Where to next. ? ..........

[Roger Mazengarb 0]

G'day all,Just a brief update on the Beech model 65. Nearly finished the modeling work and then its texturing and figuring out how to implement the aircraft into Fly! II.At the moment it's 57 sub-assemblies all flying in very close formation. :-lolAll the tutorials seem to stop at the creation in 3dsMax. Does anyone know of a tutorial that covers putting a model into Fly! II?Cheers,Roger

[Guest CaptainJ]

Hi Roger,There isn't a tutorial for that! but I am pleased to help.....First make sure you linked everything to the body part (if it isn't then the editor won't accept the model) after that you export it into an S3D extension. and it's ready for import.If you run to any problems pls feel free to ask.Jarno

[Guest tonyc]

Good work, Roger. The tutorials on "how to convert FLY! into FLY2 planes" is great. And the other tutorial by Jean Sabatier,Aircraft Design for FLY2, covers a lot of what you need to go from 3d max to FLY2. I've just finished a 3d model and successfully imported it into FLY2, and am now in the process of tweaking the flight model. A lot of work, time, but fun as well.Teh first tutorial is on Avsim and the second is in the simvol site.You and I can also e -mail each other, but I am a newbie and may not be able to help you very much.tony

[Guest tonyc]

Jarno, can you elaborate a bit on the center of gravity. Is one of the "body" scrape points the center of gravity or do I set it in 3d max? When I imported the dfx file for my aircraft, the viewport cross, that is the x and y lines, did not pass through the "theoretical" center of gravity of the aircraft. I ask this becasue the aircraft has a problem with rudder steering at 40kts and above. The moment of inertia number does not seem to work very well for fine rudder control.Also, for a two rudder aircraft , do I create two complete "wing w/rudder" files? or do I combine both rudders into one? In the plane I created, I have only one rudder, centered, as opposed to two as the aircraft illustrates. I tried it, and only one rudder worked. If I could e mail you the wing file for your help, that would be great....tony

[Roger Mazengarb 0]

G'day Jarno,>There isn't a tutorial for that! but I am pleased to>help.....>>First make sure you linked everything to the body part (if it>isn't then the editor won't accept the model) after that you>export it into an S3D extension. and it's ready for import.>Thanks mate. - First question (many more I'm sure will follow :-) )You say " everything linked to body part". Does that mean "grouped", "attached" or something else that I'm unaware of ( and there's plenty of that :-lol ). Also is the link to be direct or hierachal. ie Do you mean a) wing to body, engine to body, spinner to body, propellor to body.OR:( wing to body, engine to wing, spinner to engine, propellor to spinner.Thanks JarnoCheers,Roger

[Roger Mazengarb 0]

G'day Tony,Thanks for the encouragement. I've been following your posts with keen interest, picking up vital snippets of information along the way.>Good work, Roger. The tutorials on "how to convert FLY! into>FLY2 planes" is great. And the other tutorial by Jean>Sabatier,Aircraft Design for FLY2, covers a lot of what you>need to go from 3d max to FLY2. I've been following Jean Sabatiers tutorials ( 1-4 ) for 3dsMax and found them to be really great. I must be the worlds biggest 3D dummy of all time yet with time and practise (nearly a year of on again - off again bouts of enthusiasm) I've finally got to the stage where I think I can see the light at the end of the tunnel. I guess I'm just a slow learner :-lol >I've just finished a 3d model and successfully imported it>into FLY2, and am now in the process of tweaking the flight>model. The L -10 Electra should be a nice addition to Fly! II. Strange that my first attempt at modeling ( in TrueSpace ) was also a twin tail dragger from approx the same era. ( DH - 90 Dragonfly ) If I could find the drawings again I wouldn't mind having another go at it >A lot of work, time, but fun as well.Yep - not to mention the anger, disappointment and frustrations :-lol>You and I can also e -mail each other, but I am a newbie and>may not be able to help you very much.Anytime you feel you can help regarding any questions I post please feel free to butt in and offer your 2 cents/pence worth.All help is very much appreciated. --- and needed. :-lol cheers,Roger @YSSY

[KenWood 5]

