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<h1> Quick Tips </h1>
<p>
This page describes some short tips that can help you use Misfit Model 3D
more effectively.
</p>
<!-- FIXME proof-read this -->
<h2> General Modeling Tips </h2>
<ul>
<li> Some parts of a 3D model will have modifiable properties
that can be changed through dialog boxes or the Properties Panel.
The Properties Panel is a context-sensitive dockable window that
displays modifiable properties for the selected portion of the 3D
model. Using the Properties Panel may be more convenient than
using tools, commands, or dialog boxes to accomplish some task.
Select "View | Show Properties" to use the Properties
Panel. </li>
<li> When creating a model, it is sometimes helpful to have a 2D image
for reference to help with getting the shape or scale of some object
correct. You can project a 2D image into any viewport using
<a href="olh_setbackgroundwin.html">Model | Set Background Image</a>. </li>
<li> Use "Tools | Snap To | Grid"
and Use "Tools | Snap To | Vertex"
<!-- FIXME need link for these -->
to help align the current tool with the grid lines and existing
vertices. </li>
<li> Use <a href="olh_tools.html#dragvertex">Drag vertex on edge</a>
to move a vertex along one of the triangle edges it is connected to.
The tool will attempt to follow the edge that is closest to the mouse.</li>
<li> If two triangle form a concave angle when you want a convex angle
(or vice-versa), use <a href="olhd_commands.html">Edge turn</a>. See
the link for an example of when this is useful. </li>
<li> Use "Extrude" to take a set of faces and extend it out from
the object it is connected to. There is a
<a href="olh_commands.html#extrude">geometry command version</a> and a
<a href="olh_commands.html#extrude">tool version</a>.</li>
<li> Some tools modify their behavior if you hold the shift key
while using them. For example, the move tool will operate only in one
dimension and the rotate tool will rotate in 15 degree increments.
Often these behaviors are noted in the status bar when you change tools.
Any special behavior of the shift key for a tool will be described
in the <a href="olh_tools.html">tool documentation</a> </li>
<li> Triangles/faces only reflect light off of one side. If the dark
side of a triangle is facing out toward the camera, you need to invert
the normal of the triangle to reverse the direction it faces. If some
enclosed 3D shape has some triangles facing in and some facing out,
you can select the entire shape and use
<a href="olh_commands.html#faceout">Geometry | Normals face out</a>
to correct any faces that are wrong. Note that this only works if the
faces are part of a complete, enclosed 3D shape.</li>
<li> You can use <a href="olh_commands.html">Snap Together</a>
to make nearby vertices align themselves. Optionally you can have
them weld into a single vertex. This operation can work on all selected
vertcies, or pairs of nearby vertices.</li>
</ul>
<h2> Viewports </h2>
<ul>
<li> You may only use selection and modification tools in orthographic
projections. If you see something in a 3D perspective projection that
looks wrong and you are not sure which faces or vertices to select
from an orthographic viewport, you can switch the perspective viewport
into an orthographic viewport from the same angle and scale by pressing
the the left quote/backtick key (`).</li>
<li> The Backslash key (\) will rotate the viewport 180 degrees so that
you are looking at the opposite side of the object in your viewport.</li>
<li> Click and drag the middle mouse button in a viewport to
pan. You can also use the arrow keys to pan any viewport that is
highlighted with mouse focus.</li>
<li> Use the vertical scroll wheel or the plus/minus keys to zoom in or
out. </li>
<li> Use Ctrl + scroll wheel or Ctrl + plus/minus keys to rotate
the viewport. </li>
<li> Pressing Ctrl + <Number Key 1-9> will save the current
position and rotation of the highlighted viewport. Pressing the number
key alone will recall the saved position and rotation. Pressing 0 will
center the viewport on the origin. </li>
<li> Use "View | Frame Selected" or
"View | Frame All" to and zoom your viewport on the
object of interest (note that this changes all viewports).</li>
</ul>
<h3> Texturing </h3>
<ul>
<li> To apply textures to geometry, the faces/triangles must be part
of a group. The texture is then applied to the group. </li>
<li> Texture unwrapping is not supported, but using cylinder and
sphere <a href="olh_projectiondetails.html">texture projections</a>
in addition to <a href="olh_painttexturewin.html">paint texture</a> may
give you a good starting point for applying textures. </li>
<li> If you are modifying your textures in a paint program, you can
reload the model textures without restarting by selecting the
"Reload Textures&quit; option in the Materials menu.
