XSI Mod Tool - Smooth Edges of Imported Object? Thread

Here's my problem.
I'm modeling an exterior of a house in Sketchup for Half-Life 2, and there are certain objects that are more complex than simple boxes, (they are cylindrical pillars, so they aren't too complicated.) so I export them to the Google Earth format. (.kmz) I then extract the .dae file out of that, then import it into XSI.
Now that it is imported into XSI, all the edges are hard and jagged, is there any way to smooth them out?
(I notice that all the faces have been subdivided when imported into XSI. When I select all the edges and use "Mark Hard Edge/Vertex" the subdivisions are the only lines that turn blue.)

I know that by default the rounded edged are smoothed when created IN XSI, so should I go about creating the more complex objects in XSI instead of Sketchup? I find Sketchup quite easy, and I love that I have really good control over measurements. Will I have to sacrifice this control if I use XSI instead? Maybe you can point me to tutorials or give me some tips on how to accurately measure things out in XSI.

Thanks.

I can think of a few options, but they would depend more on what is happening to the model during the import (as I can't see why it would change the smoothing or subdivide the mesh). Could you either send an example model, or post screenshots of the model in shaded view and wireframe (selected).

I find Sketchup quite easy, and I love that I have really good control over measurements. Will I have to sacrifice this control if I use XSI instead? Maybe you can point me to tutorials or give me some tips on how to accurately measure things out in XSI.

From Valve's Wiki:

Units in all tools (including external 3D modeling packages) are equivalent.

A unit's relationship to real-world measurements is not set in stone or precise; it is defined only by the scale of a game's content.

That said, Half Life 2 seems to use the following dimensions in game:

1.Maps, architecture and prop models use a scale of 1 foot = 16 units.
2.Skyboxes (which are 1/16th scale of ordinary maps) use 1 foot = 1 unit.
3.Human Character models for Source Engine currently use 1 foot = 12 units.

Map Grid Imperial Metric

1 = 0.75" = 0.01905
2 = 1.5" = 0.04
4 = 3" = 0.08
8 = 6" = 0.15
16 = 1' = 0.3
32 = 2' = 0.6
64 = 4' = 1.2
128 = 8' = 2.4
(160 = 10' = 3.0)
256 = 16' = 4.9
512 = 32' = 9.8

(more dimensions here: Developer.valvesoftware.com)

So if you want a static prop to be 23 feet tall, you would make it 368 units tall in Softimage.

Here's a video for measuring HL2 props with Mod Tool.

Edited by: Cryrid

Alright, Here is what it looks like in XSI.

When I have it on the EDGE SELECT this is what it shows:

Then after I've selected all the edges and made them hard:

After importing my whole house into XSI, I notice that certain objects are a bit lopsided, namely the pillar. Ugh.
3d modeling always gives me such a headache!

The Sketchup cylinder had its faces disconnected somewhere during the export/import (the aqua-ish colored edges on a selected object in wireframe view means that the edge is open/not connected). Usually this is done to create smoothing groups (its an old way to force a hard-edge), but I'm not sure why this would happen if the cylinder originally had one smoothing group and was smooth before being exported.

It can be fixed with a few simple steps:
Select the sketchup cylinder
Hit 'e' and do a quick drag selection to select every edge on the model
Right-click the model, and chose 'weld boundry points/edges'

Edited by: Cryrid

Thank you for that anchor! It worked. I can import the objects into Hammer and they look like I modeled them to be.
Thanks, again.