Hi all,

 

Sorry for the post, there is probably a thread already about this, but since the big IE8/Google Chrome "Push" all I see for topics is "Started By 'Username goes here' Date". That is the "subject" I see for each and every forum. Makes looking throught the forums difficult.

 

Anyway, Is there a specific tutorial (much like the Google Sketchup one) that specifically walks a person new to GMAX on the FS specific steps by way of making, say, a simple terminal or hangar?

 

I followed the Discreet tutorials and I can make a teapot, and a box, and the outpost, and a Powerup but applying that to FS is a concept that escapes me. I have been using google Sketchup (taking terminal 3D models others have done from Google Earth and compiling them into a form FS can use), but really want the "power" of GMAX. Any airport I may modify to be "realistic" I cannopt share on AVSIM because the 3D models are protected and cannot be shared, although I can use them on my personal computer for my personal use. So, I want to start using GMAX and start a small project of recreating my local muni and then working up to larger airports.

 

It would be great if someone had a tutorial that said, "Okay, so you want to make the FBO hangar at XYZ airport. Here's how you do it."

 

Randy

Randy, great job on trying to create your own work, kudos. Most of the info you will need is at FSDeveloper

 

http://www.fsdeveloper.com/

 

the hard part is creating the object, so since you seem to have the bascis in Gmax down, you are far along. You will need the SDK installed and there is info at the link on how to do that. Follow the modeling tutorial in the SDK, will walk you thru creating an object and what you need to do to export it as an MDL.Keep in mind when modeling an object, try to use only one texture sheet to limit drawcalls and use less mesh and more detail from the texture. Once you get all your MDLs exported, use arnos library creator at the link also to create a library, will help with performance and placement.

 

best of luck!

Michael,

 

I did finally find several GMAX tutorials, the best one being Arno's tutorial to make a church. Created the local muni office model with no problem. Figuring out how to texture it was a bit tougher, but finally managed. Kept trying to use Image Tools but never could get the hang of it. A picture, DXTBMP, and Gimp 2.6 finally proved to be the solution.

 

Model is done. Looks good, but going out to the muni tomorrow to get Airport Manager's permission to wander a bit and get better photos for texture creation...good thing he's a good friend... :rolleyes:

 

I have not yet been able to get GMAX to export the model. Everytime I do I get "Could not find path to makeMDL.exe" warning. I've configured the path, but it refuses to compile for me. Will work on that after I get new textures applied.

 

Thanks for your reply. I was beginning to think I was at a dead end.

 

Randy

I have not yet been able to get GMAX to export the model. Everytime I do I get "Could not find path to makeMDL.exe" warning. I've configured the path, but it refuses to compile for me.

 

Are you trying to make models for FS9 or FSX? I don't believe makemdl.exe is used anymore with the FSX gamepack. It sounds like you're using the FS9 gamepack? If so makemdl.exe should be in the "gmax\gamepacks\fs2004\plugins" folder, and in the "gmax\gamepacks\fs2004" folder should be a "plugin.ini". If you open that with notepad you should see a line "FS2004=gamepacks\FS2004\plugins\", make sure both are there and correct.

 

Also, if you have the FS9 gamepack installed check the "gmax\gamepacks\fs2004\docs" folder for "gmaxSceneryTutorial.doc", also known as "the house tutorial". That's a great tutorial for scenery objects and actually the one that turned the lights on for me. Also check out Bill Womack's "Texturing a GMax building video tutorial" before you go much farther if you haven't seen it yet.

 

Jim

Jim,

 

Thank you so much for your reply. I've read so many different forum topics on GMAX in so many different forums that it has all become "numbing". One says put makeMDL here, one there, one even said rename it to mkmdl. Yes, I am modeling for FS9.

