Aces High Bulletin Board

General Forums => Terrain Editor => Topic started by: rogerdee on October 18, 2006, 09:50:53 AM

Title: ac3d and colouring
Post by: rogerdee on October 18, 2006, 09:50:53 AM: ok guys i figured how to make something now how do i colour it?

i mean say i made a wall and want to make it like vrickwork do i
convert it int o a bitmap or something then do the colouring in psp or some thing like that.

also how do u guys work out the size if u are adding something to aces high?

thanks forr any help given
Title: ac3d and colouring
Post by: Denholm on October 18, 2006, 10:51:07 AM: I am not familiar with AC3D, so I can not tell you how to import the bitmap, but I do know how it works.

First you have to get a bitmap image, either 128 x 128 or 256 x 256. The bitmap image MUST be "256 Color Bitmap"! Then somehow you select the face of your object and tell AC3D that you want that bitmap to be the face's color. Once again, i'm not familiar with AC3D, I use the blender and they both have different techniques.
Title: ac3d and colouring
Post by: rogerdee on October 18, 2006, 01:51:59 PM: so i need a bit map of what i want say a brick wall then inport it to ac3d and then build my wall from the bitmap?

umm nothing is ever easy
Title: ac3d and colouring
Post by: Denholm on October 18, 2006, 05:01:56 PM: No no no, the bitmap is pretty much pasted onto your object, you can stretch the bitmap using AC3D so it fits onto your object perfectly. Once again, i'm not familiar with AC3D, so I can't tell you how to work this feature.
Title: ac3d and colouring
Post by: rogerdee on October 19, 2006, 09:36:42 AM: ok thanks i figured out the bitmap bit and i can get things that look almost how they should .

but what do i do to get it back in the oe what folders to i put the files in in the oe export folder?

i tried converting the ac3d back to the OE and it says bitmap not there do these have to be in the same folder as the ac3 file and if so which folder.

damn things to complacted
Title: ac3d and colouring
Post by: croduh on October 19, 2006, 12:48:00 PM: Bitamp has to be in the same folder, 256 colors, name must be less than 8 letters, not larger than 512x512.Once you import into oe you should get 2 files in your aheditor/userlib folder: texture file(.htx) and object itself(.shp).
Title: ok i am lost with this files thing
Post by: rogerdee on October 19, 2006, 01:18:40 PM: ok lets see

i have things go in to the export folder that i can change to ac3d do i need the bitmap here ?

ok i looked in the userlib and all i got was a shape file,and the item will show up but its just grey and not coloured as it was in ac3d?

can u explain nice and in simple terms how and what i have to do to make this work pls
Title: ac3d and colouring
Post by: BlauK on October 19, 2006, 01:43:46 PM: The BMP has to be in the same folder with the AC file before you load it on your object in ac3d. Then you select your object or surfaces, press F10 and place the surfaces on proper places over the visible texture.

Now you should see the texture on your model in ac3d. Save and go to OE, convert ac3d file, exit OE. You should have the filename.ac converted as filename.shp and texture.bmp as texture.htx and both of these new files are in userlib.

Re-open OE and th eobject should be in your object list marked with *.
Title: ac3d and colouring
Post by: BlauK on October 19, 2006, 01:46:19 PM: Notice, you cannot move the files after you have saved them in OE. The AC file includes a path to the texture.
Title: ac3d and colouring
Post by: rogerdee on October 19, 2006, 02:17:08 PM: i am more lost then ever now.

if you are using more then one texture that means more then one bitmap?

these have to be in the same folder but is that the export folder from the oe when it converts to ac?.

sorry guys but i am defiently lost i can make things in ac3d and can texture them but as for getting it back to the oe it either just crashed the oe or comes but with just shape folder and goes grey.

baluk could you run me through it step by step from when you press convert to ac3d in the oe? would that be possible if you can spare the time?
Title: ac3d and colouring
Post by: BlauK on October 19, 2006, 02:32:00 PM: Quote
Originally posted by rogerdee
i am more lost then ever now.

if you are using more then one texture that means more then one bitmap?

these have to be in the same folder but is that the export folder from the oe when it converts to ac?.

