Model which is not made in Gmax?

[Guest]

Hi!I just wonder if any1 has made FS models with other progs. than Gmax?Myself I'm using Maya 4.0, what is the best way to do this? Export to *.x and load into MakeMDL, or get an 3ds exporter and load it into Gmax? Pros and cons?PlasmaTo fly, or not to fly. That's the question

[Guest]

You will need to get your data into gmax or the soon to be released FSDS V2 so you can animate the gear, flaps ...At this time, FSDSV2 does not have any file import ability. ;-(I built my part of the TB20GT in ProE and Rhino. I had the best "luck" using the obj plugin for gmax. You will have to manage the "normals" on the polygons or you will have a challenge in gmax getting them correct. If you don't, the paint may be on the inside of the model instead of the outside. And it can change from polygon to adjacent polygon.You can find the "obj" import plugin on the gmax official site.You will also want to export/import the aircraft in small groups. Don't try to do it all in one exchange. Doing it in small "groups" will allow you to change the density of the vertex/number of plygons per feature. Some details require a heavy concentration of vertexs and some very few. You will need to fiddle to get a combination that works.Let us know if we can be of any additional help. Be sure and let us know of your progress!We are Bob - rsam@mtco.com

[Guest]

Hi,I model in Lightwave 7.5 and there are a few ways I have found to get a model into Gmax.One is to export as an autocad file (.dxf) and use the Gmax importer to bring the parts into Gmax. I say parts because, it will not remember your part names after importing and if you bring in a complete aircraft you will have to select and rename each component. I also had a problem of parts arriving with their normals flipped using this method.A better way is to export as a 3d studio (.3ds) file. You can use the 3ds importer that comes with Gmax, but I'd recommend instead that you get Chris Cookson's maxscript 3ds importer plugin. With that you can import your model as one file and have all of your part names arrive more or less intact (long part names may arrive truncated) along with shading settings and UV texturing.You can probably find more information in the gmax support forums as well: http://www.gmaxsupport.com/David R.