Textures on Gmax objects

[Guest]

Could someone please explain how to do this.I am a newcomer to the daunting task of designing aircraft for FS2002.- Kevin

[Guest]

Make sure you've done the tutorials that come with gWax. Then, there are some good texturing tutorials available at, or linked from, the Freeflight Design Shop http://www.freeflightdesign.com Of particular interest may be Milan Lisner's series on gMax texturing, also, "Reflective Textures - the Easy Way" by Firestriker.Hope this helps

[Guest Milton]

Kevin,For the very basic textures, just use the gmax material editor. Select an object (like the fuselage), open the material editor, select a material, define the characteristics, and apply to the object. This gets you the basic coverage.If you build an aircraft, then you will have to generate UVW maps for all the parts. This process basically provides coordinates for the textures for each of the parts. Using exported UVW maps, you can generate bmps that outline for the painter the texture borders and the 'seams' in each part mapped. This tells where highlites or softening need to occur.Once mapped, then essentially you just paint over the base textures and apply them back to the objects in gmax.Mapping is a lot of work, but is essential for any real textures. I'm looking at probably 200 hours to complete my project mapping phase.Hope this (over-simplification) helps the basic understanding.RegardsMilton

[Guest]

Thanks.I am taking baby steps at this point no simple is better.200 hrs is five 40 hr weeks. YIKES! How come there are so many planes to download for FS2002? Thats a bigcommitment of time. There is no faster way?Kevin

[Guest]

Milton,I wasnt aware that you could export uvw maps in gmax. I looked around for how to do this, but found nothing. Could you expand abit please? ThanksAl

[Guest Milton]

Yes, once the UVW map is done in gmax, and positioned, you export a MD3 using the freeware QuakeIII addon. Then open the freeware LithUnwrap and import it. Then export the image as a .bmp and it's ready for paint.Hope this helps. Just learning myself.Milton

[Guest Milton]

Once the learning curve is whipped, and techniques developed, I bet I could cut that 200 to ... say ... 150. :-) Depends on the size and complexity of the project. Mine is on the upper end.Yes, design and development takes a lot of time. Until we simmers try it out, it is very easy to take for granted all the work that these guys put into projects. On our now 12 man team, I have 600 hours in the model, flight dynamics, mapping, and sounds alone. The panel, textures, alpha and beta testing time is added to that. We will have over 1200 hours in the Dash 7 project by the 1st release easy.But, it is 95% fun, and 5% frustration with learning curves. :-)Milton

[Guest]

If you want to learn more about UVW mapping then you might find my video tutorials of some interest. Eventually I'll get around to making a page for them, but in the meantime you'll have to dig them out of the FS2002 forum at http://www.gmaxsupport.com -http://www.gmaxsupport.com/forum/cgi-bin/u...?ubb=forum;f=12I think there's about 6 of them, covering mapping and smoothing.Have funFinn

[Guest Milton]

Thanks to Finn's excellent video tutorials and the help of FSEdge, I am finally off and running with mapping. These contributions made the difference for me. I highly recommend them.Milton

[Guest]

I dont think I would ever have the time to be part of a design team. I spend too much time flying FS2002 and designing andtesting battles fot the 3D tactical WW2 wargame Combat Mission.But I do want to great a small aircraft project alive to work onas a learning experiance. Perhaps I can contribute by copy-pastingall the good tips an organizing them as a newcomer (me) learns at each step. Kevin

[Guest]

Can someone point me to the Material Editor? I cant find it.Is is a plug-in of some kind?Kevin

[Guest Milton]

You'll find it on the main tool bar ... a red ball hiding possibly just off the top right. Move your mouse up there, grab the tool bar and pull it left.BTW, have you done all the tutorials yet? If not,you are in for a lot of frustrations with basic stuff.Milton

[Guest]

Thanks I will check that out. I am doing the tutorialswhile designing a plane at the same time. This approach works best for me as I can better see my progess via the end result - an aircraft.- Kevin