Hi,This may/may not be a hopeless post concerning me being a freshman in the modeling community, anyhow I've made a few decisions to myself recently after flying birds in the Flight Simulator franchise since FS98 that it is time to move along and get inside these birds. And learn on how to model them as in panels firstly. To be honest, I have no clue where to start and that's why I was hoping I could bump it on this forum. I don't want to consider myself an outsider, I just want to learn and that's why I'm here! Surely some of you have been in my shoes, now, sometime in your life.So my first question is really simple, where do I need to go to learn "how" to model? Secondly, where can I find the tools to do so?I'm hoping for an answer and any feedback will be gladly taken,Cheers,AstroP.s. I have the PanelsSDK and FS Panel Studio.

P.s. I have the PanelsSDK and FS Panel Studio.

Welcome to the madness... The FIRST question is for what version to you want to model for?Since you have the Panels SDK and FS Panel Studio, that begs the question - do you want to model aircraft, or just panels?

The FS Insider website is probably worth a look for bits and pieces of info if the SDK gets too much, since there are some good guides on there. Fortuntately FS Panel Studio is fairly intuitive, but if all else fails you could read the manual LOL. I would start off by editing an already existing panel, perhaps repainting a gauge bitmap background, or simply swapping one gauge for another (try putting the altimeter from one aircraft panel into a different aircraft panel, or adding something to a radio stack). That'll get you used to the system itself and from there you should be good to have a crack at doing a panel for yourself.If you want to make 3D models themselves, there is of course GMax, which comes with the Pro versions of FS (it's on the other disk with the SDK if I recall correctly). GMax comes with all copies of FS9, since there was no Pro version of that. GMax has some good tutorials built into it, but it is a bit of a faff to get it up and running properly with all the Make MDL and BGL paths etc, but once that is sorted it is fairly straightforward to use. The initial learning curve is a bit steep if you are not familiar with 3D modeling software, so the tutorials are definitely worth following. Reckon on about two weeks worth of evenings playing around with GMax to feel comfortable enough with it to consider building a decent aircraft model.The other main option for modeling (unless you want to use some less common 3D software) would be FS Design Studio (sold by Abacus). That's definitely a lot easier to get into, and also has some (excellent) tutorials which gently introduce you to the basics and then gradually take you up to building an aircraft with animated parts. The tutorials are well structured, and you could easily be making your own aeroplanes with FSDS after just a couple of days playing around with it, although as with anything, practice makes perfect.Some decent paint software would be worth getting hold of to be able to do your textures. Photoshop is good, but it is expensive, so a perfectly adequate (free) alternative is Paint.net, which would be suitable for making panel and gauge textures as well as textures for 3D models.Al

Welcome to the madness... The FIRST question is for what version to you want to model for?Since you have the Panels SDK and FS Panel Studio, that begs the question - do you want to model aircraft, or just panels?

FS2004 only. I'll never upgrade my sim until something is comparable to FS9 itself. I've already taken a look into gMax, but I really can't seem to understand it that well. I guess it's just a time thing really. I'll go and see if there are any tutorials either out there, or on the FS9 CDs. I'm more of a panel guy. Already coming somewhere with Photoshop or GIMP. That said it, I want to make/modify panels. My first project was actually in taking the RFP panel and setting it on a POSKY model. Apparently the panels didn't show. So I'm guessing (for newbies) that modelling is a time thing. I admit, I'm fascinated on how you guys actually make these things. I can see "how" you do it, but I can't do it myself. LOLSorry for the long reply...

The FS Insider website is probably worth a look for bits and pieces of info if the SDK gets too much, since there are some good guides on there. Fortuntately FS Panel Studio is fairly intuitive, but if all else fails you could read the manual LOL. I would start off by editing an already existing panel, perhaps repainting a gauge bitmap background, or simply swapping one gauge for another (try putting the altimeter from one aircraft panel into a different aircraft panel, or adding something to a radio stack). That'll get you used to the system itself and from there you should be good to have a crack at doing a panel for yourself.If you want to make 3D models themselves, there is of course GMax, which comes with the Pro versions of FS (it's on the other disk with the SDK if I recall correctly). GMax comes with all copies of FS9, since there was no Pro version of that. GMax has some good tutorials built into it, but it is a bit of a faff to get it up and running properly with all the Make MDL and BGL paths etc, but once that is sorted it is fairly straightforward to use. The initial learning curve is a bit steep if you are not familiar with 3D modeling software, so the tutorials are definitely worth following. Reckon on about two weeks worth of evenings playing around with GMax to feel comfortable enough with it to consider building a decent aircraft model.The other main option for modeling (unless you want to use some less common 3D software) would be FS Design Studio (sold by Abacus). That's definitely a lot easier to get into, and also has some (excellent) tutorials which gently introduce you to the basics and then gradually take you up to building an aircraft with animated parts. The tutorials are well structured, and you could easily be making your own aeroplanes with FSDS after just a couple of days playing around with it, although as with anything, practice makes perfect.Some decent paint software would be worth getting hold of to be able to do your textures. Photoshop is good, but it is expensive, so a perfectly adequate (free) alternative is Paint.net, which would be suitable for making panel and gauge textures as well as textures for 3D models.Al

Hi Al,As of late, placing gauges wont be a problem in FS Panel Studio. It's really painting, MAKING gauges, adding effects to an aircraft I really want to master.When I'm done with "this" bit, I will move into modeling given the fact that I may be better at gMax by then...Argh, its tough to say, but I just need to know how to start it. After that, I'm on my own and you guys won't hear from me until I've finished what I'm trying to start here...I've accumulated a handful of photo's of the DC-8 series cockpits and want to give a shot at it. The testbay model is from HJG.I know it may seem impossible, but that's what I want to do! Again, thanks for giving me a lead,Astro

It also depends on whether you want to code in XML or C?-Dai

It also depends on whether you want to code in XML or C?-Dai

As said, I know nothing on how to do it with what tools. LOLI'm just a noob trying to learn.

As said, I know nothing on how to do it with what tools. LOLI'm just a noob trying to learn.

Mmmm.... probably better using XML to start with then if you don't have a programming background. Try here: http://www.fs2x.com/Tutorials.htm-Dai

Mmmm.... probably better using XML to start with then if you don't have a programming background. Try here: http://www.fs2x.com/Tutorials.htm-Dai

Gosh I have a headache now, and thanks for the link; seems like I can get a lot of it. I'm still confused. I understand that the background for the panel can be used with Photoshop and/or GIMP.

Gosh I have a headache now, and thanks for the link; seems like I can get a lot of it. I'm still confused. I understand that the background for the panel can be used with Photoshop and/or GIMP.

You can paint the panel background using any available paint program (including Paint!). The only caveat is that is must be saved either as a 16-bit or 24-bit bitmap for FS to use it. For one take on painting gauge parts, go to www.flightsim.com and search for Gaupaint.zip.-Dai

You can paint the panel background using any available paint program (including Paint!). The only caveat is that is must be saved either as a 16-bit or 24-bit bitmap for FS to use it. For one take on painting gauge parts, go to www.flightsim.com and search for Gaupaint.zip.-Dai

I think that it can be saved as an 8-bit bmp aswell but I'm not sure

Use 24bit only...