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[mandrill]

I have been watching the GMAX videos out there and they are helpful, but I also get a little overwhelmed.

Can someone give me the command sequence to make an existing IL-2 object 2 times or 3 times larger?

I have figured out how to transform IL-2 objects into msh files that GMAX can read and work with. I just want the basics of changing size.

Thanks.

[Dreamk]

select your mesh, press "select and uniform scale button" on your menu bar, enter in the "Offset:World" box the % of increase you want (200, 300, whatever...), go to the utilities menus on the command panel, check that the mesh is still selected, if not reselect it, press the ResetXform button, select your mesh once again, right mouse click "Convert""Convert to editable mesh" check that the normals are correct (if not invert them) then export your mesh.

[mandrill]

Thanks! Will try and report back!!!

[mandrill]

2 questions:

1. Can you explain "normals" - how to check them? what they are / do? and how to correct / invert them?

2. If I simply re-size the mesh, can I then re-export it back to the game without re-doing the .mats., repainting it, or re-doing the hooks and collision boxes?

thanks.

[Dreamk]

1. select your mesh - In the "command panel window"/"modifier list" select "Editable mesh".  Open this sub-menu by pressing on the "+" of "+ Editable Mesh" and select "Face". In the drop menu section "Selection" you'll see the option "Show normal" - just put a tick in the box besides this. Now go don in this same drop menu till you get to the section "Surface properties". If you want to invert the normals, just press the button "Flip" while your mesh is selected.

2. It depends of the kind of importer you used - some modify the names of the hooks and collisions, and some simply import these but without attaching them to the mesh (= cancelling the hierarchy). You need to check that this hierarchy is correct before exporting. Same thing with mats - the best way to check is to apply the materials to your scene and if this displays correctly you can export without problems

[mandrill]

Thanks again.

What are "normals" exactly?

How do I check that the hierarchy is correct? And how do I fix it, if it is incorrect?

[Dreamk]

Normals gives the orientation of the face - the "active" side for Il2 is always in the direction of the normals.
Hierarchy - means that you need to link your hooks and collision to the main lod of your mesh (LOD1), as well as linking LOD4 to LOD3, LOD3 to LOD2, LOD2 to LOD1.

[SAS~Ghost129er]

Sorry to intrude on this topic, but Dreamk - Aren't normals the same as flipping faces basically..?

[Dreamk]

in practice, yes. You are not really flipping the face but flipping its orientation which amounts to the same thing although by doing so in this way the corners of your face remain at the same position (if you really, physically, flip the face, these corners positions are inverted). It may be better to say that the "inner" side becomes the "outer" side.

[mandrill]

Oh I get it now. The mesh might turn inside out? THAT'S what a normal is??!!

[Dreamk]

Yes, inverting the normals turns the mesh inside out

[mandrill]

Thanks again.

What are "normals" exactly?

How do I check that the hierarchy is correct? And how do I fix it, if it is incorrect?

1. select your mesh - In the "command panel window"/"modifier list" select "Editable mesh".  Open this sub-menu by pressing on the "+" of "+ Editable Mesh" and select "Face". In the drop menu section "Selection" you'll see the option "Show normal" - just put a tick in the box besides this. Now go don in this same drop menu till you get to the section "Surface properties". If you want to invert the normals, just press the button "Flip" while your mesh is selected.

2. It depends of the kind of importer you used - some modify the names of the hooks and collisions, and some simply import these but without attaching them to the mesh (= cancelling the hierarchy). You need to check that this hierarchy is correct before exporting. Same thing with mats - the best way to check is to apply the materials to your scene and if this displays correctly you can export without problems

How do you "apply the materials to your scene" to check if everything is working?

What does cancelling the hierarchy mean and how can you un-cancel it?

Sorry to keep asking questions, but I am brand new at GMAX.