 

I was really unsure just exactly how I installed gmax way back when, and made so many "recommended changes" since then as to where all the respective plugins go, that I completely removed all gmax files with the control panel uninstall option. I then installed a fresh gmax1.2 in C:\ and followed that install by running the SDK_gmax_setup from the FS2004 SDK. This found the FS2004 SDK version of gmax somewhere else on my system, so I uninstalled it and then ran the SDK-gmax_setup a second time. Install went as expected that time.

 

So I now have the FS2004 gamepack installed. The path is C:\gmax\gamepacks\FS2004 and makeMDL.exe, the XML file makeMDL.parts, and FSModelEXP.dle are all in C:\gmax\gamepacks\FS2004\plugins\.

 

One question. There are now two GMAX executables in my file system. One, simply called "GMAX.exe", is in C:\gmax\ and the second one is called "FS2004.exe", and is in C:\gmax\gamepacks\FS2004\, but both have the "GMAX" icon. The one named "FS2004" is actually a shortcut and has a "start in" value of "%GMAXLOC%" so I'm assuming it will default to the gmax executable in C:\gmax.

 

I have not watched the house tutorial, but I did watch Bill Womack's and his technique is amazing. Seems it will make texturing so much simpler. I use GIMP 2.8 as opposed to Photoshop, but it would seem the techniques will be very similar.

 

One more question. One thing I did note was in a few forums people mentioned that bglCOMP had to be in the same folder as makeMDL or the model would not compile. bglCOMP for me still resides in c:\program files\FS2004SDK\ and that is where all my scenery programs look for it for compiling or decompiling operations. Is it okay to leave it there or should I move it as some have suggested. If I leave it there how do I tell gmax where it is...with the Configure Path option?

 

Sorry to be a pain. As Michael mentioned, I feel I have passed the biggest hurdle in learning how to make a model and texture it in gmax. Now I want to see the fruits of my efforts and all these little hurdles are frustrating me.

 

Randy

One question. There are now two GMAX executables in my file system. One, simply called "GMAX.exe", is in C:\gmax\ and the second one is called "FS2004.exe", and is in C:\gmax\gamepacks\FS2004\, but both have the "GMAX" icon. The one named "FS2004" is actually a shortcut and has a "start in" value of "%GMAXLOC%" so I'm assuming it will default to the gmax executable in C:\gmax.

 

The FS2004 one is really just a shortcut to the real gmax.exe. It's purpose is to start gmax using the gmax.ini that's also located in the gamepacks/fs2004 folder. This gives you among other things, the extra options in the File > Export menu to export a model in a format that can be used by the sim (Flightsim Cloud, Flightsim Scenery Object, and Flightsim Aircraft Object). Copy that shortcut to your desktop and always use it to start gmax, otherwise you won't be able to do the FS specific things you need to do. %GMAXLOC% is an environment variable that gets set when you install gmax, not sure why it's really necessary but it just means "C\gmax" as you've already surmised. You can test it by simply pasting %GMAXLOC% into the address bar in win explorer and pressing Enter. It should open up your main gmax folder. A residual environment variable from your previous gmax installation may explain why the FS2004 SDK was found somewhere else on your system, not sure.

 

 

One more question. One thing I did note was in a few forums people mentioned that bglCOMP had to be in the same folder as makeMDL or the model would not compile. bglCOMP for me still resides in c:\program files\FS2004SDK\ and that is where all my scenery programs look for it for compiling or decompiling operations. Is it okay to leave it there or should I move it as some have suggested. If I leave it there how do I tell gmax where it is...with the Configure Path option?

 

To my knowledge bglcomp doesn't have anything to do with exporting a model from gmax. You'll need it after you have an exported .mdl to compile the .mdl into an object library, but I'm almost positive it isn't necessary for the actual export. Sounds like BS to me, lol. At any rate, if you ever do need bglcomp in a different location for whatever reason, just place copies of bglcomp.exe and bglcomp.xsd into the new location and you're good to go.

 

Good luck!

Jim

Jim and Michael,

 

Thank you so much for all your help, advice, and guidance.

