Possible to convert brushes into models?

Armadillo of Doom

Group Founder, Lover of Pie
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Oct 25, 2007
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Edit 1: Ok, my attempt to make them into models was pretty awful. So now I have this, lol;http://forums.tf2maps.net/showthread...1738#post31738

After searching various tutorials (including our massive selection), I have been unable to find any info. I'm getting the compile error 'max_map_planes'. I know which detail brushes are causing this problem, but can't figure out if there's a way to keep them. I seem to recall somewhere that it's possible to convert a set of brushes into a prop/model using XSI, but can't find any good info on it. Thanks in advance for any help :)
 
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Dec 25, 2007
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It's possible, but it really doesn't tend to yield very good-looking or well-optimised props, as I've found after doing it a couple of times. You'd be better off trying to get one of the decent modelers in the forum to help you out by creating a good model that occupies the same amount of space.
 
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Armadillo of Doom

Group Founder, Lover of Pie
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Oct 25, 2007
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Thanks for the info guys :) I can live w/ them not being the best eye candy, though I'll have to see how much of a performance hit I take w/ them as models. Actually, it's just a very large set of chains I made by slapping together a pair of arches. Normally not a huge deal, problem is I have several dozen of them, lol. If this doesn't work.. well, what's a good replacement for a large chain-link?
 

TheDarkerSideofYourShadow

L10: Glamorous Member
Apr 12, 2008
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Dpends on size and what not (would like to see a picture of your chains, with some props for scale), but a cable?
 

Armadillo of Doom

Group Founder, Lover of Pie
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Oct 25, 2007
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Dpends on size and what not (would like to see a picture of your chains, with some props for scale), but a cable?

Just sat down to start the conversion process. Since I consider this my first real map, chalking up cp_trenchwar as a practice, I'm trying to hold off on screens for a bit. Though if this doesn't work, I suppose a couple won't hurt. Then I'll have to start bugging our modeling peeps :p
 
Dec 25, 2007
566
439
You could always C+P the chains into a new blank map and just screenshot them next to some random prop for scale...

The big advantage of models over brushes is that models can LOD, so they look nice and pretty when close up, but are nice and cheap when further away. They're also a lot cheaper to render because of simpler lighting, and repeated models can often be batched.
 

Armadillo of Doom

Group Founder, Lover of Pie
aa
Oct 25, 2007
949
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Edit 1: Ok, my attempt to make them into models was pretty awful. So now I have this, lol;http://forums.tf2maps.net/showthread.php?p=31738#post31738

I actually didn't know that :) I'm also experimenting w/ using much larger arches for the chains, w/ a smaller face count. Before I had 18, but shrunk it down to 12 without losing too much quality.
 
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TheDarkerSideofYourShadow

L10: Glamorous Member
Apr 12, 2008
792
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Got a lot of those spikes as well? Might want to consider making those models, if changing the chains doesn't solve the issue.
 

Altaco

L420: High Member
Jul 3, 2008
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You know what? I'll make you a chain model. I assume you can handle texturing and compiling? Just give me the brush-adapted model and I'll make it low-poly, efficient, and good looking as I can.
 

Armadillo of Doom

Group Founder, Lover of Pie
aa
Oct 25, 2007
949
1,228
You know what? I'll make you a chain model. I assume you can handle texturing and compiling? Just give me the brush-adapted model and I'll make it low-poly, efficient, and good looking as I can.

Freakin awsome! I really need to bug DJive and drpepper about adding small attachments to pms. In the mean time, I'll just submit it as a zip file, can delete it later. And Shadow, the spikes are actually ok atm. There's a lot of them, but they have a fraction of the complexity that the chains do.