Chapter 3. Model Editor

With Model Editor you can simulate various game environments, allowing you to preview what the model will look like in the game engine, and to create effects such as shaders that are not supported by 3ds Max.

Problems in the mesh and animations of your model may also be identified. You can view the level of detail as created by the game engine to ensure that it appears as expected.

Model Editor window

For details on how to start this and other BigWorld tools, see Starting the Tools.

3.1. Menu items

The list below describes the menu items available in Model Editor:

File → Open model

Opens the Open dialog box, where you can specify a .model file to load.
File → Add model

Adds the selected model to the viewport, so it can be viewed alongside the current model — this is useful when editing a model that is part of a SuperModel.

Please note that added models cannot be changed, only viewed.
File → Remove added models

Removes from the viewport all models that have been added to be viewed alongside the current model.
File → Revert to saved

Discards all changes made to the model, and loads its saved version.
File → Save

Saves the current model and any other modified files.
File → Reload all textures

Reloads from disk all texture files applied to the model — this is useful to refresh modified textures.
File → Regenerate visibility box

Regenerates the model's visibility box using its animations — this is the box used in the client for visibility and shadowing.
File → Recent models

Opens a sub-menu with the list of recently opened models.
File → Recent lights

Opens a sub-menu with the list of recently opened lights.
File → Exit

Closes the application.

The user will be prompted to save changes to the model or lighting settings.
Edit → Undo

Undoes the most recent model-changing action.

Multiple actions can be undone. The undo list extends to the state of the model when it was loaded.

Each model-changing action that is undone is added to the redo list.

Also accessible via the Undo toolbar button^A ().
Note

Only actions that effectively change the model are added to the undo list.
- Actions added to the undo list:
  Changing the model's material.
  
  Adding/removing animations.
  
  Adding/removing LODs.
- Not added to the undo list:
  Changing the Materials Settings panel's Preview check box.
  
  Changing any field in the Display Settings panel.
  
  Changing camera height and/or angle.
Edit → Redo

Redoes the most recently undone model-changing action.

Multiple actions can be redone.

The redo list contains one entry for each undone model-changing action.

Also accessible via the Redo toolbar button^A ().
Edit → Preferences

Opens the Model Editor Preferences dialog box (for details, see Preferences dialog box), which allows you to customise editor and environment options.
View → Toolbar → Main toolbar

Toggles the visibility of Model Editor's toolbar.
View → Show Asset Browser panel

Displays/activates the panel (for details, see Asset Browser panel).^A
View → Show Display panel

Displays/activates the panel (for details, see Display Settings panel).^A
View → Show Object panel

Displays/activates the panel (for details, see Object Properties panel).^A
View → Show Animations panel

Displays/activates the panel (for details, see Animations panel).^A
View → Show Actions panel

Displays/activates the panel (for details, see Actions panel).^A
View → Show LOD Panel

Displays/activates the panel (for details, see Level Of Detail panel).^A
View → Show Lights Panel

Displays/activates the panel (for details, see Lighting Setup panel).^A
View → Show Materials Panel

Displays/activates the panel (for details, see Materials Settings panel).^A
View → Show Messages Panel

Displays/activates the panel (for details, see BigWorld Messages panel).^A
View → Show Panels

Toggles the visibility of all panels.^A
View → Load Default Panel Layout

Closes all customised panels and displays Model Editor's default panel layout.^A
View → Load Most Recent Panel Layout

Closes all current panels and displays the customised panel layout previously used.^A
Languages → List of available languages

Selects the language to use in the tool.

This list is compiled based on the LanguageName tags present in the XML files in the <res>/helpers/languages folder and in the file pointed by the language tag in bigworld/tools/modeleditor/options.xml.
Help → About Model Editor

Opens the Model Editor version dialog box.
Help → Tools Reference Guide

Opens this document.
Help → Content creation

Opens the document Content Creation Manual.
Help → Shortcuts

Opens the Model Editor Keyboard Shortcuts dialog box.

For details, see Model Editor Shortcuts dialog box.
Help → Request feature/report bug

Opens your e-mail program, with the To: field automatically set to BigWorld's support e-mail address, and the Subject: field set to Model Editor — Feature Request / Bug Report.

A — For details on the panel system and its terminology, see Panel System.

3.2. Toolbar

The list below describes the toolbar buttons available in Model Editor:

— Save

Saves the current model.

Performs the same function as the File → Save menu item.^A
— Undo

Undoes the most recent action.

Performs the same function as the Edit → Undo menu item.^A
— Redo

Redoes the most recent undone action.

Performs the same function as Edit → Redo menu item.^A
— Create thumbnail

Captures a thumbnail of the current view of the loaded model.

This thumbnail is used in the Object Properties panel, and by the Asset Browser^A in other tools of the BigWorld Toolkit.
— Zoom to extents

Moves the camera so that the model is brought to the centre of the screen.

This is useful if you have moved the camera far from the model, and needs to quickly centre it again.
— Display bounding box

Toggles the visibility of the model's bounding box (yellow) and visibility box (blue).

Same as the Display Settings panel's Show Bounding Box check box.
— Free positioning

Sets camera movement to a swivel action — the camera can be swivelled by dragging the right mouse button.

Keyboard movement keys will move the camera.
— X-locked

Locks camera movement to the x-axis.^B
— Y-locked

Locks camera movement to the y-axis.^B
— Z-locked

Locks camera movement to the z-axis.^B
— Orbit camera

Toggles camera pivot movement around the geometric centre of model.

You can change the orbit direction by pressing d (clockwise camera rotation) or a (counter-clockwise camera rotation).
— Slow, — Medium, — Fast, — Super fast

Specifies how fast the camera travels in response to appropriate key events.

If Caps Lock is on^A, then the camera speed will be boosted.

A — For details, see Menu items.

B — Swivelling the camera (by dragging the right mouse button) sets the camera mode to Free Positioning.

3.3. Status bar

The status bar displays information about the current scene. A typical status bar is illustrated below:

Model Editor toolbar

The list below lists the pieces of information displayed in the status bar, as they appear:

Menu item pointed at (in the example, Get Information about Model Editor)

Help text for the menu item currently pointed at.
Triangles rendered (in the example, 7236 triangles)

Number of triangles currently being rendered in the scene.
Model nodes (in the example, 172 nodes)

Number of nodes on the model currently rendered.
Model BlendBone nodes (in the example, 85 BlendBone nodes)

Number of BlendBone nodes for the current model.
Texture size in memory (in the example, 2.61 Bytes texture memory)

Amount of texture memory being used by the loaded model.
Frame rate (in the example, FPS: 234)

Current frame rate being used to display the scene.

3.4. Keyboard shortcuts

The list of Model Editor's keyboard shortcuts can be displayed via the Help → Shortcuts menu item (for details, see Menu items).

The sections below list the Model Editor's keyboard shortcuts:

3.4.1. Function keys

F1

Displays the Model Editor Shortcuts page, which can be left by pressing Esc.
Ctrl+F5

Activates the Realtime Profiling console, which can be left by pressing Esc — for details, see Realtime Profiling console.
Ctrl+F7

Activates the Debug (Watcher) console, which can be left by pressing Esc — for details, see Debug (Watcher) console.

3.4.2. Key modifiers

Alt
- If Debug (Watcher) console^A is active
  - If [0-9] key in the alphanumeric keypad is pressed:
    
    Selects item 40+[0-9], or 50+[0-9] (if Shift is pressed).
- If used to drag-and-drop from Asset Browser^B to viewport
  
  Adds the dragged model (with read-only permission) to the viewport, so it can be viewed alongside the current model. This is useful for editing models that are part of a SuperModel^C.
  
  Performs the same function as the File → Add Model menu item. For details, see Menu items.
Ctrl
- If Debug (Watcher) console^A is active
  - If [0-9] key in the alphanumeric keypad is pressed:
    
    Selects item 20+[0-9], or 30+[0-9] (if Shift is pressed).
- If used to drag-and-drop from Asset Browser^B to viewport
  
  Adds the dragged model (with read-only permission) to the viewport, so it can be viewed alongside the current model. This is useful for editing models that are part of a SuperModel^C.
  
