zmod school thread

[BubbaChubs]

I'm going to be posting some questions here periodically about my problems in zmodeler. They are probably stupid questions to you, but then you have to realize that i'm being serious..:rolleyes:

date: 1-15-02

1) i've added a few polygons in zmodeler, now how do i move the verts?

2) i'm still having trouble loading pictures. i finally took the bmw side blueprint off of the zmod tutorial and pasted my picture on it,but it's black and white. I only have a few pictures.. i would be greatful if someone resized them for me. That sounds stupid doesn't it? well, psp has an auto resizer thing that doesn't work for exact sizes and the canvas resizer resizes the pictures, but they don't show up in zmod.

well, that's all for now. I don't know who uses zmod in here, cept Justin (IH8COPS) which is like the master at everything. ;)

thankyou, really, you don't know how much i appreciate help.

[DFS_Hummerboy21]

1) i've added a few polygons in zmodeler, now how do i move the verts?



You click modify,move and then on the top 4 boxes click the verts box and then move them. the default box clicked I think is objects but thats me ^_^

[BubbaChubs]

thankyou dfs. on my way to learnin zmod.. lala lala lala laaaa....lala lala oh dado da day..

[Justin Martin]

Please, don't be shy asking questions, it's the only way you'll learn. We all had to learn at some point, and we've all asked questions. When I learned ZModeler, what I couldn't figure out from the help section and the scratch building tutorial, I learned by asking people.

Plus when you ask questions, i'll know what to concentrate on when I make my ZModeler tutorial. I've started on part of a rough draft, but it'll take a long time because college is back going for me, and my English prof wants me to start crankin' out essays. =((

[Jared]

i'm still having trouble loading pictures. i

Well, I'm not sure if it helps, but make sure your pics are .bmp...
and they also need to be in 256X256 or 512X512....

Hell, bubba, I have Photoshop 6.0 which is MUCH more powerfull than PSP... send the pics to me and I'll see what I can do for you...


(I can't believe I am actually now able to offer advice for modeling a car)

[BubbaChubs]

i figured it out, i guess zmodeler doesn't support high color pictures, i had to put them as 16bit color. they work now. thanks anyway, appreciate it.

[AccadaccA]

Originally posted by IH8COPS
...Plus when you ask questions, i'll know what to concentrate on when I make my ZModeler tutorial. I've started on part of a rough draft, but it'll take a long time because college is back going for me, and my English prof wants me to start crankin' out essays. =((
Justin, Justin, Justin : :nono: I don't know, you youngsters of today. Simply write your essays on "How to make HS cars using Zmodeler". :D
There, problems solved, two birds with one stone. :)

[Justin Martin]

Somehow I just don't think that would fit into the category of "write an essay about a person who has greatly influenced your life", my current assignment. ^_^ But if they say to write a technical tutorial on the subject of your choice, i'll jump on it. :D

[BubbaChubs]

well, considering you spend a fair amount of time in zmodeler, write about oleg.

[BubbaChubs]

alright, i've come upon another problem or two.

help would be nice, thankyou in advance...

1) i know in car cad you can flip the poly's to show up on the right side. well, i'm doing a 3d vent on my car, and i don't know how to flip the poly's.

2) The normals. I have a pretty good idea where to point the line, but how do you get into the normals editing mode?

i'm doing a 85 toyota mr2 mk1. It was a request from somebody. here's a pic.

Again, thanks.

[Justin Martin]

Use the \Modify\Reorient tool to flip a poly.

Normals are complicated, the normals tools are located under \Surface\Normals. There are two ways to set them, the automatic methods are done in Object mode. Select one of the normals process (calculation, projection or by gismo) then click on the car. Watch the 3D view, you should see the normals change.

In Vertice mode, you can edit each individual normal by clicking on one of the normal editing tools (normalize, rotation, scaling, flip) then clicking and holding on the vertice who's normal you want to edit.

A couple of notes, by gismo requires that you make a sepearate part that is a sphere named "gismo", then you set the normals by swithcing to objects mode, select both the gismo object and the body object, then click on the gismo first, then the body.

Also, right clicking on the tool buttons pops up a explanation on how to use that tool.

