1. What are Models?
2. Model Placement and Settings

Placing a Static Model

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Placing a Physics Model

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Pitfall to Avoid

This is a very simple task, but there are some pitfalls to avoid. Most importantly, the viewing distance of a model can easily be altered (accidentally). For example, if your prop looks like the picture below (when selected):

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It will probably not show up in-game. Notice the little sphere in the center of the entity. This little bugger helps determine how far away you have to be in order for the model to start appearing/disappearing in-game

This feature saves rendering resources for large complex maps. For smaller multiplayer maps, the fade distance is not as important. By default, the entity should be set to NOT disappear. It should be set at fademaxdist. But just in case you may have clicked the sphere in the enter and moved it 1 unit larger, it won't appear at all because the fade distance is set to 1 or 2. In which case you would have to be directly next to the model to see it.

To fix this, open up the Object Properties for the prop. Look at the "Start Fade Distance" property. Set it to -1 if you would like it to not fade at all. Then set the "End Fade Distance" to 0. Now your model should be visible at any distance.

Model Skinning

This is one of the most neglected options in using models. Many (if not most) models come with more than one skins By that I mean the appearance of the model can be altered by changing its skin. For example, all the light fixture models have at least two skins--one for "on" and one for "off". The tree models usually have two or three skins. The default skin usually displays a leafless tree, and skin 1 has a few leaves dangling from the branches, and skin 2 has the tree blooming in full foliage.