lightmapping question

Hi all,

Given a model, .b3d file could load with a lightmap.
Does a .x file also support this?

Thanks in advance.

Far as I know, X format B3D support doesnt load lightmap since there is no support for 2nd UV map channel...

There's really only one thing you need to know as far as lightmaps for Blitz3D, and that's gile[s]

I think there's a method to use 2 X files, one with the materials and one with the lightmaps only. The 2nd will then alpha-blended or so.

Yes you can, but then you're rendering everything twice, which is probably not a good idea. The joy of multitexturing is that you can do it all on one pass.

And NA is correct, you cannot do that with .x.

Ok, of course. I'd suggest you could write a little app that is loading both X files and then integrates both in one mesh, on 2 texture layers. As long as the triangles and vertices are the same, there shoudn't be a problem. Although, I remember somebody said the vertices will be reindexed sporadicly, and the surface indexing is a also some kind of random game, this would probably require to identify all corresponding triangles by comparing their vertices. But it's possible, just some work to do.

Thank you for your reply.

It seems that loading .b3d into gile[s] for generating bmp is the simplest way for lightmapping.

:)

Yup. It's certainly possible. It faintly rings a bell that I've seen a program that did precisely this, and just possibly a very vague recollection that it might have been related to Quest3D. Of course, being that Quest3D uses DX9, it may well have ended up with a file that B3D couldn't read anyway. It's a thought though.

So, what are the lightmapping tools that would be worth to write such a converter? When there's an amazing lightmapper then I probably give it a try.

I already got giles, AFAIK even with a free 2.0 update, so the other tool must be real good, at least for me.