3D & Animation Issue

[verbii]

So recently I've been taking the brush based models I had created as placeholders in UDK and exporting them to Max as a size reference and then recreating them in Max (i'm under the impression this is a good plan?) I haven't started texturing yet but thought I should re-import one of the max models back to UDK to check it looks ok so far....it doesn't : P

The models are basic buildings, pretty low poly but it appears to have added some planes when it imports them, blocking some "holes" or cut outs in the model, I have had a quick google, but thought i would post here while i continue looking, any thoughts ideas, let me know if u need more info, exported as FBX.

 

[TrampledUnderFoot]

Get rid of the n-gons for a start. UE3 doesn't play nice with them, like most game engines.

 

[verbii]

hi, thanks for the reply, I've never come across the term before but found it described as "A polygon with n sides. For instance, a quadrilateral is a 4-gon."

But I don't get what the issue is, models are made up of polygons so i'm guessing the "n-gon" in your reply refers to a specific problem you can see in the images? Or am I way off.

 

[worluk]

make sure your model triangulates well. Either do it in max yourself or make sure the importer of UEd can do it, in your case, he cant.
Try to make sure your model is made up from polygons with no more than 4 vertices/sides. Split faces if you have to.

 

[TrampledUnderFoot]

game engines turn everything into triangles when you import them. So you are leaving it up to the computer on how it makes those large n-gons into triangles. Usually the result is not what you want. You want to make all the faces either triangles or quads before you import it into any engine, just to make sure you have control of how the engine renders it.

In short, in a low poly model, tri's and quads are what you want to aim for. It's pretty easy to fix you're model to make it work. Just connect some verts so that no face has more than 4 verts attached to it.

 

[verbii]

ah, now i get it, thanks for the replies guys.

 

[verbii]

So just in case anyone else has similar issues (and to check that my adjustments are good practise, even though they work : P) I've attached images of the adjusted model, basically I split the sides/back to make 3 quads rather than just one big n-gon, and then added a couple of vertices to make quads in the base too.

 

[TrampledUnderFoot]

Theres still a few n-gons on the sides and bottom, but as long as you get the result you're after in engine, its not a huge deal since it's been triangulated anyway.

 

[verbii]

hmm, all the base and sides are 4 sided, admittedly the base or not "regular" square/rectangle quads so is that what you mean?

Also the sides are 3 rectangular quads so what is the issue there?

Not trying to be a pain in the arse, just trying to learn you'd think this would have come up in my games art class ;D

I realise the images may not be ideal, if you need other "better" ones let me know.

 

[worluk]

If you only have 4 sided faces, i assume your model is not airtight? e.g. there are edges that have only one neighboring face? That might give the impression of there being ngons in the wireframe, i assumed the same.

Not sure if UE needs fully closed models, some other engines do, so i guess if you can do it, it would be better practice.

 

[TrampledUnderFoot]

Its hard to tell whats really going on from those wire frames. But if it renders nicely, then theres no need to fret.

UE3 handles unclosed models fine.

 

[2feathers]

your uvw Isn't mapped. that's why it looks up jacked up

 

[worluk]

your uvw Isn't mapped. that's why it looks up jacked up

No, that is not the reason.
UVW mapping is the process of assigning coordinated on your model to those on a flat texture, also known as unwrapping.
He's not at the unwrapping stage so far.