BATing questions

[WillG_75]

If this topic is in the wrong forum, I apologize. Still learning my way around here.

I am getting back into BAT modeling, and have made the basic parts of a house in the last two hours, but I need a little help with a few details. I don't know how to make doorknobs, I have no clue about porch lights, and I don't know how to make gutters/downspouts.



I am also not sure about lighting, but that's a whole different beast.

And lastly, how does everyone get those fancy renders? I have gmax 1.2 and 3ds max 8, but it wont open or render gmax files.

Sorry about these stupid questions, but I can't find a place that has this info.

[callagrafx]

How to make doorknobs? Create a sphere.  However, the scale is such that it would not be seen ingame properly, it'd just look like a 1 pixel smudge.  That level of detail not needed really.

Ditto with the others (gutters etc).  However, a quick method for guttering is first create an arc.  Then click on the modifier tab for the arc and select spline.  Scroll down the modifier window until you find something called "outline".  Click on this and then click on the arc.  Move the mouse until the red arc is at the right depth for your preferred shape.  This is now the cross-section for the gutter.  Now add an extrude modifier and there you have a gutter.  For downpipes, you can create a path with a bend at the end and use this as a loft path (create a circle as the shape).  Sorry I can't illustrate, I'm not in front of Max.

Gmax was never intended to allow export of models, so you need to find the plugin that allows for MD3 export (this comes with BAT4Max).  Once you have the file saved as an MD3 you need to convert this to .3ds file format. There is a number of conversion software available but I use Deep Exploration.  Once converted, you can import the file into Max, although everything will be editable meshes (it may retain UV data if you're lucky).

Hope this helps.

[WillG_75]

Thank you for the help callagrafx