  Performs the same function as the File → Add Model menu item. For details, see Menu items.
Shift
- If Debug (Watcher) console^A is active
  - If [0-9] key in the alphanumeric keypad is pressed:
    
    Selects item 10+[0-9], 30+[0-9] (if Ctrl is pressed), or 50+[0-9] (if Alt is pressed).
Shift+Enter
- If Debug (Watcher) console^A is active
  - If watcher is in Edit mode
    
    Displays the watcher modification history.

A — Activated by F7 (for details, see Debug (Watcher) console).

B — For details, see Asset Browser panel.

C — For details, see the document Client Programming Guide's section Models → SuperModel.

3.4.3. Edit keys

Backspace
- If Debug (Watcher) console^A is active
  
  Returns the list to the previous branch of the watcher tree.
Caps Lock
- ON
  
  Increases the current camera speed. It will accelerate the camera movement, which speed is set by keyboard shortcuts (Ctrl+1, Ctrl+2, Ctrl+3, and Ctrl+4), or by the Camera Speed toolbar buttons (,,, and )^B.
- OFF
  
  Restores the camera speed set by keyboard shortcuts or by the Camera Speed toolbar buttons^B.
Enter
- If Python console^C is active and no command is specified
  
  Executes the Python command, or exits the console if no command was specified.
- If Realtime Profiling console^D is active
  
  Expands or collapses the profiling element currently selected — elements with children are indicated by an ellipsis (…) next to it.
- If Debug (Watcher) console^A is active
  - If the selected node is not a leaf
    
    Navigates one level down in the watcher tree.
  - If the selected node is a leaf
    
    Opens the selected watcher for editing, or accepts the typed value if it is already in Edit mode.
  - If watcher is in Edit mode and Shift is pressed
    
    Displays the watcher modification history.
Esc

Deselects the selected objects.
- If any console is active
  
  Exits the console.
  
  NOTE: The different modes and consoles are activated in the following way:
  - Help mode — F1
  - Realtime profiling console — F5 (for details, see Realtime Profiling console)
  - Debug (Watcher) console — F7 (for details, see Debug (Watcher) console)
  - Python console — Ctrl+P (for details, see Python console)
- If Debug (Watcher) console^A is active
  - If the watcher is in Edit mode:
    
    Leaves Edit mode.
  - If the watcher is not in Edit mode:
    
    Exits the console.
Home
- If Realtime Profiling console^D is active
  
  Scrolls the list to display the first page.
- If Debug (Watcher) console^A is active
  
  Returns the list to the root of the watcher tree.
Page Down
- If Realtime Profiling console^D is active
  
  Moves the selection to the next element in the list.
  
  Performs the same function as the ] (square right bracket) keyboard shortcut.
- If Debug (Watcher) console^A is active
  - If the watcher is not in Edit mode
    
    Moves the selection to the next item in the list.
  - If the watcher is in Edit mode
    
    Decreases the watcher's value by 1, 10 (if Shift is pressed), 100 (if Ctrl is pressed), or 1,000 (if Alt is pressed).
Page Up
- If Realtime Profiling console^D is active
  
  Moves the selection to the previous profiling element in the list.
  
  Performs the same function as the [ (square left bracket) keyboard shortcut.
- If Debug (Watcher) console^A is active
  - If the watcher is not in Edit mode
    
    Moves the selection to the previous item in the list.
  - If the watcher is in Edit mode
    
    Increases the watcher's value by 1, 10 (if Shift is pressed), 100 (if Ctrl is pressed), or 1,000 (if Alt is pressed).

A — Activated by F7 (for details, see Debug (Watcher) console).

B — For details, see Toolbar.

C — Activated by Ctrl+P (for details, see Python console).

D — Activated by F5 (for details, see Realtime Profiling console).

3.4.4. Symbols

Numpad + (Plus sign)
- If Realtime Profiling console^B is active
  
  Scrolls the screen one line down.
- If Debug (Watcher) console^A is active
  
  Scrolls the watcher list down.
Numpad - (Minus sign)
- If Realtime Profiling console^B is active
  
  Scrolls the screen one line up.
- If Debug (Watcher) console^A is active
  
  Scrolls the watcher list up.
[ (Left square bracket)
- If Realtime Profiling console^B is active
  
  Moves the selection to the profiling element in the list.
  
  Performs the same function as the Page Up keyboard shortcut.^C
] (Right square bracket)
- If Realtime Profiling console^B is active
  
  Moves selection to the next profiling element in the list.
  
  Performs the same function as the Page Down keyboard shortcut^C.

A — Activated by F7 (for details, see Debug (Watcher) console).

B — Activated by F5 (for details, see Realtime Profiling console).

C — For details, see Edit keys.

3.4.5. Numeric keys

Alphanumeric keypad
- If Debug (Watcher) console^A is active
  
  Depending on the key modifier pressed (if any), selects the following item (n is the pressed key):
  - n
  - 10+n (if Shift is pressed)
  - 20+n (if Ctrl is pressed)
  - 30+n (if Ctrl+Shift is pressed)
  - 40+n (if Alt is pressed)
  - 50+n (if Alt+Shift is pressed)

A — Activated by F7 (for details, see Debug (Watcher) console).

3.4.6. Alphabetic keys

A

Moves the camera to the left.
- If the Orbit Camera toolbar button ()^A is selected
  - If the camera is rotating clockwise
    
    Stops the camera rotation.
  - If the camera is not rotating
    
    Rotates the camera counter-clockwise.
D

Moves the camera to the right.
- If the Orbit Camera toolbar button ()^A is selected
  - If the camera is rotating counter-clockwise
    
    Stops the camera rotation.
  - If the camera is not rotating
    
    Rotates the camera clockwise.
E

Moves the camera upwards.
G
- If Realtime Profiling console^B is active
  
  Draws a graph for the profiling element currently selected.
  
  More than one element can be graphed at any one time. Each one will be assigned a different colour, which will be used to display the element's name, and draw the graph itself.
M
- If Ctrl is pressed
  
  Cycles through the available camera modes.
  
  This value can also be set by the Camera Mode group of toolbar buttons (,,,).
Q

Moves the camera downwards.
W

Moves the camera forward.
S

Moves the camera backwards.

A — For details, see Toolbar.

B — Activated by F5 (for details, see Debug (Watcher) console).

3.4.7. Key combinations

Alt+F4

Accesses the File → Exit menu item.^C
Alt+Page Down
- If Debug (Watcher) console^A is active and watcher is in Edit mode
  
  Decreases the watcher's value by 1,000.
Alt+Page Up
- If Debug (Watcher) console^A is active and watcher is in Edit mode
  
  Increases the watcher's value by 1,000.
Alt+[0-9]
- If Debug (Watcher) console^A is active and alphanumeric keypad was used
  
  Selects list item 4[0-9].
Alt+Shift+[0-9]
- If Debug (Watcher) console^A is active and alphanumeric keypad was used
  
  Selects list item 5[0-9].
Ctrl+Page Down
- If Debug (Watcher) console^A is active and watcher is in Edit mode
  
  Decreases the watcher's value by 100.
Ctrl+Page Up
- If Debug (Watcher) console^A is active and watcher is in Edit mode
  
  Increases the watcher's value by 100.
Ctrl+[0-9]

Ctrl+1 turns the Slow Camera toolbar button^B () on.

Ctrl+2 turns the Medium Speed Camera toolbar button^B () on.

Ctrl+3 turns the Fast Camera toolbar button^B () on.

Ctrl+4 turns the Super Fast Camera toolbar button^B () on.
- If Debug (Watcher) console^A is active and alphanumeric keypad was used
  
  Selects item 2[0-9].
Ctrl+Shift+[0-9]
- If Debug (Watcher) console^A is active and alphanumeric keypad was used
  
  Selects item 3[0-9].
Ctrl+A

Accesses the File → Add Model menu item.^C
Ctrl+B

Accesses the File → Regenerate Bounding Box menu item.^C
Ctrl+H

Accesses the View → Show Panels menu item.^C
Ctrl+I

Cycles through the available camera speeds.

This value can also be set by the Camera Speed group of toolbar buttons — ,,,.
Ctrl+M

Cycles through the available camera modes.

