Abnormal Normals??

[Guest GEEWNZ]

Hi guys.I'm still battling on with my intro to Gmax in building a glider model, but am having a couple of problems once I export the plane to FS9.Problem #1:The model appears fine in Gmax (see attached pics) but once installed in FS9 the skin of the right wing shows up with the normals apparently back to front, i.e. the skin in visible on the inside surface of the wing. I constructed the left wing first, then grouped it before adding the animations, and mirror-copied the group to create the right wing. The animations for the speed brakes and adjusting the aileron pivots was done after this mirroring process.Problem #2Why won't my canopy open?I created the canopy frame (using Edge/Cut then Detach) and the Canopy Glass from the original fuselage shape, grouped them, then applied the animations to the canopy group named f_canopy. The animation works flawlessly in Gmax, but has not transferred to my FS9 export.Any ideas on the above would greatly be appreciated.Thanks & regards,Grant W.

[Guest jetBlue_83]

I can help with question Number 1:NEVER USE THE MIRROR MODIFIER...especially on a group. I learned the hard way taht it doesn't work as you would like it to. Well, to fix your problem with the abnormal normals, just ungroup the offending parts, and select each one (one at a time) and got to the Tab on the modifier** panel (the one with the hammer pic). click the hammer, and select 'Reset X-form' then click reset selected. Then you have to convert your part (now showing it's true colors) into an editable mesh. Finally, select all the faces/polygons, and click the flip button (in the normals section)**I'm not sure if this is the correct name of this panel...someone will correct me though.

[Guest FelixFFDS]

>>Problem #2>Why won't my canopy open?>I created the canopy frame (using Edge/Cut then Detach) and>the Canopy Glass from the original fuselage shape, grouped>them, then applied the animations to the canopy group named>f_canopy. The animation works flawlessly in Gmax, but has not>transferred to my FS9 export.>Grant, I may be reading more into it than possible, BUT...When you applied the animations to the canopy GROUP, did you name a specific part f_canopy, animate THAT part and link the other canopy parts to f_canopy? or did you group various parts as a GROUP named f_canopy?You will see whatever animations you make in gmax, but the game will recognize the animations on only those parts that are correctly tagged.

[n4gix 4,947]

PLEASE!!! Do not use the "Group" feature unless you are truly masochistic... ;)PLEASE!!! Use "Linked Hierarchy" instead...Also, I'll "mirror" what Felix already said. Forget the "Mirror" function on the top toolbar (as well as "Group")...At this stage of modeling, it will be far easier to simply delete the right wing...Clone the left wing, then apply a "Mirror Modifier" to the stack. Then, either use the spinner to offset the mirrored right wing, or use the "Move" tool to place the right wing where it needs to be.After it's placed where you want it, Right Click on the Viewport and convert the right wing to E-Poly or E-Mesh as you wish...BTW, the model is looking nice! :)

[Guest GEEWNZ]

Thanks for your help guys.Bill & Felix in particular, your advise was right on the button and have now exported the model perfectly to FS9.Next step...learn how to do the UVUnwrappy thingy I guess...Also having some fun trying to work out the FSEdit paramenters, the model flies more like a blood hound on the trail of a rabbit than it does a graceful eagle.Anyway..all part of the learning process, one step at a time. Attached is an undated screen shot showing the corrected result thus far.Thanks & regards,Grant W.