Several Q's about gMax etc...

[badderjet 181]

Hello all,so it finally took also me into aircraft design... Not too easy because I don't have 3 views, just photos of mine of which most are not in a very useful perspective... Anyway, I have some questions.I've made the fuselage (far from being finished though) and wanted to make the canopy and the inside.1) So I'd cut out something from the fuselage - but how? Bool? If yes, what should I take as Operand B (I kno how to bool in general)?Animations didn't seem too complicated so far, made yokes, rudder, ailerons, elevator, trimtab. Wanna add gear compression and flaps and about the flaps:2) Do I have to animate a full circle and set the 'degree' notches in the aircraft.cfg? Seems like that.Also started the VC which works for now. No illuminating and other stuff yet though.Lights:3) My landing lights just won't show up. I've done them with Chris's tut. Checked HasLightMap, no success. Can you gimme a rough value of how large that polygon (triangle in this case) should be?If I got the landing light working, then I might discover if the LIGHT_NAV/WING/LOGO will be of any use...Thanks a lot in advance,Etienne :-wave

[Guest]

Hi! I'm not going to answer all your questions - after all, I've got to give others and chance as well, n'est pas? :)>2) Do I have to animate a full circle and set the 'degree' >notches in the aircraft.cfg? Seems like that. Flaps animation is automatic, you do not have to define a key-frame animation at all! Simply make sure that the flap's axis is aligned properly for proper movement. The 'degree notches' in the aircraft.cfg will set the proper limits for animation.>Lights: >3) My landing lights just won't show up. I've done them with >Chris's tut. Checked HasLightMap, no success. Can you gimme >a rough value of how large that polygon (triangle in this >case) should be? I've found the available tutorials somewhat lacking in clarity. My solution was to simply "Merge" the LL parts into my project from one of the sample a/c included with FS2k2. :) Once "Merged," I was then able to fiddle with the size, placement, etc. to achive my goals. Of course, in the process I was able to learn how to construct my own, since I now had a 'working model' of 'em in my a/c! :)>If I got the landing light working, then I might discover if >the LIGHT_NAV/WING/LOGO will be of any use... Where possible, I would choose those lights over the "fx" version, since you have absolute control over placement of the lighting when you are modeling! No more trial-and-error (with emphasis on ERROR) when adjusting the lights in panel.cfg... :)

[badderjet 181]

Hi Bill,well - you reminded me of sumthin I totally forgot - the samples! LOL :-lol Yo should've looked at 'em somewhat earlier, eh... So I'll also get my landing lights from those-Anyway I do have another thing not mentioned before, about modelling itself - Well if I have my wing modelled - how do I 'cut out' the ailerons and not loosing them (no booling)?Thank youEtienne :-wave

[Guest]

>Anyway I do have another thing not mentioned before, about >modelling itself - Well if I have my wing modelled - how do >I 'cut out' the ailerons and not loosing them (no booling)? There are several techniques that can be used...1) Use the 'Slice' tool to create additional vertices at the left/right/top edges of the flaps and/or ailerons. Select the vertices that make up the aileron and/or flap and "Detach". Create new polys to 'fill in' the now exposed inner edges of the wing and flap and/or aileron parts.2) Create the wing using a cylinder, shaping and flattening it to the desired form. Move vertex groups to align with the left/right/top edges of where the flap and/or aileron will be. Select the vertices that make up the aileron and/or flap, and "Detach." Since you used a solid 'object' (cylinder), there are no exposed 'edges' to fix.3) Design your 'cookie cutter tool' the size you want and align it on the wing where you want to "cut a hole" for the aileron and/or flap. Clone both the wing and 'cookie cutter tool' and "Hide" the clones temporarily. Use Bool to cut the hole, deleting the aileron/flap area and making the 'hole' for them. Hide the cut-out "master" wing. Unhide the cloned wing/'cookie cutter tool' and use Bool to cut the flap/aileron part, using the WING as the cutter, leaving only the aileron/flap part. Delete the 'cookie cutter tool' Unhide the "master" wing, and your flap/aileron will now be ready for animation.Any of the above work well. There are at least six other methods that I know of, but haven't tried myself. :)

[Guest PhLem]

