Introduction
Simply put, a "compound" is the name given to 3D elements in Zmodeler 3.
A compound represents the point of origin of an element or its point of rotation (door opening, hood... etc...).
Compounds must be given certain names in order to be recognized and usable in the game.
First of all, what is a compound?
I don't know exactly what this means in Zmodeler 3, but to put it simply, it's a matter of placing the 3D components of your vehicle in a sort of folder which will be recognized by the game. It is also when creating or editing compounds that you can define the LODs of the vehicle (3D and texture quality depending on distance from vehicle). To keep things simple, I'm only going to teach you how to edit the LOD0 (or the best quality), but later you can also manually modify display distances by editing the " vehicle.meta " (explained in video later in this tutorial).
What's more, the compound not only defines the part's point of origin, but also the rotations of doors, hoods and trunks, as well as other key points useful for spoilers, for example.
Before creating the compounds, rename all the components of your vehicle using this list:
To determine the left or right side of the car, always use the rear view as a reference.
Main body > bodyshell (if attached to the seats, ignore the bodyshell and name it chassis)
Seating area > chassis
Right front door > door_pside_f
Left front door > door_dside_f
Right rear door > door_pside_r
Left rear door > door_dside_r
Left front fender > wing_rf
Right front fender > wing_lf
Left rear wing > wing_rr
Right rear wing > wing_lr
Hood > hat
Trunk > boot
Front windshield > windscreen
Rear windshield > windscreen_r
Right front window > window_rf
Left front window > window_lf
Right rear window > window_rr
Left rear window > window_lr
Middle left window > window_rm
Middle right window > window_lm
Other glass > misc_a (change the letter for each; misc_a, misc_b, misc_c...)
Right headlight > headlight_r
Left headlight > headlight_l
Right rear light > taillight_r
Left rear light > taillight_l
Left front turn signal > indicator_lf
Right front turn signal > indicator_rf
Rear left turn signal > indicator_lr
Right rear turn signal > indicator_rr
Left rear brake light > brakelight_l
Right rear brake light > brakelight_r
Rear brake light middle > brakelight_m
Right-hand reverse light > reversinglight_r
Left reversing light > reversinglight_l
Additional lights (full beam) > extralight_1; extralight_2; extralight_3...
Front right suspension > suspension_rf
Front left suspension > suspension_lf
Right-hand rear suspension > suspension_rr
Left rear suspension > suspension_lr
Left front brake caliper > hub_rf
Right front brake caliper > hub_lf
Left rear brake caliper > hub_lr
Right rear brake caliper > hub_rr
Front bumper > bumper_f
Rear bumper > bumper_r
Steering wheel > steeringwheel
Spoiler > spoiler
Spoiler pistons > struts
Helicopter tail > tail
Rear rotor > movement rotor_rear_fast (to put in a dummy named rotor_rear in the tail (tail))
Rear rotor stopped > rotor_rear_slow (to put in a dummy named rotor_rear in the tail (tail))
Rotor in front > movement rotor_rear_fast (to put in a dummy named rotor_main)
Front rotor stopped > rotor_rear_slow (to put in a dummy named rotor_main)
Helicopter landing gear, left > suspension_lf
Helicopter landing gear, straight > suspension_rf
Handlebars > handlebars
Motorcycle rear wheel > [wheel_lr]
Motorcycle front wheel > [wheel_lf]
Motorcycle swingarm > swingarm
Motorcycle front disc > bikedisc_f
Motorcycle rear disc > bikedisc_r
Forkhead > forks_u
Bottom fork > forks_l
Motorcycle tail light > taillight_r
Straight motor boat > rudder2
Motor left boat > rudder
Right-hand motor propeller > static_prop2
Left-hand motor propeller > static_prop
Aircraft landing gear carrier, front right > gear_door_en
Landing gear carrier, left > gear_door_fl
Right-hand door, right-middle landing gear > gear_door_rr1
Left door mid-right landing gear > gear_door_rmr
Right door left middle landing gear > gear_door_rml
Left door left middle landing gear > gear_door_rl1
Door left rear landing gear left > gear_door_rl2
Door right rear landing gear right > gear_door_rr2
Front undercarriage > gear_f
Landing gear, mid-left > gear_lm1
Mid-right landing gear > gear_rm1
Left rear landing gear > gear_rl
Right-hand rear landing gear > gear_rr
Left aileron left wing > aileron_l
Left wing brake fin > airbrake_l
Right aileron right wing > aileron_r
Right wing brake fin > airbrake_r
Left wing > wing_l
Right wing > wing_r
Plane tail or vertical fin > tail
Rear steering spoiler > rudder
Left rear spoiler > elevator_l
Right rear spoiler > elevator_r
All other elements are merely static elements attached to the vehicle (license plate, antenna, luggage rack, engine, trunk interior... etc...) don't need to have a specific name, just name them by what they represent (ex: plaque_imat for a license plate) Simply avoid spaces between words and keep names short and simple.
