Quick Tips

This page describes some short tips that can help you use Misfit Model 3D more effectively.

General Modeling Tips

Some parts of a 3D model will have modifiable properties that can be changed through dialog boxes or the Properties Panel. The Properties Panel is a context-sensitive dockable window that displays modifiable properties for the selected portion of the 3D model. Using the Properties Panel may be more convenient than using tools, commands, or dialog boxes to accomplish some task. Select "View | Show Properties" to use the Properties Panel.
When creating a model, it is sometimes helpful to have a 2D image for reference to help with getting the shape or scale of some object correct. You can project a 2D image into any viewport using Model | Set Background Image.
Use "Tools | Snap To | Grid" and Use "Tools | Snap To | Vertex" to help align the current tool with the grid lines and existing vertices.
Use Drag vertex on edge to move a vertex along one of the triangle edges it is connected to. The tool will attempt to follow the edge that is closest to the mouse.
If two triangle form a concave angle when you want a convex angle (or vice-versa), use Edge turn. See the link for an example of when this is useful.
Use "Extrude" to take a set of faces and extend it out from the object it is connected to. There is a geometry command version and a tool version.
Some tools modify their behavior if you hold the shift key while using them. For example, the move tool will operate only in one dimension and the rotate tool will rotate in 15 degree increments. Often these behaviors are noted in the status bar when you change tools. Any special behavior of the shift key for a tool will be described in the tool documentation
Triangles/faces only reflect light off of one side. If the dark side of a triangle is facing out toward the camera, you need to invert the normal of the triangle to reverse the direction it faces. If some enclosed 3D shape has some triangles facing in and some facing out, you can select the entire shape and use Geometry | Normals face out to correct any faces that are wrong. Note that this only works if the faces are part of a complete,ninate Window you will start by selecting the "Group" map scheme. This method of setting up starting texture coordinates can be somewhat limiting. Sometimes using a Texture Projection gives you a better starting point for texture coordinate assignment.

Once you have your texture coordinates in roughly the right place you can use the Texture Coordinate Window to select triangle vertices and move the coordinates. The viewport in the texture coordinates window follows most of the same conventions as the model viewports.

See Also
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Copyright © 2004-2007, Kevin Worcester ./usr/share/doc/mm3d/html/olh_texturecoordwin.html0000644000000000000000000001260211330353450021170 0ustar rootroot Misfit Model 3D Help - Texture Coordinates Window
Texture Coordinates Window

The Texture Coordinates Window is used to change how a texture is applied to the faces of the model. It applies each vertex of a face to a point on a texture. The texture is then stretched between each vertex on the face to create the final texture appearance on the model. To change the texture coordinates, select faces you wish to modify and select Edit Texture Coordinates in the Main Window's Groups menu.

The Texture Coordinates Window contains four major elements:
- Texture Frame - Shows the texture image with vertices and faces drawn over it.
- Mouse Tool Buttons - Determine what happens when you use the mouse on the Texture Frame.
- Scale Options Frame - Give some control over how the scaling operation works.
- Map Scheme Buttons - Change the initial coordinate mapping scheme for the selected faces.
The Texture Frame shows the texture used by the selected faces. Faces and vertices are drawn over the texture to show where each face's vertices are applied to the texture. Vertices can be selected, unselected and moved using the left and right mouse buttons. The exact operation performed by the mouse depends on which Mouse Tool is selected. Below the texture frame is a slider that changes how many times the texture is repeated inside of the texture frame.

The Texture Frame is very similar to the model viewports. You can pan around the Texture Frame by using the arrow buttons inside the frame window, or by middle-click dragging. You can zoom in or out by using the Zoom Buttons or by using the mouse scroll wheel.

The Mouse Tool buttons determine what the mouse buttons do when used in the Texture Frame. Most tools operate in a similar fashion as the tools in the view window (an exception is that you may only select vertices).
- The Select button allows you to select vertices with the left mouse button and unselect vertices with the right mouse button. You can hold the shift key to make your selection cumulative.
- The Move button allows you to move selected vertices.
- The Rotate button allows you to rotate selected vertices.
- The Scale button allows you to scale the distance between selected vertices. Using the Scale Options frame you can control whether you scale from the center of the selected vertices or the far corner and whether or not the 2D aspect ratio of the selection is preserved during the scaling.
The Map Scheme buttons are used to set the initial coordinates for the faces. The Triangle mapping uses the same coordinates for all three vertices of each face. The Quad mapping uses three coordinates from two triangles for alternating faces. The Group mapping projects the selected faces from a specified direction onto the texture image. Each vertex has its own coordinate and may be moved independently.

When you click on the Group radio button you will be prompted to chose one of six directions. Misfit will take the selected faces as they appear in the orthographic view of your chosing, scale them to the size of the texture image, and project them onto the texture image.

Texture Projections are a more powerful alternative to the group mapping scheme.

The Reset Coordinates button is used to reapply the current map scheme to the texture coordinates. If you click this button while using the Group mapping scheme you will be asked to pick a direction again.

The next time you open the Texture Coordinates Window with the same faces selected, it will show the vertex coordinates that you set previously.

Press Close to close the Window.

For more details on applying textures to your model, see the Materials Window, the Texture Projection Window and the Groups Window.

[ Contents | Using | Tools | Commands ]
Copyright © 2004-2007, Kevin Worcester

Quick Tips

General Modeling Tips

See Also

Texture Coordinates Window