This value can also be set by the Camera Mode group of toolbar buttons — ,,,, .
Ctrl+O

Accesses the File → Open Model menu item.^C
Ctrl+P

Activates the Python console, which can be left by pressing Esc. For details, see Python console.
Ctrl+R

Accesses the File → Revert To Saved menu item.^C
Ctrl+S

Accesses the File → Save menu item.^C
Ctrl+T

Accesses the Edit → Reload All Textures menu item.^C
Ctrl+Y

Accesses the Edit → Redo menu item.^C
Ctrl+Z

Accesses Edit → Undo menu item.^C

Note: The mouse cursor must be over the viewport for this shortcut to be enabled.
Shift+Alt+[0-9]

See entry Alt+Shift+[0-9] in this list.
Shift+Ctrl+[0-9]

See entry Ctrl+Shift+[0-9] in this list.
Shift+Enter
- If Debug (Watcher) console^A is active and watcher is in Edit mode
  
  Displays the watcher modification history.
Shift+Page Down
- If Debug (Watcher) console^A is active and watcher is in Edit mode
  
  Decreases the watcher's value by 1.
Shift+Page Up
- If Debug (Watcher) console^A is active and watcher is in Edit mode
  
  Increases the watcher's value by 1.

A — Activated by F7 (for details, see Debug (Watcher) console).

B — For details, see Toolbar.

C — For details, see Menu items.

3.5. Mouse controls

The list below lists the Model Editor's mouse controls:

Left button drag
- If the mouse is dragged from an asset in the Asset Browser panel (for details, see Asset Browser panel)
  
  For details, see Drag-and-drop

Right button drag

Moves the camera in the scene.

Dragging the mouse to the left and to the right always moves the camera in that direction. But the effect on up and down drag is determined by the Model Editor Preferences dialog box's Invert Mouse check box^A (the dialog box is accessed via the Edit → Preferences menu item^B).

The table below describes the camera's movement:

Drag direction	Invert mouse	Camera movement	Model movement
Left	N/A	Left	Right
Right	N/A	Right	Left
Forward		Up	Down
Forward		Down	Up
Backwards		Down	Up
Backwards		Up	Down

If Alt or Ctrl is used to drag from the Asset Browser panel to the viewport (for details on Asset Browser, see Asset Browser panel)

Adds the dragged model (with read-only permission) to the viewport, so it can be viewed alongside the current model. This is useful for editing models that are part of a SuperModel (for details, see the document Client Programming Guide's section Models → SuperModel).

Performs the same function as the File → Add Model menu item. For details, see Menu items.

Middle button click

Moves the camera so that the model is brought to the centre of the screen.

Performs the same function as the Zoom To Extents toolbar button ()^C.
Scroll wheel rotate

Moves the camera forward and backwards.
- If Space key is pressed
  
  Increases or decreases the camera speed, depending on the direction of the wheel rotation.
  
  Performs the same functions as the ,,, and toolbar buttons.^C

A — For details, see Preferences dialog box.

B — For details, see Menu items.

C — For details, see Toolbar.

3.6. Dialog boxes

3.6.1. Preferences dialog box

Accessed via the Edit → Preferences menu item, the Preferences dialog box allows you to customise editor, environment, and LOD (level of detail) options.

Model Editor Preferences dialog box

The list below describes the fields on this dialog box:

On startup
- Show splash screen
  
  Toggles the display of the application's splash screen.
- Load last model
  
  Toggles the automatic load on startup of the model file used on last session.
- Load last lights
  
  Toggles the automatic load on startup of the light file used on last session.
On model load
- Regenerate visibility box
  
  Determines whether a visibility box should be automatically generated upon load for models that do not have one.
- Zoom to extents
  
  Automatically zooms to show the entire model when loading.
Animate zoom to extents

Sets whether the zoom to model's extents should be animated.
Lock LOD parents

Sets whether LOD parents of the loaded model should be read-only.

Invert mouse

Toggles the camera orientation for the up and down mouse movements when using the mouse's right button.

Note that this setting does not affect the camera orientation for the left and right mouse movements.

Mouse movement	Camera movement	Model movement
Up	Up	Down
Down	Down	Up
Up	Down	Up
Down	Up	Down

3.6.2. Texture Feed Name dialog box

Accessed by right-clicking any texture map in the Materials Settings panel's Properties Table (for details, see Material Properties table) and choosing either the Enable Texture Feed or the Change Texture Feed Name item in the context menu (for details, see Texture map context menu), this dialog box allows you to specify or change the name for the texture feed to be assigned to the invoking texture map.

Texture Feed Name dialog box

The list below describes the fields on this dialog box:

Name

Name to assign to the texture feed.
Cancel

Closes the dialog box without assigning or changing name of texture feed.
Remove texture feed

Removes the texture feed currently assigned to the texture map.

This button will only be enabled if the invoking texture map already has a texture feed assigned to it.
OK

Assigns/changes name of the texture feed.

The name of the texture feed is displayed between parentheses next to the texture description.

3.6.3. Model Editor Shortcuts dialog box

Accessed via the Help → Shortcuts menu item, the Model Editor Shortcuts dialog box displays a list of shortcuts available on Model Editor. For details on the complete list, see Keyboard shortcuts.

Model Editor Shortcuts dialog box

3.7. Assets

Assets used to populate the world can be accessed via the Asset Browser panel. For details, see Asset Browser panel.

3.7.1. Models

This node lists all exported .model files. Models are the basic props that can be placed in world.

Note

For more information on models, see:

document Client Programming Guide's chapter Models.
document Content Creation Manual's lessons (document accessed by pressing F1 or by selecting the Help → Content Creation menu item — for details, see Menu items):
- Modify a Model in Model Editor
- Add Models to the World
- Best Practices → Animation tree — Using LOD models to share animations

For details on .model files' grammar, see the document File Grammar Guide's section .model.

3.7.2. Shells

Shells refer to the indoor chunks containing portals, exported to the folder shells.

Note

For more information on shells, see:

Potential problems placing models and shells.
Creating Shells.
document Content Creation Manual's lessons (document accessed by pressing F1 or by selecting the Help → Content Creation menu item — for details, see Menu items):
- Create an Internal Shel
- Create an Internal Area in World Editor Using Shells
- Add Lights to the World → Lighting Environments
- Outdoor-to-Indoor Transitions → Placing an interior shell

3.7.3. Textures

Textures refer to two-dimensional images of a surface used to cover 3D objects, which are assigned in the Materials Settings panel (for details on this panel, see Materials Settings panel) to material's various maps (e.g., normal, height, diffuse, specular, sub-surface).

Note

For more information on texture, see the document Content Creation Manual's lessons (document accessed by pressing F1 or by selecting the Help → Content Creation menu item — for details, see Menu items):

Create and Export a Static Object in 3ds Max and Maya → Referencing the object texture maps
Create Low-Polygon Characters → Referencing the character texture maps
Create and Apply Animated Texture Maps
Build and Use Normal Maps → Create Decal Textures

3.7.4. Effects

This node lists the effect files (.fx), which specify the effect to be applied to the selected material/tint (effect files are assigned in the Materials Settings panel (for details on this panel, see Materials Settings panel).

Note

For more information on effects, see:

document Client Programming Guide's section 3D Engine (Moo) → EffectMaterial
document Content Creation Manual's lessons (document accessed by pressing F1 or by selecting the Help → Content Creation menu item — for details, see Menu items):
- Manage Resources → Non-specific resources
- BigWorld shaders and Materials
- Create a New Material

For details on the .fx file's grammar, see the document Client Programming Guide's section 3D Engine (Moo) → EffectMaterial → Format.

3.7.5. MFMs

This node lists the material files (.mfm), which contain material information that includes bitmap references and effect files (.fx), which in turn gives Model Editor access to artist-editable features in that file (MFM files are assigned in the Materials Settings panel (for details on this panel, see Materials Settings panel).

Material files are a handy way of storing complex material property settings.

When a .mfm file is referenced in Model Editor, the content of that material file is copied to the model's visual file (.visual) — it does not dynamically reference the .mfm file. For details on visual files' grammar, see the document File Grammar Guide's section .visual.

Note

For more information on MFM, see the document Content Creation Manual's lessons (document accessed by pressing F1 or by selecting the Help → Content Creation menu item — for details, see Menu items):

Manage Resources → Organising art resources — Sets
BigWorld shaders and Materials
Create a New Material
Create and Apply Animated Texture Maps

For details on .mfm files' grammar, see the document File Grammar Guide's section .mfm.

