Is there anywhere out there where I can get information (preferably in words of one syllable)on what exactly an 'Air' file is and how it relates to the Aircraft.cfg file. I am having problems with new paint jobs for standard and third-party downloaded aircraft. Some texture.xxx files comprise only an 'L' and a 'T' file and others have dozens of different bitmaps, etc. When I ry to add certain new textures I either end up with a 'clean' aircraft or one with the livery wrapped round it the wrong way. I am sure it is something to do with the Air or Cfg files but I am at a loss as to what to with them.Also, why can't I open many texture files for editing in a graphics editor like Paint Shop?Any suggestions will be more than welcome.

The .air files and aircraft.cfg are both for the purposes of Flight Dynamics, although the aircraft.cfg also determines how the aircraft will be displayed in the dropdown menu (i.e., mft, type, and so on). Texture information is read by the mdl file--the compiled code created by the GMAX plugins or by FSDS by aircraft visual designers. The _L files are lightmap textures--they add the highlights, such as tail lighting, that you see on aircraft at night. The _T textures (sometimes the _T is omitted if there's no lightmap texture) are the "day" textures.When you repaint, the best thing to do is to contact the author and find if they have a paint kit or paint template you could use. Most textures are also "extended" formats--they included an alpha channel for either trasparency or reflection, and sometimes include mips for display at a distance. When you create a texture and you end up seeing a "clean" or gray aircraft, usually it's saved in the wrong format. I'd say 90 pct. of today's textures are in DXT3 format. DXTBMP is a great tool for getting the textures in the format you need. You can find it here:http://www.mnwright.btinternet.co.uk/Regards,John

JohnThanks for that. I have downloaded DTXBMP and shall have a look at it later.One other thing, can I get away with using, say an Aardvark mdl file in, a Project ai aircraft, or vice versa, or any combination?RegardsBrian

"can I get away with using, say an Aardvark mdl file in, a Project ai aircraft, or vice versa, or any combination?"No, unless they have the exact same texture names and layouts. The mdl file contains references to all the textures, and where on the textures specific parts can be painted from (one texture can have portions painted onto many parts).There's no way to change the texture mapping without the model source, and the work thatthat entails. You can mix and match flight dynamics sometimes, some with a little more effort than others. And sometimes that's true of panels if there is no VC. But textures must be used with the model they are assigned for--although there's instances of pirates who design a model, then map someone else's textures to that model with a few changes here and there to make the texture work "seem" original.-John

Hello Brian,You can get .air editors and .cfg tutorial from here with forum support in the other link:Never use FSEdit as it is broken. Use AAM or AirEdit or AirUpDate.http://perso.wanadoo.fr/hsors/FS_Soft/index.htmlfor editorshttp://perso.wanadoo.fr/hsors/FS_Soft/fsairfile.htmlfor forum supporthttp://www.avhistory.org/scripts/MegaBBS/f...w.asp?forumid=5Ian

I don't think that designing a model that uses textures made for another model involves "piracy". Not unless the textures are being distributed with the model.I made a replacement model for the default MS 737-400 years ago, and I didn't feel like a pirate, I still don't. Designing a model to use someone elses textures is incredibly difficult to do well. Often you find yourself having to deal with errors that were made in the original mapping, and then having to decide whether to replicate the errors, or trying to find a way of working around them. In my experience it's much much easier to make your own mapping and then make your own textures than to try to map your model to someone elses textures. David R

"I don't think that designing a model that uses textures made for another model involves "piracy". Not unless the textures are being distributed with the model."I'm sorry--that's what I meant--there's been at least one instance where that's happened. However, even if the textures aren't being distributed, if someone's using another author's texture layout to map to their own design, if they don't have permission I feel they are stealing that author's intellectual property. Texture layout is as much an art as any other part of aircraft design. Some of the most brilliant examples are the work of the AI artists, who manage to squeeze almost every aircraft part on to one or two master textures. Probably the one exception to my statement are projects done using MSFS default aircraft--whether they be FDE's, etc... as the starting point. It's been a given for a long time that the defaults serve as a good basis for study and learning..-John

IanThanks for the info. I have been a flight sim addict ever since FS... whatever it was. I remember it came on 3 floppies; 4.2 mb, ah, those were the days. Anyway, I am more or less self taught as far as textures are concerned and I thought it was about time I got to know a little more about them than merely adding a further texture.xxx file to an aircraft and a corresponding entry in the aircraft.cfg file. I will check out the links.Thanks again.Brian