standard material library for blender

[TheJamsh]

ok, ive figured out how to make my models and import them into blender

two things i need to do, one i need to texture the thing (im going to use blender for that i hope)

i also need to add essential materials such as hp_com etc.

what do i need and if anyone has a library they want to send ill be flaming grateful! plus a little help on how to fix it to my models to!

thanks ski!

[OvermindDL1]

hp_com does not need a material as it is not rendered in-game.

[Lizard]

I don't think he means material in the 3d modelling sense of the word .

I'm guessing what you are after is a list of essential components, and well there aren't any as such because it completely depends on what you are trying to build, but assuming you are building a hover tank you don't really need anying other than HP_com, HP_eyepoint and whichever weapons HP's you wish to have ( max limit 5) , everything else is optional . Infact you don't really even need an HP com or eyepoint as the game will just use the model's origin if neither are present.


hardpoints are just tiny pieces of geomety and they can be anything really this is because it's the name and location of the HP object not the actual shape of it that's important.

[OvermindDL1]

The mesh file does not contain any mesh data for hp's, just a vector and direction, the xsi is the same, you do not even *need* a mesh part of it, but most modelers would not put the position without a mesh inside it, hence why it usually has something.

[TheJamsh]

oo okay

and yeh what i meant really was like some objects that i can attach to my models in blender. im VERY slowly getting the hang of it but ive never fulyl udnertood how a game engine interprets a model.

one thing, does the HP_COM state the center and direction of the object or is it the axis its built on?

[TheJamsh]

or maybe i could use threed to add them in and reposition etc from existing models..

the trouble is, when i make my models they will import into blender as one solid object. if i want turrets and stuff how am i suppsoed to do that?

tah

[OvermindDL1]

If your models come in as one large thing, then blame either the other editor you are using, or the format you are putting it in, try the .3ds format if that is the case.

Any hp's are defined by the frame transformation matrix, not by the position or anything of the mesh that it looks like.

[Dianoga4]

If you models open up in blender as one solid object, you could always go into edit mode and separate the pieces. While in edit mode(Tab button), pick all the vertices of the piece that you want to separate and then press "P" to separate them.

Dia

[TheJamsh]

ill keep at it

and yeh im importing from a product modelling package. so all things are made with base shapes and extrusions. its all one solid object anyway.

importing/exporting with STL format btw, shall i use binary or ascii

gah steep learning curve

[OvermindDL1]

Should use .3ds or something else more standard...

[TheJamsh]

cant get it... dam expensive too

[OvermindDL1]

Not the program, the file format.  The format .3ds is very well supported by just about everything out there, and quite capable for model specific stuff (not so great for game specific stuff, but neither is .xsi, .mesh (OgreMesh) is better for game stuff, but meh).

[TheJamsh]

yeh, silly but mesh isnt supported by anything

except of course youre mesh viewer

o and by the way, i tried to use mesh viewer on vista, it doesnt get on with it too well, the viewing window is totally transparent

jsut a buig report meh

[OvermindDL1]

Not that kind of mesh, BZ2's mesh is called .msh, the .mesh I referred to is the Ogre Mesh format, designed specifically for games, very powerful, a lot of useful metadata, etc...

And yes, Vista OGL sucks, live with it or get XP (or encourage me to use a full OGL library and not just raw functions, would take time though).  I can also compile it for *nix (and Mac too if I had a mac, I love multiplatform code) if you have *nix installed on your machine too.

[BNG Da BZ Fool]

I suppose you could also try using the compatibility wizard on Vista with the mesh viewer, but I'm still using XP. Blender, is indeed a fine product, but really takes some reading to get used to the UI.

Made my first static model (flying type) and it looks pretty neat so far. Got to get the fill face thing down though; did it once and then apparently forgot how I did it...LOL. I even started to customize the UI a bit, but backed off after realizing most of the tutorials are based on the default layout. The material library is pretty basic and it's texture library and documentation are more then adequate too. Finally realized that a material and a texture are 2 different animals but work together all the same. The animation tutorials look pretty straight forward as well. Haven't really messed with the UV unwrapper yet; that'll come with time though.