I think I have seen skinmesh stretching real time in 3drad before.

I think jestermon made something like that once. It was a lazer beam that could be shot and then it would bounce off walls and obstacles.

It's sitting somewhere on the forum, you just have to find it.

The other thing you could do is use the skinmesh spring demo and stretch a skinmesh from the player's weapon to the scan normal (from the scanner object).

aah found it....the connecting line in this project is a skinmesh
http://www.3drad.com/forum/index.php?topic=5655.0
cheers to jesstermon for answering your question before u even asked it

So, bascly a lot to look into  I will have a go at it.

That laser beam does not work with two moving skinmeshes, only with one static. And how do I cange the thickness of the line?

Thank you Jess, so the code you need is this:
int POINTA = OBJ_22;
int POINTB = OBJ_0;
int LINE = OBJ_44;

Vector3 aLoc, bLoc;
Quaternion aRot, bRot;
Quaternion newRot;
float distance;
Vector3 normVec, newVec;
Vector3 normLenVec;

//Returns a lookat quaternion from a to b
Quaternion QuatGetLookAt(Vector3 a, Vector3 b){
   Quaternion orientation;
   Vector3 up = Vector3(0,0,0);
   Vector3 direction = b - a;
   float abx = iFloatAbs(b.x - a.x);
   float aby = iFloatAbs(b.y - a.y);
   float abz = iFloatAbs(b.z - a.z);
   if ((abx < aby) && (abx < abz)) up.x = 1;
   if ((aby < abx) && (aby < abz)) up.y = 1;
   else up.z = 1;
   iQuaternionLookAt(orientation,direction,up);   
   return orientation;
}

void Calc()
{
   iObjectLocation(POINTA, aLoc);
   iObjectLocation(POINTB, bLoc);
   iObjectOrientation(POINTA, aRot);
   iObjectOrientation(POINTB, bRot);
   distance = iVectorLength(bLoc-aLoc);

   //get normal. not used
   iVectorLengthSet(normVec, (bLoc-aLoc),1);
   
   //get normal+length - not used
   iVectorLengthSet(normLenVec, (bLoc-aLoc),distance);
   newVec = normLenVec+aLoc;
 
   //place line
   iObjectScaleSet(LINE, Vector3(5,5,distance));
   iObjectOrientationSet(LINE, QuatGetLookAt(aLoc, bLoc));


   //OUT_132 = dot;
}


void Main()
{
   Calc();
}

Then you need to change the 5, 5 in this line to change the radius of the beam:
   //place line
   iObjectScaleSet(LINE, Vector3(5,5,distance));


yup, the 5,5 will change the thickness.
The placement of the line will depend on the animation you are using.
A laser gun will need the forward vector of the gun barrel, to place the other point of the laser line from the barrel.

You will also need to define
a.. How will you track the monster.
b.. How will you point the gun
c.. When to know that you have hit the monster

If it's a FPS, then a and b are already answered. So you just need to decide how long the line will be, and then use a scanner to see if the monster has been intersected by your line-beam..

Am I on the right track here?

///------------------------------------------------------------------
/// Returns a direction vector from an orientation
///------------------------------------------------------------------
Vector3 ForwardVector(Quaternion q)
{
   Vector3 direction;
   iVectorRotate(direction,Vector3(0,0,1),q);
   return direction;
}
1.. Get the forward vector of the gun skinmesh from it's orientation
2.. Set the length of the vector to the length of your beam with iVectorLengthSet() (Store in V2)
3.. Get the location vector of the gun mesh (Store in V1)
4.. Draw your laser beam from V1 to V2

That should do  the trick.