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Ok so I basically just started modeling and I made an object out of cube primitives just to get a feel of xsi as a test. so I export it (its textured) and put it in my test map. So heres how it looks: My question: Why are there gigantic boxes covering it? I didnt put them there. What did I do?

Also one more thing: how do I make an object with my own polygons instead of primitives? Whenever I use Model>Modify>poly.mesh>add/edit polygon tool, it just puts the points in the same random places every time and I cant move them like the help thingy said. Please help

Did you freeze all transforms? Did you freeze the operator stack?

re: primitives, it's actually almost always easiest to start out with a primitive of some sort that looks relatively like what it is you're trying to model. However, to create a mesh from scratch anyway, make sure nothing is selected and hit N to switch to the Add/Edit Polygon Tool and click anywhere in the white space. I'm pretty sure you have to make at least three vertices (with the polygon tool) in order for anything to actually stay, as only two vertices would be a depth-less, two-dimensional line. Anyway, do that, and I'd recommend enabling snap to grid; whenever you wanna have things not snap to the grid, hold Ctrl while performing those operations.

Marth8880 wrote:Did you freeze all transforms? Did you freeze the operator stack?

I'm a total noob at the moment, I have absolutely no idea what that is.

Marth8880 wrote:re: primitives, it's actually almost always easiest to start out with a primitive of some sort that looks relatively like what it is you're trying to model. However, to create a mesh from scratch anyway, make sure nothing is selected and hit N to switch to the Add/Edit Polygon Tool and click anywhere in the white space. I'm pretty sure you have to make at least three vertices (with the polygon tool) in order for anything to actually stay, as only two vertices would be a depth-less, two-dimensional line. Anyway, do that, and I'd recommend enabling snap to grid; whenever you wanna have things not snap to the grid, hold Ctrl while performing those operations

I did that, but after I place the first point, the others go to completely random places I don't want them to, I can only choose where the first point is. The others go where ever they want.

Primitive shapes provide a starting point, its up to you to sculpt and mold them into more complex things. You don't need to know the entire software to model something, you can get a long way by using just 3 or 4 tools.

VAST - XSI Learning Movies on YouTube

• Modeling: Polygon modeling, part 1
  Modeling: Polygon modeling, part 2

Whenever I try to make subdivisions like the guy in the video my cube gets demented and twisted. No idea why. Just to let you know I am using Mod Tool 7.5.

If your cube twisted, when you try add subdivisions, by pop up window, this mean, you surely edit (translate,scale,rotate) Polygons before. If that so, the only way to subdivide your cube, it's by crop some polygons, in Polygon mode.

This sounds like a display issue, what kind of OS are you using?

Windows 7, I dont know anything else about it except that it's also an hp
EDIT:
It suddenly started working after like the 20th try. Sometimes it seems to me that XSI has moods; when its mad, it screws you over and laughs, but when its happy it lets you do what you want. But I have another question. is there a way to take away parts of a subdivision, like so if you didn't want a part, you could take it away, because I am making a helicopter and I want to make an inside.

What do you mean by "parts"? Edges? If so, just select the Edge select tool, change the select type to Raycast probably, select the edges you no longer want and hit the Delete key.

What I basically meant was, "how do you cut a hole in a cube that has subdivisions? Because after using the edge select tool to delete edges, there wasnt a hole for a door.
EDIT:
I also made another model, and there were those cubes stuck to the side again.

Cubes or polygons? Two very different things. A cube is a three-dimensional geometric shape that has six faces, also known as polygons, 12 edges, and eight vertices, whereas a polygon is a group of three or more connected vertices and edges. Anyway, select the polygon(s) with the Polygon select tool and hit the Delete key.

No I didn't mean the whole thing; what I meant was:
Let's say you have a cube in xsi with 2 subdivisions on each side (so you have a 3x3 grid on each side). its really big and you want to make a hallway out of it. Is there a way to delete part of the cube (so there is a hole in the center that goes all the way through the cube?

Usually you'd delete some polies by pressing U (polygon raycast selection mode) then select the polies you don't need for your hallway (if you look at the cube from the hallways front the center and bottom mid poly). Then press N for Add Polygon Tool and add some polygons in to close off the holes you created.
You could use Boolean methods, too. I wouldn't recommend them unless you need to cut very exact shapes because they create bad topology.

There are many ways to create corridors/hallways in XSI, but if you insist on subdividing a cube as you described then you could just bridge the polygons.
http://softimage.wiki.softimage.com/xsi ... lygons.htm

I like to draw a closed curve and extrude it, then start adding details.

Well I wanted a way to cut a hole in a subdivided cube because I made a helicopter and most of it is one reshaped cube and I didnt want to delete the whole thing.
Anywayyys.... how do I bridge a polygon? All I can do with the bridge polygon tool is turn the wire orange. It doesnt do anything else because I cant pick lines ar anything.

I don't understand what you mean by "I didnt want to delete the whole thing", please elaborate.
It sounds like you're having trouble understanding the different component selections. The bridge polygon tool works with polygon selections. The link in my last reply takes you to the same page included with the documentation, it tells you to make a polygon selection, not a point/edge/object selection.

Selection Tools

Thanks, but now I have a new question. howw do you make a custom object not invisible in ze? Or do you have to hex edit, because I dont have a hex editor and have no idea how to use one.

Are you sure you set up its ODF correctly? If you aren't sure, please post it.

Custom props, exported by ZETools, are realy invisible in ZE. It is sad issue, and as far, as I know, ANDEWEGET, still did not fix that.
The only way, to make them visible - hex edit them. HEX editor is very small, free, and very easy to use, software. It's very helpfull for 3D modeling.

Actually I did fix that. Just did not release the update yet. I was a bit busy the last time with writing a paper and another project. The paper's finished now and the milestone I wanted to achieve in the other project is accomplished, too.
Expect an update sometime this week. I still have to look at your weight problem.