GMAX scenery, lights, etc

[Guest hefy_jefy]

Hi ArnoOK I figured out the light_land thing, I am not at all sure about the theory but this works:Two triangles, each with a self colored face(white worked, I suppse any color would be OK) on top of each other, the beam seems to emanate from the triangle's center of gravity. If its an equilateral triangle then the light source is circular, stretching the triangle distorts the beam shape. And the size of the triangle is proportional to the size of the light beam, and the area illuminated.I made a test light, and angled the triangle down about 45deg, it looks OK. Something strange seems to happen with a single triangle when it is vertical (seems to make a cone pointing downwards) - need to investigate this further, but its very time consuming trying this stuff out in FS2002 to see what happens.After all this I am not sure if I like the result, (it looks like a landing light on top of a pole! instead of a floodlight) my more subtle Night mapped bitmaps seem better...I don't put everything in one file, but its easier to make an object (like a lampost) seperatly, then import it into an existing, ready positioned gmax file, make as many copies of the object as you need, put them in the correct relative postions, select all then use the "Export selected" option to make a .BGL file that is in the exact position you need.I am only using GMAX and just starting out so I tend to use it for everything, the tarmac seems to work OK but you need to make a very thin "box" and sink it down to surface level, I found a "hack" somewhere (I think it was from you) that stops the "flashing" problem but needs the .ASM file recompiled with BGLC.Geoff

[jkanold 0]

Can you take a snap of the two triangle positions?"On top of each other", I don't understand.Did you do anything with the Z pivot pointer?Better yet, send me the GMAX file?http://members.rogers.com/jkanold/jimlogo.gifhttp://members.rogers.com/eelvish/flyurl.gif

[Guest hefy_jefy]

>Can you take a snap of the two triangle positions? >"On top of each other", I don't understand. >Did you do anything with the Z pivot pointer? >>Better yet, send me the GMAX file? >>http://members.rogers.com/jkanold/jimlogo.gif >http://members.rogers.com/eelvish/flyurl.gif Ok its on its way, I also try to attach here,Geoff

[arno 1]

The link here doesn't work, would you mind sending me the file too?a.gerretsen@student.tudelft.nlThanks,ArnoMember NL2000 Teamhttp://home.wanadoo.nl/arno.gerretsen

[arno 1]

>OK I figured out the light_land thing, I am not at all sure >about the theory but this works: Nice work, I try to see if I get it working :).>I don't put everything in one file, but its easier to make >an object (like a lampost) seperatly, then import it into an >existing, ready positioned gmax file, make as many copies of >the object as you need, put them in the correct relative >postions, select all then use the "Export selected" option >to make a .BGL file that is in the exact position you need.Humm, just took a look at the source code when you use that method and then all objects have the same RefPoint. This means it is not very easy to optimize the performance of the scenery (because you can not set the range to the object itself, but only to the RefPoint.Of course this is only a tip, but especially for bigger projects it would give better results.>I am only using GMAX and just starting out so I tend to use >it for everything, the tarmac seems to work OK but you need >to make a very thin "box" and sink it down to surface level, >I found a "hack" somewhere (I think it was from you) that >stops the "flashing" problem but needs the .ASM file >recompiled with BGLC.Yes, I found a way to add a LayerCall to a GMax polygon, but it is better to use programs like GroundMaker or Airport for this part of the scenery, as these are made special to do that (and to place objects), while GMax is make special to make 3D objects.ArnoMember NL2000 Teamhttp://home.wanadoo.nl/arno.gerretsen

[Guest hefy_jefy]

Thanks Arno, I'm learning a lot....I will try and find GroundMaker, is it available here?Geoff

[arno 1]

http://www.groundmaker.orgArnoMember NL2000 Teamhttp://home.wanadoo.nl/arno.gerretsen

[jkanold 0]

Well thanks, and I tried it and tweaked your model a bit.After spending a couple of hours playing around with land_lights I think I will stay with my night texture ones.http://members.rogers.com/klasik2/yqtnite3.jpghttp://members.rogers.com/klasik2/yqtnite2.jpgIt's finally starting to look like an airport.http://members.rogers.com/jkanold/jimlogo.gifhttp://members.rogers.com/eelvish/flyurl.gif

[Guest hefy_jefy]

OK Jim,I never thought about changing the color! I thought that it had to be a "pure" color. I will make soem more experiments. I also prefer night textures for the lights at KWVI - there is a great option in Paintshop Pro v7.04 called "Illumination effects" where you can adjust darkness and add up to 7 spotlights.The difference with the "landing light" method is that when the weather is bad in FS2002 (visibility <5miles) you start to see the "light beam" from the floodlights (looks great on a foggy night) So I am still hopeful that this might work.Geoff

[arno 1]

I have also done experimenting with a bit of an orange color and it is starting to look nice. Although I am not yet really happy with how the pattern on the ground looks. Here is a small screenshot.http://home.wanadoo.nl/arno.gerretsen/pics/landlight.jpgArnoMember NL2000 Teamhttp://home.wanadoo.nl/arno.gerretsen

[jcboliveira 1]

HiFirst post, great advices on GMAX, in fact this forum was the responsible for the change from FSDS to GMAX. I didn't understood the light land and the triangles. I had been trying to get the effect in GMAX but the proper transform_mat is allways missing from the source code.Now, I'm doing the ramp lights in FSDS, exporting to GMAX everything but the lights and mannually adding them in the lib call API. Stupid method but it works.What do you mean by: "Two triangles, each with a self colored face"?I tried several triangles and got BGL_TRANSFORM_MAT 0.000000,0.000000,0.000000, 1.000000,0.000000,0.000000, 0.000000,0.000000,1.000000, 0.000000,-1.000000,0.000000The translation and proper rotation it's missing .Jos

[arno 1]

I had the same, even if I made two triangles at the same location I didn't get a light.Only after I received the source from Geoff I got it working (just by copying the two triangles from his source). I still don't understand that, as my own triangles looked the same to me.ArnoMember NL2000 Teamhttp://home.wanadoo.nl/arno.gerretsen

[jcboliveira 1]

Group both triangles :)Jos

[arno 1]

Yes, I did that, even that didn't help. I think I'll try to find out why it didn't work later, as I now have to working using the source from Geoff :)ArnoMember NL2000 Teamhttp://home.wanadoo.nl/arno.gerretsen

[Guest]

Arno, make sure you have your triangles linked to each other (as per my landing lights tutorial).http://thegreatptmd.tripod.comChris