</li>
</ul>
<h3> Animations </h3>
<ul>
<li> Skeletal animations tend to be easier to work with than frame
animations. For model formats that require
frame (mesh deformation) animations--such as the quake formats--it is
best to create skeletal animations and then convert those animations
to frame animations before exporting to the desired format.
</li>
<li> Beginners sometimes try to move the joints instead of rotating.
Use rotation on the bone joints to animate your model instead of
translation (think about how you move your own arms and legs).
</li>
<li> It is a good idea to set a keyframe in the first and last frame
of an animation for every joint that will be animated during the
animation. This will give you more predictable results regardless of
whether the animation is looping or not. </li>
<li> Keyframes are automatically created when you move or rotate a joint.
If you want to create a keyframe without rotating or moving,
use the "Set Rotation/Translation Keyframe" options.
</li>
</ul>
<h3> Alpha Blending </h3>
<ul>
<li> When working with transparent textures on a model, keep in mind
that back-facing polygons are often not rendered by various rendering
engines. Typically you will want to render back-facing polygons when
you are modeling. However if you can disable back-facing polygons from
the View menu if you want to see what your model will look like in these
circumstances.</li>
<li> Since triangles only render facing one direction, transparent
triangles are sometimes doubled, with one triangle facing one direction
and the other facing the opposite direction. If these triangles are
exactly co-planar you may see rendering artifacts that cause part of
the triangle that should be rendered to be obscured. To prevent this, put
a slight gap between the co-planar triangles.</li>
</ul>
<h3> Importing and Exporting </h3>
<ul>
<li> Some supported file formats do not mix well with the way MM3D
stores data internally. When working with 3D models on a regular
basis it is often a good idea to save in MM3D format and then use
"File | Export" to save in your desired format
when you have something completed. There are many more exportable
formats than save formats.</li>
<li> You can use "Model | Import Animations"
to load animations from another model with an identical skeletal
structure. The skeleton will be checked to make sure that the
parent/child joint relationships are correct. The position and rotation
of the joints will not be checked, but if they are not identical the
results of the import will probably not be what you expect.
</li>
<li> You can use "Model | Merge"
to import another model into the current one. There are options for
scaling and rotating as well as how to deal with animations.
The merge feature can be useful if you have frame animations in your
model, since adding and deleting geometry in general is not allowed
in that case.
</li>
<li> Some model export formats have special considerations that you must
keep in mind when you are working with them. See the links below for
details.
<ul>
<li> <a href="olh_quakemd2.html">Quake MD2</a> </li>
<li> <a href="olh_quakemd3.html">Quake MD3</a> </li>
<li> <!-- FIXME write doc --> Cal3D </li>
</ul>
</ul>
<h3> Advanced </h3>
<ul>
<li> Use <a href="olh_boolwin.htm">Boolean operations</a>
to modify one 3D object based on the shape of another 3D object.
Boolean operations can combine two shapes into one, subtract
the volume of one shape from another, or find the common volume
between two shapes.</li>
<li> It is possible to customize most menu shortcuts. There is not
a graphical user interface to do this, but you can edit a file
called keycfg.in in the $(HOME)/.mm3d subdirectory (on Win32 this
is userhome in the Misfit Model 3D Program Files directory).
Simply specify the name of the function you want to bind
and then the key combination you want to bind it to.
See keycfg.out in the same directory for the current bindings.
Anythhing you do not specify in your keycfg.in will use the
default setting.</li>
</ul>
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