Google Warehouse buildings in xplane..(scenery question)?

[MikeT707 1,181]

Thanks for the replies gentlemen. Question for the group. I do not yet have XPX as I am waiting for the Aerosoft version, but I have been working with the Google warehouse and Blender the past couple of days for the purpose of texturing objects within Blender. Basically I am creating a somewhat properly proportioned cube in Blender and assigning building textures that I have extracted from the Google warehouse to the cube. Ah yes, a building is born, and this process seems to be working pretty well after figuring out how to do this by reviewing hours of tutorials on youtube. The question I have is, would such a cube with a building texture applied to the cube's faces be able to be used in xplane? If so, what would the process be to move it from Blender into xpx? Thanks all, for all of the creative work and initiative. My hope is many people from the community can join efforts and create something very special with this simulation platform.By the way, it is all Simon's fault that I have somewhat of an addiction to learning Blender. :)

[Simmo W 24]

Hehe Mike! It does get addictive- or am I just sick? I have one common philosophy to life- it great to keep learning. Blender is one of those surprising programs where u learn something new every day. Then u get to apply those learnings in increasingly Complex ways, doing stuff you never dreamed of. Yes of course you can export blender stuff to xplane, via the equally awkward to install and get working xplane2blender script, just google. Are u using 2.6? If so, google for version 3.2 exporter, although it has it's issues. Right now I'm saving any file as another version, then opening in 2.49 blender, to use the very stable xp2blender 3.10 version

[MikeT707 1,181]

Hey Simon,Yes, I am using 2.61, so once I get the Aerosoft version of xpx, I will be adding buildings to xplane. I will probably try both versions of xplane2blender 3.1 and 3.2 just to see which one works better. Couple more questions. First, will xpx render buildings that have the reflection property, for instance, a glass office building that has a reflective texture assigned to it? Second, if I create an object that is rounded, will xpx recognize it, and if so, would that be a high poly object that will reduce frame rate?

[Honnli 69]

There are newer xplane2blender scripts? I'm currently using version 3.09 (from the marginal site) with blender 2.49b, which is working pretty well.Regarding Mike's question, I don't have an answer for your first question as I'm not familiar with reflection properties. With your second question, XP10 will recognize rounded/curved objects, though as you've said, an object with too many polygons will have an impact on the performance.

[Simmo W 24]

Guys, here's the link for the 3.20 blender 2.5 exporter. I myself have to export from b2.49 as that was causing the invisible buildings issue. I should raise it with authors as it's either a bug or I was doing something wrong.I've never seen xplane do reflections like fsx. But I'm no expert in surface attributes. There are attributes u can give your objects, like specularity and shininess, and u can apply normal maps fir bumps and highlight effects. Please read this and memorize!http://wiki.x-plane.com/OBJ8_Specification

[Honnli 69]

Ok, so here's my first attempt at lighting the Washington Mutual Tower.And it doesn't look too shabby. I'm still experimenting with the it though.

Edited January 4, 2012 by Honnli

[Simmo W 24]

Very nice! Now hurry up with the others, I keep seeing dark buildings in amongst my ones!

[Honnli 69]

Let there be light.The WaMu Center has been lit! Man, it took me ages to get it lit...I still have to light up the rest of my buildings, which I'm hoping to get done in the next few days.On a side note, here are three recent addition into XP10, one of which is done by the fellow scenery maker, Larry, who I'm currently collaborating with.The 1001 Fourth Avenue Plaza. It lacks a lobby/base, but since the original Google Warehouse model didn't come with one, I'm going to leave it as is for now.The US Bank Center.The Escala residential appartment. This one is done by Larry.And finally, a shot of my Seattle skyline.I'm planning to release these three additions, plus the night textures, in the second version of my package when I'm done with the night textures.

[Muskoka 104]

Those buildings are fantastic Steven, wish I posessed the skills. I can't describe how good that apartment building looks, they are all amazing. You guys are talented.Glen

Edited January 6, 2012 by Muskoka

[MikeT707 1,181]

Great job Steve. Looking forward to getting started myself. I have been getting into Blender a bit and getting some skills.

[Simmo W 24]

Looking great Steve! The lighting is much better than before- worth the effort. I'm ecperimenting with the xpx global lighting effects on buildings, might even save time spent on night textures, but only if u have HDR on!

[MikeT707 1,181]

Looking great Steve! The lighting is much better than before- worth the effort.I'm ecperimenting with the xpx global lighting effects on buildings, might even save time spent on night textures, but only if u have HDR on!

Simon, what are you experimenting with? Please share.

[Simmo W 24]

See the video here, with a link to the blog post. Look ok?

[Honnli 69]

That looks like a neon city! lol But it looks amazing! It seems like a lot of work getting them to work though... And I presume that those lights will add to the performance hit?Btw, thanks for the compliments guys. :)

[Simmo W 24]

Yes Steve, a fair bit of work but satisfying. Now I can apply the lighting pretty quickly. Havent noticed any fps hit- ha, there are already thousands of lights, whats a few extra?Looks like I'll have to move a few of my buildings around when u add those new ones to Seattle! Seriously, it'll be the best xplane city for yrs (xpfr Paris is pretty darned amazing)