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Old 03-02-18, 16:33   #1
A_De
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Default Combining movables in Metasequoia

In this tutorial I'll show how to combine movable objects in Metasequoia for easy editing.

You'll need these programs:
StrPix or Editwad - to export/import single meshes
Meshtree Editor - to set Push/Pop flags and correct offsets for meshtrees
Metasequoia v.3 or higher - to view, edit and pre-combine the whole movable
Any graphics editor - optional, in case if you want to edit textures.

Let's choose the movable which meshes need to be edited. I took the BAT for this purpose. Copy it to a new wad and save with a new name, so if something goes wrong you won't lose your files. Then open your new wad in StrPix. I used v.3.9.5 rev.1.7:



Mesh-0 is the main body of the bat. Choose File -> Export MQO or press SHIFT+E to export the selected mesh to mqo format. Name it as mesh-0.mqo to know which mesh does it contain. Select the next mesh and do the same, untill you have all meshes in separate files. For BAT you'll have 8 files with 8 corresponding meshes from 0 to 7.
Now open the file with mesh-0 in metasequoia. Then drag into that open file the other file meshes, choosing the option Insert. If you had only one movable in your wad then the names of meshes in meta will appear the same they were in StrPix:



As you see, after inserting all meshes into one file the object looks like a mess but don't worry. This is just because we didn't set up any hierarchy and offsets yet. We'll fix this soon.
Open your wad with Meshtree Editor:



Note that there are only meshes 1 to 7 are shown. This is because the root mesh-0 has no editable flags and offsets. Let's look at hierarchy first. OpCode field shows how the meshes are parented. Mesh-1 has the opCode 2 = Push. That means that mesh-1 is a "child" of mesh-0, and at the same time mesh-1 has "little brothers" but no "elder brothers". Mesh-2 is the next, it's opCode 0, so no Push and no Pop. This means it is a "child" of mesh-1 and has no "brothers". Mesh-3 is a "child" of mesh-2 and also has no "brothers".
Mesh-4 has the opCode 3 = Pop & Push. This means it is a "child" of mesh-0, a "little brother" to mesh-1 ans also has more "little brothers".
Mesh-5 has the opCode 1 = Pop. This means it is a "child" for mesh-0 but has no more "little brothers". It is advised to read a tutorial about when to set Push and when to set Poo opCode for more details. Now let's go to Meta and set up the hierarchy:



There are the small buttons which do parending/unparenting for meshes. Note how the meshtree should look according to opCodes.
Now let's take care of offsets. The dx, dy and dz for mesh-1 are -11,-1 and 25 respectively. We need to set them up in Meta. Press the button Local, then choose Property:



Select mesh-1 and set the values in Position field. Note that the X axis in Meta is -X in StrPix, and Y in Meta is -Y in Strpix. So we'll set the offsets according to this info. That's why we set X = 11 and Y = 1. Make sure you have Shape and Children checkboxes on. Click Apply button. You'll that the mesh and it's pivot has moved. Select the next meshes and set their offsets in the same way. You'll have your whole movable built, it looks the same way as in Wadmerger in NoAnimation mode:



Now you can edit the meshes appearance in Meta, it is handy to see how the whole movable will look in game. You can apply textures for fake-UV method, it is handy when you see the whole movable. Just keep in mind that in some cases you'll have to use new offsets for keeping proper animations, for example if you want to make the BAT's wings longer or shorter. You can move the meshes manually using the Local button if necessary. Write down the new offsets somewhere to easily apply them using Meshtree Editor.
When you done with editing the meshes, unparent them all in Meta. Shape and Children checkboxes must be on. Then press the Local button and set X,Y,Z in Position fields to 0,0,0. Now you can export your edited meshes back to StrPix. Hide all unnecessary meshes and leave visible only that one you are currently exporting.
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