Jim Charter wrote:
> That is my most wished for thing in Wings.

   Yes, it would be a crucial addition, at least for integration with 
POV-Ray. It would permit to do many things with the models, not only 
animation.

> I hack it the following way:
> Make the edgeloop into a narrow band of polys.
> Assign separate texture names to each one of the polys in desired sequence.
> Highlight and export the polys to .obj format
> Parse the .obj file externally ( I use Python )
> In the program derive the center points and center normal for each poly
> Write them to POV arrays in the sequence determined by their associated 
> materials.
> Use as .inc to your SDL

   Wow... you really needed it, isn't? :) In my case I've finished 
faster by coding some strategic points by hand, as the circuit has many 
straight parts, and the curves are clean. But many thanks for the tip, I 
saved the message for a future need.

--
Jaime

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Rene Bui wrote:
> I'm curious, what is your real goal with making this animation ? just a demo
> ?

   The same goal as with making stills: none, just fun... :)

   Seriously, I didn't plan an animation, I just wanted to place the car 
on the circuit at randomly selected places, using the points to 
calculate the proper transformations to place and align the car and 
other road decoration with the Wings3D road. A little animation would be 
an extra bonus, but not the main goal.

--
Jaime

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Jaime Vives Piqueres wrote:

>   Wow... you really needed it, isn't? :) 

Yes I use the technique a lot.  It is not too bad once the external 
piece is standardized.  Inside Wings I have preset materials for this 
purpose. Sometimes I also use the material names to pass along 
parameters. It is useful because not only do you get surface points but 
their normals so you can calculate points at distances above the surface 
too.  I use them to generate splines which in turn I use to generate 
hair, or, in my current project, feathers.

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