LODs out of alignment

[Azriel Drumheller]

I'm frustrated with my LODs.  I'm making modular hallway pieces.  LOD 1 is totally aligned and fine.  But once it snaps to LOD 2, one side of the entire model streches to the side.  Behold, pictures:

Picture of LOD 1.  You can see the walls are aligned perfectly on each side.

 

Suddenly once it pops to LOD 2, the one side like stretches out of line... yet the other side stays aligned.

 

Another angle where you can see the one side correct... then the other side streching out of wack.

 

I've tried different things.  Putting a really small tri on one side to ballance the model.  Tried it on both sides.  I just can't figure it out.  Anyone else have an issue of this and come up with a fix?

[Codewarrior Congrejo]

Just a few suggestions:

Are all parts one joined mesh (walls and floor) , or separate ? If it is the latter, try joining them and the same for all of the LOD versions. 

If you want to keep them as separate Objects, make sure all of the parts have their Origin at the same point.

Additionally you should try (If not done already) to Apply rotation, location and scale. (CTRL+A) to all parts of the model. As well as to all of the LOD versions. That will make there transforms real. Could be that LOD2 has an offset due to not applied transforms.

 

[Azriel Drumheller]

Yes, all of the parts are joined into one big giant mesh per LOD.  All of their origins are in 0,0 space.  When you say CTRL+A, are you talking about blender short cuts?  I'm using Maya.

[Codewarrior Congrejo]

Yes sorry since you didn't mention which software you are using i assumed it's blender (which is the correct assumption in 90 of 100 cases here, hehe : )) The matching function in Maya is 'freeze transforms' to apply all of the transforms.

I'd give it a shot  ( just in case they still contain different values from subediting certain parts)

PS: when you're on the testgrid you can also try to upload your model again (unless you tried that already). I had weird LOD issues sometimes which just vanished for the next upload. Sometimes while reading / uploading each part of the whole mesh asset things can go wrong  and data gets corrupted. 

[Azriel Drumheller]

Yes, with each LOD I froze transforms and deleted history.  All the values are zeroed out.  I also did the upload several times trying to get it to work.  I'm stumped.

Thanks for any help ahead of time.

[Codewarrior Congrejo]

Which DAE exporter are you using ? (respective also wich Maya version)

PS: Did you ever try to upload LOD 2 alone, to see how it appears inworlds ? Would be interesting to see if it looks just as offset  as when the LOD switches, or appears to look normal when being on its own.

[Azriel Drumheller]

I re-uploaded using LOD 2 as the main LOD, it worked fine.  No odd popping or streching.  

[Codewarrior Congrejo]

okay. that's at least one hint.
But i'm starting to run out of ideas too. Without knowing more of the model itself.

One last thing i could think of is : not correctly applied modifiers (like arrays, mirrors and similar) which could either get cramped by the DAE exporter or mybe cause a corrupt DAE file.

It could be worth trying to make real/ apply every modifier you have in your stacks before you are doing the export.

Also if the walls are not extruded from the floor or ceeling and being independend polygons, could maybe also be a troublemaker if  it's different in the other 3 LODs.

If you want you can also mail me the exported DAE files. Then i'll have a closer look at what could be the issue. And check them here see what i can change and make a testupload. Sometimes it's hard to say without seeing the model itself. I'll send you the mail address in a PM.

[Azriel Drumheller]

I think I solved the problem.  There's a door that's recessed in the highest LOD.  I have a flat imposter door for all the other LODs.  I figured putting a really tiny tri where the door recess was would be good enough.  I left two faces of the door and now it seems to be working fine.  I really appreciate your help man.

[Azriel Drumheller]

I lied... didn't fix a darn thing.  Its just stretching on the opposite side now.

 

[Codewarrior Congrejo]

okay, running out of ideas here too without seeing the actual model.
Since we went througha ll obvious points already.
If you want, my offer still stands and i sent you a PM with the emailadress. 


Unless anyone else has another idea of what speficially could be the cause.

PS: just to clearify.. its's just one segment looking a bit out of place right? (not that orange'ish wall  being one of the parts and offsetting a few meters all of a sudden?)

If so it could be also that just the UV's are a slight bit different on that segment and maybe 'visually' shift the texturespace a bit. And it just looks like being a bit stretched or out of place. You could save your UV layout from LOD High into an image and pull that as background into the UV editor , into the UVs of LOD2 to see if they are maybe not lining up correctly for that part of your hallway / tunnel.