MS3D & lightmaps

[k_merse]

Today I found an interesting feature in MS3D. You may recognized before, that sometimes the lightning appears strange on models: A vertex become lighter or darker, than the surrounding ones, a few get light when they shouldn't have etc. There is a feature in the editor which could be a great help in this.
Select the parts you want to get similar lightning, then go to "Vertex" and select "Weld together" This feature will make the edges of the vertexes softer, where two selected vertexes meet, but the edges remain sharp around the selection.
This simple process, which needs only about 10-20 minutes can make the final look of your ship slightly nicer.

Hope I could help with this one

[CanadianBorg]

That's actually (so far as I'm aware anyways) solely a function of MS3D, and has no bearing in A2.

[anarchyfan]

-.- but maybe the A1 people are welling up with tears of joy ? Lol... i didn't realize that's what it was for... i assumed that it was completely useless or designed to catch newbies off their guard, seeing as when ever i use it all of my vertices weld to one specific vertex and completely destroy the model.... very annoying and would seem to only take affect after the model has been saved....

[dinosaurJR]

Originally Posted by CanadianBorg

That's actually (so far as I'm aware anyways) solely a function of MS3D, and has no bearing in A2.

Actually, CanadianBorg, it does. It has the effect of re setting the shading on the model, so that light and shadow fall equally on the whole model in a realistic way.

I didnt weld the mesh together on my constitution class a while a go and the shading was all wrong, if the light source in Storm 3d was at the front, then the nacelles lit up from the back, and vice versa...

It really does make a difference - try it and youll see what I mean....

Originally Posted by anarchyfan

-.- but maybe the A1 people are welling up with tears of joy ? Lol... i didn't realize that's what it was for... i assumed that it was completely useless or designed to catch newbies off their guard, seeing as when ever i use it all of my vertices weld to one specific vertex and completely destroy the model.... very annoying and would seem to only take affect after the model has been saved....

I think that tool you refer to is the "snap together" tool? it snaps the model together into one vertex... so you end up with nothing... it is useful when you want to "glue" together two meshes with out an ugly mesh error gap in between though... or maybe "snap to grid" which is good if you want to make sure your model is symmtrical... but only if it is a very simple shape... it'll destroy anything curved, for example...

[Majest]

I've been using this one for years, it does improve models but sometimes cause more issues on parts you want to be squarish.

As for snapping, another very useful function, I use it to make sure the mesh is done correctly and no holes between faces are appearing. Those holes are very noticeable when a ship is in a nebula for example.

[pepperman]

Welding as well as smoothing groups can have be used to good effect.