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Meshes

Scale Mesh

Scale Mesh resizes a static mesh (.v3m) or an effect (.vfx) to the size you set, in metres or as a percentage. It saves the result as a new file and puts that file's name in the mesh object's Mesh File field. The original file is never changed.

Where to find it

In Mesh Properties, click Scale.... It opens the Scale Mesh window for the mesh named in the Mesh File field, or the Scale Effect window for an effect.

How to use it

  1. Open the mesh object's properties.
  2. Click Scale....
  3. Type a new Width (X), Height (Y) or Depth (Z), type a percentage in Scale, or use / 2 and x 2.
  4. Choose what stays in place under Grow about.
  5. Check the file name under Save as.
  6. Click OK. RED+ writes the new file and puts its name in the Mesh File field.
  7. Click OK in Mesh Properties to swap the placed mesh for the scaled one.

The Scale Mesh window

  • Mesh: the file name, and the folder the file is read from.
  • Current: the mesh's size in metres, measured from its vertices.
  • Width (X), Height (Y), Depth (Z): the new size in metres.
  • Link axes (keep proportions): on by default. Changing one size changes the other two in proportion. Clear it to set each axis on its own. When you tick it again, the height is kept and the other two follow it.
  • Scale: the new size as a percentage of the current size. It keeps what you type and is tidied to two decimals when you leave the box. With the axes unlinked, the box shows the average, and the three percentages appear below it.
  • / 2 and x 2: halve or double the size.
  • Reset: go back to the current size.
  • Grow about: the point that stays where it is.
    • centre of the model (the default): the middle of the mesh.
    • base (grows upward): the bottom of the mesh, so the mesh grows upward.
    • the mesh origin: the mesh's own origin.
  • Save as: the name of the new file. RED+ suggests the original name with the scale added, such as name_s150.v3m for 150 %, or name_s150x100x100.v3m when the axes differ.

Scale, / 2 and x 2 always set all three axes to the same scale.

Grow about is greyed for a mesh that has attachment points, separate collision spheres or sections RED+ does not recognise. Such a mesh always grows about its own origin.

The line under Save as tells you whether the file is new, already exists with exactly this geometry (it is then reused), or exists with different geometry. If the name you type will be changed when it is saved, the line shows the name it will be saved as.

The file name

The new file is always written to user_maps\meshes, wherever the original is. Its name:

  • must differ from the original's name
  • must be a file name only, without a folder or any of the characters \ / : * ? " < > |
  • gets .v3m added if you leave it out
  • is at most 31 characters, including .v3m, because that is the longest mesh file name the game loads

A longer name is shortened when you leave the box or click OK. The shortened name keeps the start of the name, adds an underscore and 8 letters and digits worked out from the full name, and keeps the scale part such as _s150 when it fits. The same long name is always shortened the same way.

If a level uses a mesh whose file name is longer than 31 characters, rename the file and change Mesh File to match.

If a file with that name already holds different geometry, RED+ asks before overwriting it. If that file has already been loaded in this session, the editor keeps showing the old geometry until you restart it.

After writing the file, RED+ rescans the mesh folders so the editor can find it. It then also appears in the Mesh Library.

What it scales

  • Vertex positions, and the triangle planes with them.
  • Normals: left as they are for an even scale, and adjusted to match the stretch when the axes differ.
  • The bounding sphere and box, the collision spheres and the LOD switch distances. When the axes differ, radii and distances are multiplied by the largest of the three factors.
  • Attach points (prop points), which move with the geometry.

Texture coordinates are not changed. The file keeps its layout and size; only the values that carry a size change.

A mesh whose origin was moved with Mesh Origin grows about its centre or base as expected.

Effects

For an effect (.vfx), Scale... opens the same window, titled Scale Effect:

  • The axes always stay linked, and the effect grows about its own origin. Grow about shows the effect origin and is greyed.
  • Current is the space the effect covers over its whole animation. A size box is greyed for an axis on which the effect has no size. If the effect cannot be measured, the line says so, and you scale it by percentage.
  • Every position in the effect grows by the same factor, its animation included. Rotations, texture coordinates, colours and timing are not changed.
  • The name rules are the same, with .vfx: at most 31 characters, and a suggested name such as name_s150.vfx.
  • An effect that contains a particle system, a light, a camera, a spacewarp, a chain, a selection set or a material modifier is refused, and the message names what it contains. So is an effect with no meshes.

What it refuses

  • Character meshes (.v3c). Only .v3m and .vfx files can be scaled.
  • A .v3m that contains skeletal data.
  • A file that is not a loose file. Stock meshes and effects are inside the game's .vpp files: extract the file into user_maps\meshes first, then scale that copy.
  • A size of zero or less.
  • A file that is damaged or cut short.

Good to know

  • Other levels that use the original mesh keep its size, because the original is not changed.
  • If you cancel Mesh Properties, the placed mesh keeps its old file. The new file stays in user_maps\meshes.
  • Scaling the same mesh by the same amount with the same Grow about reuses the file written the first time. Changing only Grow about suggests the same name for different geometry, so give that file a new name.