3.7.6. Lights

This node lists pre-defined Model Editor Light (.mvl) files, which specify lighting settings that can be applied to the model, thus previewing how it will look when placed in the world.

Lighting settings can be applied to the model using the Lighting Setup panel (for details on this panel, see Lighting Setup panel).

Note

For details on .mvl files' grammar, see the document File Grammar Guide's section .mvl.

3.7.7. Animations

This node lists the animation files (.animation) created and exported by your 3D application.

Note

For more information on animations, see:

3ds Max animation exporter.
Maya visual and animation exporter.
document Client Programming Guide's chapter Animation System.
document Content Creation Manual's lessons (document accessed by pressing F1 or by selecting the Help → Content Creation menu item — for details, see Menu items):
- Create Character Movement Animations
- Add Animations to Characters
- Modify Animations with Actions
- Create Animated or Interactive Entities
- Best Practices → Animation tree — Using LOD models to share animations

3.8. Panel summary

Most of the GUI for interacting with models is contained in panels selectable via tabs.

Model Editor panel

The following sub-sections describe each panel and the settings available on them.

3.8.1. Asset Browser panel

This panel gives access to assets through the Asset Browser, an interface that is available in World Editor, Model Editor, and Particle Editor. For details, see Asset Browser.

Asset Browser panel

3.8.1.1. Drag-and-drop

Drag-and-drop operation is specific to the tool that implements it, and the type of asset being dragged , as described in the table below (asset types are listed in the order in which they appear in the Asset Tree):

Asset type	Drop location^A	Effect
A — If asset file is dropped in Favourites special virtual folder, then it is added to that folder. For details, see Asset file.
Animation	Animations panel's Animation list (for details on this field, see Animations panel)	Adds the dragged animation to the list of animations played for the current model.
Effect	Materials Settings panel's Properties table or Effect field (for details on this field, see Materials Settings panel)	Assigns the dragged effect/MFM file to the current material.
Light	Viewport	Applies the lighting setup described in the dragged file to the current model. This automatically selects the Custom Lighting option button in the Lighting Setup panel, and sets the Lighting Model drop-down list box with the selected file (for details, see Lighting Setup panel).
MFM	Same as Effect.
Model	Viewport	Opens the dragged model/shell for editing. If Ctrl or Alt is pressed: Adds the dragged model (with read-only permission) to the viewport, so it can be viewed alongside the current model. This is useful for editing models that are part of a SuperModel (for details, see the document Client Programming Guide's section Models → SuperModel). Performs the same function as the File → Add Model menu item (for details, see Menu items).
	Object Properties panel's Editor Proxy Model field (for details on this field, see Object Properties panel)	Adds the dragged model as a new LOD level for the current model.
	Level Of Detail panel's LOD table (for details on this field, see Level Of Detail panel)	Sets the dragged model as the editor proxy model.
Shell	Viewport	Opens the dragged shell for editing.
Texture	Display Settings panel's Choose Floor Texture button (for details on this field, see Display Settings panel)	Applies the dragged texture to the floor texture.
Texture	Materials Settings panel's Properties table's any map field — e.g., normal, height, diffuse, specular, sub-surface (for details on these fields, see Materials Settings panel)	Assigns the dragged texture to the map field.

Drag-and-drop operation in Model Editor's Asset Browser panel

3.8.1.2. Virtual folders

Defined in Asset Browser's configuration file (for details, see Customisation), virtual folder list files of a specific asset type.

For details on the listed asset types, see Assets.

3.8.2. Object Properties panel

This panel allows you to specify the properties of the material of each component of the model. For details on material properties, see Materials Settings panel.

Object Properties panel

The list below describes the fields on this panel:

Model file

Model's file name, with full path.
Use as occluder in game

Indicates that the object should occlude the view (large non-transparent objects should use this flag). This information is used by UMBRA in the client to determine the visibility of objects behind the model.
Allow model batching in game

Indicates that the model allows batching. This can improve performance due to rendering optimisation, if there are several instances of a model appearing in the game. It is important to note that batched models cannot use tints.
Editor proxy model

Model to be displayed alongside the loaded one when editing it in World Editor.A Very small models are difficult to select, manipulate, and visualise in World Editor — by defining a proxy model, the builder has a better way to work with them. Please note that Model Editor also renders the proxy model alongside the current model.
Remove editor proxy model

Removes the proxy model specified for the current model.
Default material kind

Default material kind for the model (such as wood, glass, etc...), used to define the behaviour of the model, such as sounds to play and the particle systems to use for it.

For example, for a wooden barrel, a wood sound should be played, and wood particles emitted when it is shot at.

The default value—None (Default)—specifies that the value set for Default Material Kind should be used.

The file bigworld/res/system/data/material_kinds.xml (for details on this file's grammar, see the document File Grammar Guide's section material_kinds.xml) contains the current set of pre-defined kinds, and can be edited to customise the available material kinds, which are listed below:
- None (Default)
  
  Material will use the visual's kind.
- Wood
  
  Dull surfaces, not very reactive.
- Stone
  
  Non-metallic hard surfaces.
- Chain
  
  Lightweight meshes, often loose, such as link fences, or wire crates.
- Light metal
  
  Lightweight or thin metal surfaces, often hollow.
- Heavy metal
  
  Solid or thick metal surfaces.
- Glass
  
  Any kind of glass.
- Dirt
  
  Hard outside surfaces, often crunchy.
- Grass
  
  Soft outside surfaces, may not be grassy.
- Snow
  
  Hard crunchy snow.
- Water
  
  Wet surfaces, including mud, wet ground and water pools.
- Flesh
  
  People, body parts, etc...
- Plastic
  
  Thick plastic (used often in research area for walls).
Material kind

Table containing each model's components and its material kind.

This value can be changed in Materials Settings panel, alongside other settings for each component. For details, see Materials Settings panel.

A — To display proxy models in World Editor, the General Options panel's Show list box's Editor Proxies check box must be selected. For details, see General Options panel.

3.8.3. Display Settings panel

This panel gives you access to options on how to display models in the current session of Model Editor.

Display Settings panel

The list below describes the fields on this panel:

General
- Show axes
  
  Toggles rendering of the X-, Y-, and Z-axes.
- Show bloom
  
  Toggles the bloom full-screen effect.
  
  Blooming is a way to simulate the high dynamic range of lighting, by producing an automatic glow around very bright objects.
- Check for sparkles
  
  Overrides all other display settings, and displays the model against a white background with white ambient lighting — this is used to highlight any seams in the model.
  
  Sparkles along seams can occur when two separate models (e.g., a detachable arm a torso) are not properly joined. By rotating the model against a white background, any gaps along seams will sparkle.
- Show shimmer
  
  Toggles the shimmer full-screen effect.
  
  Shimmer is a special effect that is suited to simulating the diffraction from a moving water surface or bubbles, and localised heat-haze effects.
  
  This will have an effect in Model Editor only if the model has a shimmer material.
- Enable Fog
  
  Toggles in-game fog.
  
  Fog is particularly useful when dealing with sky domes.
Model
- Show model
  
  Toggles rendering of the model. In general, this option will be cleared only when the Show Skeleton check box is selected, to give the user a view only of the model's skeleton.
- Show BSP
  
  Toggles the display of model's BSP, which is used to calculate the collision scene.
  
  Note
  
  Skinned objects do not have an associated BSP tree, unless a custom one has been exported with it.
  
  Show BSP—OFF
  
  Show BSP—ON
- Show wireframe
  
  Toggles the display of the model as a mesh.
  
  Show Wireframe—OFF
  
  Show Wireframe—ON
- Show portals
  
  Toggles the display of portals as a translucent blue region.
  
  This option is applicable only to shells.
  
  Show Portals—OFF
  
  Show Portals—ON
- Show skeleton
  
  Toggles the display of model's skeleton, which will be rendered over the model itself.
  
  It is possible to show only the skeleton by clearing the Show Model check box.
  
  Show Skeleton—OFF
  
  Show Skeleton—ON
- Show hard points
  
  Toggles the display of model's hard points — each will be rendered alongside its name and XYZ axes.
  
  For details on hard points, see the document Client Programming Guide's section Models → Hard Points.
  
  Show Hard Points—OFF
  
  Show Hard Points—ON
- Show bounding boxes
  
  Toggles the visibility of model's bounding box (yellow) and visibility box (blue).
  
