.3ds to BTB - clear smoothing groups

nothke · Feb 7, 2011

Another question:

I know .3ds format doesn't save smoothing groups, but.. actually I don't have them. I want them cleared, (I am making just buildings with very sharp edges, no round corners) and still, when I import into xpack and to BTB it automatically makes smoothing groups.... ??? Actually I even tried breaking vertices in max so each face is separate, and again! ... they are smoothed automatically....

R Soul · Feb 7, 2011

Here's a suggestion, best tried with a simple object to see if it'll work:
In your object program, split up the model into several files, each containing just some of the original object's faces. E.g. object1 = north and south faces, object2=east and west faces, object3=top faces. Leave them in position, i.e. don't centre them, then you won't have to worry about offsets.

In XPacker, load the three objects, then go to Add Complex Object, go to the Child objects tab and add objects 1, 2 and 3 to the list. This will lead to duplicated materials, but if you go to the Materials tab you'll see a Replace button, so you can replace object2\mat0 with object1\mat0, for example.

Pangaea · Feb 7, 2011

if ur exporting the 3ds with max, try not preserve max texture coordinates
not sure if that will work, but its worth a try

http://www.cgplusplus.com/online-reference/maxscript-reference/source/uvw_3ds.gif
in other words, you sharp edges might "appear" smooth beacuse of max tex coords

nothke · Feb 8, 2011

Thanks, I'll try.. And another question (so I don't make new tread):

When I export the track to rfactor in btb, does it export all the objects from xpack or just the ones used on the actual track? Cause for example I take a 100MB xpack, but I don't want to use all of it's objects and I don't want my track to weight 100MB more!

R Soul · Feb 8, 2011

It only exports what the track uses, but if you delete an object, the textures and some .gmt files will remain in your track folder until the next time you select the 'clear folder' option when you export.