Yes, you can have more than one texture file for a single object. I did not talk about that in my posts though.

It does not mater in which folder you have teh AC and BMP as long as it is teh one and same folder. "Export" folder is a good place, because that is where OE exports the objects for ac3d.

Quote

sorry guys but i am defiently lost i can make things in ac3d and can texture them but as for getting it back to the oe it either just crashed the oe or comes but with just shape folder and goes grey.

One critical question is... have you built a "hierarchy tree" with proper object property tags in ac3d? (read the ac3d.txt help file in the aheditor folder)
Title: ac3d and colouring
Post by: rogerdee on October 19, 2006, 04:03:21 PM: thats proberly where i am going wrong because i dont know where it goes or how to do it properly.

ill have to wai t to the weekend to try again i guess

thanks anyway
Title: ac3d and colouring
Post by: Denholm on October 20, 2006, 08:58:48 AM: All I know is the HT (Hierarchy Tree) is built like this:

World
Model
Objects
Str0
Object Name

In the blender we have to make a Hierarchy tree similar to this:

+1 model, MaxDist=20000
+1 objects, MaxDist=20000
+1 str0, MaxDist=20000
- objectname, MaxDist=20000 NoCollide=0

The "MaxDist" is a "Property tag", it explains from what distance you can see the object. A precise description of all possible tags is in the "ac3d.txt" file, all I can tell and show you is examples, because I do not use AC3D.
Title: ac3d and colouring
Post by: rogerdee on October 20, 2006, 09:09:40 AM: ac3d shows you the heirarchy for the item ive done but i need to change it to ah specs and thats what i dont know what to do.

the limited infoe the OE gives is not very easy to understand for some one like me

and as for changiing it it ac3d to what i want i dont know how and i have been trying hard
Title: ac3d and colouring
Post by: soda72 on October 20, 2006, 11:02:45 AM: Quote
Originally posted by rogerdee
ac3d shows you the heirarchy for the item ive done but i need to change it to ah specs and thats what i dont know what to do.

the limited infoe the OE gives is not very easy to understand for some one like me

and as for changiing it it ac3d to what i want i dont know how and i have been trying hard

Hi rogerdee,

I have ac3d 6.0 and I feel your pain. There a couple of steps you have follow in order to change things in the heirarchy through AC3D. I'll try to post some pics here to show what I do to change the heirarchy. I'm not a super expert with it, but it might help point ya in the right direction...
Title: ac3d and colouring
Post by: soda72 on October 20, 2006, 01:41:54 PM: Let me frist start off by saying it is easier to export a shp form the OE and use the .ac from that but if you want to create a project from scratch you can do the following. To Create object heirarchies in AC3d you'll need to be familar with a few controls :

The first one is the heirarchy view control located here:
(http://i56.photobucket.com/albums/g185/s0da72/ac3d_heirview2.jpg)

The next control used is the 'select ' control:
(http://i56.photobucket.com/albums/g185/s0da72/ac3d_step6.jpg)

The select control has four options but you will only need the frist two(group and obejct select) to change object/group heirarchies and names.

The last control to be familar with is the name control down at the lower left hand conner..

(http://i56.photobucket.com/albums/g185/s0da72/ac3d_step3.jpg)

So as an example I created a simple box that uses the skidmark.bmp for texture that looks like the following:
(http://i56.photobucket.com/albums/g185/s0da72/ac3d_step1.jpg)

Now to create the object heirarchy for it I open the "heirarchy view" control. As you can see in the pic below it starts out with the group name world followed by a child object called 'box'. This is the default heirarchy ac3d assigns...

(http://i56.photobucket.com/albums/g185/s0da72/ac3d_heirviewbeg.jpg)

I first begin by changing the name of my box obect to a name that is preferred and recommended in the AC3d.txt help file.

