ATR 42-500 Aeromar XA-TRI

[Guest Chris Wallace]

Coincidentally there is an ATR 42-500 in the Aeromar (Mexico) fleet with registration XA-TRI! I thought I'd follow Leen's advice and take a stab at a repaint. I'm surprised that it's progressing as well as it is after only a couple of hours...this being my first repaint of anything! The paint kit really does make things so much easier...being able to immediately get reasonably close on the scale and alignment relative to the base texture really speeds things along.Constructive comments are welcome, I need to fix the side fuselage logo to even out a few bumps, maybe do a couple of tweaks here and there, but unless there are any glaring problems I'll upload it tonight.http://forums.avsim.net/user_files/118586.jpghttp://forums.avsim.net/user_files/118589.jpghttp://forums.avsim.net/user_files/118591.jpgChris WallaceOttawa, Canada

[Guest chezz]

Hi Chris,Great re-paint. It's achallenge indeed to do a a/c repaint.chris_CA

[Leen3131cs 107]

The paint>kit really does make things so much easier...being able to>immediately get reasonably close on the scale and alignment>relative to the base texture really speeds things along. Hi Chris,I am very happy to see , the paintkit having the effect I hoped it would have.Your painting looks swell.>>Constructive comments are welcome,Well ehhhh....... Maybe you`ll have to check the position of the registration , underside left wing.RegardsLeen

[Guest Chris Wallace]

>Well ehhhh....... Maybe you`ll have to check the position of>the registration , underside left wing.Ack..see, that's exactly what I mean. I had it the other way around first time, and somehow convinced myself it was backwards, so I flipped it. Oh well, easy enough to fix.Thanks,Chris WallaceOttawa, Canada

[Guest Chris Wallace]

OK, so now it's time to regret creating that paintkit! :-) Would it be possible to create a paintkit for the medium-detail texture, and/or provide instructions on how to manipulate the high-detail texture into a texture for the medium-detail model? I notice that all the repaints so far just use the high-res model...if it's possible, I'd like to create medium-res too...Thanks,Chris WallaceOttawa, Canada

[Leen3131cs 107]

Hi Chris,Yes that low-res-stuff , it`s a pain in the A.....!A low res ACM file uses less polygons and therefore it`s less demanding on the PC.Nevertheless I prefer to use only the high res acm and tif.This needs explication:IF only the low-res acm/tif was used for the plane seen at distance there would not be so much against , BUT when FLYII-ing in a plane and meeting another ( lets say program-generated plane)this plane is textuered and modelled with the low-res-acm/tif set of that plane.So when I am flying the Beechcraft and meet the original Air FranceATR in the air , this ATR looks awfull.When I, on the other hand meet the ATR Air Littoral ,it looks the same 100% as it always looks.Both planes were textured by myself.When I did the Air France , the conceptor of this project asked me to do the low res as well.I personally DO NOT believe in this low-res stuff , modern PC`sare just laughing about those extra polygons I can hardly see the difference on my systems ( which are`nt top of the bill anyway)Till now I did about 45 repaints for FLYII , I think I used low reson only three ( the first ) of them.Nobody noticed ,or complained ever.BTW several other planes for FLYII ( like the very succesful Dauphin )were published without low-res acm/tif.TEMPLATE?There is no need for a template.Just take the low-res-tif from the original ATR this one is 256x256 pixels.Now make a copy of your Hi-res 1024x1024 TIF and reduce the size to 256x256.Now just cut and paste the various parts , mind the lay-out is different , some parts are in different positions and places.Due to the few pixels available, a precise alignment is not possibleand therefore a template useless.For making the 1024 square TIF the template is usefull.For the low res TIF 256 square, just cut and paste.BUT what quality can you expect from a 256 square texture, not much.And a low-polygon FlyII! aircraft I prefer NOT to meet in the air.At least not at short range.Thats why I hate them , those low-res ( pain in.....)Regards LeenPSYou know, we can adjust the amount of planes flying around.I prefer the number of these planes LOW and their quality of appearance HIGH.

[Guest Chris Wallace]

OK, I get your point :-) and bviously your experience backs it up. It's true that modern video cards are able to handle the load a lot better than the ones available when Fly2 was first release (16-32 MB or so). But it's not so much the geometry that has the potential for problems, it's the textures. With no lower-detail models, even when the aircraft is a speck on the horizon, it is hogging an entire 1024x1024 texture slot. With a lot of AI aircraft, it could get to be a problem even with modern cards. But as you say, it's probably more of a theoretical problem than a practical one.I've already done what you suggested to create the medium-detail texture...I don't think it does any harm, and I have set the medium-detail switchover distance to be quite "far" away so that the aircraft is already pretty smally and fuzzy by the time the texture switch occurs.Chris WallaceOttawa, Canada

[Leen3131cs 107]

Hi Chris,Long time ago , someone told me it was depending on the amount of polygons drawn by the acm and NOT the texture size.If you like you can do this experiment.Make a copy of your 1024 tif and reduce the size to 256 square.name this ATR42 mid.tif.make a copy of your ATR42 ACM and call it ATR42mid.acmLet all entries in this ATR42mid.acm refer to ATR42mid.tifIF your theory is OK this would solve all problems , I think (sorry) it won`t.Because ACM files read every TIf from 2048 square to 32 square.The polygons are the main problem for the PC.Happy experimentingLeen

[Guest Fly II Pilot]

Gentlemen,We could have a medium res and low res model by manually editing the ACM and removing certain parts that are not visible when seen from a distance. For example, inside details such as pilots, seats, etc. Antennas, wheel (for the low res), flaps (for the low res), propellers, etc. Keep in mind that if there are any joined parts, you need to renumber its children. Also, on the header, you need to change the total number of parts.This reduces the number of polys without having to create yet another model.Take care,http://www.avsim.com/hangar/fly/dfdg/banneraa.jpg

[Leen3131cs 107]

Thanks for the idea Alex.But this does not solve the problem , the plane being not good looking when it is in sight at short range as an AI plane.RegardsLeen

[Guest Chris Wallace]

OK, interesting Leen, I'll check that out one of these days.Chris WallaceOttawa, Canada