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Mesh Generator

Note: This generator is a beta feature in v8.2.0 and is only available in Cinema and Games editions of the Modeler. The documentation for this feature is a work in progress.

The Mesh generator is used to make mesh assets part of the model. It is often used to import photogrammetry models as either a trunk to build off of or a branch structure to use in procedural generation.

Generation

The Generation properties are described in full detail under Generation Properties.

Mesh

The properties in this group control which material/mesh asset combinations are used by the generator and at what size they appear.

Material

Selects a material/mesh combination. Meshes must be assigned to the material on the Material Bar to be used on the Mesh Generator. Materials are chosen based on their weights and season settings.

Material

This property specifies a named material from the Material Bar. If “None” is selected or the chosen material has no assigned mesh, there will be no geometry generated.

Weight

Sets probability that a node will receive this material (this weight รท sum of all weights).

Use actual size

When enabled, the mesh will be the same size as it was in its original file. Otherwise, the size of the mesh will be unitized (i.e., fit in a unit box).

Scale

Scales the size of the mesh.

+ % of parent

This value is multiplied by the size of the parent node and added to the size of the mesh. Use this value when combining meshes procedurally to ensure that meshes further down the hierarchy gradually decrease in size.

Orientation

Use these properties to rotate the mesh after it has been oriented relative to its parent.

Rotate

Rotations happen in the order they are listed here.

X

Rotate around the X axis (1.0 equals a complete rotation).

Y

Rotate around the Y axis (1.0 equals a complete rotation).

Z

Rotate around the Z axis (1.0 equals a complete rotation).

Deformation

If a Mesh generator is added as a child of a Branch generator, the Branch generator will deform the mesh. Use the properties in this group to control how far along the branch the mesh is placed.

Note: Meshes must point along the Y-axis in order to be deformed.
Lock to parent

When enabled, meshes will make themselves exactly as long as the branch they are placed on. When disabled, the size properties in the mesh group control the size of the mesh.

Start

Use these properties to specify the anchor point along the parent spine.

Absolute

The mesh will be anchored this fixed distance along its parent's spine.

+ % of parent

This percentage of its parent's size is added to the distance along the spine where the mesh begins.

Lightmap

The property in this group affects the influence meshes in this generator have on the lightmap.

Note: Not all versions of the Modeler support lightmap UV computation.
Weight

Use this property to increase or decrease the importance of this generator's meshes in the lightmap – in relation to the lightmap weight of all other objects – before lightmap packing is determined. Note that your Weight value may not be honored exactly or may get so large as to exhibit unexpected results. Use “Tools→Reset lightmap scalars” to go back to default values for the whole model.