  Performs the same function as the Display Bounding Box () toolbar button — for details, see Toolbar.
- Show editor proxy
  
  Toggles the display of the proxy model (specified in the Object Properties panel's Editor Proxy Model field) alongside the current model.
  
  For details on proxy models, see Object Properties panel.
- Show custom hull
  
  Toggles the display of shell's custom hull defined in the .visual file (for details on this file's grammar, see the document File Grammar Guide's section .visual).
  
  This option has no effect on shells that do not define a custom hull.
  
  This option is applicable only to shells.
  
  Show Custom Hull—OFF
  
  Show Custom Hull—ON
- Show vertex normals
  
  Toggles the display of normals for each of the model's vertices, which will be rendered in yellow.
  
  Show Vertex Normals—OFF
  
  Show Vertex Normals—ON
- Centre model
  
  Centres the model's bounding box at the origin.
- Show vertex binormals
  
  Toggles the display of binormals for each of the model's vertices — tangents will be rendered in red, and bi-normals in blue.
  
  Show Vertex Binormals—OFF
  
  Show Vertex Binormals—ON
- Length of vertex normals, binormals
  
  Specifies the length of the in which the vertices' normal, bi-normals, and tangents will be displayed.
  
  Low value for length
  
  High value for length
- Shadowing settings
  
  Specifies the quality in which to render the model shadow.
  
  The higher the quality of the shadowing, the more CPU resources are used, thus decreasing the number of frames per second in which the model is rendered.
  
  Note
  
  If the Show Wireframe check box is selected, then Shadowing Settings will have no effect on the model.
  
  Disabled
  
  Low quality
  
  Medium quality
  
  High quality
Background
- Background option
  
  Specifies what kind of ground should be rendered with the model:
  - No background
    
    Only the model will be rendered, with no floor or terrain.
  - Use floor
    
    The model will be rendered on top of the floor texture specified via the Choose Floor Texture button.
  - Use terrain
    
    The model will be rendered against the terrain specified for the space used in Model Editor (this is set in bigworld/tools/modeleditor/options.xml file's space tag (for details on this file's grammar, see the document File Grammar Guide's section options.xml → World Editor).
- Flora density option
  
  Specifies the density of the flora to be rendered alongside terrain — this option is only available if the Background Option drop-down list box is set to Use Terrain.
  
  Note
  
  Settings for the flora — including its density — are specified in the flora.xml file (for details on this file's grammar, see the document File Grammar Guide's section <flora>.xml) specified in the space's space.settings configuration file's flora tag (for details on this file's grammar, see the document File Grammar Guide's section space.settings).
  
  If the tag is not present, then Model Editor will use the settings specified in the flora.xml file specified in the resources.xml file's floraXML tag (for details, see the document Client Programming Guide's section Overview → Configuration files → File resources.xml.).
- Choose BKG colour
  
  Opens the Color dialog box, where you can specify the colour against which the models will be rendered.
  
  The selected colour will be applied to the background only if the Background Option drop-down list box is set to No Background or Use Floor.
- Choose floor texture
  
  Opens the Open dialog box, where you can specify the image to be used as the floor texture.
  
  Bitmaps, TGA, and JPG images can be used as a floor texture.
  
  Note
  
  Items can be dragged into this button from Asset Browser panel's Textures virtual folder — the dragged texture will be applied to the floor.
  
  Note
  
  The texture tiling size (which defaults to 1 metre) ins configurable via the bigworld/tools/modeleditor/options.xml file's settings/floorGrid tag

Time of day

Sets the current time of the day in the world.

Changing the time of day affects the angle of the sun, and hence it also affects:

Ground — depending on Background Option.
Shadow cast:
- Upon the model — depending on Shadowing Setting.
- On ground — depending on Shadowing Setting and Background Option.

As mentioned in the Shadowing Settings entry, if the Show Wireframe check box is selected, then shadows are not rendered.

If Background Option is set to Use Terrain, then the sky changes according to the time.

The table below describes how the ground is affected by this field:

Shadowing settings	Background option
Shadowing settings	No Background	Use Floor	Use Terrain
Disable shadowing	None. No ground is rendered.	Floor is rendered more darkly or brightly, according to colour of the light.	Terrain and sky are rendered according to colour of the light.
Low quality		Floor is rendered more darkly or brightly, according to angle of the sun. The model's shadow is cast on the ground according to angle of the sun.	Terrain and sky are rendered according to angle of the sun. The model's shadow is cast on the ground according to angle of the sun.
Medium quality
High quality

Note

The Lighting Setup panel also has a Time of Day slider (under the Game Lighting option button), which is automatically changed to the value set on this field. For details, see Lighting Setup panel.

3.8.4. Animations panel

This panel allows you to manipulate the animations exported from your 3D application

Animations panel

The list below describes the fields on this panel:

Search bar —

Restricts the animations displayed in Animation List to the ones containing the typed string.

The list is refreshed automatically as the string is typed.

The Clear button —— deletes the typed string, which causes the Animation List to display all animations associated to the model.
Animation list

List of all animations defined for each LOD of the model, which is set in the Level Of Detail panel (for details, see Level Of Detail panel).

Animations are listed in the order in which they were added to the model — which also will be reflected in the model file (for details on this file's grammar, see the document File Grammar Guide's section .model).
Animation buttons
- Opens the Open dialog box, where you can specify an animation file (.animation) to associate to the selected model.
- Plays the selected animation.
- Pauses the current animation.
- Continuously replays the current animation.
- Dissociates the selected animation from the model. No confirmation is requested for this operation.
Name

Name of the selected animation.

Changes made to this field are automatically reflected in the Animation List list box.
File source

Path/filename of the selected animation.

The path is relative to one of the entries in the resources folders list (or <res>). For details on how BigWorld compiles this list, see Starting the Tools.
Included frames

Range of frames to include when playing the animation
Current frame

Number of the frame currently displayed.

As you move the slider, the frame in the viewport is automatically updated, according to the current settings for node blending.
Frame rate

Rate at which to play the animation.

Value ranges from 1 to 60.
Save frame rate

Writes the current value of Frame Rate to the model.

When viewing different animations, the modified value of Frame Rate is lost, unless it is written to the model.
Node blending

This panel allows the user to modify the settings that refer to animation node blending. Blend Factor determines the percentage of current node animation that will be retained when this animation is blended with another one.

Changes to node blending are saved in the model file, not in the original animation.
- Node hierarchy
  
  Displays the model's nodes that must be manipulated in order to achieve the overall animation, as set in your 3D application.
  
  For each node, the following is displayed:
  - Node name.
  - Amount of node blending.
- Blend factor
  
  Sets the percentage of current node animation to retain when blending this animation with another one.
  
  This value is specified in relation to the animation's original value set in your 3D application.
  
  Value ranges from 0.0 to 1.0, with the effects described below:
  - 0.0
    
    None of the animation for the current node will be used in the final blended animation — i.e., the node will be moved as specified in the other animation.
  - Between 0.0 and 1.0
    
    The specified percentage of the animation for the current node will be used in the final blended animation.
  - 1.0
    
    The animation for the current node will be used in the final blended animation as it is — i.e., none of the other animation will be used for current node.
  Blend values greater than 1.0 can be assigned to a node to give it more weight when blending, but it is important to recognise that strong node blend values will effect the blend in and blend out times between actions. In the diagram below a node with a strong blend weight in Action A will still be the strongest influece at the time marker , if blending with a significantly less weighty node.
- Remove blend factor
  
  Sets Blend Factor of the selected node to same value of its parent node.
Compression settings

Group of settings that specify how much the animation should be compressed.

The key frames of an animation contain rotation, scale and position information. If this information does not change much over several frames, the intermediate frames (or inter frames) can have that information stripped out to save memory.

The sliders can be used to specify the threshold of similarity that determines whether to strip out the values for the inter frames. When changing the value of one of the sliders, it will only update when you release the left mouse button. Holding down shift while changing the slider will cause it to update every frame.
- Position, Rotation, Scale
  
  Required level of similarity in position/rotation/scale information before compression is applied to inter frames.
- Produces a non-compressed wireframe animation of the model, played along a fully-rendered compressed one.
  
  This way, the user can tweak the animation to achieve the best relation between animation quality and file size.
  
