Mesh Library

The Mesh Library lists every mesh the editor can load from your mesh folders and shows the highlighted one in a 3D preview with its textures. Use it to find a prop by how it looks rather than by its file name.

Where to find it

• In Mesh Properties, click Library... next to the Mesh File field. The mesh you pick goes into the field.
• Tools›, Mesh Library (RF+) or RED+›, Mesh Library (RF+). The mesh you pick is copied to the clipboard.

The window is titled Browse Meshes. In Mesh Properties, Browse... opens the standard file dialog instead.

What it lists

• Every .v3m, .v3c and .vfx file in user_maps\meshes, red\meshes and the folders directly inside them.
• Only files on disk. Meshes inside .vpp packfiles are not listed.
• If a name exists in more than one of these folders, the list shows only the first copy found, which is the copy the editor loads. It looks in user_maps\meshes, then red\meshes, then the folders inside user_maps\meshes, then the folders inside red\meshes.
• The files are read again each time the library opens, so meshes written by Scale Mesh and Mesh Origin are listed.
• A folder created while the editor runs is not listed until you use Tools›, Reload Meshes or restart the editor. Refresh list does not add it.

If you copy mesh files into the folders while the editor runs, use Tools›, Reload Meshes before you place them, so the editor can load them.

Finding a mesh

• Filter: type part of a file name. Case does not matter.
• The tabs All, Models (.v3m/.v3c) and Effects (.vfx) narrow the list by type.
• The sort box offers three orders:
  • Sort: Name, A to Z.
  • Sort: Most recent, newest first, with each file's date and time beside its name.
  • Sort: Size, largest first, with each file's size beside its name.
• The sort order is remembered between sessions.
• The line under the list shows how many meshes match out of the total.

The preview

• Textures come from the editor, so stock textures from the game's packfiles and your own loose textures both show.
• A texture the preview cannot read, because it is missing or in a format the preview does not decode, is drawn with the default texture and marked (not found) in the texture list.
• An effect (.vfx) plays its animation in a loop. Play and Pause start and stop it. Dragging the bar beside it moves through the animation and pauses it.
• The line under the preview gives the triangle and vertex counts, the size in metres, how many of its pieces show their own texture, the file size and date, and the folder the file is in. For an effect it gives the number of meshes, the triangle and vertex counts, the length and frame rate, the current time, how many pieces show their own texture and the folder.
• The list below names every texture the mesh uses. Click a name to copy it to the clipboard.

Picking a mesh

• Double-click a row, click OK, press Enter, or right-click the row and choose Use this mesh.
• If nothing is highlighted, for example when the filter matches nothing, OK does nothing.
• Cancel closes the library without picking.

From Mesh Properties, the library opens with the current Mesh File name highlighted, if it is listed, and the name you pick replaces it.

From the menu, the name you pick is copied to the clipboard, and a message tells you to paste it into a mesh object's Mesh File field. Cancelling shows no message.

Right-click menu

Right-clicking a row selects it and opens this menu. Shift+F10 or the Menu key opens it for the highlighted row.

• Use this mesh
• Copy file name
• Copy full path
• Show in Explorer: opens the folder with the file selected.
• Refresh list: reads the folders again, for meshes added while the library is open.

File Browser...

File Browser... opens the standard file dialog in user_maps\meshes. Picking a file there works like OK. If no mesh of that name is in the list, RED+ warns that the name will not resolve when the level loads unless you copy the file into one of the editor's mesh folders, and asks whether to use the name anyway.

Window size

Drag the window's edges to resize it, and drag the divider between the list and the preview to widen either side. The size, the divider position and the sort order are saved in redplus.ini. See Where settings live.