OgreMax Scene Exporter for 3DS Max - Object Settings Dialog - Billboard Set

Object Settings Dialog - Billboard Set

The Billboard Set page of the Objects Setting dialog:

### General Settings

- Billboard Type - The type of billboards to be managed by the set.
- Billboard Origin - The origin of the billboards managed by the set.
- Billboard Rotation - The rotation type of the billboards managed by the set.
- Common Direction - Common direction of the billboards managed by the set. Setting all values to 0 indicates the default direction should be used.
- Common Up Vector - Common up vector of the billboards managed by the set. Setting all values to 0 indicates the default direction should be used.
- Pool Size - The default number of billboards to allocate.
- Auto Extend Pool - Indicates whether the pool size can be extended if necessary.
- Cull Individually - Indicates whether billboards are culled individually. Normally they are culled as a group.
- Sort Billboards - Indicates whether billboards are sorted.
- Use Accurate Facing Model - Indicates whether a more accurate model should be used when calculating which direction the billboards face.

### Creating a Billboard Set and Billboards

1. Create a Plane object to serve as the billboard set - This is just a standard 3DS Max plane. The material applied to this object will be used as the exported billboard set's material even though the billboard set Plane will not be rendered.
2. Change the Plane object's type to 'Billboard Set' - Use the General page of the OgreMax Object Settings dialog to change its type.
3. Create any number of Plane objects to serve as billboards - You may also apply to these planes the same material applied to the main billboard set plane.
4. Select all the Planes and use the 'Rotate Selected Planes For Billboard Use' command - This command is located in the OgreMax menu and will rotate the planes into an orientation that the OgreMax exporter expects.
5. Attach all the billboard planes to the billboard set - All the billboard planes will be children of the billboard set.
6. Change all the billboard plane objects' type to 'Billboard' - Use the General page of the OgreMax Object Settings dialog to change their type. You can select them all at once before launching the dialog to speed up the process.
7. Rotate billboards as necessary - Billboards can be rotated around their front-facing axis.