Thanks for letting me cut in Father Bill !!About the landing lights, indeed, the tutorial has some holes in it. The way it should be done is making the first poly ( triangle ) and calling it light_land_0. Clone it and call the clone light_land_1 or _01. Link the light_land_0 to the light_land_1. Now link the light_land_1 ( the clone thus ) to another object, for example the wing if it is a wing mounted landing light. It is the last part described which is missing from the tut and causes the light not to appear in FS.Hope it helps.Udo.:-wavewww.Yeodesigns.com

[badderjet 181]

Hmm. Two things still don't work.Landing lights. Tied everything hopefully corecctly. Mat name light_land. Light's name light_land_0.Second is gear compression. Called the thing c_gear and animated from 100-200, so what...Good night :-dohEtienneMore Q's to come... ;-)

[Guest PhLem]

You need two polys for the light_land. Only one light_land_0 won't work. What is it that you called c_gear ? A gear consists of several parts, c_gear_top,c_gear_bottom, etc. I don't know if just plain c_gear will work.Udo.:-wavewww.Yeodesigns.com

[Guest PhLem]

Here is a pic to illustrate.Udo.:-wave

[badderjet 181]

>3) Design your 'cookie cutter tool' the size you want and >align it on the wing where you want to "cut a hole" for the >aileron and/or flap. >> Clone both the wing and 'cookie cutter tool' and >"Hide" the clones temporarily. >> Use Bool to cut the hole, deleting the aileron/flap area >and making the 'hole' for them. Hide the cut-out "master" >wing. >> Unhide the cloned wing/'cookie cutter tool' and use Bool >to cut the flap/aileron part, using the WING as the cutter, >leaving only the aileron/flap part. Delete the 'cookie >cutter tool' >> Unhide the "master" wing, and your flap/aileron will now >be ready for animation. Hmmm hmmm hmmm tss tss... Sounds somewhat damn clever, still easy... ;-) Hehe, yo man, you made my day!!THANKS a ton! :-hahNow I can sleep well again...Etienne :-wavePS. Some months ago I saw this neat thing a guy wrote about you... ", you are my timesaver. Bill, you are my lifesaver!" Or was it reversed? Anyway, it seems true... Hehe :DPPS. I apologize for being that nuisance again ;-), but is it important to 'connect' the wings to the fuselage? Sure looks better, but as far as I know a boolean connection somewhat increases the faces...

[Guest Milton]

Etienne,For the fuse, yes to boolean. I wrote an illustrated tutorial that can be found over at FFDS Tutorial section that lays out the whole process. Generally, you make object templates for all the openings to be cut, position them all, and use the templates for object b. I like to use cut/refine and copy though. Have the fuse in editable poly mode before the cuts.When done, detach and rename the windows/doors, select them, apply materials like glass.It's also a good idea to do the "inner fuse" after the outer while the templates are in place.I also save a version of the scene with the templates in case I want to go back and redo it.For c_wheel, yes, animate 360 degrees. It will not work in FS until you see it work in gmax. :-) It may help to use a couple of keys in the 100-200 range.Lights? Depends on your gmax/makemdl version. 1.1 and higher works better. Triangle can be very small, size of your hand. Apply light material to the primitive, link to a parent, set the directional pivot at the parent, position the light with the primitive. (this may vary with version.)Hope this helps.Milton

[badderjet 181]

>For the fuse, yes to boolean. I wrote an illustrated >tutorial that can be found over at FFDS Tutorial section >that lays out the whole process.Good news for me, where to find please?>Lights? Depends on your gmax/makemdl version. 1.1 and >higher works better. Triangle can be very small, size of >your hand. Apply light material to the primitive, link to a >parent, set the directional pivot at the parent, position >the light with the primitive. (this may vary with version.) >>Hope this helps. >Milton It does. :-) I've been stuck for hours because I turned the pivot of the triangle itself, not the parent... Uarrggghhh!! ;-)Thanks a lot!!Etienne :-wave

[Guest Milton]

In the Gmax section; it is called Making Windows:http://www.freeflightdesign.com/tutorials.htmlMilton

[Guest Milton]

The extension and retraction is animated from 100-200, from retracted to extended.The suspension is animated from 100-200, from uncompressed (in the air) to compressed fully (to the full extent of movement). Static compression (at rest on the ground) is somewhere in between.Milton