G'day all,Could someone please confirm whether gear UP is frame 0 and gear DOWN frame 30or is it the reverse of above. I known that animation can be reversed in the files later but why not get it right the first time. :-)Also is there any way to circumvent the 100 parts limit for models? It's surprising how quickly they mount up and I'm fast approaching. Thanks in advance,Cheers,Roger

Roger,Gear Animation: 0 DOWN with shocks extended, 1 DOWN with shocks compressed, 30 UP. Also remember the pivotings...There's no way to circumvent the 100 parts limit. What you can do is group several static parts together. For example if you have antennas you can group them all together and make that one part, same thing with seats, lights, etc. If the parts move then you're in trouble because then I think that they are split into individual parts.Jarno can give you more hints and tips since he's the 3D Model master...Also, keep in mind that you can edit the ACM file and change the TIF file associated to a part such that you can use more than one TIF. This means that you can reduce the number of individual textures that need to be crammed thus obtaining a higher resolution. Leen de Jager is the expert on this technique...Regards,http://www.avsim.com/hangar/fly/dfdg/banneraa.jpg

>Jarno can give you more hints and tips I don't have to.... You explained it well Alex, :)

Roger,By the way, could you show an update of your baby. Think of it as a 3D ultrasound that are so popular nowadays... ;-)http://www.avsim.com/hangar/fly/dfdg/banneraa.jpg

G'day Alejandro,Thanks for the info re gear animation. I'm not sure I'm 100% with you re grouping! I'll have to read up about it with Truespace. If I glue 2 parts together I end up with 3 parts - the two original parts + a group name part.I can see I've got some serious reading to do :-)Thanks heaps; I'll post a couple of "ultrasound pics" as soon as I finish the gear animation.Cheers,Roger

Roger,Have you tried using Object Union instead of Gluing them as either Children or Siblings? That creates a new object and still retains the respective textures. Not sure how this is handled when it's exported. Does it combine both textures into one?Maybe Jarno can shed some light as to how he does in 3D Max.Regards,http://www.avsim.com/hangar/fly/dfdg/banneraa.jpg

I can advise only for Max. I have however used Truespace in the very beginning, I found Max more important because it's populare in the modeling world. I never released an aircarft with this modeling program. I am sure Bart knows the ansers....

Jarno,Bart has had a problem with his Avsim user and is waiting for a reset, until then he won't be able to post.What I meant was that you could tell Roger what you use in 3D Max to join several individual parts together, such as the seats or the antennas in the Dauphin. Do you "glue" them as parent child or siblings or do you somehow make them a single object. If the latter, what 3D Max function do you use?Regards,Alexhttp://www.avsim.com/hangar/fly/dfdg/banneraa.jpg

Roger Alex,It's pretty easy. In the editable mesh mode parameters you have a button which says "Attach" with this button checked you can select any object and that object will become solid with the other object you have selected first..

G'day Jarno,Thanks I'll check out if Truespace has an "attach" function. Funny to hear you talking about Truespace. Coming from Max to Truespace I have found Truespace to be much, much, much more easy to use. Perhaps it's all the head banging that I did with Max that prepared me for Truespace. :-lolSorry to be a pain but I have another question regarding animation. When rotating the blades from REVERSE through FINE - COURSE and on to FEATHER , what is the frame orientation? 0 - 30 or is the process the reverse of the above order and 0 - 30 ?Cheers,Roger

G'day Alex,Yes I have used object union. eg. Joined the wheel hubs and tyres :-)and yes this does give just a single object. Enables me to "borrow" a single texture from a Tri aircraft. I haven't tried this on separated parts, as, being a boolean function, I believe it is only meant for intersecting parts. ( at least thats how the icon for it looks).Thanks,Cheers,Roger

Roger,Regarding the gear, I made a mistake. Frame 0 is DOWN with shocks compressed while frame 1 is DOWN with shocks extended, through frame 30 which is UP with shocks extended.From what I've seen so far, the propeller is treated similarly to the gear shocks, 0 is feathered and 1 through 30 is in the normal FINE position.I don't know if someone has tried animating from 0 to 30 to see if the behavior changes. Right now, the propeller only goes from FINE to COURSE in one "jump", instead of being gradually. I wonder what happens if it's animated from 0 to 30 instead.Regards,http://www.avsim.com/hangar/fly/dfdg/banneraa.jpg

Roger,I tried it myself in TS3.2 before posting and the parts don't have to intersect. I tried it with two cubes with two different materials and each retained its texture.Regards,http://www.avsim.com/hangar/fly/dfdg/banneraa.jpg

G'day Alex,Thanks for the help. It's unbelievable the bind you can get into when trying to model accurately. Like many military aircraft the Gannet just doesn't have the space available for a big long stroke gear (necessary for harsh carrier landings) to retract into, :-) so it uses a pre shortening rod that compresses the strut as the gear retracts. Therefore I've modeled 0 - down compressed, 1 - down extended and 30 - up compressed. I don't think anyone would even notice the compression on the way up as it is so slow and you are too distracted just watching the gear swing up. :-)Regarding the props; I've forgotten how to feather the props!! There is no command in the options menu and the levers don't seem to help? What am I not doing? I can remember just watching the props feather and unfeather and from memory it was a slow smooth action.? I'll set it up as0 - fully feathered1 - 30 coarse to fine Thanks for the help.Cheers,Roger

Roger,Even if you modeled the gear that way, I don't think Fly! will pay attention at the other 29 frames beyond frame 1... I may be wrong.From what I've seen with the Navajo, when you have the RPM set all the way to course or feathered, the blade all of a sudden will turn to feather; it's not gradual.Do you remember which Fly! II aircraft if it was where you saw it feather gradually?Regards,http://www.avsim.com/hangar/fly/dfdg/banneraa.jpg