Need help making an interior without leaks.
by Jason Gossiaux · in Constructor · 03/12/2008 (10:38 pm) · 12 replies
I have been trying to use Constructor on and off now for the past few weeks, however I cannot seem to fix the leaks that always seem to crop up. In my latest test I did everything I could think of to prevent them, but when relighting there is still light leakage where the walls meet the floor :/
Now I've read this might be just caused by the lightmap size having some error. So I loaded my DIF up into TGE 1.5.2 and in debug mode the portal is pink, and no rendering occlusion takes place when I go inside. Other DIF portals appear green to indicate they are working correctly. So I'm not sure what is up with that.
I have hosted the file here if anyone could please take a look and let me know what I am doing wrong. It uses just the sample textures so it shouldn't be too hard to load. If not, let me know and I'll see what I can do. Thanks a ton!
http://69.91.89.7/constructorleak.zip
Now I've read this might be just caused by the lightmap size having some error. So I loaded my DIF up into TGE 1.5.2 and in debug mode the portal is pink, and no rendering occlusion takes place when I go inside. Other DIF portals appear green to indicate they are working correctly. So I'm not sure what is up with that.
I have hosted the file here if anyone could please take a look and let me know what I am doing wrong. It uses just the sample textures so it shouldn't be too hard to load. If not, let me know and I'll see what I can do. Thanks a ton!
http://69.91.89.7/constructorleak.zip
About the author
#2
By default it is checked and turned on. What it does is any brushs that overlap the exporter cuts off the overlaping area. That is where the light leakage issue comes in as the exporter doesnt handle the large decimal numbers constructor uses. So when that is turned on it does its best to cutoff at the right spot but when it exports the exporter rounds the number off and thus creates these leaking spots all over. Even when there shouldnt be any leakage according to how you made the model and how it shows in constructor.
Just uncheck that Hidden Surface removal and I would be willing to bet your problem is fixed. Atleast it fixed 90% of all the light leakage for me.
03/13/2008 (1:36 pm)
There is a option in the Constructor that you need to turn off. It is called Hidden Surface removal. You can find it under System -> Preferences -> ExportBy default it is checked and turned on. What it does is any brushs that overlap the exporter cuts off the overlaping area. That is where the light leakage issue comes in as the exporter doesnt handle the large decimal numbers constructor uses. So when that is turned on it does its best to cutoff at the right spot but when it exports the exporter rounds the number off and thus creates these leaking spots all over. Even when there shouldnt be any leakage according to how you made the model and how it shows in constructor.
Just uncheck that Hidden Surface removal and I would be willing to bet your problem is fixed. Atleast it fixed 90% of all the light leakage for me.
#3
03/13/2008 (1:38 pm)
I would also recommened unchecking the two options right below it as they deal with Hidden Surface removal also. Though it is worth noteing that if you have alot of surface overlapping and you turn this off you will be wasteing polys ingame. But its just a small price to pay to fix light leakage.
#4
So, unchecking that didn't change how the model is relighting (in constructor or torque) unfortunately. It also didn't seem to fix my darned portal problem. Thanks for the thoughts though.
03/13/2008 (4:27 pm)
Well the leakage is happening right in Constructor to begin with. I've tried walls of varying widths, from .5 to 1 to 2. There is leakage no matter what. All I did was hollow out a cube and throw a door on it. This makes no sense :P So, unchecking that didn't change how the model is relighting (in constructor or torque) unfortunately. It also didn't seem to fix my darned portal problem. Thanks for the thoughts though.
#5
03/14/2008 (7:33 am)
Are they structural or detail brushes?
#6
I tried about a dozen more attempts at placing a cube, hollowing it out with varying wall thicknesses, cutting out a door using another cube then turning that cube into a portal. In every case there is light leakage - sometimes extremely bad where the walls meet the floor.
In every case my portal is PINK in torque debug mode and doesn't work properly (no occlusion, rain goes through). I am sure there are no leaks since I'm only using the hollow/subtract tools.
In one case I made the walls go down past the floor from the outside, thinking it might have something to do with the floor but no luck.
Could someone just hollow out a cube, place a door/portal and relight it without leaks and post it? I'd like to maybe just see what other people are doing differently... Thanks a ton!
03/14/2008 (8:33 am)
All of my brushes are structural. I've not found a good explaination of how to use detail brushes. I even selected the cube post-hollowing/cutting and forced it structural.I tried about a dozen more attempts at placing a cube, hollowing it out with varying wall thicknesses, cutting out a door using another cube then turning that cube into a portal. In every case there is light leakage - sometimes extremely bad where the walls meet the floor.