  Preview
- Saves the animation with the specified compression.
- Compressed vs. Original file size
  
  Displays the animation file size reflecting the current compression settings, against the current animation file size.

3.8.5. Actions panel

This panel allows you to create actions for the model, which can be used in scripts, and which are used by Action Matcher to determine the model's animations.

It also allows you to preview blending between actions that are on the same track and those that are on separate tracks. Model Editor has a set of rules in order to mimic the way the Action Matcher chooses how actions behave with each other in the game, these rules are:

If the action has no action match settings then it will be played once unless the Looped option is set.
If the action has trigger conditions then it will loop unless it has cancel conditions.
If the One Shot option is set then it will play once.

For details on match triggers and capability flags, see:

Action Triggers dialog box.
document Client Programming Guide's section Scripting → Functional components → Action Matcher.
document File Grammar Guide's section .model.

Actions panel

The list below describes the fields on this panel:

Search bar —

Restricts the actions displayed in Action List to the ones containing the typed string.

The list is refreshed automatically as the string is typed.

The Clear button —— deletes the typed string, which causes the Action List to display all actions associated to the model.
Action list

List of all actions defined for each LOD of the model, which is set in the Level Of Detail panel (for details, see Level Of Detail panel).

Actions are listed in the order in which they were added to the model — which also will be reflected in the model file (for details on this file's grammar, see the document File Grammar Guide's section .model).
Most recent actions list

List of the three most recent used actions.
Action buttons
- Opens the Create Action dialog box (for details, see Create Action dialog box), where you can specify an animation file (.animation) to associate to the new action.
  
  The action is added directly after the selected action.
- Increases the priority of the selected action
- Decreases the priority of the selected action
- Deletes the select action. No confirmation is requested for this operation.
- Triggers the selected action.
- Stops all actions currently playing.
- Graphs on the viewport all actions being played on the model, with their respective blend weights.
  
  Graph with the actions being played on model, with their respective blend weights
  
  Please note that this graph can also be displayed in-game using the Python console (for details, see the document Content Creation Manual's lesson Modify Animations With Actions → Debugging Animations, and the document Client Programming Guide's section Scripting → Functional components → Action Matcher → Debugging animations).
Name

Name of the action as used by a script.

These are available as named 'constants' of the model object returned by the Model Manager.

Changes to this field are automatically reflected in Action List list box.

Note

This has to be a Python-safe name, i.e., with only alphanumerics and the underscore character. Hence, it cannot support non-ASCII character sets, such as Chinese.
Animation

Animation to be played for the current action.

The Browse button —— opens the Choose Animation dialog box (for details, see Choose Animation dialog box), where you can select an animation file (.animation) for the action.
Blend in

Time (in seconds ) to blend this animation in with the previous one.
Blend out

Time (in seconds) to blend this animation out with the next one.
Looped

Toggles the continuous replay of the selected action.
Is impacting

Sets whether the movement in the root node of the animation should be promoted to impact on the controlling entity's position (assuming it is being controlled by an entity).

When this check box is selected, the offset of the root node in each frame of the animation from the position of the root node in the first frame is recorded, then subtracted from that frame.

This should be used for an irregular movement like 'jump over a log', where the model position change due to the animation should actually change the entity's position (and where the functionality provided by Is Movement is not appropriate).

The offset of the final frame is available to scripts.

Note that changes to the entity's position caused by impacting actions do not consider the collision scene. Care should be taken to ensure that applying an impacting action does not result in the entity being stuck in the collision scene.
Is movement

Sets whether the animation contains built-in movement, such as a walk cycle or a run cycle.

The change in transform of the root node from the beginning to end is recorded, then proportionally subtracted from each frame (i.e., if this check box is selected, then a run animation that does not run on the spot will appear to).

Since the subtraction is proportional to the frame number, if you move the model's transform at a constant speed, then the animation will play back exactly as it was exported, since the amount added by the movement of the transform will exactly match that subtracted from the movement of the root.

This check box should be selected for linear animations with regular movement. For irregular movements, select the Is Impacting check box instead.

IsMovement actions can also use the scale playback speed option.

The recorded offset of the last frame is available to scripts.
Is coordinated

Sets whether the animation is part of a sequence that is to be coordinated with a corresponding action on another model, and this animation does not start at the origin.

In this case, the offset of the root node in the first frame of the animation from the same node in its cognate animation's first frame is recorded, and subtracted completely from the root node for every frame of the animation (i.e., if this check box is selected, then the action for an animation that does not occur at the origin will play as if it did).

The offset from the cognate is available to scripts, so that models can be perfectly positioned and have their animations played back exactly as they were exported.

Note: The cognate animation is recorded in the animation definition, not in the action definition. The cognate is an animation whose root node in the first frame is in exactly the same pose as the root node in the first frame of the animation being described, except that the animation being described is offset from the origin — i.e., it is the normal (non-offset) animation that was being played immediately prior to the animation being defined. The 'idle' animation is almost always a suitable cognate for animations whose actions will be coordinated.
Track no.

Track on which the selected animation should be played.

A model may have different animations played on it at the same time, if each one is running on a different track.
Own track

Sets whether the action's animation should be played on its own track. An action with this field selected will have its animation always always blending with other animations playing at the same time.
Match

Group of conditions that must be met before Action Matcher triggers or cancels the selected action. For details on match triggers and capability flags, see the document Client Programming Guide's section Scripting → Functional components → Action Matcher, and the document File Grammar Guide's section .model.
- Trigger
  
  Group of conditions that must be met for the Action Matcher to trigger the action.
  - Falling (check box)
    
    Determines whether the model must be falling in order for the action to match.
    
    If this option is selected, then Speed is interpreted as the falling velocity. To further clarify, if the minimum and maximum velocities are set to 1 and 20 m/s then without falling being selected the action will be matched by a horizontal or vertical speed between 1 and 20 m/s. If falling is selected, then the action will be matched by a negative vertical velocity between 1 and 20 m/s.
  - Speed
    
    Minimum and maximum entity speeds.
    
    If the Falling check box is selected, then this is the vertical falling velocity.
  - Turn
    
    Minimum and maximum difference between entity's head and body angle.
  - Direction
    
    Minimum and maximum yaw of the model in relation to the entity.
  - Caps on^A
    
    List of user-defined capability flags that should be on.
  - Caps off^A
    
    List of user-defined capability flags that should be off.
- Cancel
  
  Group of conditions that must be met for the Action Matcher to cancel the action.
  - Turn (check box), Speed, Turn, Direction, Caps on^A, Caps off^A
    
    Same as Trigger.
- One shot
  
  Indicates to Action Matcher that the action should cancel the triggered action after playing it once.
- Scale playback speed
  
  Indicates that the speed at which the action is played should be scaled, in order to match the straight-line speed of the entity.
  
  It is used to keep the feet from sliding along the ground, while allowing the entity to move at any pace.
- Promote motion
  
  Indicates that a model should inherit the movement from an action, instead of blending out its movement back to the origin once it has finished playing.
  
  Also indicates, for any client-controlled entity (such as the Player), that the entity will inherit the Action's translation. Note that any rotation in such actions will not be promoted to the Entity, only to the Model.
  
  Note that this option should always be turned on for IsImpacting and IsMovement actions, or else those options will not work correctly.
- Feet follow direction
  
  Indicates that the model should face the direction to which the entity is heading.
  
  This will be a temporary change, and the model will blend back to pointing 'straight ahead' after the action has finished playing.

A — The Browse button —— opens the Action Triggers dialog box, where you can specify the list of capabilities that will affect triggering the action. For details, see Action Triggers dialog box.

3.8.5.1. Create Action dialog box

This dialog box is invoked by Actions panel's New Action button ——, and allows you to create an action for the selected model.

Create Action dialog box

The list below describes the fields on this dialog box:

Search bar —

Restricts the animations displayed in the Animation List to the ones containing the typed string.

The list is refreshed automatically as the string is typed.

The Clear button —— deletes the typed string, which causes the Animation List to display all animations associated to the model.
Animation list

List of all animations defined for each LOD of the model (set in the Level of Detail panel).

Animations are listed in the order in which they were added to the model — which also will be reflected in the model file (for details on this file's grammar, see the document File Grammar Guide's section .model).

Note

The specified animation might belong to a model different from the one selected in the Actions panel.
Action name

Name of the new action.

