Simviation Forum - ShaneG's adventures in Gmax

Reply #30 - Jul 7^th, 2009 at 10:34pm

ShaneG Offline
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Fr. Bill wrote on Jul 7^th, 2009 at 2:50pm:

Hi Shane,

I'm assuming the the "MM_MkMDL.plugnplay.zip" file arrived intact and works as advertised. Cool

Yes it did, and yes it does, and thanks again.

Fr. Bill wrote on Jul 7^th, 2009 at 2:50pm:

I commend you for your enthusiasm! If I might offer one bit of advice, it is this:

NAME every part correctly per the FS9 part list as you create it.

Is there a standard list of part names to use, or just common sense part names?

♪♫♪‼

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Reply #31 - Jul 7^th, 2009 at 11:54pm

Alrot. Ex Member
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Quote:

Is there a standard list of part names to use, or just common sense part names?

No, Shane all the moving parts Ailerons ,propelers ,rudder ,flaps have to be written by the code names as it appear in the FS9-SDK Download FS2004SDK\MakeMDL_SDK and look the word .doc name MakeMDL.doc
there are parts that have to has the exact code names examples

F_Canopy
L_Elevator, R_Elevator
R_Spoiler, L_Spoiler

If you don't rename the parts thy never work in FS9,what Bill is trying yo tell you to use as I said in my post before

Alejandro Rhodes wrote on Jul 7^th, 2009 at 10:37am:

when you made an animation In FS9 is based on the name and Just by Its name like canopy, gears (some of them Moves alone like Prop0_1 or Flap_01 ,tires, Rudder all of them do not need animation to be made)

You need to rename every part to be animated exactly as FS2004 makemdl.doc says

while in FSX you need to open the Tab FS tool Animation Manager without changing names of the objects (But many recommend to keep a control to name all of them) ..

,people recomend to use the name even for FSX (which it doesn't need it to work) but it need it for FS9 in the case you want to make an organize airplane and if you decide to swich the model to FS9-SDK it will be less work
I will use my first citation made in FS9 ,and every part Box ,cilinder ,etc has been rename them to make it work in its animation

EDIT: I FIND THE LINK DOWNLAOD THIS YOU WILL NOT USE THE MAKEMDL.EXE AT ALL.. IS ALREADY IN YOUR GMAX INSTALATION THIS IS MEAN TO BE FOR FOR 3D MAX USERS but it has the makemdl.doc
But it has the first tool the list of moving parts, the frames you will use etc..

http://download.microsoft.com/download/FlightSim2002/Install/sdk/W982KMeXP/EN-US...

.

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Reply #32 - Jul 8^th, 2009 at 8:26am

ShaneG Offline
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Thanks for the link Alex!

So by using these part names, some of the animation work is already done? (it uses some kind of default animation?)

Quote:

Stock Animation Names (Aircraft Only)
Any part with a part name from the following table automatically uses the corresponding stock animation; you do not have to author a keyframe animation in the input file.

There sure are a LOT of part & material names to learn. Shocked

So what is the first step toward making a plane?

I plan on finishing the tutorials first, but I must admit, I took on this challenge for a reason....

...the plane that I wanted most, is not available for MSFS, so I want to make the first one. Wink

And having one for FSX will provide a jump point for one of the most requested planes for a native FSX project.
I've already found a 3-view drawing for when the time comes. Cool

Thanks again for all the help everyone, this is a truly rewarding experience already.

♪♫♪‼

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Reply #33 - Jul 8^th, 2009 at 9:03am

Alrot. Ex Member
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Just the basic (I haven't learn so far a single one) I always look up into this , and lately as a typical lazy person I don't even bother to rename the part Due that FSX does not require names to work .
So I leave them just like they where made ,Cylinder23 ,Box28 ,Tube01 etc etc etc..But that isn't right you re-name the part always as if you were to use FS2004-sdk Wink

when You see names likes

L_Gear

_01

L_Gear

_02

L_Gear

_03

L_Gear

_04

the _01 _02 etc Its because the SDK and gmax doesn't allow to repeats the same names so you can put them _2009 _100 what ever you want as long they have not been repeated .
L is left and its a part
R is right so when you read like R_tire_XX is right tire Whatever

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Reply #34 - Jul 8^th, 2009 at 2:40pm

Fr. Bill Offline
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ShaneG wrote on Jul 7^th, 2009 at 10:34pm:

Is there a standard list of part names to use, or just common sense part names?

Look in the ..\gamepacks\fs2004\docs folder and open the MakeMDL.doc file.

Beginning on page 14 you will find a list of partnames to use. Note that the first group are non-keyframed stock animations. All that is required is the partname.

The second group are key-frame animated parts that will require both the correct partname as well as key-frame animation in GMax.

As has been stated, for FSX the partnames are not necessary, but I submit that always using the correct names WILL be of great help...

Suppose you have a part with the name "Box26" that you wish to animate. Will you remember when the Animation Manager tool is open that you need to assign l_aileron_key to the part?

If the part is named properly, the Animation Tool assignment becomes much easier, trust me! Cool

Over the years I've had many modelers send me their .gmax source files to help them identify/fix problems. In every single instance where they've not given their parts meaningful names, I've declined to even look for the problem until they name their parts...

It's not meant to be mean, I've simply not got the time to second-guess what they meant to do. Grin

Bill
Gauge Programming - 3d Modeling Eaglesoft Development Group Intel Core 2 Quad Q6600-4GB DDR2 Crucial PC6400-800 GB SATA-ATI Radeon HD2400 Pro 256MB DX10 NOTE: Unless explicitly stated in the post, everything written by my hand is MY opinion. I do NOT speak for any company, real or imagined...

