does LW know n-gons?

[alaklij]

Yes, Lightwave knows polygons very well. Their good friends.:)

Lightwave is exremely versatile with more the three or four sided polys. But can only sub-patched with 3 or 4 side polys. Which I'm sure you know.

As far as low poly gaming is concerned, yes, n-gons work well.

Hope I answered your question.

[schmu_20mol]

thx...:thumbsup:

[Chris Olsen]

i know that LW doesn't subdivide the polygons when you hit the TAB key, but they remain shaded when you Shift-D them. So when you final render them in a scene do they still render even if there is an additional sub-d setting?

[alaklij]

the short answer:
Yes.

the long answer:
You could Sud-divide (shift+d) several times then sud-Patch (tab), and it would suddivide in further with your render level setting (object properties). Sub-patching is a form of subdividing, and it is controled by your render levels. Take note when in modeler the polygons when you hit Tab are represented by a wireframe but within the wireframe is a polycount of six by six. Sub-patching a way to interpolate between the created poly and controlled with only a few vertices.

Shift+d mutiplies a four sided polygon by four. And continues multiplying by four each consecutive time.

shift+d subdividing is a quick way to increase you geometry for any given situation. Also, the metaform function is kinda interesting too.

hope this helps.

[Chris Olsen]

oh wow,
I reread my post and somehow I didn't really ask the question that i wanted to. What I meant to ask is that because n-gons are shaded in modeler and remain shaded after you Shift-d them(not when you TAB them though), do the n-gons remain shaded in the final render with all materials.

I fooled around with things though and found out how things works, at least how sub-d fits into the equation. Thanks

[studiomiguel]

uh...... what's an 'n-gon'?

[Facial Deluxe]

N stands for number of points (or sides) in a polygon. 3 points are tris ; 4 are quadris or quads, N-gon (N points polygon) is used for >4 .

[Chris Olsen]

Bear with me on this one :)

What is the difference between other programs, such as MAX, and lightwave and how they subdivide, and why can MAX include n-gons in it's sub-divide (meshsmooth)?

[Cman]

Originally posted by Chris Olsen
Bear with me on this one :)

What is the difference between other programs, such as MAX, and lightwave and how they subdivide, and why can MAX include n-gons in it's sub-divide (meshsmooth)?

That's a question many people here have been asking Newtek for quite some time. :hmm:

[Chris Olsen]

Is there a reason that LW doesn't bring it into the program, is there a downfall to it? I guess most models can be constructed obeying the rules and you won't run into later problems.

[alaklij]

Taken from Polycount.com. A definition of n-gons.

N-gon
Another word for a polygon. The letter N stands for any whole number.

this should clarify some misinformation.

[Cman]

Originally posted by Chris Olsen
Is there a reason that LW doesn't bring it into the program, is there a downfall to it? I guess most models can be constructed obeying the rules and you won't run into later problems.

I do not believe there is any real reason Lightwave does not SubD n-gons except the programmer's haven't put it in yet.
But I do not know.
I previously read that programs that do subd n-gons (like Max) actually DO subdivide the n-gon when you subD and/or at render. So based upon that theory I wrote an lscript to split convex n-gons into quads using 3 algorithms. One splits them in a "fan", one creates a new point at the center of the poly and fans from there, and the third makes quad planks. I actually like the third best...but anyway. check here:

SubDividePolygons (http://www.m2estudios.com/Subdivide.htm)

Some people find it very useful. They say they use it on models before checking sub-d and/or using in Layout.
Hope it helps.

Oh yeah, it does actually "work" on non-convex polys, but it ain't too pretty. :)

[froggyplat]

like your plugin...i've used it several times.


btw: did you know there is a legacy plugin in the LW directory called "metaform" which also subdivides n-gons into 3-4 vertice patches? i haven't tested it out thuroughly, but it does seem to work ok.

[Cman]

Yep. I know about that plugin Metaform.
It works great!
People should try it out.

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