Simviation Forum - First aircraft project...

Feb 20^th, 2007 at 7:33pm

DanielF Offline
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Well, I decided to start my first aircraft project for FSX. But I have a probably stupid question... On the side of the plane the edges of the polygons spread out a lot. Is this going to cause problems down the road?

&&FS Evolution&&&&DanielF

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Reply #1 - Feb 20^th, 2007 at 7:41pm

Falcon500 Offline
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if you mean those big squares, no , it will just make the side panels look flat rather than rounded

What do I do you ask? I struggle! Then destroy! Then try to put back together what I just broke on accident.....&&&&&&&&&& The GMax effect The GMax effect

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Reply #2 - Feb 20^th, 2007 at 7:44pm

SkyNoz Offline
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DanielF wrote on Feb 20^th, 2007 at 7:33pm:

Well, I decided to start my first aircraft project for FSX. But I have a probably stupid question... On the side of the plane the edges of the polygons spread out a lot. Is this going to cause problems down the road?

[img]

..No... It will benefit you in a way, those poly-surfaces are large and it will allow the aircraft to load quicker. All it does in the model is display really how fine the surface is, how much detail etc. Cool

Project Kfir!&&&&My Gmax page&&Aircraft modeler/Aircarft painter&&&&Aye the key!&&[GeneralEngineData]&&//0=Piston, 1=Jet, 2=None, 3=Helo-Turbine, 4=Rocket, 5=Turboprop

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Reply #3 - Feb 20^th, 2007 at 7:54pm

DanielF Offline
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Thanks for the replies. I wasn't sure if it would make it look all distorted or whatever. I'm working on redoing that sloppy rudder now... Way too many polygons for such a simple object. Roll Eyes

&&FS Evolution&&&&DanielF

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Reply #4 - Feb 21^st, 2007 at 12:48am

SkyNoz Offline
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DanielF wrote on Feb 20^th, 2007 at 7:54pm:

Thanks for the replies. I wasn't sure if it would make it look all distorted or whatever. I'm working on redoing that sloppy rudder now... Way too many polygons for such a simple object. Roll Eyes

Actually experience on my part would say it's not too bad, it's 'average' with this type of design judging on structure and it will help with performance and detail if the rudder looked a bit more cleaner.-SN Wink

Project Kfir!&&&&My Gmax page&&Aircraft modeler/Aircarft painter&&&&Aye the key!&&[GeneralEngineData]&&//0=Piston, 1=Jet, 2=None, 3=Helo-Turbine, 4=Rocket, 5=Turboprop

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Reply #5 - Feb 21^st, 2007 at 1:27am

DanielF Offline
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Well, here's an updated picture. I replaced the wings and rudder, though I need to do some work on the tips of the wings.

I can't get the animations to work though. I'm trying to add them as the SDK says, but it's not working. But the SDK has proven to give wrong instructions before, so I guess I'll have to just figure it out...

&&FS Evolution&&&&DanielF

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Reply #6 - Feb 22^nd, 2007 at 12:13am

DanielF Offline
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Well, I fixed the animation problem... Turns out I forgot to check the "export animations" box. The SDK wins this round... Lips Sealed

Anyway, I just wanted to show some of my progress. It's so addictive to work on this model. There's always "just one more detail before I get off." And when I'm done with that, there are a million other details that I could do before getting off. Grin

I accidentally deleted the glass a few saves ago. Roll Eyes

I'll replace it eventually... I need to figure out how to add the prop...

And here you can see the simple VC. That's going to be fun to make...

Which brings me to my next question; How do I animate the yoke? It seems like it would be a bit more complicated than the other animaitons and I can't find a tag for it...

&&FS Evolution&&&&DanielF

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Reply #7 - Feb 22^nd, 2007 at 6:28pm

Felix/FFDS Offline
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A yoke is no different.... you have a lever_stick_l_r that happens to rotate, and a lever_stick_fore_aft that happens to go forward and back. ONE of those parts is a small box hidden inside the other, and parent of the larger (visible) part.

