DeleD Community Edition

[Dr. Zoop]

I am really a programmer at heart... but I keep on trying to do art. It was so much easier when I was a kid .

I am seeking any suggestions about how to quickly turn my many-object models (5+) into single object models, and then retexture them using a single texture.

---Background Information---

The reason why I need to do this is I am quickly learning the penalties for having many objects and texture files per model now that I am making a game that renders potentially hundreds of models a frame. Using a single-object one-texture model is oodles faster than rendering my 5-10 part models with two textures.

What I'm doing right now: The first step I do is select all and use the Constructive Solid Geometry Unite tool. This takes forever... even though my models are not terribly complex (like I said, I'm not a very good artist ). That takes at least five to ten minutes, if not longer. I am typing this as I wait for one of my models to do its CSG, in fact.

After I do the CSG, I have to manually select all my polygons, slowly using the UV editor to place the UVs where they are supposed to be on the new single texture.

This takes forever per model. I have about 25 models to do. I have gone through maybe two of the most simple models and it has taken me forever. Any suggestions on how to speed up the process?

Cheers,
Zoop

[Grandmaster B]

I dont think you may need to CSG unite your model parts unless they need to be "Solid Geometry" (eg. a hull of one piece). This may also increase the polygon count! Its better to "Merge" the models and delete inner polygons that can not be seen approximately, but this is not required.

Texturing may indeed take a while with DeleD.

[Mr.Fletcher]

Grandmaster B is absolutely right, don't touch the Union tool there! You won't be able to avoid texturing though, unless they already have the right UV coordinates before, which remain when using Merge.
_________________
Behold! The DeleD Wiki! Please help us expanding it
DeleD on IRC

[Dr. Zoop]

Aha! Merge! Awesome!

It's essentially instantaneous and doesn't break the texturing! Sweet!

I retexture first when everything is still a bunch of objects. This makes selection easy, which is key when retexturing. Then, I hit the merge tool, export, and done!

Thanks guys, you have saved me a lot of time.

EDIT: By the way, I don't have many polygons in the first place, so that's not an issue.

Cheers,
Zoop