154 replies to this topic

[John.]

Hi,

I am starting a new project - Coventry airport scenery. I have no experience in Gmax at all so I might be asking a few questions. My aim is to get some photographic details in the scenery and that it looks a tiny bit like the real thing. I live quite close to Coventry airport so I might be visiting it a few times to get the photos I need.
Like I said earlier, I can't model in Gmax to save my life but I am willing to give it a go. The ATC Tower is quite simple as it is just a pile of bricks with a greenhouse glued to it.
AI is another thing that I would like to add. I noticed, on my last visit, that there was a Vulcan there so that is defiantly going in there.
Frame rates are just as important as the rest; I am going to distribute this scenery as freeware so it must perform well on all types of computer.
I would love it if anyone could provide pictures of the control tower as it is very hard to obtain over the internet but one of the vital utilities I need.
I will also need BETA testers. If you would like to BETA test this scenery, please post here and I will contact you via PM or E-mail (Your choice) when the scenery is ready for testing.
Screenshots will be posted soon!

John

Edited by John., 16 April 2009 - 11:01 AM.

[Jetset]

Are you sleep posting..?

[RIDZ_YSSY]

Good luck with your work    just get more familiar with gmax and then you'll be set but then further into your scenery depending on the amount of detail you want to include it gets more complicated.

[John.]

RIDZ_YSSY, on Oct 20 2007, 12:39 AM, said:

Good luck with your work    just get more familiar with gmax and then you'll be set but then further into your scenery depending on the amount of detail you want to include it gets more complicated.

I just started to make a car yesterday to see how it worked out. It isn't terrible but it isn't briliant either. I chose coventry airprort because it has very few complicated objects scattered around the airport where as airports like Manchester have many terminals and hangers. I have included some shots of my car so far. The car only has textures for the left and right sides so Gmax stretches it across so it looks a bit strange but I am searching for some more textures. I make the wheels seperatly and they were quite easy to do. All going well so far .







John

Edited by John., 16 April 2009 - 11:01 AM.

[John.]

Ok, I have now built a few cars and I want to place them at the airport.How can I add photo scenery to the tround so I know where to place the cars. I will also need the scenery to know where to place other objects. I have got a satalite photo of the airport but i just don't know how to place it in the right place. Please help,

John

Edited by John., 16 April 2009 - 11:01 AM.

[John.]

Jetset, on Oct 20 2007, 12:37 AM, said:

Are you sleep posting..?

What makes you say that?

[flyhalf]

There are many different aspects of creating an airport. Start with one and learn it before moving to the next. GMAX is the best thing to learn first. Your car is fine. Nice job. You can fill a car park up with these low detail cars and they look great.

There's lotsof tricks you'll pick up along the way. That's part of the fun learning.

[John.]

I have now started on a Ford Mondeo just as a little test. It is working out ok so far but I am having trouble apyling the textures. I have the textures for all the sides of the car but I just don't know how to apply them. Can Anyone help?

[flyhalf]

Just remember the golden rule - any surfaces that are never seen may as well never be drawn eg underside of car, inside of wheels - delete the polygons. Save framerates. Polygons are your currency.

Use material editor to apply your textue sheet to the diffuse texture. Then apply UVW Mapping to map all of parts of your texture.  See the forums at fsdeveloper for heaps of Gmax info.

[John.]

Ok, at the moment, I have use the extrude tool to make the 2D shape 3D so it is solid. How can I delete the polygons?

I didn't use UVW Mapping before which is probaly the problem.

Thanks for the advice

John

Edited by John., 16 April 2009 - 11:01 AM.

[John.]

I habe given the modeling a rest and started on the airport layout in FSX Planner. When I compared The deffault airport with a satalite photo I realised how much the airport was missing. I have included some screenshots of the default airport and some satalite photos. I will be posting some of my modified airport aswell.

Default Aiport Layout:



Google Maps Satalite Image:



Default Airport With Satalite Image In Background:




John

Edited by John., 02 May 2010 - 05:01 PM.