To do this go to the "select" control and make sure object selection is enabled..

(http://i56.photobucket.com/albums/g185/s0da72/ac3d_step2.jpg)

once that is enabled, select your object you wish to change the name to. AFter you have selected an object look at the "name" control down in the lower left. It should show you the current name of the object and will let you change the name...

so as you can see in the pic below my object is named box..
(http://i56.photobucket.com/albums/g185/s0da72/ac3d_step3.jpg)

I then change the name to str0..
(http://i56.photobucket.com/albums/g185/s0da72/ac3d_step4.jpg)

Once you renamed your new object, go back to the heirarchy view...
It should now look like this...
(http://i56.photobucket.com/albums/g185/s0da72/ac3d_step5.jpg)
Title: ac3d and colouring
Post by: soda72 on October 20, 2006, 01:43:02 PM: Now the hard part... grouping objects..

What makes this hard is if you create a single object. AC3d does not allow you to group objects unless there is more than one. However there is a way to work around that, by creating temporary objects that will allow you create multiple groupings. Once the heirarchy is finished you can then delete them...

So for the first one I create my 'objects' group
(http://i56.photobucket.com/albums/g185/s0da72/ac3d_step9.jpg)

Here i Create two more to create the upper grouping 'model'
(http://i56.photobucket.com/albums/g185/s0da72/ac3d_step10.jpg)

Here is what it looks like after creating multiple temp groupings.
(http://i56.photobucket.com/albums/g185/s0da72/ac3d_step12.jpg)

Now that I have the heirarchy needed I delete the temporary objects...
you can do this by selecting the temp objects you created and press the delete key
(http://i56.photobucket.com/albums/g185/s0da72/ac3d_step16a.jpg)

Here is what the heirarchy looks like after deleting the temp objects.
(http://i56.photobucket.com/albums/g185/s0da72/ac3d_step17.jpg)

Once the heirarchy is completed you can save the project and import into the OE..

here is what the cbox looks like in the OE...

(http://i56.photobucket.com/albums/g185/s0da72/ac3d_step18.jpg)
Title: ac3d and colouring
Post by: rogerdee on October 20, 2006, 02:52:04 PM: soda thankyou for taking the time and effort to explane this i do aprecaite it

ive followed what you said but how did you get the model part in the
hierarchy. ive tried what you did but i dont get the group model part in it.

mine always comes up

world
group objects
objects str0

how did you get group model in it?so it says
world
group model
grop objects
objects str0

ive followed your instructions as youve writtern it but it doesnt come up for me
Title: ac3d and colouring
Post by: soda72 on October 20, 2006, 02:58:42 PM: Quote
Originally posted by rogerdee
soda thankyou for taking the time and effort to explane this i do aprecaite it

No problem..

Yeah at the end I kind of rushed through, I didn't realize what I was getting myself into tryn to explain it... :)

To get the 'model' group, you have to create a temp group by creating two more new temp objects, and grouping them together. don't include them with your group 'objects'. This temp group should be on the same level as your group 'objects'.. Then group the groups together and name it 'model'... If you look at the heirarchy images in the above post each one kindof represents the steps a little...

hope this makes sense....
Title: ac3d and colouring
Post by: rogerdee on October 20, 2006, 05:59:55 PM: ok if i got it right i make another group in a sepert bit then put the two groups togeather then i can delete the temp group b and reame the thing model.

i think i understand it better then i wrote it.

thankyou again for taking the time to help me out
Title: AC3D version 6.1 rumors
Post by: Xjazz on November 10, 2006, 03:40:49 PM: New version will have some improvements for the hierarchys. No details about it yet.

Lets hope the developer dump the current work-s-l-o-w method with shiny workflow method.
Title: ac3d and colouring
Post by: Denholm on November 11, 2006, 09:10:45 AM: I like the blender method.:p