The components, which you will call extra_+ a different number each time " ( " extra_1 " , " extra_2 " , " extra_5 " , ...) can be activated/deactivated via an in-game trainer.
Once all components have been renamed
- Click on the " Hide all " :
We'll proceed piece by piece, displaying and hiding them one by one. To create a compound, we first create and reposition a " dummy " (a cube to define the origin and rotations if necessary). For some components, the location of the dummy is very important, but for others it isn't. Here I'll show you where to place your dummies, and then how to proceed for each component.
We'll proceed in that order:
- Front bumper
- Rear bumper
- Front windshield
- Rear windshield
- Side windows
- Hood
- Chest
- Doors
- Brake calipers
- Lighting
- First of all, for each component, click on the " " button. Dummy Helper " :
At the very bottom of the hierarchy, a new component named " Dummy Helper "A blue cube appears in your views:
- Move the pivot (purple cube with a cross) so that it is not on the cube, it will be easier to pick up the cube and move it later:
- Click on the " Dummy Helper "Once it's yellow, click on it again to rename it. Assign it the name of the component you are going to edit (here we'll start with the front bumper, so I'll call it "bumper_f". ). Select the cube in a "View" mode. left "By framing it with your mouse, it will turn purple and the box on the left in the hierarchy blue.
- Display your component (this is the front bumper) and slide it into the dummy in the hierarchy:
NOTE: The above steps must be carried out for each component, even those for which the dummy does not need to be moved (chassis, bodyshell...).
Positioning dummies
- Start by taking the Move "which can be found in the Modify " Once selected, click on the contextual menu at the top right of the box and uncheck the two boxes:
- Now use a left and a view front for example, to move your cube plane by plane (especially no perspective or user), click on it and move it by holding and moving the mouse. It's also possible to click on the 3D of your component and move the mouse to move the cube, as it's selected, so the element of your car will remain fixed.
Position your dummies as shown in the following images (hold down the CTRL key for perfect linear movements) :
Don't worry about the wheels, we'll deal with them later in this tutorial!
The dummy will represent the place where the bumper is last attached: when damaged, it will shake around this axis before falling off.
The dummy will represent the place where the bumper is last attached: when damaged, it will shake around this axis before falling off.
Dummy in the center of the glass.
Dummy in the center of the glass.
Example on just one, but do the same for all the others, with the dummy in the center.
The dummy defines the axis on which the hood rotates
For example, for one door, do the same for the others. The dummy defines the axis on which the door will rotate.
Position the dummy approximately like this for each brake caliper, repositioning it correctly once the wheels are in place, as they need to be on the same axis in order to move with the wheel according to suspension movements or when the front wheels turn.
The lights are a little easier to position using this method:
TO DO FOR EACH LIGHT:
- Go to the " Display " .
- Click on the box at top right to open the context menu.
- Check the Keep Object "and " Both " .
- Take the " Reset to World "and click on the light in the view mode front for example :
- Take the " Center local axes to object "Then click on the light again:
- The axes are now right in the center of the light:
- As in the previous steps, with the other components, create your dummy, rename it and place your component inside.
- Take the " Copies local axes " :
- Click on the light, an arrow will appear, now click on the dummy, it will move to exactly the right position on the light:
- Here's the final result: you can't see the light any more because the cube covers it, but that's perfectly normal - we'll see it again later:
There's no need to move the dummy, just leave it in the center (where it first appeared), rename it and place your component in it.
Once all the components are grouped together in their dummy, you should have something that looks like this:
We can now move on to creating compounds.
- Click on the " Show all " and unfold all the dummies as shown in the image above.
- Select the first dummy in the list (all the way up) and ensure that no checkboxes are selected in the " Structure " :
- Click on the " Convert to Compound " :
- Click on the " Lock " :
- Click on the " L0 " :
- Drag and drop the component into the grey area:
- Now the compound is created, the little " - "to the left of the name has disappeared, the name is in bold and " L0 "is shown in the grey area:
- Deactivate " L0 " :
- Re-click on the padlock :
- Once this is done, the following dummy is selected, simply repeat the operation EXACTLY in the same order as I've just shown you, until you're left with nothing but compounds.
IMPORTANT: You've probably noticed that we haven't taken care of the wheels, but don't panic, the handling is not the same. We'll come back to this in the " Adding and adjusting wheel collisions " .
Once all the components have been converted to compounds, you should have something like this:
NOTE: If you double-click on a compound, the padlock will lock again, and you may no longer be able to select other compounds. Simply click on the padlock again to remove it.
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