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Reply #35 - Jul 8^th, 2009 at 6:47pm

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Fr. Bill wrote on Jul 8^th, 2009 at 2:40pm:

As has been stated, for FSX the partnames are not necessary, but I submit that always using the correct names WILL be of great help...
[/color]

That's one good habit I've picked up from working with FSDS - you name the animated part exactly as it is in the mamkemdl.parts.xml or modelef.xml (as the case may be)

I do not like "Box29" or such because I can never remember if that's just a helper/reference part or that's my main fuselage.

Felix/FFDS

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Reply #36 - Jul 8^th, 2009 at 8:53pm

Alrot. Ex Member
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Felix/FFDS wrote on Jul 8^th, 2009 at 6:47pm:

Fr. Bill wrote on Jul 8^th, 2009 at 2:40pm:

As has been stated, for FSX the partnames are not necessary, but I submit that always using the correct names WILL be of great help...
[/color]

That's one good habit I've picked up from working with FSDS - you name the animated part exactly as it is in the mamkemdl.parts.xml or modelef.xml (as the case may be)

I do not like "Box29" or such because I can never remember if that's just a helper/reference part or that's my main fuselage.

I really don't know how to express this in English But Felix can

Yo soy muy desordenado y flojo le dejo los nombre tal como se crean Box Cyliders etc ,lo mas apropiado es usar los nombres tal y como ha sido establecido aca by using the real FSX/FS9 SDK name parts Embarrassed

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Reply #37 - Jul 8^th, 2009 at 10:37pm

Travis Offline
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From Google Translator:

Quote:

I am very sloppy and lazy I leave the name as it is created Box Cyliders etc, it is more appropriate to use the names as it has been established here by using the real FSX/FS9 SDK name parts

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Reply #38 - Jul 9^th, 2009 at 10:25am

ShaneG Offline
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Getting closer to something that looks like a plane.

Practicing naming parts and modifying vertices. Cool

I've been messing with putting the 3-views for my first project into Gmax, is there a certain size they have to be before they go into the view ports?

It seems like they just don't ever line up right, (probably me doing something out of step. Wink

)

I got my 3-views from a NASA website, so I'm pretty sure they're fairly accurate. Wink

BTW: Should I be asking all this stuff elsewhere, or is this thread fine?

(it is kind of neat to see my progression in one thread

)

♪♫♪‼

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Reply #39 - Jul 9^th, 2009 at 12:34pm

Fr. Bill Offline
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ShaneG wrote on Jul 9^th, 2009 at 10:25am:

I've been messing with putting the 3-views for my first project into Gmax, is there a certain size they have to be before they go into the view ports?

Yes, zero bytes! That is, do not bother with the background images...

Instead, follow Milton's tutorial on building a calibration box.

http://www.sim-outhouse.com/sohforums/showthread.php?t=19160

Or, if you are more into audio-visual, Finn Neuik's video tutorial:

http://www.flightsimonline.com/tutorials/backdrops.zip

After doing the above, you may also wish to use another trick and convert the 3-view calibration box into a transparent wire-frame presentation.

http://www.aerodynamika.com/cgi-bin/yabb/YaBB.cgi?num=1184284524

Bill
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Reply #40 - Jul 9^th, 2009 at 12:48pm

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I'm gonna jump in too Cheesy

Getting the 3-views into the scene, in a workable way, is yourt next major hurdle. While you can just make them the background of each viewport..I HIGHLY advise you to use the boxes, or planes method.. Place three of them as parts, and use the 3-view bitmaps as materials, mapped to them.

The trick is, to crop the bitmaps so that they're the same proportion (height X width) as the 3 planes..(i.e. if the bitmap is 800 X 300; the plane on which it's applied needs to have an 8:3 size ratio) so that there is no distortion.. And as you're doing the cropping, you have to also make sure they all have the same "center" .. Like, the nose and tail from the above view, line up with the nose and tail from a side view,, etc.

This takes a little work, and math on your part..\

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Reply #41 - Jul 9^th, 2009 at 1:03pm

ShaneG Offline
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Hi Brett, what you have in your screen shot, is basically what I'm after.

I have the views, and they are all in scale with eachother, I've just stumbled with lining them up with the box, never thought of using planes before. Wink

The tutorial by Milton that Bill linked to above looks like the winner, nice well laid out instructions. Cool

Once I have this step accomplished, is it just a matter of 'drawing' to the three views?

Seems simple enough, in an extremely complicated way. Grin

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Reply #42 - Jul 9^th, 2009 at 1:23pm

Brett_Henderson Offline
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Take your time at this step.. there will be lots of cropping and re-sizing, and testing:

What I do, is literally make each view ONLY as long or wide as it has to be.. As you can see, the top and side views stop at the nose and tail.. the front view stops at each wingtip.

Just remember that the dimensions of the bitmaps (pixels) are good guides. The side view bitmap will have the same 'X' pixels, as the top view has "Y" pixels.. and so on Cool

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Reply #43 - Jul 9^th, 2009 at 1:30pm

ShaneG Offline
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Brett_Henderson wrote on Jul 9^th, 2009 at 1:23pm:

Just remember that the dimensions of the bitmaps (pixels) are good guides. The side view bitmap will have the same 'X' pixels, as the top view has "Y" pixels.. and so on Cool

That's an excellent little tip there. Cool

And just solved why my top view was so wrong. Grin

Now they look correct. Cool

Thanks!

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Reply #44 - Jul 9^th, 2009 at 2:15pm

Brett_Henderson Offline
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The next trick, is to scale it all... after you get the three planes setup and mapped.. then make a stick airplane with length and wingspans that are EXACTLY real world in size.. (in meters ).. and THEN you select all three planes only, and rescale them to match it..

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