Help please!I have found that cylinders created in Gmax look like the attached picture when viewed in FS9. I noticed this effect wile working on a fuel gauge mounted under the top wing of a biplane - you have to zoom in on the cylinder to read the gauge and this effect becomes noticeable and very distracting.I have tried everything I can think of to fix the problem: Creating the cylinder using different options, changing the materials or using no material, converting to editable mesh etc - with no success.Anyone been able to solve this, or has anyone else even noticed this effect?

I would help if you posted the actual screenshot of a cylinder in FS9 so we could exactly what the problem is.

Sure, I'll post a screenshot tomorrow - I am posting from work and don't have FS9 on this PC.The picture is a pretty good idea of what the problem is though, you would recognise it if you'd seen it before.

>Anyone been able to solve this, or has anyone else even>noticed this effect?The problem is that the threshold for 'auto-welding' in the interior is 4 millimeters. Any vertices 4 mm or closer are collapsed, thus creating the warped cylinder.There are two "solutions." The simplest is to use fewer 'sides' when creating your round polygon, possibly as few as 16...The second is a bit more involved... and for the life of me I can't find it again... It's in a thread at http://freeflightdesign.com by Paco Sanchez.

Possibly normalizing the normals?Haven't seen it, so just venturing a guess to spare yer memory.

>Possibly normalizing the normals?>>Haven't seen it, so just venturing a guess to spare yer>memory.Nope. It involves using the uniform scaler to 'upscale' the part by 500%, then using another trick (which is what I can't remember) to fool the exporter into not generating the rounding errors that result in the 4mm vertex weld problem occuring.Ah ha! I found the thread again...http://www.aerodynamika.com/cgi-bin/yabb/Y...78205;start=5#5

Thanks Bill!I'll give the more involved method a try, as I'm already using only 16 sides.Edit to add: Hopefully the scaling won't cause problems with the animation on the cylinder (I'm using it with indicator_fuel_quantity part name).Thanks again.Marcel

If anyone is interested, here is a screen capture showing the problem.

Bill, would it be possible to cc that post here? I have issues logging into FFDS, and I'd very much like to see what that workaround was myself.Thanks,--Jon

>Bill, would it be possible to cc that post here? I have>issues logging into FFDS, and I'd very much like to see what>that workaround was myself.The 'meat' of this technique is in two steps:1) "upscale" the actual size of the part by 500% using the Uniform Scale Dialog2) "downscale" the apparent size of the part using the Hierarchy Scale World Offset Dialog to 20%.The net result is that during export, all vertices will appear to be 500% further apart. During compiling, the part's visual size will be reduced to 20% of the exported size.Here is a link to the original message in French: http://users.skynet.be/fravinguidee/scale.htmlThis is a really horrible "web translation" to English as was posted at Freeflight Design:==============================================This a little strong switch detailed and it is necessary to know that in Potential Cockpit, all point come close to 4 mm or less inevitably will be soldered to his or its neighbors. Result, the switch, so pretty in Gmax does not resemble anymore to nothing in F... One would say a tired stick. ..De more, at the time of the exportation of the model, here Gmax that says you than it is impossible to compile for a scale is applied to a party on which an organization is secured. Diantre! But what that it is bored me this screwed-up Gmax! Open then the window that we renseigne them given of reference ladder of our switch. This window opens while clicking with the right button on the tool that resembles a white square of which a corner returns itself and is intoxicated. What there reads one? Local Absolute: 83.333 verywhere. Bad Mmmh that. In fact it always is preferable that every piece be at 100 on every abscissa. And so much more if the piece is animated for if this is not at 100 everywhere, the exports will fail to all the blows! It is therefore imperative to put back the piece to the ladder 100 while leaning on the onglet SCALE at the bottom of this picture. This that has for effect to put back all these values to 100. Come back to present on this concern. It exists in fact a method that allows a small strong piece detailed of not to rediscover destroyed itself after exportation. Indeed, this is the scale that renseigne to Makemdl cuts it every piece in terms of dimension (meters, centimeters, millimeters). Do you remember that all point come close to 4 mm or less automatically is soldered to his or its neighbors. It goes therefore to be necessary for every piece, dupe Gmax while assigning a completely harebrained scale so she disproportionate. I explain. You will select the or the pieces to "to treat" and next to apply them a scale of 500% for example. An enlargement undergoes of your switch of 500% of his origin size. NO PANIC! You go some does at that very moment, click on the button SCALE that will put back this huge button to the reference ladder of the project (not to his origin size!). Next, you will type to the place of the 100 of offset World the value of 20% to do to return the piece to his origin dimension. But there, you will not click anymore on SCALE. By this maneuver, Gmax was duped. It believes present that all the points of this piece are moved away from + of 4 mm while in reality not at all!!! From that time, at the time of the compilation, your small piece will be treated as the fuselage for example. An alone hic thereto. As I said it more before, all animated piece never can have false scale... How do from that time?! The thing is comparatively simple. You simply will create a small cube for example that you will hide in the button of the switch. Next, you go LINKER (to secure) the button to animate with this cube and you will animate the cube all stupidly. One sees this small hidden cube to the basis of the button of switch to the place of the pivot. You then will be able to apply the scale that you want on the animated button being given that this is not him that is animated but that this is him that follows the organization of the cube that will have a correct scale. This cube can well heard to be a small lengthened bar to facilitate mice click on the button in Potential Cockpit. ==============================================

Ah! "An alone hic thereto." will no longer be "all stupidly".Thank you sir, I'll give it a try.--Jon

>Ah! "An alone hic thereto." will no longer be "all>stupidly".>>Thank you sir, I'll give it a try.I ran that webpage through Babblefish and the 'translation' was even worse... This sentence in particular is quite precious: "This window opens while clicking with the right button on the tool that resembles a white square of which a corner returns itself and is intoxicated." *:-* :-beerchug