Difference between revisions of "FAQ"

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If you want to use a polygon mesh object as a kind of reference object to snap on to while drawing something new in MoI, check out this tool: [[Resources#Obj23dmWireframe_converter|Obj23dmWireframe converter]] which will allow you to convert all the edges of a polygon mesh .obj file into a line segments in a .3dm file which can then be loaded into MoI. That enables you to basically use the wireframe of the mesh in MoI as a guide.
 
If you want to use a polygon mesh object as a kind of reference object to snap on to while drawing something new in MoI, check out this tool: [[Resources#Obj23dmWireframe_converter|Obj23dmWireframe converter]] which will allow you to convert all the edges of a polygon mesh .obj file into a line segments in a .3dm file which can then be loaded into MoI. That enables you to basically use the wireframe of the mesh in MoI as a guide.
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== Q: Why does show points work for some objects but not others? ==
 
== Q: Why does show points work for some objects but not others? ==
 
+
(not finished yet)
Trimmed surfaces, etc...
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It won't work on objects that have surfaces joined at common edges, that do not have the same control point structure along that common edge.
 
 
  
  
 
== Q: Why do I get shading errors when exporting to some programs? ==
 
== Q: Why do I get shading errors when exporting to some programs? ==
 
+
(not finished yet)
 
Try unwelding, some programs cannot deal with the full OBJ per-face data.
 
Try unwelding, some programs cannot deal with the full OBJ per-face data.

Revision as of 04:09, 16 November 2007

Frequently Asked Questions

Q: What about a Mac or Linux version?

I have heard from quite a lot of people wanting a Mac version of MoI, so I don't have any doubt that there is a demand for it. It would actually be a really nice fit as well since MoI's UI would just fit in well on a Mac.

If it was easy to produce a Mac or Linux version, I would certainly do it!

Unfortunately it is very much the opposite of that, it would involve a huge amount of work, maybe something like a year (or easily even more) of working full time just on that alone. It will take quite a while before I will be able to gather up that much time.

Choosing between that and adding a year's worth of modeling features to MoI, right now I have prioritized working on modeling features and adding new functionality instead of porting.

So currently there is no plan to have a Mac or Linux native version out anytime soon.

One thing that may happen sooner than a full port would be some changes to the display system to enable running under an emulation system like Parallels (currently this doesn't work because Parallels does not emulate the Direct3D system well enough). It's still a fair amount of work to do that so I'm not sure when that will happen but it is much less work compared to a full port.

One last note - if you have one of the newer Intel-based Macs, you can use Apple's Boot Camp system to install Windows on your machine, and when you start your computer you will have an option to use either Windows or Mac OS. Booting to Windows in this way will run MoI fine because you are just running Windows directly in that case, not under an emulation system.


Q: Why can I export to .obj format, but cannot read .obj format into MoI?

MoI is focused on modeling using NURBS objects, which are made up of smooth curves and surface patches. It's a significantly different way of structuring an object than a polygon mesh method, which is the kind of data that is contained in .obj, .3ds, .stl and .lwo files.

When you export from MoI to one of these polygon mesh formats, MoI will dice up its smooth surfaces into smaller polygon facets to create a polygon mesh. But it is not easy to go the reverse direction and take diced up polygons and create larger smooth surfaces back from them. It's kind of like how you can take a bunch of apples and smash them into applesauce, but it is hard to start with applesauce and go back to apples.

If you want to use a polygon mesh object as a kind of reference object to snap on to while drawing something new in MoI, check out this tool: Obj23dmWireframe converter which will allow you to convert all the edges of a polygon mesh .obj file into a line segments in a .3dm file which can then be loaded into MoI. That enables you to basically use the wireframe of the mesh in MoI as a guide.


Q: Why does show points work for some objects but not others?

(not finished yet) It won't work on objects that have surfaces joined at common edges, that do not have the same control point structure along that common edge.


Q: Why do I get shading errors when exporting to some programs?

(not finished yet) Try unwelding, some programs cannot deal with the full OBJ per-face data.