At the moment I'm interested in photogrammetry. It's a technique where you take photos from multiple angles and turn it into a 3d model with magic... I mean with software.
[Blocked Image: https://3dscanexpert.com/wp-content/uploads/photoscan-dense-cloud-1024x597.x92699.png]
I made around 550 photos of the lab I work in, but more on that later. Anyway, for me to get the lab into source2 I needed to get a model in source2. Getting a model in source has always been a pain, even in goldsrc (in my opinion!). Unity for example is way more easy, it can even import blender files for example. And I like to use blender, not that it is the best but it is free and it has really great add-ons, and the development of it is really great.
Some of you might have used the "Source Engine Export" plugin for blender before. Well long trial and error story short, you don't need that anymore. You can export to fbx, which is a pretty common format. And then with the tools from valve turn it into a model. Also setting up textures is a lot easier. And I believe it supports .tga now but I need to test that proper. I did have a problem with textures, and I really miss a console in the application telling me what is wrong. Anyway now the reason of this post. Once you have your model the workflow is great. If I make a change in blender and export to fbx again I'm done! It instants updates in the hammer editor. And even better, it EVEN UPDATES IN THE GAME WITHOUT THE NEED OF A RECOMPILE OF THE MAP OR THE MODEL!
More later!