editable mesh vs editable poly

[noob24]

i see that most modells are finished with an editable mesh rather than editable poly for use in fsx. can anyone explain why this is and also many of the modells i see in wire frame have triangulated polys and i wonder why. im using 3dsmax and would like to know how this is done is it the result of a special teqnique or simply a case of selecting all verts and connecting? i know once done this cannot be reversed easily if at all. (i know all polys are made up of triangles they just arnt shown by default)

thanks

 

[lionheart]

I jump my parts back and fourth between E-Mesh and E-Poly many times an hour. I find no difference in FS between parts being a E-Mesh or E-Poly. In E-Poly, I can add Edges via Create, which E-Mesh doesnt have. In E-Mesh, I can add Vertices in the centers of Polygons with precision, where in E-Poly, I cannot. So many things each has that the other doesnt.

If you save your stacks on objects (which takes up memory), then I can see this being a hinderance, but only in that you cannot collapse the stack.. Stuck there, then...



Bill

 

[n4gix]

Putting the question another way, it really makes no difference which mode you choose to use during modeling, as the other Bill has pointed out...

...because when you export, the entire model is automatically retriangulated and compled as editable mesh!

Now, that said, there are some few instances where the automatic retriangulation done by the export/compile process will result in one or more edges being "turned" in such a way as to cause a shading problem in the sim.

In such a case, converting the project back to e-mesh will allow you to manually select and "turn" the problem edge(s), then export/compile again to eliminate such a shading problem. Since the project is already in e-mesh mode, there's no opportunity that the export/compile procedure will mess up the edge's orientation.

Mostly though, whether you use e-mesh or e-poly mode will depend on what tools you want to use. As the other Bill points out, the two modes each have their own unique tools to use.

 

[noob24]

thankls all

but what about the triangulated polys i see on so many fsx aircraft meshes. this does not occur automatically on export (yes i know all polys are triengles underneath) so my question is why is this being done so often? is it for any other reason than simply to see an accurate mesh with all edges exposed?


and if so how is this done? is a simple case of selecting all verts and connecting them all?

 

[n4gix]

In E-Poly mode, the diagonal edges are hidden.

In E-Mesh mode, the diagonal edges are visible.

The point I'm trying to make is that the diagonal edges are created automatically regardless of the editing mode currently active. The only real difference is whether you can see them or not. Well, that and obviously you can't work with the diagonal edges if you can't see them!

 

[Heretic]

Ah, the age old question, right in the style of "Ford Mustang or Porsche 911?" or "Airbus or Boeing?" or "CRJ or ERJ?"

The answer: Use both for their respective advantages over the other.

 

[hcornea]

Some weird stuff in Max, where cloning an edge has a different behaviour in ePoly as opposed to eMesh. (ie extends the face in Epoly)

In the end ... it all ends up as mesh after XtoMdl has finished with it, and your performance is governed by tverts and drawcalls.

 

[noob24]

In E-Poly mode, the diagonal edges are hidden.

In E-Mesh mode, the diagonal edges are visible.

The point I'm trying to make is that the diagonal edges are created automatically regardless of the editing mode currently active. The only real difference is whether you can see them or not. Well, that and obviously you can't work with the diagonal edges if you can't see them!

ah ok that clears that one up then regarding triangles thanks

 

[n4gix]

ah ok that clears that one up then regarding triangles thanks

Note that in E-Poly mode, under certain conditions you can see the diagonal edges, but they appear as a "dotted line" and are "unselectable."

 

[Mathias]

E-poly has a cool toolbox in it in Max such as bevel, bridge, select border and all that stuff.
Also, if you do a lot of rendering and render to texture you should do that in e-poly because it returns better aliasing results.

E-mesh is better for checking the smoothness of your objects in the viewport.
Once exported, everything ends up as triangulated poligon mesh.

 

[noob24]

with editable poly the no of polys seems to almost halve so to me it would make sense to convert to editable poly before export. yet i still see moast source file max projects are already triengulated(mesh not poly)

 

[tgibson]

Note that many files are created in other formats and imported into GMAX or Max. Often this export/import process will cause the file to become permanently triangulated.

Hope this helps,

 

[n4gix]

with editable poly the no of polys seems to almost halve so to me it would make sense to convert to editable poly before export. yet i still see moast source file max projects are already triengulated(mesh not poly)

Whenever the .max or .gmax file is exported, the export module itself will re-triangulate all mesh, irrespective of whether it's e-mesh or e-poly. So ultimately, the only advantage of e-mesh is that one may manually turn the diagonal edge(s) if necessary for smoothing, and that will be carried through without change.