[BubbaChubs]

I've got a few more questions. Thanks to all who reply:

1) How do you mirror x, reverse the winding order and fuse in zmodeler? I hear something about welding vertexes, but i'm not sure how to do it.

2) If i texture in fce finish and save with the same texture file and export it into zmodeler, will the textures show up the same? I'm not sure how to texture in zmod, but i'm familiar with fce finish.

Thanks again. here's my progress on my mr2, man, this is goin better than i thought ;) Thanks!

[BubbaChubs]

nm, i figured it out, after about 10 min f*ckin around.

[BubbaChubs]

how do you fuse the parts? thanks. :)

[Justin Martin]

Switch to Objects mode, enable the two parts you want to fuse, use the Quadr select tool to select both parts, then go to Create\Objects\UniteSelect and click on the selected objects.

[BubbaChubs]

I need to know a couple things real quick, How do you resize everything at once in zmod and how do you mirror everything at once in zmod? I made the dash too big, just need to resize, and the back is the front, visa versa in the views. Thanks all... very much!:)

p.s. If anyone knows how to make gradient maps in psp that would be another question.


cool deal! -^

[scp]

Look at the attatched pic if you don't know where something is.

Resizing everything:
1. Press the 'SEL' button.
2. Display everything you want resized.
3. Select the 'select>all' tool.
4. Right-click in a view. Now everything should turn red to signify that it's all selected.
5. Select the 'modify>scale' tool.
6. Press and hold 'shift' as you resize.
That should do it. Everything will be resized at the same time at the same rate on each axis.

Mirroring everything:
1. Follow steps 1-4 as above.
2. Select the 'modify>mirror tool.
3. Press the button to modify only the Y-axis.
4. Left-click in the top view.
And that should do it for that question. Any more?

[BubbaChubs]

thanx i got it. :)

[VQ]

speaking of Zmodeler how do u move the center of gravity thing (the X) some1 tell me how 2 move it

[BubbaChubs]

move the mouse cursor over the area you want then press " . " a new origin will appear.

[monaro]

i posted this in my own thread but only 4 people have read it and not answered:


i was wondering how you separate two objects which are locked together, i have some drag style exhausts which exit behind the fron wheel in an upswept style but they are two narrow and they are one piece.

also i was wondering how you export a .z3d (zmod) file to a NFSIV .fce file

i would appreciate it if you could :help:

[Justin Martin]

First, select all the polygons of the part you want seperated. (not the whole part, just the part of the part you want seperated) Then go to Create\Objects\Detach.

Second, open a .z3d file, then File\Export and export it as a .fce.

[BubbaChubs]

yeah.. and make sure you have "SEL" down when you have ur selected polygons detatched or you willl only detatch one at a time.

[monaro]

thanks fellas :hat:-^

[VQ]

I'm after how to position headlights in zmodeler so they show up in the right place as lights for my car is it possible? or do I have to use another program.

[BubbaChubs]

If you already have the dummy lights added, you can move them by selecting them in the list of parts (usually at the top of the list) and move them with the modify/move tool.

If you don't have them added, then you're gonna have to use car cad or fce finish.. then you can come back and finalize the position in zmod

[CookeMJ]

Ahh at last the thread I've been looking for.

How do I map textures in Zmod?

I don't know how to map new faces, so I have modified the VT dash into the right shape for my Valiants. This means the tiny VT instrument pod, is now stretched out halfway accross the car - in a Valiant the instrument panel includes radio, air, all the guages and switchgear, and reaches from the door to the centre, and from the crash-pad to your knees.

There is a large rectangular unused section around the VT dials in the targa, in which I would happily craft a Valiant's dash. But the faces I stretched out have of course maintained their refferences on the targa and stretched the dials right out.

Here is a picture illustrating what I have so far. Basically it's just the VT all stretched out. I can fix the doors and wheels no probs, and that air-con binnacle needs some tinkering. But having done the seats and fashioned one mirror into a Valiant's, and the other into the hood, I want to get the instrument facia right before I stuff around with the rest of it.

And it looks like this is the thread to bring it up on. I have been recomended FCEfinish, 3D Studio Max, and others, but I just want to show ZMod I haven't given up yet...

