How to make a neon light?

[Werne]

I tried searching everywhere and I still can't find anything about it :facepalm:. I have a problem making a neon light for Fallout 3, I managed to make a glowing neon that looks great in Blender using the Bezier circle and curve and then adding lamps, editing some things, etc. But the problem is I can't export it to nif, so I'm back at the begining :wallbash:. So, does anyone here know how to make a neon tube that emits light and if there is some kind of a tutorial on that could you be kind enough to point me to it? Edited December 13, 2011 by Werne

[dazzerfong]

Well, in FO3, lights don't work like that. They work by 'emitting' light which does not influence the environment, and this brightness value is controlled by your mesh's Emit value. Note, I stress that this emit value does not light up surrounding topology, nor does it cast shadow. The second component is to place a specialized light in GECK: this light casts shadows and lights everything around it. Hence, when you export it, you're only exporting the shape of the light, not its actual light-casting radius, etc.

 

I'm not 100 percent sure, but I think you can convert Bezier curves to polygons in Blender.

[Werne]

Well, in FO3, lights don't work like that. They work by 'emitting' light which does not influence the environment, and this brightness value is controlled by your mesh's Emit value. Note, I stress that this emit value does not light up surrounding topology, nor does it cast shadow.

 

That is what I need, I know the "light" won't affect anything but I want it to glow. I tried adding glowmaps to the mesh following this tutorial, but they don't work (probably because I'm an idiot and I missed something obvious).

 

The second component is to place a specialized light in GECK: this light casts shadows and lights everything around it. Hence, when you export it, you're only exporting the shape of the light, not its actual light-casting radius, etc.

 

I know how lights in FO3 work, learned it a long time ago by accident.

 

I'm not 100 percent sure, but I think you can convert Bezier curves to polygons in Blender.

 

I figured it out yesterday, and it is so easy and simple (and obvious). You just need to go to Object Mode, select all the letters (or whatever), go to Object/Convert Object Type (or just press Alt+C), select mesh in the menu that appeared and voila. I'm always overlooking the obvious :facepalm:.

[dazzerfong]

In addition to glowmaps, in Nifskope, you must change the mesh's Emit value of the NiMaterialProperty. Click on it, scroll all the way down on the bottom, you should find it then.