I have MCX and can open mdl's but not merge them. Need to find out more about that process.
Thanks
Just play around with it. Things to know: You cannot screw up a model unless you overwrite with an export, so always change names and don't overwrite!
So. To start. One thing I do to ease the process is make a dummy deck model by peeling everything off the ship except the deck, then rename (eg:cvn65deckmockup) and export. This can be done with the material editor.
Load your dummy deck. Or, load, say a mule. Basically, all of these are at co-ordinates 0,0,0. Once you have a model loaded, look at the toolbar at the top of the MCX window. Third row down, under where it says wizards, there is a row of ikons; a globe, a blue box with an arrow in the corner, a pair of big balls, and one I call the trudeau schwanz: two tiny balls and a short arrow.
So, lets change the orientation of the first mule. Click on the blue box with the corner arrow. This brings up the transform window, which is used to move the loaded object in three axis, or rotate the model in 3 axis, of scale up or down, which we do not need for this. Just play around with it, it's very intuitive.
X= lateral movement, negative values move left, positive values move right. Y= longitudinal movement, and Z= vertical. Negative and positive values move fore/aft, up/down.
To start, lets go with X=-4, y=4, z=0, click 'move'. Whirwhirgrindclunk. The mule moves. Now, click the trudeau ikon- the 2 little balls/short arrow ikon. This is the merge
tool. A window pops up with X=,Y=,Z=. You can merge at any position, but just leave it at zero. Click the 'load object' button in the merge window, navigate to the model you wish to merge, click the object to open, click the merge button.
That's it. Monkey around with it until you get the hang of it. Keep a text doc open to record positions as you get it worked out. When you have all the positions sorted, merge up your model and export when you're satisfied.
This probably isn't the best explanation. The best way is to just load an object- a simple one so it's fast - and click on stuff, see what it does. And, nothing is carved in stone, as long as you do not overwrite when exporting.