Bad lighting in Static Meshes

[SamxFisher]

take a look at this static meshes, why some of them get a darker light and other ones gets so much light? How can i make all of them take the lighting right?

http://www.image-upload.net/files/10...lighting01.JPG

[CrysAk]

are they vertex or lightmap lit?

this happens allot, usualy a case of either changing how the mesh is lit, or lighting the room in a differnt way

[gamemasterjustin]

it looks like a shader problem to me. is that an epic model?

-game

[SamxFisher]

CrysAk: im quite new in the editor, and i dont know what is vertex and lightmap lit :P

gamemasterjustin: yeah its an epic model, i will not use any externam model, first because i dont know to model in 3DStudioMax or Maya, and i dont own any of that programs, but i wont use personal models too because i want to make a map with all the textures and meshes of the game, so, when someone wants to play my map, he will only have to download my map, and not the complete package with textures, sounds, static meshes etc...

i have a problem too if i place an epic static mesh RigidBody, the item gets a black color and dont interactuate with the world lights, only with the fire light if i play the map an shoot close to that black thing... i tryed to activate all the lighting efects of the rigid body but it doesnt works, i think this have to be linked with the lighting problem of my first post.

any idea?

[gamemasterjustin]

well for a physics mesh you will need dynamic lights

sounds cool man good luck with it.

-game

[-=¤willhaven¤=-]

If the verts on the ends of the meshes are overlapping (usually to not being placed on the grid or some odd scaling) you can get lighting like that. Make sure the rotation is perfectly set, the scale is right, and the meshes are on the grid.

Otherwise, you can try disabling shadow casting to see if they're even casting shadows on each other to begin with.

If that doesn't work, you can try giving them a small lightmap (32) to see if it fixes the problem. Beware though, many maps aren't set up to use light maps properly. You can open them in the generic browser and view the UV channel to see if it looks like it makes sense to use as a lightmap.

[SamxFisher]

ok, so many tnks -=¤willhaven¤=-, the problem was it wasn't alligned to the grid.

I have selected it, right button/alling/alling to floor and all fixed.

tnks

EDIT: it works until i rebuild all, then the static mesh takes that darker color :/

but, is there any way to alling to grid a resized static mesh? i try selecting it, right button on it/alling/move actors to grid but it doesnt makes anything, the resized static mesh dont alling to grid, is there any other way to do it?

[CrysAk]

try this just to make sure you have the same meshs/materials/properties on each and to make sure its clean (as ive noticed some epic placed meshs arnt.. tut tut :P)

rightclick the mesh -> sync generic browser
rightlclick in topdown window where you want to place the mesh -> add the staticmesh there again ... fresh

by default (if the arts made correctly) it should snap to grid

from there you can place and duplicate it and they should snap alongside each other (again if the art was made correctly)

if you need to resize them, do so in the bottom right of the editor where the 4 txt windows are (should be displaying 1.00000 in all) and change the settings there untill your happy with the result

hope that helps

[Tanasoo]

Looks to me like it's just an issue with your lighting setup. The one in the middle (closest to the light) is the brightest. So try either making the light's radius larger, or adding more lights and see if that helps.

[R_Diaz]

Are you performing a full quality lighting build?

I get stuff like that when I don't. Other than that, sometimes I resize my brushes using the widget and even though they are somewhat misaligned, the lighting on them is correct.

[Sirjizz]

Like the mod said . make sure its on the grid. ZOOM in all the way to make sure its on the grid because even a microscopic overlap can mess you up, i learned this the hard way. Took me about an hour to fix all my BSPs to be aligned right next to each other but not on top of each other.

[SamxFisher]

-=¤willhaven¤=-: i dont know how to give them a small lightmap (32), i know how to do that on a texture of a structure created with the brush, but i cant change the lightmap resolution in static meshes, even i cant move or resize materials i have applied to a static mesh.

CrysAk: i have tryed to re-create the mesh like u said, but then i have to resize it to make it fit where i want to place another time, and it gets out of the grid again. Maybe im doing something wrong? I allways change the Drag grid and the snap scaling to 1%, to be more precise moving objects in the editor, am i doing it right or i dont have to use the smallest % for moving and resizing? (i mean in the bottom right side of the editor, just at the left of the autosave option).

R_Diaz: Full quality lighting build? where can i find this option? or u mean changing the lightmap resolution to 1.0?

Sir****: yeah its so hard to allign static meshes, sometimes i have to resize and make it 1% smaller and then move to not get it superimposing in other static mesh i have on the right.

[CrysAk]

try resizing it using the numerical values at the bottom, and find values that keep within the grid

[-=¤willhaven¤=-]

-=¤willhaven¤=-: i dont know how to give them a small lightmap (32), i know how to do that on a texture of a structure created with the brush, but i cant change the lightmap resolution in static meshes, even i cant move or resize materials i have applied to a static mesh.

First, lightmaps on meshes and lightmaps on BSP (brush) surfaces. In a mesh, you are directly setting the size of the texture being created for the lightmap. A 32 will create a 32x32 lightmap for that object. On BSP, 32 means that for every 32 units of world space, there will be one pixel of lightmap data. So, on BSP, a smaller number is actually more detailed.

If you bring up the mesh properties and extend the StaticMeshComponent dropdowns, you'll eventually find OverriddenLightMapResolution which should be set to 0 by default. What this means is that the mesh, by default, is NOT using a lightmap of any kind and is using vertex lighting instead. Set the 0 to 32 to apply a 32 lightmap to the object. Rebuild lighting and see if it makes sense for the mesh. Sometimes it will, sometimes it won't.

To apply a new material, extend the Rendering tab in the StaticMeshComponent, extend the Materials tab, add a slot (+), select the material (or material instance) you want to apply in the Generic Browser, press Use (<-) in the mesh properties and you should see it applied.

Scaling pre-made materials is a bit more tricky and involves making a duplicate/modified version of the original material. You basically have to use a TextureCoordinate change in the material editor.

[SamxFisher]

woah, so many tnks to all ppl, and specially to -=¤willhaven¤=-, i love this comunity, i never saw developers helping final users like this, THANKS A LOT for all

[R_Diaz]

I didn't know you could use light maps in static meshes. This is nice to know.

[Snake]

Excellent explanation Will - good to know, we all appreciate it