[BubbaChubs]

to map new faces:


load your texture in material editor, switch to faces mode and select all of the new faces you want to map. Then, press down SEL and go to surface/mapping/assign UV. Now switch one of the views to UV MAPPER and zoom out until you see the faces that you mapped. obviously, the faces won't just appear in the right place so you'll have to move/scale/rotate/ mirror them to fit right on the texture. I hope that helps.

[CookeMJ]

Ahh! At last!

I can't move anything after using the rectangular selection tool, and there were are few other issues I had to work my way around; but thank you for your invaluable assistance pointing me in the right direction. I knew it couldn't be hard - once I knew what I was doing.

Thanks for that - I owe you one.

[BubbaChubs]

The SEL function works if you know how to use it. Usually if you select more than one vertice/object/face at a time, then you'll have to push it down. If you are only wanting to move/reorient/mirror a vert/face/object then you won't have to use it.

I hope that made sense. If you didn't get it: use SEL after you select things with the quadr selection tool.

[CookeMJ]

Thanks - so far I have been able to right-click and tick "Selected" in the scrolling objects thingy. Which has meant I could access all the faces in an object, rather than just part of it. This has sufficed thus far; but I'll have a further play with it - thanks.

BTW I got the UV mapper working and have completed my dash.fce, which frankly, looks sweet!

[ZondaC12]

hey is there a way to do a polygon count in zmodeler?

[BubbaChubs]

sure is...

show all of your objects (except lights) and select them all, then just go to edit/attributes and it gives you the stats.

good luck
Bubba

[Cheyenne]

I've just started working with Zmod and while finding it a lot of fun, I'm also having a bit of frustration and the help files aren't, well, helping.

First and most important: Zmod crashes almost every time I go to save my project. Boom, "Illegal Operation" and it often messes the whole thing. This is on "Save" or "Save As". Out of maybe 40 or so attempts, I've had it save exactly twice. Not good. Any advice?

Second, this pic... Here I have made a face, I've fused 4 separate panels together, made some different shapes, trying to learn how to work with the program. So far, so good, but a few problems. One is the panel I have made below, well, only the "inside" of the panel shows in the 3D view. The outside, the side that "should" show (at least I believe it should show, it's the outer panel of the vehicle, after all) is not visible when oriented so as to display in the 3D view. Any help in how to "flip" the display side?

http://www.geocities.com/xrchey/temp/zmodviews.txt

Also, I've had a look at JP's video tutorials and have observed other car creators meshes (like Chris'/CPD's) and it seems to me that all (yes, ALL) vertices are joined with other vertices. Still, if this isn't absolutely necessary it looks to me like a waste of polygons, hence my question... Is the part below a "good part"? I have the main piece with only the upper and lower defining vertices (no "Horizontal Stepping"), but I've added two polys at the left end, their central vertices do not touch any vertices on the main panel. Is this something I should avoid? Does it cause problems? Pic below...

http://www.geocities.com/xrchey/temp/goodpart.txt

Okay, I know what you have to do.

If you want to change the direction which a face (or group of) appears in a 3d scene, then, use the "Single" or "Quad" selection modes, with the SEL button depressed (hit space bar).

Now, find the "reorient" button, and click on the face.

You must be in of course be in faces mode, first. (In the group of 4 buttons at the top of the Z-Modeller window).

Now:
http://www.geocities.com/xrchey/temp/goodpart.txt

What you've done here will not be very good. Where you have an edge, that doesn't meet up with the other ones properly, (where the vertice meets with an edge, but, not with another vertice), you will end up with visible sharp edge, when the model/part is seen in the 3d view. It won't be apparent, until the faces that make up the part are shaped to match the shape of whatever the object is that you are modelling.

(Hope I haven't confused you). ;)

[Cheyenne]

Thanks, Chris, that "reorients" the display! Now, if I just wouldn't lost my work all the time &(

No, not confused at all! Perfect explanation, part=bad! ^_^

I'll make sure to properly join everything :D

What version of Z-Modeller are you using? Oleg has version 1.06f out, now, available for download. It works reliably enough, for me.

But, my advice is to ALWAYS save your work, and save it in multiple different files.. Save it every few minutes, manually. :)

Avoid the autosave feature, because that has been known to crash the program, occasionally. =[

[Cheyenne]

yes, 1.06f, just downloaded it two days ago. No Autosave. And I would save my work, but, uh, it just crashes the program almost always.