[umk747]

hey, if you want some bus textures i can get you them. excellent all four sides flat images (origianlly a cut out 3d model bus thing. it is in stagecoach livery. pm if your intrested or post back here

[flyhalf]

Nice shots. Looks cool!  That FSX Planner thing looks neat.

[John.]

Yes, FSX Planner makes my life easier when it comes to creating airports. I just need to join up all the taxiways and then add a few of my buildings. I have almost made the control tower but I wanted to test it in the sim. I exported the Gmax file to a .mdl file but I don't know how to put the tower in the sim. Does anyone know how I can do this?

John

Edited by John., 16 April 2009 - 11:02 AM.

[flyhalf]

You should have an XML file when you exported. This xml file needs to be edited. There's a bit that says "delete the comments if west of KSEA" you need to delete the --> and the <-- arrows, then adjust the E and N coordinates to position your object. The bold data must be edited.

<?xml version="1.0"?>
<FSData
version="9.0"
xmlns:xsi='http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance'
xsi:noNamespaceSchemaLocation="bglcomp.xsd" >

<SceneryObject
lat="N45 25.5278"
lon="W84 54.3967"
alt="0"
altitudeIsAgl="TRUE"
pitch="0"
bank="0"
heading="0"
imageComplexity="NORMAL">

<LibraryObject
name="{db339e53-3daf-4532-a8be-b956551c7512}"
scale="1.0"/>
</SceneryObject>
</FSData>

Lastly get bglcomp.exe (in the FS2004 sdk) and drag the xml file onto this exe. You'll then have a BGL file for FS.

[John.]

When I exported the Gmax file, I had the following options;



I chose All Formats and typed Control Tower.xml into the file name box. It then came up with this message:



John

Edited by John., 16 April 2009 - 11:02 AM.

[flyhalf]

Choose "FlightSim Model" always. Just type the name without extension. Then you should end up with name.mdl and name.xml

[John.]

Ok, I just did what you said and i got Tower.MDL but still no Tower.xml

I am using the FSX Gamepack for Gmax. I don't know if that has an effect on the exporting of the file.

John

Edited by John., 16 April 2009 - 11:02 AM.

[John.]

Just a quick shot of the tower in progress... I have added a few textures so it looks a bit more realistic. If anyone has any experience in exporting Gmax project into FSX, can you place tell me how you do so because I am still getting just a MDL file when I think I should be getting an xml file also.



John

Edited by John., 16 April 2009 - 11:02 AM.

[Jetset]

Frosty, on Oct 20 2007, 10:06 AM, said:

Jetset, on Oct 20 2007, 12:37 AM, said:

Are you sleep posting..?

What makes you say that?

Sorry for that rash comment, I assumed you were another dreamer..(we have a few here)
You appear to have talent, so please ignore my comment..

I, on the other hand have just started dabbling with Gmax and have spent the last 3 days trying to export a model into FSX..
I have the model there, but it's black, none of the textures are showing so this is my next hurdle to jump..( any pointers to that would be useful ).

I can help you with your problem though..
Apparently FS9+Gmax automatically exported the .MDL and .XML
Not so with FSX, you have to create your own in notepad and save it as .XML. Place it in a folder with the .MDL and BGLComp and bglcomp.xsd, then drag that XML into BGLComp and it will create a .BGL to use in FSX.

Copy and paste this into Notepad and change the GUID number to yours (open your model in Gmax, click on File then File Properties, Click Custom, click where it says GUID and copy and paste the value into brackets with the xxxx's).
Change ModelData sourceFile to your model i.e Tower.MDL
Edit Lat & Lon coordinates to suit you

<?xml version="1.0"?>
<FSData
version="9.0"
xmlns:xsi='http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance'
xsi:noNamespaceSchemaLocation="bglcomp.xsd" >

<SceneryObject
lat="S33 25.07"
lon="E149 39.16"
alt="0"
altitudeIsAgl="TRUE"
pitch="0"
bank="0"
heading="0"
imageComplexity="NORMAL">

<LibraryObject
name="{xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx}"
scale="1.0"/>

</SceneryObject>
<ModelData sourceFile="test.MDL" />

</FSData>

Hope this helps..

Steve

Edited by Jetset, 22 October 2007 - 11:30 AM.