February 21, 201313 yr Author Hi Folks, Just a quick update - my first real building for KMGJ - found some nice lighting effects in PSP I haven't seen before... Mostly - hand painted textures... About a weeks worth of work for me - still not done but getting there - hopefully the rest will go quicker... Anyone familiar with KMGJ should recognize the building... Regards, Scott
February 21, 201313 yr That is some amazing work, I tried giving that amount of love to HPN in fsx and had countless free days of work done, all lost when I lost my hard drive in sandy, along with all my payware! > Great to see people are still doing this, I for one am inspired.
February 21, 201313 yr Author Thanks for the feedback... I think you should be able to get most payware packages replaced - I know both Flight1 and Sim Market would make it pretty easy... Yeah KHPN would be so much more work... It's a BIG airport... Regards, Scott
February 22, 201313 yr You have / are doing some really good looking work Scott. I especially like the Orange Count Airport sign. I know it is a small detail but it is really good! The cafe night lighting worked out real nice too. As a side note; if our time spent on this stuff was money, we could each buy a real and large airport and maybe a airline to go with it! Best regards, Mel
February 22, 201313 yr Author Hi Mel, The sign I made from a photograph... It's funny - I thought it looked pretty good - spent a bit of time making it - but once I placed it - I was disappointed... I was like all that work and it is hardly noticeable unless you are looking for it... It's sooo tiny... Thanks for the feedback... I've got to get faster at this - as I'm a bit of a perfectionist - it's never good enough and I constantly go back to revisit models I made with tweaks to make them better... If I keep doing that I'll never get'r done... When hand painting - much of the time is spent on subtle details like shadows and shading... Take those away though and it looks like a toy... Even though we have pretty high powered machines these day I'm always conscious of performance... I minimize the polys required to do the job - trim all unseen faces - create LOD models -- and - keep texture sizes manageable... The above building is just two 512x512 texture sheets - where I think many would use 1024x1024 today... Regards, Scott
February 22, 201313 yr I've got to get faster at this - as I'm a bit of a perfectionist - it's never good enough and I constantly go back to revisit models I made with tweaks to make them better... If I keep doing that I'll never get'r done... Tell me about that!!!! Apparently wee share a character trait. I have a version of PAKT Ketchikan for Misty Fjords that I have revised again and again for years. I suspect that by the time I'm satisfied with it no one will even remember FS9 existed. If I could ever force myself to put aside all the less important projects I would love to learn the photo background with seasonal part. Ah, enough for now, that pesky terminal at PAKT is calling me, it says the building height may be off by an inch. 1024 x 1024 is okay as long as the scenery doesn't require more than a few textures and you can cram all of the scenery images possible onto them, or at least used as sparingly as possible for high detail items. The worst on performance is 1024 x 1024 in the wrong format (32 bit) with missing alpha. Of course the smaller the texture size the faster it loads, as you already know. Re the sign; just think of it as a Easter Egg. You have a very good handle on how to do it right! My compliments again. Regards, Mel
February 22, 201313 yr The above building is just two 512x512 texture sheets - where I think many would use 1024x1024 today. As important as a low poly count, and some would say more important, is as few drawcalls as possible. Combining your textures on to one sheet cuts your drawcalls in half. Textures do have to be sized in powers of 2, they do not have to be square. You can combine your 2 512x512 textures into 1 1024x512 texture. If you don't want to remap everything try running your model through MCXs drawcall optimizer. I think it will combine the textures for you. Regardless, with today's computers, 1 1024x1024 would perform better than 2 512x512. If you do remap the model to a 1024x1024 you can use the blank half of the texture for another model. regards, Joe The best gift you can give your children is your time.
February 22, 201313 yr Author Hi Joe, Thanks for the tips... I came from MSTS where textures had to be square... Still - sounds good to me and that should also reduce the bleed over issue from opposite edges... After MSFS - Erik Cantu came over to the MSTS side of the fence and I seem to recall a discussion with him advocating the use of even the larger 2048x2048 for a texture sheet capable of skinning an entire locomotive... For the record - his work over there was just as good as his work here... I'll give it a shot - once you have the textures drawn - its not a big deal to remap a simple shape such as a building... Thanks... Regards, Scott
February 22, 201313 yr Keep up the good work and keep us posted, it's fun to watch projects like this come together. BTW, IIUC you can't use 2048 textures in FS9, I could be wrong. regards, Joe The best gift you can give your children is your time.
February 28, 201313 yr Author Morn'n Folks, Thanks for the feedback... This weeks efforts are focused on airport operations... Still plenty of tweaks needed on these structures and I need to figure out a decent method to illuminate the ground at night... Still figuring this stuff out as I go... Lots of help from the guys at FSDeveloper... Regards, Scott
February 28, 201313 yr I like the 3d bay window, nice, artistic touch that adds more depth and perspective to the scenery. Mel
March 1, 201313 yr Author Hi Mel, Thanks - yeah - it's on the real one so its easy enough to add... I always model with performance in mind so I try to use just enough shape to get the job done... If poly count weren't an issue - it would be easier to model every part in exquisite 3D detail - actually - I find stacking blocks the most enjoyable part of modeling... Since I want glass smooth frame rates I tend to model just enough to get the job done - then do the rest with textures... Thanks again... Regards, Scott
March 1, 201313 yr Since I want glass smooth frame rates I tend to model just enough to get the job done - then do the rest with textures... Once in a while I like to model something in horrible frame rate murdering detail (GMAX) just to get it out of my system. If it happens to be something I might actually use. I scrap it start over and see what all I can leave out, then, as you do, the rest by texturing. That is why in a previous post I mentioned the use of a small number of 1024 x 1024 textures because they allow for much greater 'artistic' detail, especially in the shadowing and shading of what looks like smaller objects on the texture sheet. Keep us updated. Best regards, Mel
March 7, 201313 yr Author Morn'n Folks,For those following along...This weeks projects - figured out how to make a "ground poly" - substantially modified the "default" taxiway textures to give - what I think - is a much better representation of the respective material - and - built the little fuel farm... Still plenty of tweaks to do - but - I think it's better if I get the models mostly done - then revisit once I get everything in its final configuration... Next up - I need to build out a new chain link fence system and start on Unlimited Aircraft/Admin Office...I've already built the perimeter fence... Anyone know the typical dimensions of that standard residential chain link that you would see around someone's pool or yard ? Height and distance between poles ? What is that - like 5 feet tall ? The chain link fence in the image was just slapped as a place holder...Regards,Scott Edited March 10, 201313 yr by firehawk44 Images removed. Exceeds 400KB weight limit.
March 7, 201313 yr Anyone know the typical dimensions of that standard residential chain link that you would see around someone's pool or yard ? Height and distance between poles ? Hi again Scott. I can only speak - write for what is customary or legal in my local area. Typical yard, property line, pet fence; 4 feet, pole spacing is fence owner optional but usually 8 - 12 feet. For pool and privacy fences, no more than 6 feet including any ornaments or barbed wire. Again, pole spacing is pretty much up to the owner / installer. I would say for chain link twelve feet would be the most common space. As a side note, around here the wooden privacy fences have posts as close as 6 foot to help resist the wind. There doesn't seem to be any set rule on spacing other than what will hold the fence up balanced by what is economically practical. Regards, Mel
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