Ahh look! Could I fix my FSX SP2 plight?

[jonmkj]

I loaded the model of Stanly County Airport into ModelconverterX.

Is there any way I can use this to convert it to something that wont flicker in FSX with SP2?

[jonmkj]

I converted it to .3ds and imported it into Gmax... it worked! However, the model doesn't have any textures displayed. If I can get the textures to working, I'll be making Gmax scenery with FSDS heehee.

What can I do to make the textures show up in Gmax? :D

[gary20]

Hi Jonmkj

This is why I so love using Arno's ModelconverterX.

I hate texturing in Gmax.
Yes I know it's more powerful and can do so much more, but FSDS is so simple to texture with I prefer to texture my models in FSDS and then convert to Gmax as you do by using ModelconverterX to convert to 3DS.

Then using the Material editor in GMax I can add all of the wonderful FSX materials to my model parts that you cant do with FSDS (well you can with FSDSxTweak, but I struggle with those KFG files and havent really gotten into it).
Then you simply add the texture back to the model with the material editor and the mapping is identical to what you textured in FSDS.

Perfection, FSDS mapping (textures) with Gmax materials ... I love it :)

I also often build my models in FSDS and after converting with ModelconverterX and doing all my mapping and texturing, I do my animations in GMax. It's so much easier .... best of both worlds ;)

Thanks Arno and best of wishes for your wedding day.
Hope that helps Jonmkj

Gary

[jonmkj]

So it WILL work... great! When I import the .3ds file into Gmax, the model doesn't show any textures*. What did I do wrong, or what have I failed to do?

*meaning in the 3D preview box

[gary20]

There's lots of tutorials Jonmkj and I most certainly am not profficient enough to teach, but what I do is in the material editor I create a new material for my part (Using FlightSimX materials) and then assign the texture by using the little button beside the diffuse box. Locate the texture and assign.
Dont forget to click the show map in viewport button (the little blue checkered button) to show the texture in Gmax.
The textures attach with the original mapping :)

Told ya I hate texturing in Gmax and told ya I aint a Gmax guru, but hope that points you in the right direction.
Like I said there's lots of tutorials around.

Best

Gary

[jonmkj]

when i try that, it keeps saying "unsupported BMP image file" when i go to select a texture.

[gary20]

I think they've got to be 24 bit images for Gmax to read. If you're designing for FSX you'll want to convert them to DDS for FSX proper.
You should read through a few tutorials to get you kickstarted ... it's well worth it.

Gary

[n4gix]

when i try that, it keeps saying "unsupported BMP image file" when i go to select a texture.

GMax will load:

.psd
.jpg
.bmp (24bit)
.png

...and a handful of other formats.

Most everyone uses their master .psd (Photoshop) files in the Material Editor of Max or GMax.

[jonmkj]

oh well, i figured the textures weren't displaying, but they would still show up when i exported to FSX, and they do............ BUT.

I'm testing it on an old scenery i made when FSX first came out that I never released, for New River Valley Airport. The US Customs office (the old terminal) came out fine, as did the fences and signs around the airport, and the water tower. But the terminal, and most of the hangars had garbled textures. It was odd.... wonder why it did this?

http://i520.photobucket.com/albums/w325/jonmkj/PSK.jpg

[rhumbaflappy]

GMax doesn't work well with BMP textures. I've had exactly the same problem you show, and it's not Arno's fault, but it is how GMax reads bitmaps. Somehow the the BMP is misread in GMax... it shifts the image so the UV mapping is wrong. I've had the same problems with OBJ file imports, and the same problems using BMP in exports from MeshLab.


Use a different format for textures while in gmax... don't worry, the BMP texture will work automatically as FS exports default to BMP.

You can change the texture name in ModelConverterX, so I change it to whatever.tga. I then use imagetool to extract the 0 mip of my texture as an 8-bit TGA, and save it as whatever.tga Bil notes above that many developers would use PSD files. That would be good as well.

8-bit save some memory, and TGA can be used without problems in GMax.

After importing the 3ds to gmax, click on the Material editor and the Material Navigator. You will need to select the mesh, then use the Material editor to apply the material to the mesh... then the texture should show on the object.

Then save that .gmax file before anything goes wrong. :eek:

In GMax you can use textures up to 512x512 and they appear with good detail ( this is set by your driver preferences ). Some textures are bigger, like 1024x1024... these will appear blocky in gmax, but they will look OK in the sim.

GMax + BMP = :(

Dick

[jonmkj]

alrighty, i'll give that a shot. is there a program i can use to batch convert all the textures at once?

[rhumbaflappy]

I think you could use convimx by Martin Wright:

http://www.mnwright.btinternet.co.uk/programs/convim.htm

Download convim.zip and download the latest DLL set.

You can convert a whole folder of default DDS or DXT Bitmaps ( or both ) to targa 32 bit, or png 32 bit, or tif 32 bit. The png compression is very good, and it preserves the alpha channel. TGA is compatible with imagetool.

I don't know if there are any programs that can batch DDS or DXT to nonmipped psd files.

Dick

[jonmkj]

i converted all of the references to .tga in modelconverterx, then exported as a 3ds file and imported that into Gmax, then exported a MDL from Gmax. the textures are still whacked up... and the texture references are all messed up in modelconverterx. the scenery gods are laughing at me.

[jonmkj]

aha!!! nevermind guys i figured it all out... maybe it will work this time

[FelixFFDS]

aha!!! nevermind guys i figured it all out... maybe it will work this time

If it does work, you are required (see FlightSim modelling Rules and Regulations, Section 23, paragraph 235, subsection B part 23.12) to report back the solution.

[jonmkj]

gmax can apparently read 24 bit BMPs without too much of a problem :D

[jonmkj]

Ah... now my night textures aren't showing up. What now? :confused:

[arno]

Hi Jon,

Seems the other guys fixed your problem already, but when importing a 3DS from ModelConverterX into GMax you need to do two things:


Check the texture filename. The 3DS format has a limitation on the how to store the filename (DOS 8.3 format only), so some names don't get through. Also the path information is lost. So in some cases you will have to select the texture again.
Check the button with the blue/white checkerboard is pressed. Else GMax will not display the texture.


But after that they should display fine, the texture mapping does not have to be done again.

About the night textures, I would have to check, it could very well be that I am not yet writing them to the 3DS format. So you might have to add them manually now, let me check.