Hi, I'm Ok at this, setting lights, contact points, load stations etc, but find it a slow and tedious process, continually reloading the aircraft to check every change till you get it right. Is there a programme available , which you can load the aircraft into, then be able to see, and accurately place all the coordinates, before then transferring the numbers onto the cfg.file. In other words, is there a quicker (and more accurate) way of doing this. I don't want to buy a programme, only to find this can't be done.Russell.

For FS9, ACM had this as one of its features.For FSX there is no such program at this point.However, Karl has recently returned to active development after recovering from a very serious accident some few years ago, and is working on a new version that will support both FS9 and FSX.

For FS9, ACM had this as one of its features.For FSX there is no such program at this point.However, Karl has recently returned to active development after recovering from a very serious accident some few years ago, and is working on a new version that will support both FS9 and FSX.

Hi Bill. I hope he gets one that works with both. The old one does work with FSX planes if you load the planes into an Aircraft folder in FSX and point ACM to that folder. That's what I have done. Regards, Bob.

Thanks both of you for your very helpful answers. Much appreciated.Russell.

Hehe. You stepped right over it. If it had been a snake it would have bitten you. You said: '..setting lights, contact points, load stations etc'. Well the way I do it (had been Top Secret) is to comment out the a/c (cfg) (Lights) section and set up a (Lights) section above whatever you are ajusting (center, station load, engines, contact pts, fuel tanks, etc) and then copy paste the 3 values for Lon/Lat/Vert and go SEE where those points are on/around ac. Here is sample:[Lights] //for Cnt Pts alignment//WHEELSlight.0 = 1, 18.000, 0.000, -5.245, fx_navred,light.1 = 1, -1.670, -9.658, -5.920, fx_navred,light.2 = 1, -1.670, 9.658, -5.920, fx_navred, //light.3 = 1, 0.000, 0.000, 6.000, fx_navred, //Center//[contact_points]point.0=1, 18.000, 0.000, -5.245, ..........point.1=1, -1.440, -9.880, -5.920, .........point.2=1, -1.440, 9.880, -5.920, .........You may have to use SLEW, and 'Q' key to lift a/c off ground to see lights (hit 'P' to hold slew in place so you can walk around, pan, etc). Then unpause, and use 'A 'key to lower back to ground. Be ready to hit F1 to cut throttle after you un-slew with Y. While in slew you can use F1 thru F8 and keypad to move a/c for looking from other angles. If you have FLOATS you can use the nav green lights for those pts. This expidites the chore and allows for quick adjustments. Hope this helps. I know that WITHOUT the lights it makes it almost impossible as you can't SEE anything that you can 'grab' and manipulate. CBNapamuleEdit: Yeah, I know, lights type 1 is 'beacon' and type 3 is 'nav', but try it this way as you might like.

IF you are the creator, what I did was first create a box in the modeling software (GMax) and had segments every 3 inches. Make the box large enough to completely enclose your craft. Make the box see-through (right click > Properties > See-Through). Place your box so that some intersecting lines are at your 0,0,0 and is accurate compared to your eye-point and center of gravity (side, top and front view). Print a screen shot from side, top and front. Mark each set of lines every foot from where ever 0,0,0 was. That's your template.If not, you may be able to take a screen shot with an overlay similar to above and that might work.If you don't know where 0,0,0 is, you can locate it because you have eye-point and and CoG for reference.

If you don't know where 0,0,0 is, you can locate it because you have eye-point and and CoG for reference.

CoG is referenced from the reference_datum_point... not the model center. Many aircraft developers have 'cheated' and left the reference_datum_point at the model center... but it's not a guarantee and one should be very, very careful to ensure that they are referencing their lights and contact points based off the reference_datum_point... not CoG.

If you are the modeler, the absolutely simplest and precise method is to select any vertex and read the "Absolute World Coordinate" offsets from the model's origin directly from Max/GMax!As an example, move the slider to keyframe 100, select the left main tire in your model, vertex-sublevel, and select the bottom-most vertex of the tire's mesh (the one that contacts the ground first!)Right-click on the Move Tool to open the coordinate box and record the precise x,y,z coordinates.Move the slider to keyframe 200 and record the precise x,y,z coordinates.Now you have the exact data you need to calculate the entries for your [contact points] entry for the left main gear!

Hey napamule, no, I saw the snake and stepped on it's head. The method you described is the one I've been using for a very long time, and a good method it is too. But, I find it rather time consuming, especially when fine tuning, continually reloading till you get everything spot on. I was just wondering if there was a programme to make the process quicker. No, I'm not the modeller. I could'nt find ACM anywhere, it appears to be now not available. Thanks for the help though.Russell.

Hi Bill. I hope he gets one that works with both. The old one does work with FSX planes if you load the planes into an Aircraft folder in FSX and point ACM to that folder. That's what I have done. Regards, Bob.

After rechecking ACM with true FSX planes I found out that it will not read the FSX models. The planes that I had in FSX that I have used ACM with to check contact points were not true FSX planes. Sorry for my error. I sure hope Karl gets one working with FSX. It's a great tool. Regards, Bob.

After rechecking ACM with true FSX planes I found out that it will not read the FSX models. The planes that I had in FSX that I have used ACM with to check contact points were not true FSX planes. Sorry for my error. I sure hope Karl gets one working with FSX. It's a great tool. Regards, Bob.

Bob, you might ask Lefteris Kalamaras* to send you his little SimConnect app named "FSX Visualizer." He made it available to all of the beta testers back in the day, but I suspect he probably forgot about releasing it anywhere publically... :(*Note: corrected the author's name due to me having yet another Senior Moment...

Bob, you might ask Virtuali (Umberto Capplicione) to send you his little SimConnect app named "FSX Visualizer." He made it available to all of the beta testers back in the day, but I suspect he probably forgot about releasing it anywhere publically... :(

Hi Bill. Thanks. I sent him a request. Best regards, Bob.

Hi Bill. Thanks. I sent him a request. Best regards, Bob.

To be honest, I had forgotten about it myself! I am now on my third "flightsim computer" and the two previous machines have been demoted to simply being "file servers" on my network.I was browsing through one machine's ..\FSX Downloads folders yesterday and noticed Umberto's little application in a zipped archive.What it does is draw three axis lines in FSX at selected positions. For example, the [eyepoint] entry is handy to "visualize" the absolute position in the sim, in real time! So, changing any x,y,z value and clicking on the "Reload" button of the tool will instantly update the new position.Dangit! I sure wish I'd remembered about his utility a long time ago, as I've been "doing things the hard way" myself for the past three years... :(

To be honest, I had forgotten about it myself! I am now on my third "flightsim computer" and the two previous machines have been demoted to simply being "file servers" on my network.I was browsing through one machine's ..\FSX Downloads folders yesterday and noticed Umberto's little application in a zipped archive.What it does is draw three axis lines in FSX at selected positions. For example, the [eyepoint] entry is handy to "visualize" the absolute position in the sim, in real time! So, changing any x,y,z value and clicking on the "Reload" button of the tool will instantly update the new position.Dangit! I sure wish I'd remembered about his utility a long time ago, as I've been "doing things the hard way" myself for the past three years... :(

I contacted him and he did not understand what I was looking for. I sent you a PM. Best regards, Bob.

I contacted him and he did not understand what I was looking for. I sent you a PM. Best regards, Bob.

File sent and my original post edited to have the correct author's name... :(