Note

This has to be a Python-safe name, i.e., with only alphanumerics and the underscore character. As a consequence, it cannot support non-ASCII character sets, such as Chinese.
Cancel

Closes the dialog box without creating an action.
OK

Closes the dialog box, updating Actions panel's Name and Animation fields with the specified values.

3.8.5.2. Choose Animation dialog box

This dialog box is invoked by the Animation field's Browse button — —, and allows the user to choose the animation to be associated with the selected action.

Choose Animation dialog box

The list below describes the fields on this dialog box:

Search bar —

Restricts the animations displayed in the Animation List to the ones containing the typed string.

The list is refreshed automatically as the string is typed.

The Clear button —— deletes the typed string, which causes the Animation List to display all animations associated to the model.
Animation list

List of all animations defined for each LOD of the model (set in the Level Of Detail panel).

Animations are listed in the order in which they were added to the model — which also will be reflected in the model file (for details on this file's grammar, see the document File Grammar Guide's section .model).

Note

The specified animation might belong to a model different from the one selected in the Actions panel.
Cancel

Closes the dialog box without assigning an animation to the selected action.
OK

Closes the dialog box, updating Actions panel's Animation field with the selected animation.

3.8.5.3. Action Triggers dialog box

This dialog box is invoked by the Actions panel's various Browse buttons —— on the Capabilities fields, and allows the user to specify the capabilities that must be on (if the dialog box was invoked from Caps On) or off (if invoked from Caps Off) for the action to be triggered (if invoked from the Trigger section) or cancelled (if invoked from the Cancel section).

Action Triggers dialog box

The illustration below shows the effect of the selected capabilities in the current action, according to the button that invoked the dialog box:

Example

The list below describes the fields on this dialog box:

Capability list

List is retrieved from fantasydemo/res/scripts/common/capabilities.xml.

For details on this file, see the document File Grammar Guide's section capabilities.xml.
Cancel

Closes the dialog box without assigning any capabilities to the invoking field.
OK

Closes the dialog box, updating the invoking field with list of selected capabilities.

3.8.6. Level Of Detail panel

This panel allows the user to set discrete levels of detail for the model, and to specify the distances at which to use them.

Level Of Detail panel

The list below describes the fields on this panel:

LOD distance bar

Graphic representation of LOD levels.

The bar is divided into ranges, one for each entry in the LOD table. The ranges are displayed in proportion to the distances they cover.

Min and Max columns in the LOD Table are automatically updated according to changes made to the bar.
Camera/LOD slider

Sets LOD Dist.
Virtual LOD distance

Determines whether Camera/LOD slider and LOD Dist will affect the LOD model displayed (if the check box is selected), or camera distance (if the check box is cleared).
LOD Dist

Depending on the value of Virtual LOD Distance check box, it has the following behaviour:
- If selected:
  
  Displays the LOD model associated to that distance.
- If cleared:
  
  Sets the camera distance to the model.
LOD table

Contains one row for each LOD level.

It contains the following fields:
- #
  
  Sequential number of the LOD.
- Model
  
  Model to be drawn for the LOD.
- Min
  
  Minimum distance from the camera for which the model will be drawn.
  
  If the model moves closer to the camera, then the model specified for the previous LOD will be drawn.
  
  This field can be set by the LOD Distance Bar, the Promote LOD button ——, the Demote LOD button ——, and the Min Dist field.
  
  Min column of the first non-hidden LOD can only be 0.
- Max
  
  Maximum distance from camera in which model will still be drawn.
  
  If the model moves closer to the camera, then the model specified for the next LOD (if any) will be drawn.
  
  If an ellipsis is displayed in this column, it means that the LOD has no maximum range — this is done via Set To Infinite — — button.
  
  This field can be set by the LOD Distance Bar, the Promote LOD button ——, the Demote LOD button ——, the Apply Camera Distance button ——, the Set to Infinite button ——, and the Max Dist field.
- State
  
  Determines whether the model should be actually rendered at any point.
  
  An LOD might be set as hidden (via the check box with the same name), in case we want other LODs to inherit its animations and/or actions, but do not want it to be rendered at any distance.
  
  If an LOD model cannot be located, then its State will be set to Missing — in this case, the model can be changed to a valid one by using the Change Model button ——.
LOD table buttons
- Opens the Open dialog box, where the user can specify a model file (.model) to be associated to the new LOD added at the end of LOD Table.
  
  New LOD's Min column will be set to the value of previous LOD's Max column, or to previous LOD's Min column plus 10 metres, in case its Max is set to … (infinite).
  
  New LOD's Max column will be set to … (infinite).
- Opens the Open file dialog box, where the user can specify a new model file (.model) to replace the remainder of the LOD trunk from the selected LOD down the tree. Note: This may change multiple models in the tree.
- Moves the selected LOD to the row above.
  
  This causes the selected model to swap values of Min and Max columns with the LOD that previously occupied the row above.
  
  This button will be disabled if the first or the second LOD is selected (in the latter case, that is because it would make the current model to change).
- Moves the selected LOD to the row below.
  
  This causes the selected model to swap values of Min and Max columns with the LOD that previously occupied the row below.
  
  This button will be disabled if the first or the last LOD is selected.
- Sets Max column of the selected LOD to current camera distance.
- Sets Max column of selected LOD to … (infinite).
  
  The value of State column of LODs below the selected one are automatically changed to Hidden.
- Removes the selected LOD.
  
  The value of Max column of the first non-hidden LOD above the selected one will be automatically changed to the value of Min column of the selected LOD.
  
  If only one LOD is left after pressing this button (which means that now the model has no effective LOD, and only the current model is listed in the LOD table), then the value of its Max column is set to … (infinite).
  
  This button will be disabled if the first LOD is selected.
Min Dist

Sets Min column of LOD table's selected LOD.
Max Dist

Sets Max column of LOD table's selected LOD.
Hidden

Sets State column of LOD table's selected LOD.

3.8.7. Lighting Setup panel

This panel lets the user change the current lighting settings in Model Editor.

Lighting Setup panel

The list below describes the fields on this panel:

Type of light
- Game lighting
  
  Applies ambient light to the model.
  - Time of day^A
    
    Sets the current time of day in the world.
    
    Note
    
    The Display Settings panel also has a Time of Day slider, which is automatically changed to the value set on this field — for details, see Display Settings panel.
- Custom lighting
  
  Applies custom light to the model.
  - Lighting model^B
    
    Saved custom Model Editor Lighting Model (.mvl)^C applied to the model.
Lighting model buttons^B
- Clears values specified in the Pre-defined Lights List, in order to create a new Lighting Model.
- Opens the Open dialog box, where you can specify a Model Editor Lighting Model (.mvl)^C file to apply to the model.
- Opens the Save As dialog box, where you can specify a Model Editor Lighting Model (.mvl)^C file to save the current light settings to.
Pre-defined lights list^B

List of instances of light types that might be applied to the model.

The selected light instances will be applied to the model, and each can be configured in the Properties List list box.

Each Lighting Model might have the following light types (described in the order they appear in the list box):
- Ambient (1 instance)
  
  Covers the entire scene with omnidirectional light.
- Omni (4 instances)
  
  Radiates from a three-dimensional point, giving more control over the concentration of light in certain areas.
  
  It is done by specifying an area of full light intensity, and a bigger area in which light gradually fades away.
- Directional (2instances)
  
  Directs a wide area of radiance at a particular area or object — ideal for simulating infinite-point light sources, such as sunlight, moonlight, and firelight. The first directional light is used for determining the shadow angle, if it is enabled.
  
  Shadows are enabled in the Display Settings panel's Model group box's Shadowing Settings drop-down list box (for details, see Display Settings panel).
- Spot (2 instances)
  
  Produces a small, concentrated, and directed source of light — ideal for illuminating small details in the scene, or for simulating street lights and torches.
Properties list^B

List of properties relative to the light instance selected in Pre-defined Lights List.

The list varies according to the type of light, as described in the list below:
- Colour (available for Ambient, Directional, Omni, and Spot)
  
  Light's colour and alpha value, in RGB values. The Browse button —— opens the Color dialog box.
- Cone angle^D (available for Spot)
  
  Angle of the cone of light generated by spot light.
  
  The angle at which the light is placed in relation to the ground or to the model affects its intensity.
- Direction pitch^D, Direction roll^D, Direction yaw^D (available for Directional)
  
  Direction in which the light will be projected.
  
