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A Workflow Question...

M

MikeD096

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I'm creating around 60 objects via Sketchup out to COLLADA, into MCX out to MDL. Once here, would it be best to batch the MDLs into a BGL, or create a library then place them by hand using ADE?

Some additional questions:
(a) How would I go about specifying the location and heading for each MDL during the batch convert to BGL in MCX?
(b) All of the objects (signs) use the same texture sheet, so how would I insure this occurs during the batch process since each DAE export creates it's own texture folder/file (even though its the same file for all the models?
(c) How would I apply the night texture sheet during the batch process?
(d) Can all this be done with one batch job, or will I need to run multiple batches to accomplish these goals?
(e) Would doing this the old fashion way (command line) be better for this particular situation?

This is my first 3D modeling project, so I apologize in advance for my amateur workflow/mindset.
 
Hi,

Modelconverterx can not add placement information in the batch wizard at the moment. Unless you load kmz files that have a location specified already. Else I would put all the mdl objects in a library and place them with ADE or WhisPlacer.

There is an option in the batch wizard to assign a night texture, so that should help you that to add those.

When exporting to mdl the texture folder is not stored, only the texture name. So if they are the same for all models, you should see only one texture being used. You can let batch wizard convert the texture to a format FS can read as well.
 
Thanks for the information.

Are there plans to add location information to the batch wizard? Since you have the Convert and Place wizard, which will take the MDL, GPS, heading, and in one swoop create the object BGL and the DDS texture, it would be nice to perform that same task to more than one object at a time, placing all the MDLs into a single BGL. I understand this can be done manually with an XML file and BGLComp, but I love working in ModelConverterX! ;)

This is probably a specialized request since most designers dont need to batch process over 50 objects.
 
Hi,

How would you do position information in the batch wizard? In the place and convert object wizard you set the position manually. But the whole idea of the batch wizard is that no manual interaction is needed. I don't think you would like all objects at the same position, would you?
 
While producing and providing the position data would be a manual process, feeding it into the batch conversion would still allow 80% of the conversion process to be automated.

When I initially thought of how it could be done, I envisioned a table/spreadsheet style form. Have it open a specified folder and pull all the DAE files in, then there would be a list of of the files with a column to enter GPS for each of the models, specify the batch options (night texture, convert textures, etc), then run the batch. This might work well for 1-10 models, but 50-60? Then I though about creating the GPS data externally. Such as a spreadsheet or XML file listing the model names and GPS data, then have an option in the batch wizard to pull the data from the external file and run the batch conversion.

If I'm going to make an XML file with all the position data, why not just perform the MDL to BGL process externally? I could, but I would still rely on MCX to batch process the dae files to MDL, add the LM texture, and convert the textures to DDS. At this point, I would take the converted MDL files and then perform the manual task of running them thru BGLComp to consolidate the MDLs into a single BGL for use in FSX. So then I go back and think, okay, 80% of the conversion process I'm doing in MCX anyway, why not inject the position data during the conversion as save having to go to a command line process?

For that matter, writing XML files suck and has a huge potential for human error, wouldn't it be great to have a GUI to create the XML of position data? ;)

By providing GPS and heading information in the object/model BGL seems like it would save time versus trying to place them via ADE.

Again, I'm brand new to 3D modeling and this whole process, so I may not have a full understanding of the workflows yet. It was just an idea that might improve the efficiency of producing a large volume of models.

I recently saw in the showroom an airport where all the buildings were created in Sketchup in one model/file, vs one model per building. There is the potential to do the same with the 60 taxi signs, producing one large area DAE to convert, but I'm not sure what the pros vs cons are of doing that vs individual signs.
 
Hi,

Grouping objects that are close together in one mdl file is common. But put an entire airport in one mdl is not good for performance.

I think it is easiest to just make the mdl files with the batch wizard. You can put them in a library with library creator xml. And then placement can be done with a tool specialised in that. For example ade or whisplacer.

I have been thinking of making a placement tool to accompany modelconverterx, but no time for that yet.

Send from my phone using Tapatalk, so excuse the short sentences and possible typos
 
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