Merge objects??

[dubastot]

How on earth do you merge objects?:confused::eek:

[ttkrakus]

If what you mean is to create an object by combining other objects (using functions built-in in Alice), then the answer is that it is not possible.

You can take an object with parts and delete some of the parts, but you cannot add parts to an object...believe me, I have been waiting for that feature, but not even Alice3.0 seem to have it.

[DrJim]

You can add .ase object to an exiting hierarchy by adding them as textures.

[ttkrakus]

You can add .ase object to an exiting hierarchy by adding them as textures.

Hi DrJim, could you please point us to a post or url where we can find more about this? I am a little confused since, for me, there is a type mismatch in your response. Are textures meshes too? Are textures actually a combination of a (real) texture and a rectangular mesh with just 4 vertices?

Thanks

[dubastot]

Ackkkk! What do you guys mean!??:eek:

[dubastot]

Oh ya and is blue free?

[dubastot]

Yes its free here is a screen shot of my UFO and here is the address.
I'm not affiliated with them at all.

http://www.4dblue.com/

And that is a 3d modelling program?

[DrJim]

Hi DrJim, could you please point us to a post or url where we can find more about this?

Probably the most complete thread on the subject is
http://www.alice.org/community/showthread.php?t=570&highlight=.ase .

Either a search on .ase or on Biturn will give you quite a bit of information. There is much less available about 4DBlue - partially because it is a fairly complex program and partially because there no longer seems to be an active development effort associated with it. (It looks like that is true for Biturn also.)

Biturn just does format conversions, but 4DBlue does have full 3D model creation capability - though I would recommend Anim8or or Wings3D instead since they are much easier to use. Anim8or also currently have a very active user forum.

The "texture" question is a bit difficult to answer. When you import an .ase file - even though you import it as a "texture" - you are actually just importing a 3D mesh - which is just a batch of points. You have to also import a real texture for the mesh - usually a 2D drawing in .png format - if the model requires one. (Sometimes it is sufficient to just set surface colors.) Matching the texture to the 2D surfaces of the model has to be done in the 3D modeling program and independent of Alice. The process is known as "UV Mapping" and is too complicated to explain here - however there are several excellent tutorials on the web.

Hope this helps :) - and remember, a good success rate for successfully importing models that are at all complex into Alice is only about 50%.

[DrJim]

The program is a piece of cake--but all I could create was spheres the other objects were invisable when I imported then in Alice.

Exporting from 4DBlue is a bit tricky - I have to go through quite a bit of trial and error every time I use the program. There are two key things to watch:

1. Be sure you have actually selected the object you want to export by checking both the screen and the object tree. (I usually goof this one up the first time.)
2. Be very careful about the options you select in the export setup. You really only want to export the 3D mesh for the .ase file. You can also export textures separately, but I find that's much easier in Anim8or.

Also make sure your mesh has imported with "IsShowing" true. For some strange reason, :confused: this doesn't always happen.