I'm in the process of making lod files in xsi tools and so far I used subdivide method of polygon reduction and it just results in a bunch of holes on the model. Is there anyway to do it so that i can achieve similar results as the default Valve lod files?

I'm no XSI guy but if you're getting holes, that would indicated your vertices aren't welded together so the optimisation code doesn't realise its a continuous mesh.

Not sure about the subdivide method but XSI has it's own built in Polygon reduction too.

In XSI Mod Tool on the menu go Modes->XSI Default. Then on the left toolbar you should see Modify->Poly.Mesh. Click that and select Polygon reduction.

The exact details on how to use it are in the XSI Help file.

Note though that working on an imported SMD direct never gives good results, even in Max. Optimisation tools work better if you're welded all your surfaces and re-build the quads.

rebuild the quads meaning after it's been optimized?

edit i found it: it's polygon filter lol

Nah I meant before. Dunno how easy it is to do in XSI but it takes me ~30mins to re-quad a model in Max after importing it in Max. It looks like this when it's done:

how do you do that?

also the original polycount on the model appears to be 5297, how much should i decrease per increment?

Use your judgement - best thing to do is to look in the HLMV viewer at the original model, turn on auto lod and watch the poly count switch with each lod level. Its a judgment of eye really - you want as low as possible at each stage so that when it switches from one level to the next you almost dont notice the switch.

ok i made lod files for the player and helmet. edit..lods are messed up taking down download.

Yikes. Dunno how you did your LODs but their nasty. Really nasty. They've barely touched the polycount and just gnarled up the geometry something rotten.

What on earth did you use to reduce the details?

lol i used polygon filter. i tried looking for that polygon reduction option, but it's not there. probably taken out from a previous version perhaps?

i then looked at the default german model and its lods and determined how much polygons were reduced, then applied those to the edited model.

Its there. At least in XSI Mod Tool 6 - Did you do the first got Modes in the toolbar and select XSI Default? It should be on the left panel with all the buttons under Model->Poly.Mesh (button) -> Polygon Reduction (Pop-out menu)

yeah i did exactly that and that option is no where to be found

http://img505.imageshack.us/img505/1635/clipboard01wx2.jpg

i even loaded up the model and selected the whole thing, still did not appear

It's missing if you downloaded XSI Mod Tool 6 before they slipped in an update.

http://www.xsibase.com/forum/index.php?board=24;action=display;threadid=32274

I was unable to find the script they speak of.

thanks. i'll redownload.

also there's a "smooth transitions" checkbox in the poly reduction panel. should i click that or leave everything default and just change the tri count?

damn that looks tight...now someone just needs to make a fg42

I consider this the final version of the fallschirmjager helmet. I also did the lod files correctly this time.

http://www.yourfilehost.com/media.php?cat=other&file=helmet.rar

OK I'll take a look later. I'm just on my way out :(

thanks

also, i did a para model...got down to lod 3, and after than the model would disintegrate. with holes everywhere and i'm not sure what I need to do to stop that from happening. i know it's something along the lines of suturing the parts of the model that aren't connected, but i can't find those parts until after the model tears apart. i used boundry remain for the first 3 lod levels, but on the 4th one it didn't work at all.

http://www.mediafire.com/?5sxwntlyuxs