P3D v5 Propeller and Rotor animation...

[eddm1]

Hi,
I recently tried to convert some old FS9 models to P3Dv5, it works in some way, but with the rotor or propeller animations there are some problems. In MCX for example there is given the visibility condition "prop blurred" or prop still or prop slow along with the animation and the specific material (texture). Now it seems that by simply assigning the prop visibility condition it does not work, and the prop or rotor completely disappears, but the corresponding material is there and also the animation entry.

Only if I completely delete all visibility condition, the prop or rotor appears.

How do those visibility conditions and animations with the prop work exactly in P3Dv5 models?

 

[DragonflightDesign]

You may be missing the entries in the modeldef file to control the visbility conditions e.g.

    <PartInfo>
        <Name>prop0_blurred</Name>
        <Copy>prop_anim</Copy>
        <AnimLength>100</AnimLength>
        <Animation>
            <Parameter>
                <Sim>
            <Variable>PROP ROTATION ANGLE:1</Variable>
          </Sim>
            </Parameter>
        </Animation>
        <Visibility>
            <Parameter>
                <Code>
            (A:PROP MAX RPM PERCENT:1, percent) 12.5 &gt; if{ 1 } els{ 0 }
                </Code>
            </Parameter>
        </Visibility>
    </PartInfo>

  <PartInfo>
    <Name>prop1_still</Name>
    <Copy>prop_anim</Copy>
    <AnimLength>100</AnimLength>
    <Visibility>
      <Parameter>
        <Code>
          (A:PROP MAX RPM PERCENT:1, percent) 6.25 &lt; if{ 1 } els{ 0 }
        </Code>
      </Parameter>
    </Visibility>
    <Animation>
      <Parameter>
        <Code>(A:PROP ROTATION ANGLE:1, degrees) (L:Engine2Crank, number) + dnor</Code>
      </Parameter>
    </Animation>
  </PartInfo>

  <PartInfo>
    <Name>prop1_slow</Name>
    <Copy>prop_anim</Copy>
    <AnimLength>100</AnimLength>
    <Animation>
      <Parameter>
        <Sim>
          <Variable>PROP ROTATION ANGLE:1</Variable>
        </Sim>
      </Parameter>
    </Animation>
    <Visibility>
      <Parameter>
        <Code>
          (A:PROP MAX RPM PERCENT:1, percent) 6.25 &gt;
          if{
          (A:PROP MAX RPM PERCENT:1, percent) 12.5 &lt; if{ 1 } els{ 0 }
          } els{ 0 }
        </Code>
      </Parameter>
    </Visibility>
  </PartInfo>
  <PartInfo>
    <Name>prop1_blurred</Name>
    <Copy>prop_anim</Copy>
    <AnimLength>100</AnimLength>
    <Animation>
      <Parameter>
        <Sim>
          <Variable>PROP ROTATION ANGLE:1</Variable>
        </Sim>
      </Parameter>
    </Animation>
    <Visibility>
      <Parameter>
        <Code>
          (A:PROP MAX RPM PERCENT:1, percent) 12.5 &gt; if{ 1 } els{ 0 }
        </Code>
      </Parameter>
    </Visibility>
  </PartInfo>

Note: prop_anim is specific to my model. You'll need to identify the animation variable in the model you are trying to convert.

 

[eddm1]

Yes, isn't all this also shown in the Tree in MCX and can be altered there? I mean the visibility as well as the animation section of a prop?

If I try to edit the modeldef entries via MCX and save it, it often messes up everything within, so, is there a way to edit it via notepadx or something else? But I don't know how to access the specific modeldefx without MCX...

 

[tgibson]

A visibility condition determines whether the object is going to be visible or not. So unless you meet its conditions, it will be invisible. Prop blurred, for example, is only visible when the RPM of the engine goes above a certain value. So that will be invisible when the plane is on the ground and the engine is off or idle.

I don’t know what system your particular plane uses, but in the early days FS nine aircraft used various ways of doing this. You just have to figure it out and reproduce it using the FSX type animation tags.

 

[gavinc]

The other thing is that prop_blurred usually uses a texture that has an Alpha channel. The blurred prop alpha sometimes needs to be modified as the FS9 texture will be too pale and not really be visible in P3D.

What models are you having issues with?

 

[eddm1]

The other thing is that prop_blurred usually uses a texture that has an Alpha channel. The blurred prop alpha sometimes needs to be modified as the FS9 texture will be too pale and not really be visible in P3D.

What models are you having issues with?

I converted the Area51sim AH1S Cobra. They have 2 textures for the Rotor and rear rotor, and both are causing a CTD if I try to open the Heli via the P3DV5.4. Aircraft selection menu. If I delete the textures, the Heli loads but the blades are invisible. Only by deleting the textures and all visibility condition the rotor is showing, but the animtion does not look good, as the textures for the rotor are missing then, together with the tilting rotorhead. I also tried to convert the rotor textures to a dds format without alpha chanel and also used other rotor textures from another heli, that is working, but I always get a CTD.