Okay, so my model geometry is almost completely finished, but now I need to scale it down to size. However, my fish model is more than one mesh (there's a model for the body, eyes, fins, etc.), and when I scale it down, they all scale independently from one another. Is there a way to get them to stick to each other so I won't have to manually place them back?

[TFA]Padawan_Fighter wrote:Okay, so my model geometry is almost completely finished, but now I need to scale it down to size. However, my fish model is more than one mesh (there's a model for the body, eyes, fins, etc.), and when I scale it down, they all scale independently from one another. Is there a way to get them to stick to each other so I won't have to manually place them back?

Read through this thread; I generally asked the same thing.

Assuming you use XSI, just select all theparts and go to Create -> Polymesh -> Merge and select Merge Materials/UVs, set the Tolerance to 0 and in inputs select delete.
Seems a bit easier and faster, that's what I am doing all the time.

Im a bit confused, if you have multiple models in one scene with different textures and then merge everything including the UVs does that mean there is now one specific UV map as rep sharpshooter instructed in his guide to using meshex?

No, but the new single mesh have the same UVs than on the single parts.

so to have one specific UV map i have to copy and paste different textures from different images into one texture that is used for the whole model?

Exactly.
I would do it before merging and seperate the UVs for the single parts to arrange them for the new texture.

thx but if i export with the pandemic tools can i have multiple main textures in my model instead of one explicit UV map or does it need the same explicit UV map that meshex does?

With the PandemicTools you can have as many textures on your model as you want, you can give a different one to every single polygon.

(That with "as many as you want" may be incorrect, there is surely a limit, but what I want to say is you can multiple main textures.)

cool thanks

With Meshex you don't need to have only one texture. You can have as many as you want, but you can only have one UV projection per model. You can go crazy with textures.

wait wait i thought UV projections were textures?

No, a texture is a texture. A UV projection is when you go to Render>Property>Texture Projection. You can only do that once per object.

But let's say that you make multiple objects that you did that to, but you want to merge them together. "Won't there be more than one projection now?" Not unless when you go to merge the objects, you click the button that says "Merge Texture Projections/UV's."

I reiterate; You can have as many different textures as you want, but you can only have one projection for whatever amount of objects you want to export. Just simply do what I stated above before you go to export and you will be fine texture/Projection wise, no matter what.

PS: Also, don't forget to freeze in the texture editor.

GrownCow wrote:wait wait i thought UV projections were textures?

To put it simply: UV Projections maps out the texture(s) onto the model.


EDIT: Dangit, NINJA'D AGAIN!

ok i think im starting to understand this

EDIT: yea i got this now thx for the clarification

Okay, I think I got this.

Question: Will I still be able to animate the fish like I plan to in the near future, now that the model is merged?

i dont know, how do you plan to animate it?
generally speaking, merging doesnt change anything besides tat multiple models are now one model.

Just like a regular fish, nothing special.

I think what D.U.C.K. meant was which way you want to animate it, in XSI as animated prop, where you have to create a skeleton for it or via ZE as simple "move the whole object from point A to B to C etc"

No, I mean like creating a skeleton for it and rigging it up. Fish units. With guns, hopefully.