 

She ain't the prettiest in the world, but there she is for what it's worth. The terminal building in GMAX plus a coke machine I made in GMAX because I didn't like the one "painted" on the wall. Dimensions are a lot off, but I think that's beacuse I uninstalled and reinstalled GMAX so many times that I started the building in feet and ended in meters. I will do another version now that I'm more comfortable in GMAX. Gonna save the coke machine, though. I like it!

 

 

 

 

I like the way the back turned out, but simpler polygons back there so attaching the texture was a lot easier, plus lighting from when I went to the airport to take photos was more uniform in back.

 

Just out of curiousity, If I go into GMAX and rescale the model, does the Unwrap UVW process automatically conform to the new polygon dimensions or do I have to reapply all the textures all over? I suspect I do because the polygon map on the texture sheet is now changed, but the texture will be the same dimensions...

 

By the way Jim, I live in Mountain Home about 400 miles south of you...small world

 

Randy

Just out of curiousity, If I go into GMAX and rescale the model, does the Unwrap UVW process automatically conform to the new polygon dimensions or do I have to reapply all the textures all over? I suspect I do because the polygon map on the texture sheet is now changed, but the texture will be the same dimensions...

 

Hi Randy (fellow Idahoan ),

 

First, congrats on getting the building into the sim. Sounds like you've got makemdl all set up and working. Great milestone, actually if you went back a few yrs in this very forum you'll find my own "first gmax building" thread here as well, lol.

 

You can either "collapse the stack" or add an edit mesh modifier and you should be able to scale the building without messing up the mapping. To collapse just right click in the stack and choose "collapse all". That's irreversible, but you can always add another Unwrap UVW if you need to change things later. If you add an "Edit Mesh" to the top of the stack you'll be able to scale at will, and if you ever decide to go back to square one you can just delete the edit mesh. I usually don't collapse anything, I just keep adding things to the stack as I need them. Generally you shouldn't try to edit anything that's not at the top of the stack, if you add an edit mesh for example don't go back and try to edit the UVWs below that, instead add another Unwrap UVW above the edit mesh and make your adjustments there.

 

EDIT: It would appear that you can 'uniformly scale' an object without needing to collapse or add the "edit mesh" modifier. I'm not sure if that can possibly present transform issues later on or not, I usually don't scale things as a whole very often. Maybe someone else can chime in here if there are possible ramifications to doing it that way?

 

Good job!

Jim

Jim,

 

Got another question. To create a building with "lit" windows I know I have to create a "night" texture. My texture for the Airport Terminal at U76 is called "U76_Terminal_1.BMP" and I created a "darkened" version with "lighted" windows and named it "U76_Terminal_1_LM.BMP. Saw that somewhere in one of the many, many tuturiols I watched...

 

I also remember from the "Arno's Church" video tutorial that if I want my building to have lights at night I had to choose "self-illumination" when setting the texture map with UVW Mapping. Diffuse is for daytime and Self-Illumination is for night.

 

That's where I get confused. I have the model textured with the Diffuse map. If I retexture it with the Self-Illumination map will it still use the Diffuse map during the day? In other words. Can one model (one BGL file in FS9) use two different textures, depending on the time of day?

 

The reason I ask is once I get done applying the LM textures to the model I will have to export the model. Do I give it the same name as the original, U76_Terminal_1.MDL"? If I do, what "protects" the original mapping from being overwritten so all I see is a dark builing with the lights on, even during the day???? Is it in the XML data?

 

Sorry, my friend. Bet you're sorry you ever replied.

 

Randy

Randy, nice work, glad you are getting it figured out. Would love to help more , but it has been quite awhile since I compiled anything for FS9 so i am kinda foggy on the settings for the night textues, but the SDK should be able to answer that one, I know it does for FSX. I don't remember using any self illumination map for any of my FS9 objects,. for some reason I was thinking that the info was enabled in MakeMDL when exporting, could be wrong though.