Here's the Error...

http://www.geocities.com/xrchey/temp/zmodcrash.txt

Considering that it was a fault with the "Hierarchy" module, I just gave this a try...

http://www.geocities.com/xrchey/temp/zmodhierarchy.txt

...which causes a crash every time. Hmmm :confused:

I've tried this now on four separate and different systems. Same results, with rare exceptions. And for some it's stable??? Argh!

Back to 3DSMax?

Well, try deleting the plugin that is causing the problem, and see how that goes..

In this case, it would be zhierachy.zmp

Also, visit http://discussion.nfscheats.com/ and talk to Oleg in his Z-Modeller forum, he might be able to help you.

If you are using Windows XP Professional, then, try running Z-Modeller in Windows 2000 compatibility mode.

[VQ]

Well I have it and it works fine for me cept when i make new models I can only see stuff on side veiw when i zoom in at the right level.

[VQ]

Well sinsce this is still here I might as well ask here, How do U make cylinders in Zmodeler? does ne one know properly?

[Aussie Muscle]

I didn't usually use zmodeller, but since its more likely to be updated and is generally a better program, i've been trying to learn it. All is fine except:

i can't seem to get zmod's uv mapper working. i followed what was written earlier and some tutorials. i got as far as the attached pic. SEL mode, selected polys, applied Assign from the mapping tools and clicked it to apply and it gets the uv map in the uv map window. now, how do i move the uv points? it doesn't seem to do let me move anything in the uv window using modify>move or modify>rotate as some have said. I've tried vert and face/poly levels. i've also tried using the MUL mode as suggested in the help file.

[VQ]

Well u gotta change from the poly/vert levels to none then select the stuff in uv mapper and click on the last Poly leveli hope that explains it.

[Aussie Muscle]

thanks, vq, now i dont need to do that in carcad. in fact, the only feature zmod doesn't appear to have is the optimising functions, particularly 'tools>remove unnecessary verts' that carcad has. (this is essential, as 3dsmax uses double-verts to help smooth the mesh)

[bogs]

found a nice couple of tutorials for zmod that are fairly easy to understand ( pretty basic , as well , but it DOES explain concepts well ) here http://www.awesysnet.ca/tutorials.php . Also , Ryan T's set of very indepth guides are back up on his site here http://ryan.racesimcentral.com/articles/zmod.php . Between both sites and Smokey's near inhuman patience , I start to feel I may actually be able to model somethin my own self ;)

[blackice111288]

Which is better/easier to use/works with GTA3 and more preferably NFS:PU?

[bogs]

There is currently no package that works for nfs pu , since no one but Addict has ever actually modified one of the PU cars ( far as I know , and he edited it directly ) .
I do see a GTA export format in Zmodeller, and I've seen a few tutorials on how to make cars for GTA using it , such as this one (http://www.geocities.com/rappoland/tuts.html) .

[bogs]

Curious if anyone has seen or printed a way to add headlights / taillights / dummies to a car in Zmodeler ? I'm only working with nfs cars , and am aware of the naming conventions , but am stumped on how to add them.

[bogs]

No one has a method for doing this ?

[Venom800tt]

I just steal the light dummies from another car :p

[bogs]

I suppose thats one way , but I was rather wondering about doing them from scratch since the final products are going into nfs 3 for the most part .

Zmodelers a fantastic program , but for some reason when I'm importing non native files , nfs4 for example , it tends to crash and burn all too often , usually before I get the chance to save them as z3d format .

Rather than go through that repeatedly , and since I'm sure not everyone starts with a set of already made ones , there must be a way to make em yourself, and I was rather hoping to see someone post on how this was done .

[VQ]

I do too, but I'm sure u could make a cube and roate it around, I have all sorts of problems with my cars in NFS 4 the interior don't show up a wheel don't show up itz so annoying.

[lewi]

Its been a while but Ill post, I am learning the VERY basics and am having a bugger of a time getting stuff to work.


Here is a screenie of my problem that I am facing at the moment.

I don't want all the verticies on the inside (middle, when finished) to converge at one point. I want it to follow the car shape. Help!!!

