Multi Sub Object material Id's & UV Mapping (3ds Max 2013)

[Gromlok Landar]

Okay so here's the scoop, seems we're not fully resolved on the sides on the 3d model BUT, when I changed from checker in the sub-material to bitmap, I collapsed the stack and yes it went from 5000+ triangles to 1800 triangles roughly, this also reduced the land impact from 14 to 4 in world.  When I took the script you gave me and put it in the 3d model, it still came up with 8 sides BUT once I applied the textures to the model via the various 4 main faces and then logged out, I logged back in and the textures on the faces didnt change. they remained constant.  

You know, I can live with this but I do want to know whats causing the double faces eventually.  Is it the fact that my 3ds Max 2013 is a student version and I'm not allowed PU's as in Patch Updates because it is a student version ?

We know that the FBX plug-in made a big difference and the sub-material made another difference.

Oh and the error I got on the previous top of the page was only a warning and that's it.  It didn't alter my 3d model design in the least.  That's what the forums on several sites all say and even the 3ds Max readme says its only a warning.  Changing the design from apply poly mod to mesh mod resolves this warning but the triangulates would double creating unnecessary polygons.

Did any of that make sense Kwakkelde ?

Pat

P.S. OH WAIT. The faces are numbered correctly now for each of the faces, there's no doubling on the faces anymore.  Does that mean its resolved ?  The script still says it's 8 faces on the 3d model.  ODD.

[Medhue Simoni]

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Gromlok Landar wrote:

So Medhue, when you export as OBJ file, did you collapse the stack of your modifiers on the right side where it was converted to poly or mesh and the UVW Unwrap etc included in the 3d model before exporting ?

Pat

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Saving it as an OBJ does all that for you. Whatever you have assigned to the model, be it materials, or modifiers gets applied and embedded in the OBJ. When you start up a new scene and import that OBJ, it will be a clean model with no modifiers, just your finished model with all the properties you had assigned it. I generally number all my saved OBJ files, so I can go back to a previous version, if needed. Like I said before, IMHO it just makes sense to save all final models in OBJ, because you know you can import into almost anything.

Let me give you an example of a problem that I generally have, and how an OBJ shows me the problem right away. This is quite similar to what you are experiencing too. Let's say I'm working on a model, and I want many faces. I assign those faces, and then I apply an Unwrap UVW modifier. I unwrap the model and think I'm done. I apply materials and save it as a DAE for SL. In SL, I figure out that I need to set up the faces differently. So, I go back into 3ds Max, and change the faces, but now my Unwrap UVW modifier isn't updated to these new faces. If I save it and upload it to SL, it will not be right because the Unwrap UVW modifier needed to be removed and reapplied. If I save it as an OBJ, and import it back into Max, I will see that my faces aren't right, and I will no longer have the Unwrap UVW modifier, but the UV mapping is still embedded in the OBJ. So, I can change my faces, then apply my Unwrap UVW modifier, and check that the faces are correct. Of course, I'm just using the term faces, meaning the SL faces, as to not confuse the conversation. Then, I'd save it as an OBJ again, import it back into Max, apply my materials, and check it all.

I hope that made sense, terminology is always the confusing part.

[Gromlok Landar]

Actually Medhue that did make sense.  I number my models as I'm designing them to show a progression as well as make sure if I made a really bad error, I can revert back to a previous numbered model and make adjustments there.  Seems saving as an OBJ makes perfect sense.  We all have our methods of course, this I will have to give it a try and experience it for myself.

Thanks for ALL the information Kwakkelde and Medhue.  Greatly appreciated.

Kudos once again to the both of you.  Terminology has always been a problem when trying to explain something.

Pat