In every case my portal is PINK in torque debug mode and doesn't work properly (no occlusion, rain goes through). I am sure there are no leaks since I'm only using the hollow/subtract tools.
In one case I made the walls go down past the floor from the outside, thinking it might have something to do with the floor but no luck.
Could someone just hollow out a cube, place a door/portal and relight it without leaks and post it? I'd like to maybe just see what other people are doing differently... Thanks a ton!
#7
I imported the house into 3dsmax, lined the brushes up properly, made the roof detail brushes, adjusted the portal, and exported it back out to constructor. Everything seems to be zoned off fine now. To fix the light leaks, I turned the light_geometry_scale down to 4. You can find this value under Scene->Manage Entities and look at the worldspawn entity. This makes your lightmaps larger and will increase the size of your DIF file. Below you can see the lightmap and the zone with the debug render mode.
Shoot me an email and I'll send you the CSX and DIF files.
03/14/2008 (9:56 am)
Well, I noticed that all your brushes overlap slightly and the wall to the left of the door doesn't even touch the door frame. Your structural brushes should touch exactly. Things like the trim around the roof should really be detail brushes. Portals should be thin, overlap the adjacent brushes, and not be coplanar with any other surfaces.I imported the house into 3dsmax, lined the brushes up properly, made the roof detail brushes, adjusted the portal, and exported it back out to constructor. Everything seems to be zoned off fine now. To fix the light leaks, I turned the light_geometry_scale down to 4. You can find this value under Scene->Manage Entities and look at the worldspawn entity. This makes your lightmaps larger and will increase the size of your DIF file. Below you can see the lightmap and the zone with the debug render mode.
Shoot me an email and I'll send you the CSX and DIF files.
#8
03/14/2008 (10:10 am)
Thanks a ton!
#9
is there any tutorial on what you just did available? because that's exactly what I need to know how to do, making a building look good is easy for me, all I need to know now is how to make properly,
thanks
03/14/2008 (6:54 pm)
@Ryan,is there any tutorial on what you just did available? because that's exactly what I need to know how to do, making a building look good is easy for me, all I need to know now is how to make properly,
thanks
#10
I don't use a normal workflow and actually don't know much at all about using Constructor to create geometry. I create everything in 3dsmax to take advantage of the useful alignment and snap tools as well as advanced UVW mapping and lighting techniques. That way I can make sure all my brushes touch perfectly. The CSG operations aren't quite as simple in 3dsmax, but I like having total control over the geometry. I basically use Constructor as a viewer/exporter to get the geometry into Torque. If you're a 3dsmax user, then I could give you some more specifics, but otherwise all I can really offer are the generalized tips that I gave above.
I like your work in the Show Off section, by the way.
03/14/2008 (8:43 pm)
Ben,I don't use a normal workflow and actually don't know much at all about using Constructor to create geometry. I create everything in 3dsmax to take advantage of the useful alignment and snap tools as well as advanced UVW mapping and lighting techniques. That way I can make sure all my brushes touch perfectly. The CSG operations aren't quite as simple in 3dsmax, but I like having total control over the geometry. I basically use Constructor as a viewer/exporter to get the geometry into Torque. If you're a 3dsmax user, then I could give you some more specifics, but otherwise all I can really offer are the generalized tips that I gave above.
I like your work in the Show Off section, by the way.
#11
Thanks, I have only just got into 3d Modelling a few weeks ago and I enjoy it, the problems are that there is a lot of fiddling that goes with it to get things working properly, I might copy you and give 3dsmax a go to see what I can do with it, any advice you could throw my way would be appreciated, I have many idea I want to get out of my head an into the gaming environment.
03/14/2008 (9:51 pm)
Ryan,Thanks, I have only just got into 3d Modelling a few weeks ago and I enjoy it, the problems are that there is a lot of fiddling that goes with it to get things working properly, I might copy you and give 3dsmax a go to see what I can do with it, any advice you could throw my way would be appreciated, I have many idea I want to get out of my head an into the gaming environment.
#12
If you wanna email me one of your CSX files, I could take a look at it and possibly give you some tips. I'm no guru or anything, so I can't promise anything! I think you have a good artistic style, though, and being able to produce clean DIFs would really add to their quality.
03/17/2008 (9:46 am)
Ben, If you wanna email me one of your CSX files, I could take a look at it and possibly give you some tips. I'm no guru or anything, so I can't promise anything! I think you have a good artistic style, though, and being able to produce clean DIFs would really add to their quality.
Torque Owner Jason Gossiaux
Indie Dev