Felix/FFDS

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Reply #8 - Feb 22^nd, 2007 at 7:21pm

Travis Offline
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One of the primary rules for designing an aircraft is always, ALWAYS make multiple saves. Save as something like "aircraft01" and then on the next save make it "aircraft02" and then 03, etc. That way, when you do make a mistake, like deleting the windows, you can simply merge the missing part back into the scene and you're ready to continue.

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Reply #9 - Feb 22^nd, 2007 at 11:54pm

DanielF Offline
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Felix/FFDS wrote on Feb 22^nd, 2007 at 6:28pm:

A yoke is no different.... you have a lever_stick_l_r that happens to rotate, and a lever_stick_fore_aft that happens to go forward and back. ONE of those parts is a small box hidden inside the other, and parent of the larger (visible) part.

Ahh, thanks! I'll give that a shot.

Quote:

One of the primary rules for designing an aircraft is always, ALWAYS make multiple saves. Save as something like "aircraft01" and then on the next save make it "aircraft02" and then 03, etc. That way, when you do make a mistake, like deleting the windows, you can simply merge the missing part back into the scene and you're ready to continue.

Yeah, that's what I do. I'm actually on save #8, but still saved over it by accident. Grin

I usually make a new number after a few saves or right before I make a major adjustment to save space. Maybe I should save as a new number every save now that I have a new huge HD. But it won't be too difficult to recover the windows though because one of my saves was right before I cut the windows out with the templates stuck through the fuselage. Cool

&&FS Evolution&&&&DanielF

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Reply #10 - Feb 23^rd, 2007 at 7:31pm

Falcon500 Offline
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lol my B-25 has somewhere around 45 saves Shocked

What do I do you ask? I struggle! Then destroy! Then try to put back together what I just broke on accident.....&&&&&&&&&& The GMax effect The GMax effect

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Reply #11 - Feb 25^th, 2007 at 12:18am

DanielF Offline
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Arg, I've been trying for the last few days now, but I just can't get the propeller animation to work. Undecided

Here's what I've tried so far:

I tagged the three prop objects (prop0_still through _blurred) in both the animation and attach point tools. For the animation, I set the prop objects to rotate 360 degrees (I've tried both CW and CCW). I've named the objects the same as the animation tags just in case it decided to be pickey. It looks like the attach point tool works because the objects change depending on the state the engine is in. However, when the object should be animating, it just stays still. Sometimes it vibrates like it's trying to do something, but it just can't. Because of this, I tagging the animation but not keyframing it because I thought that maybe the gmax animation was interfereing with the FSX animation. But when I did that it stopped vibrating. Grin

I tried downloading the sample gmax aircraft on freeflightdesign.com, but as far as I can tell, I did the same thing to my objects as they did on the engine in the example. Anyone know where I could be going wrong?

&&FS Evolution&&&&DanielF

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Reply #12 - Feb 25^th, 2007 at 12:30pm

aceronzo Offline
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Sometimes I have to set the animation at 359.5 instead of 360 degrees (0 first frame 359.5 last frame).Make sure you check the "export animation" square and use the animation tool or it won't work either.Hope this helps you.
Best Regards,
Ronnie

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Reply #13 - Feb 25^th, 2007 at 4:46pm

N2744X Offline
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I am just curious daniel, how much practice and familiarization did it take you to become that skilled with Gmax. I am considering giving it a shot.

"Orange County Traffic, Chancellor N2744X, Departing runway 03, Orange County"

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Reply #14 - Feb 25^th, 2007 at 5:00pm

Travis Offline
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N2744X wrote on Feb 25^th, 2007 at 4:46pm:

I am just curious daniel, how much practice and familiarization did it take you to become that skilled with Gmax. I am considering giving it a shot.

Steep learning curve, simple follow-through.

Simply put, its difficult to learn, but once you get the basics, everything else seems to fall into place.

And it sounds as though aircraft creation with Gmax is becoming increasingly more complicated . . . Huh

I may have trouble adjusting . . . Sad

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