RA2 Buildings - Aviation Research : Apendix 1

Setting the correct render size

In 3DSMax, if you hit F10, this brings up the render panel.

Render an image.

Open the image using Paint Shop Pro.

Crop the image to the edges of the rendered model, this should be the base if its the largest/widest thing (in most cases).

Count the number of Tiles from left to right wide your building is.

This is a little tricky. Its easy for square buildings though.
Heres some example values to help you out.

1x1 Base has a width of 1
2x2 Base has a width of 2
3x3 Base has a width of 3
4x4 Base has a width of 4
etc.

1x2 Base has a width of 1.5
1x3 Base has a width of 2
1x4 Base has a width of 2.5

2x1 Base has a width of 1.5
2x2 Base has a width of 2
2x3 Base has a width of 2.5
2x4 Base has a width of 3

Given that each tile in RA2 is 60 Tiles wide, so times the Base width by 60 to give actual width ingame.

So, for the 2x2 aviation facility we have a Base width of 2. 2 x 60 - 120. 120 pixels is the width the base should be in game.

Still got that cropped image? That is the full width of your building. It needs resizing to be the same as it will be ingame. Press Shift+S to bring the resize panel up. Type in the base width, (120 pixels in this case). Look at, and record the percentage (%) decrease in size.

Take this % value, and resize your original image by this amount.
Press Shift+I to view image information. Look at the pixel width. This is the width you need to render at in 3DSMax.

Go to 3DSMax, in the render options screen (F10) insert this value as the render width. If you have locked the camera aspect ratio the height will be automatically generated for you.

When you next render, the image should be the exact size you need it ingame. This will have saved you several steps later when converting. It increases image quality and quickens production time.

Author: Markavian
Last edited on: 18th Dec, 12:53 pm
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