G'day Roger!>I must be the worlds biggest 3D dummy of all time yet with time and >practise (nearly a year of on again - off again bouts of enthusiasm)>I've finally got to the stage where I think I can see the>light at the end of the tunnel.> I guess I'm just a slow learner :-lolWell, maybe the Second one - I've been trying to grasp 3D for the Seawind's panel work with Bart's assistance. I *still* cannot get the deal done!!! Course, that was Truespace vice 3DS Max - but either way, I still cannot grasp it one iota! So, slow? I don't think so! I've been trying ever since the original Fly! came out!!Heck, I've been trying to learn spreadsheets for I no longer know how long, and *still* can't get past setting up the cell boundary layouts!! :-lol>>Yep - not to mention the anger, disappointment and>frustrations :-lol>Lots and lots and lots of disappointment and frustrations!!! But for some reason, not so much anger on my part... ;-) Think I'll stick with putting the panel files and checklist files together instead! :-lolBut glad you've gotten the battle nearly finished! Have you checked any of the sites Jarno has mentioned in past posts? They have some very good tutorials, but as for me, they aren't working (yet!). So "Good on ya, Mate!" Many Cheers!Ken Wood :-sun1http://www.avsim.com/hangar/fly/dfdg/bannernewkw.jpgGateway 700X; Intel P4 2.4GHz; 512MB RAM; NVIDIA Ti4200 4X AGP 128MB; SB Audigy; Thrustmaster TopGun Fox 2 Pro Shock

[Guest tonyc]

Roger, I hope you're thinking of the "other" tutorial by Jean Sabatier. One, as you point out, is all about 3d max design, but the other is all about taking a 3d model and making it fly in FLY2. Essentially, there are two tutorials by Jean on the subject.tony

[Guest tonyc]

roger, there's no grouping of the parts. You simply "link" the child part to the parent. The parent,of course, can only be the "body" or the fuselage. So, each wing is linked to the body. The left aileron is linked to the left wing, etc. With the landing gear, it's the same. The tire is linked to the axle, and the axle to the shock, and the shock to the upper strut, until the upper most part of the gear is attached to the engine nacelle, which is linked to the wing. tony

[Guest CaptainJ]

Hi Tony,The C.O.G point is set in 3D max and also in one of the world files (can't remember which it was) anyway, the editor sees the body part pivot as a C.O.G point and use this pivot for all locations references for example the wheels of the gear etc. here's a pic for you so you can see what I mean with placing the C.O.G. http://forums.avsim.net/user_files/85666.jpgIf I was you I should use only one rudder file and add a second line for moving parts just like this. -- Control Channel --Rudder -- Keyframe Model Part --rudder_rh -- Keyframe Model Part --rudder_lhlet me know if it works

[Guest tonyc]

Jarno, You have finally resolved the cg mistery!!! thanks.On the rudders, do I combine the two into one single location, area and dimension. Or am I missing something. Currently, I have the FLy2 model with two moving rudders, but the *.wng file has coordinates for one rudder, centered in the center of the stabilizer.With your proposed suggestion, I need to understand how the two rudders are linked in 3d max and then how each is given a location and an area.Tony

[Guest CaptainJ]

Hi Tony,I get the point! I never looked at it that way.. to be honest I am not very familliar with flightmodels. I advise you to contact Laurent Claudet (ROTW) He's active in the forums here, somewhere.. I always go to him when I have questions about the flightmodelanyway I directly link the moving control surfaces to my body part that is only for moving parts that hasn't got sub moving parts like trim tabs those are linked to the one they are fitted on. so my rudder is conected straight to my body! I don't know if this is a good way to do it, but I never got conflicts with it, and it works okEnjoy designing....

[Roger Mazengarb 0]

G'day Tony,Well I've just proved my point Q.E.D. :-) After posting to you I went off and checked and found that Jean has added BOOK 5 to his 3dsmax series and that covers much of what I was trying to find out. I downloaded those tutorials a long time ago and he was only up to BOOK 4. Also I downloaded his Aircraft Design in Fly!II from Simvol, so I've got a lot of reading to catch up on. My poor old Epson has been running continuously for over 2 hours to print out a hard copy. Mega thanks for the info re the tutorials.Cheers,Roger

[Roger Mazengarb 0]

G'day Ken,It's a hobby :-)Yes I've downloaded a nice tutorial from "Battleground 1942" or something like that which goes through aircraft production. Uses a completely different approach to what I'm doing at present but hey; there's more than one way to skin a cat. Tony just put me on to Jean Sabatiers tutorials which are excellent. So there's hope for me yet. :-)Keep up the work on your panel. That little aircraft is an absolute ripper.Cheers,Roger

[Guest Eagle]

Roger, sometime back (several months ago) I was going to do the Baron 58 and Bob "Goody" Goodacre sent me the manual for the plane along with some pictures. His son owns the plane.If I can provide you with any information let me know.