Cheers

Lewi

[chris]

I'm not sure what you are trying to achieve, but, my best guess would be to adjust them in another viewport. IIRC (and it's been a long time since I've used ZM) it can be sometimes tricky to work with ZM at first.

Don't give up though. :) Good luck with the M1. :)

[chris]

I suppose thats one way , but I was rather wondering about doing them from scratch since the final products are going into nfs 3 for the most part .

Zmodelers a fantastic program , but for some reason when I'm importing non native files , nfs4 for example , it tends to crash and burn all too often , usually before I get the chance to save them as z3d format .

Rather than go through that repeatedly , and since I'm sure not everyone starts with a set of already made ones , there must be a way to make em yourself, and I was rather hoping to see someone post on how this was done .

With regards to your question on the light dummies, I can't remember exactly, but shouldn't it be possible to make a cube or sphere object and assign it a particular naming convention? IIRC, they were assigned some special prefix in ZM.

My knowledge of ZM is extremely scratchy though, so my explanation might not be much use.

[Frank N. O.]

Sorry to go ot but does anyone know what happend to Lee (Bubba)?

Frank

[lewi]

http://www.etspe.ca/zmt/v1/4.html

Im using a tutorial from this site, I get stuck on the roof bit, cos

1)I can't get the green lines showing which verticies I am making to show
2)I try and follow the instructions, but I just can't peice it together

EDIT: Just trying to texture, lol, is this funny, what am I doing wrong? (See attachment

[bogs]

AAAhhhhhh Chris , didn't mean to appear to be ignoring you , and thanks for the answer , but I came up with a semi-satisfactory soloution of my own in the intervening 9 months between posting the question , and your answer arriving . During that time , I had plumb forgot about the question mostly because I doubted anyone was going to post an answer :blush:

I did indeed wind up using primitives , and figured out ( eventually ) how to point and name them . I still dont get headlights correct sometimes, but the tailights seem to work fine heh.

Lewi , here is a long winded step by step [which I tried to make as phone line friendly as I can :D ] on where I *think* you are getting hung up . Pictures of each step are linked to each step :

1.) This is a cheesey one minute model . I dont suggest anyone ever make a model like this ( or like awesys's first part tutorial , please use his 2nd one , it is FAR better to learn with ) .
Since this is such a simple side , hit Surface/mapping , I've chosen all faces at once ( which looks like what you did ), and click on them. This will send them to the UV Mapper ( where later you will see I simply used the same image instead of a proper texture map. What do you want for a one minute model?? :D )

http://home.comcast.net/~rdbar814/Steps/uv1selectAllFaces.gif

2.) I believe this is where you got hung up . As you can see , Zmodeler did not put the faces in the best place for mapping by default.

http://home.comcast.net/~rdbar814/Steps/uv2defaultPlacement.gif

If you look at the 3d view ( to the right ) you'll see a similar picture to your own question picture :)

3.) Now that you've reached the UV Mapping stage , click on the Object button [ highlighted with the yellow tag ] and lasso/select the entire side .

http://home.comcast.net/~rdbar814/Steps/uv3selectObject.gif

4.) Goto the Modify/Scale menu item , and scale your object to your texture map .

http://home.comcast.net/~rdbar814/Steps/uv4modifyThenScale.gif

5.) Once your models start becoming more complicated , you will find it easier to grab parts of the model ( say , only the faces on a door , or the center of a wheel ) , and map those individually .

The process remains the same , you will have to scale them to your texture , and sometimes even shift vertices around .

http://home.comcast.net/~rdbar814/Steps/uv5alignFacesOntoUvMap.gif

6.) As your moving around your parts , make sure you check your textures appearance ( as I did here ).

http://home.comcast.net/~rdbar814/Steps/uv6checkYourWork.gif

Hope that helps you out a tad , sorry for the slow response . As I said earlier , I think Awesys's 2nd ( and more detailed ) tutorial was FAR FAR better than his first , please take a look at that one , if you haven't already . :D

[Frank N. O.]

May I ask a question, does anyone know what happend to BubbaChubs, his real name was Lee Quinn right?

Frank

[DFS_Hummerboy21]

I wish I knew where BubbaChubs and Fivespeed went - Havn't talked to those guys in years.