  It can be automatically set if the Lock Light To Camera check box is selected.
- Full strength radius (available for Omni and Spot)
  
  Area over which the light will be at full intensity.
- Fall-off radius (available for Omni and Spot)
  
  Total area influenced by the light.
  
  The area starting at Full Strength Radius will have light at full intensity, which will be faded away until it is completely off when it reaches Fall-off Radius.
- Position X^D, Position Y^D, Position Z^D (available for Omni and Spot)
  
  Light's point of origin.
  
  It can be automatically set if the Lock Light To Camera check box is selected.
  
  These fields may be changed by the axis gizmo displayed by the Show Light Models check box.
- Multiplier (available for Directional, Omni, and Spot)
  
  Multiplier for the colour's RGB value, which affects the overall luminosity of the light without affecting its hue.
  
  The RGB values will be multiplied by this value, effectively making the light brighter.
Lock light to camera

Attaches the current camera position to the following fields:
- For directional and spot lights:
  
  Direction Pitch, Direction Roll, and Direction Yaw.
- For omni and spot lights:
  
  Position X, Position Y, and Position Z.
Once the light is in the position you want, clear this option to detach the camera.
Show light axes^D

Displays a gizmo representing the light source. Meaningful only for omni and spot lights.

A — Only enabled if the Game Lighting option button is selected.

B — Only enabled if the Custom Lighting option button is selected.

C — For details on this file's grammar, see the document File Grammar Guide's section .mvl)

D — If the Show Light Axes check box is selected, then the gizmo (in conjunction with key modifiers) can be used to change some of the light's fields. For details, see Key modifiers.

3.8.8. Materials Settings panel

Some properties can be changed in Model Editor, as defined in the FX file. For more details, see the document Client Programming Guide's section 3D Engine (Moo) →EffectMaterial → Automatic variables/Globals.

Each material file has its own list of properties. For a broader discussion of these settings, please refer to the document Content Creation Manual (document accessed by pressing F1 or by selecting the Help → Content Creation menu item — for details, see Menu items).

Materials Settings panel

The list below describes the fields on this panel:

Material/ tint list buttons
- Opens the New Tint dialog box, where you can specify a name and a material (.mfm) or effect (.fx) file for the tint to be applied to the material.
  
  New Tint dialog box
- Opens the Open dialog box, where you can select a new material (.mfm) or effect (.fx) file for the selected tint.
  
  The Effect drop-down list box is updated with the value selected in the dialog box.
- Opens the Save As dialog box, where you can save the settings of selected material/tint as new material (.mfm) file.
- Removes the selected tint — no confirmation is asked.
  
  This button is disabled to Default tints.
Material/ tint list

List of materials/tints associated with the model.

Altering the material on the model and saving it creates a new instance of this material to be saved within the model's .visual file (for details on this files' grammar, see the document File Grammar Guide's section .visual). Therefore, the model will no longer reference the MFM file.

Note

Skinned objects in which each point can be affected by up to three bones will have the suffix _skinned appended to its material name.
Properties table

Due to its extents, this table is discussed on a section of it own.

Please refer to Material Properties table.

Note

Items can be dragged into this table from the Effects and Texture folders in the Asset Browser panel. This will result in changing the Effect drop-down list box.
Material

Name of the material.

For details, see Default Material Kind and Material Kind in Textures.
Dye

Name of the dye.

It defaults to the material name, prefixed by m_.

Note

This needs to be a Python-safe name, i.e., with only alphanumerics and the underscore character. As a consequence, it cannot support non-ASCII character sets, such as Chinese.
Tint

Name of the tint.

Every material with a tint will have one named Default, which name cannot be changed.
Effect

Effect to be applied to selected material/tint.

The Browse button —— opens the Open dialog box, where you can select an effect (.fx) file for the selected material/tint.

Note

Items can be dragged into this field from the Effects virtual folder in the Asset Browser panel.
Technique

Technique to use to preview the material.

This allows the preview of different fallback rendering techniques offered by the material's shader. It would mainly be used for the debugging of shaders, allowing their fallback techniques to be tested.
Preview

List of stand-in objects to preview the material in. The check box next to the field toggles the preview function.

The available options are:
- Sphere
- Cube
- Room
- Torus
- Teapot

3.8.8.1. Material Properties table

The first 2 rows of the table (Collision Flags and Material Kind) are fixed, and list properties specific to the material/tint selected in the Material/tint List list box. Subsequent rows are variable, and list the properties of the Effect drop-down list box.

The list below lists the rows relative to the selected material/tint:

Collision flag

Used to specifies whether the camera and/or player collide with surfaces of this material.
- Camera Off Player Off — Neither the camera nor the player collide with the material.
- Camera Off Player On — The player will collide with the material, while the camera will not.
- Camera On Player Off — The camera will collide with the material, while the player will not.
- Camera On Player On — Both the camera and the player will collide with the material.
Note

If either the camera or the player collide with the material, the material will cast terrain shadows.

Note

Models with custom BSP trees will not be affected by changes in the collision flag — you will have to re-export the model with either a different custom BSP, or none (depending on your purpose) from your 3D package.

For details on how to create custom BSP trees, see the document Content Creation Manual's lesson Create Custom BSPs (document accessed by pressing F1 or by selecting the Help → Content Creation menu item — for details, see Menu items).
Material kind

Material kind for the model (such as wood, glass, etc...), used to define sounds and particle systems to objects.

For details on Default Material Kind and Material Kind, see Textures.

The list below describes the most common properties for the effect:

Alpha reference

The cut-off value at which the texture's alpha channel will determine the transparency.

Range of values is from 0 through 255. Setting this field to 200 would cause areas of the image with an alpha value smaller than 200 to be transparent, and all others as solid.
Alpha text

Determines whether the alpha map of the material should be used.
Diffuse light extra modulation

Value to multiply the diffuse map by.
Diffuse map^A

Base texture map.
Double sided

Indicates whether the material can be seen from both sides.
Light enable

Indicates whether the material will receive lighting.

If set to false, then the texture's original colour will be displayed.
Other map^A

Texture map to roll across the surface.
Self illumination

Intensity with which the material should be illuminated as if it was a light source.
Specular map^A

Texture map specifying specularity for the material.
Normal map^A

Normal map to use for the material.

For details on normal maps, see the document Content Creation Manual's lesson Build and Use Normal Maps (document accessed by pressing F1 or by selecting the Help → Content Creation menu item — for details, see Menu items).

A — Texture maps can be assigned a texture feed — for details, see Texture map context menu. The name of the texture feed is displayed between parentheses, next to the texture description.

3.8.8.1.1. Texture map context menu

Accessed by right-clicking any texture map in the Materials Settings panel's Properties Table, the context menu contains the following items:

Enable texture feed^A

Allows you to specify a name for the texture feed to be assigned to the texture map.
Change texture feed name^A

Allows you to change the name of the texture feed assigned to the texture map.
Remove texture feed^A

Allows you to remove the texture feed assigned to the texture map.

A — Opens the Texture Feed Name dialog box — for details, see Texture Feed Name dialog box.

3.8.8.2. Exposing material properties to Python

Any non-default tint material can have its Vector4 properties (such as Colour) exposed, so that they can be accessed through Python scripts during runtime.

In order to do this, access the context menu of the Vector property of a non-default tint by right-clicking it, then select the Expose To Python menu item:

Exposing a property to Python — Step 1

Note

When a property is exposed to Python, its exposed name is displayed in the material properties description. It will be the UIName given in the shader — this is the name exposed to Python.

Exposing a property to Python — Step 2

In order to unexpose the material property, access the context menu of the Vector property by right-clicking it, then select Hide From Python menu item:

Exposing a property to Python — Step 3

3.8.9. BigWorld Messages panel

This panel displays different levels of information related to loading, viewing, and manipulating models.

BigWorld Messages panel

3.9. Models and split lens effect from sun

The split lens effect from the sun will be used automatically for any material with the following settings:

('Sorted' Render Channel OR 'Alpha Test Enabled') AND  SrcBlend == src alpha AND DestBlend == inv src alpha

The old .bsp file has to be deleted before your changes can be displayed in the BigWorld project. The .bsp file is generated by BigWorld to speed startup in subsequent sessions.

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