 

In reference to what Jim said, yes you can rescale and it will preserve your mapping.

It's been a long time for me as well, I think the reference to "self illumination" is an FSX thing, with the FS9 gamepack I believe the _LM needs to be assigned to the ambient slot in the material editor. There's a small lock icon next to the diffuse slot that you have to click first, that makes the square button available where you can click and assign your lightmap just as you assigned your diffuse map.

 

 

 

If I retexture it with the Self-Illumination map will it still use the Diffuse map during the day? In other words. Can one model (one BGL file in FS9) use two different textures, depending on the time of day?

 

You shouldn't need to re-map anything as long as your _LM is just a copy of your day texture that's been darkened up with maybe a few light splashes added, gmax will assume you want identical mapping on the night texture as well. Yes, the sim will figure out what times of day to display the _LM, you don't need to do anything else there.

 

 

Mike mentioned enabling LMs in the makemdl options which is another way you can go about this. Doing it this way requires nothing else in gmax, all you need to do is make the _LM available in the texture folder. Go into gmax\gamepacks\fs2004\plugins and open makemdl.cfg in Notepad, add the line "HasNightMap=1" under the [Options] header and save. That's it, just export the model again and make your _LM available in the texture folder, the sim will find it and apply it after dark. One caution to doing this though is that all models exported from this point forward will be expecting to find an _LM texture, so if you build something that doesn't need a lightmap make sure you open makemdl.cfg again and change to "HasNightMap=0" before you export it, otherwise the diffuse texture will appear bright and lit up in the sim at night.

 

Jim

Hi all,

 

.. .

 

It would be great if someone had a tutorial that said, "Okay, so you want to make the FBO hangar at XYZ airport. Here's how you do it."

 

Randy

 

Randy, I am in the same boat.

 

I'm trying to recover models and I generated seven years ago. They were done in the game packs 2002 2004. i dont think i ever used or got the Fsx gamepack to work. I am now

dedicated to prepar3D , so I will be following this thread. Keep us posted as to your "education", as I am trying to use the P3d SDK, which proports to be identical to the FSx gamepack ... But different?

 

Good luck,

 

chas

This is definitely an adventure and I sincerely appreciate the help you are all providing. Now that I have watched Arno's church tutorial again I recalled he was building the church for FSX, not FS9 as I am.

 

Progress made so far. I decided to completely remodel the U76 airport and got a much better product the second time around. I "cleaned up" my texture first and then buiilt the model complete with roof overhang supporting columns this time and recognizable eaves and gables. Looks 100% better. I will post a new screenie tonight, alas Thursday is the start of my workweek, so time with GMAX will be limited until Monday.

 

Of the two "illuminating" options Jim and Michael have explained, I will use the diffuse/ambient version on all future models, but try the makemdl config change for my existing U76 model, I like it that much.

 

Also, I can vouch for Jim's belief that you can change the shape of the model and the bitmap will "follow" your changes. I did that with the new version of U76 several times and the bitmap always followed and adapted to my changes in polygon or vertice changes.

 

Charles, not sure if my "ordeal" will help you in Prepare3D or not but glad to have someone along for the ride.

 

Thanks Jim and Michael. You guys are awesome!

 

Randy

I just flew past U76 in FSX last weekend, lol. Enroute between KOAC (Arco-Butte) and S67 (Nampa). I almost made an impromptu landing but decided to press on to my next waypoint which was the Twin Craters and then on to Nampa. Next time I'll stop for a visit :smile:

 

 

 

 

Jim

Cool,

 

In real life there is a motorcycle...or what's left of one...in the bottom of the big crater. It was surprisingly easy to get down there. A lot tougher to get back out...LOL. Ah, the memories of a youth long past but not forgotten. Got turned around in a cave not too far northwest of these craters. Another youthful misadventure. Obviously found my way out.

 

Isn't it amazing what flightsim can do now?

 

Randy