I know there are some really amazing 3d studio models out there. Is there a way I can conver them into gmax to make a plane out of?im thinking id like to make a car, perhaps a viper or somting.. Im too bad to make my own so I want to convert one

You don't need to convert them -- gMax reads 3DS files (it just doesn't read Max files -- if you understand this, you're a better man than I am).Just import them into gMax and you're good to go (well, you'll need to convert to meters and export them out as a MDL, but in general you get the idea).

Slim,Do you mean *.3DS files or *.MAX (3DStudio Max files)?If it's the former 3DS files, you can import the models into GMAx, as KelleyM says.However, if they're 3DStudio MAx files, then you'll need to open them in Max and then EXPORT them as *.3DS files, so you can get them into GMAx.Hope this makes sense, Si.

Max files are scenes composed of elements for remdering. 3DS files are meshes or shapes that can be an element of a scene. The mesh element is the part that can be imported into gWax. So think of 3DS as 3DShape. However, if you think you can just import someone elses shape and export it to FS, your in for a BIG suprise. While the scenes and shapes look good, they are seldom in scale and have little of the detail that is put into models which start out with an end in FS in mind.

3DS files are those in the file format of 3D Studio (an old DOS 3D app which was kind-of the predecessor to 3DS Max). It contains mesh, smoothing, lighting, linking, etc information, plus the format is fully documented, which makes it a fairly good format for moving models between 3D applications. Max files contain information not only on the model itself but also how it was built (essentially the stacks, just the same as you have in gMax). I strongly suspect that internally gMax and Max files are actually very similar and that they've been made deliberately different to prevent people using Max and gMax too closely together (in fact gMax dev can open max files and save gmax files). To get .max files into gMax you'll need to open them in 3DS Max and then export as .3ds files.As mentioned though you'll probably find that real-time models you can download are really sparsely detailed, and ones for non-real-time rendering will have astronomical poly counts - often in areas where the polys are unnecessary rather than them being used to increase detail.Have funFinn

Yeah... 3DS files are often a bit like that. They contain all sorts of poor texturing and lights. They also often have remnants of plugins and addons that create error messages when imported.A major problem I have with 3DS file importing is the mesh often imports 'inside out' !! At least, that's a problem with 3DSMax... I've never tried it in GMax. To explain a bit further, you may find that when you import the mesh, it looks fine, but when you get it into FS2002 or try to render it, it will look like the geometry is twisted. Some faces are concave, while adjascent ones are convex... and it turns into an Escher drawing!!I agree about the poly counts too. They are often either too simple or the poly count is through the roof. It's often easier and less time consuming to create a new model from scratch than try to edit an existing one.Si.