAX, say, there's a fair chance whatever your program is exporting isn't a functional 3ds file but rather something else far less useful with a .3ds tag at the end. If you don't have Maya, your .obj exports are going to be lobotomized cousins to the actual .obj format at best. Even MAX can't read RDS/Carrara's exports, for example.

Tarran · Post by **Tarran** » Tue Dec 13, 2005 3:29 am

hmm.. is that an explenation as to why it ran slower using 3ds (in the 2.40 version of blender) versus importing wings to blender? or are you on a different track?

-=added on=-
by and by.. what are the colours for the aera? I tried search it out in the treads, but to no avail.. and ingame, it seems like there's two sets.. one looks like the highborn colours (aera bomber is a good example) and some others are a green/light green/metallic blue set..

Ryder P. Moses · Post by **Ryder P. Moses** » Tue Dec 13, 2005 3:35 am

That... that sentence didn't parse for me.

Are you talking about exporting a .3ds file from WINGS to Blender? No, that's kinda not a great idea- MAX is pretty much the only program I've seen that handles .3ds files cleanly, otherwise personally I'm just inclined to use .dxf format for everything and rebuild the heirarchies/textures/etc. in the target program- at least that way the exporter usually gets the mesh right and the resulting file doesn't crash the system.

If you have MAX, or a demo of MAX, then .3ds format is pretty much the best format for transferring files, as basically every program can import them with minimal fuss and they store a lot of useful information. If you don't have it, .3ds format probably ain't so great- and to a slightly lesser extent, the same rule applies with .obj and Maya.

Tarran · Post by **Tarran** » Tue Dec 13, 2005 12:51 pm

Are you talking about exporting a .3ds file from WINGS to Blender? No, that's kinda not a great idea- MAX is pretty much the only program I've seen that handles .3ds files cleanly, otherwise personally I'm just inclined to use .dxf format for everything and rebuild the heirarchies/textures/etc. in the target program- at least that way the exporter usually gets the mesh right and the resulting file doesn't crash the system.

initially I was attempting to find some format that would allow me to import files from wings to blender.. and many threads and peoples suggested 3ds.. even some of the discussions on the blender forums suggested that. however the problem I was having, was simply that I was using the 2.40 alpha version of blender. the 2.37 stable version imports wings files directly, with no problems. I'm still in the process of learning blender.. from the feel of it, it offers a lot more power and refinement than wings does, however I can model pretty fast in wings.. so I was wanting to use both until I hit that point where I may no longer need wings

Tarran · Post by **Tarran** » Thu Dec 15, 2005 4:02 am

can one use materials in conjuction with uv maps? (for the end result model), or are materials only for rendering?

also.. if I have a part to a model, and I've done the uv on it, and then later I take that and bridge it onto a larger model, will the uv of that larger model require a new map for that part?

-=added on=-
when you folks do intricate or complicated models, do you do uv's for the seperate components, or do you actually have the whole thing together, then unwrap it that way?

Ryder P. Moses · Post by **Ryder P. Moses** » Thu Dec 15, 2005 8:47 am

Materials? Yeah, you kinda need those with applied textures if you model's gonna look good. The MCG tells you how to set 'em up.

Tarran · Post by **Tarran** » Thu Dec 15, 2005 5:54 pm

whats the best way to do windows? so that it has that tranclucent quality

Ryder P. Moses · Post by **Ryder P. Moses** » Thu Dec 15, 2005 5:56 pm

Alpha map.

Though you'll probably want to get a better handle on maintaining resource efficiency for exteriors before you wanna go worrying about interiors.

Tarran · Post by **Tarran** » Thu Dec 15, 2005 10:30 pm

maintaining resource efficiency for exteriors

er.. not sure what that means

Ryder P. Moses · Post by **Ryder P. Moses** » Thu Dec 15, 2005 11:47 pm

Your model-fu is not yet strong enough for you to be bothering with unnecessary extras, like making ship interiors. Windows imply interior , interior means concave surfaces (unless you're planning on just sticking an image plane behind- faces are not rendered two-sided in VS) and a relatively high level of model complexity. As you don't know how to skin, and aren't well versed in controlling your polycount or managing detailing, these are things you do not need to be tackling right now, as they will only result in a model that you cannot use.

Get some practice in simpler models down first, before you start worrying about more complicated stuff. Especially, do some exercises in skinning/texturing and single-primitive modeling so that you really have a handle on the essentials.

Tarran · Post by **Tarran** » Fri Dec 16, 2005 1:01 am

ah *nods* my stick figures

I've been working on that.. I can skin a model now, even unwrap it myself.. stitching, refining, ect..

I'm still figuring out/learning the refining of the model itself.. your comments on my dodo model have helped me quite a bit..and I often think of that as I'm building.. (details vs rendered details).

So I guess.. I'll keep keeping on.. and when I produce something thats just right.. maybe you'll help with the windows

Tarran · Post by **Tarran** » Sat Dec 31, 2005 3:33 pm

say you have a model like.. oh.. the klkk fighterbase.. and you map it in sections.. if I do detail maps of the inner portion of the fighter bays, and the same for the outside of the basef.. will those details show up in the game? (for the bays)