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Attach A Library Object In MDCx

tgycgijoes

tgycgijoes

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Maybe I don't understand or maybe its not possible except in a design program like Blender...I created a tailhook.dae in Sketchup...looks nice in my opinion...it is a simple cylinder hook for a 1930s biplane. I can open the model of the aircraft without the hook in MDCx no problem. I also open the attached object editor which I have successfully used to attach deck cables; hard deck platform and lights to an aircraft carrier model this past week all good. This particular aircraft, the Hawk II was converted to a Navy version by Curtiss called the BFC-2 but since the designer did not create the Navy version only the military/civilian version it has no hook. I don't assume to animate it because with the tailhook section in aircraft.cfg, FSX(A) "recognizes" a hook and the airplane lands just fine on the deck. I know MDCx animates but maybe after I manage to attach it visibily to the aircraft model. After all this explanation, how do I do this. I exported the dae into an FSX.bgl and loaded it into the scenery library in ADEx. I copied the GUID. I open the attach object editor; ADD library object; paste in the GUID but then after pressing ENTER the box just sits there and nothing appears on the model. HELP!
 
Hi,

MCX will only show the attachpoint of the attached object, the preview will not actually load the other object. So you would have to save the aircraft mdl and load it in the sim.
 
I was able with some experimentation to get the correct position for the tailhook attach point. Exported the mdl and pasted the new mdl into the model folder. When I open it in FSX the aircraft is a pinpoint in the sky which can only be brought in to a tiny airplane visible and is not visible at all in the sim. What did I do wrong or don't have checked. Until I tried to attach a library object no other export did this I went back to do it again and this time noticed that in the Options Export MDL was FS2004 MAKEMDL sdk which I don't even have so I searched in FSDevelopers and found for FSX this should be xtomdl so I replaced that location and exported again. Same results.
 
Check that Remove Scaling in Options is set to TRUE. If not, your aircraft will be huge and you will get that "far away" problem in the sim.

If you already have that set at TRUE, then you need to use the MDL Tweaker (in MCX) to reset the bounding box to reasonable values. My tutorial has a discussion of this problem:

http://www.calclassic.com/convert_tutorial/part5.html

Hope this helps,
 
Hi Tom,
Just downloaded the calclassic as a pdf so i have it to ref and thank you. I will post I hope successful results here in a little while. Everytime I think that I know what I'm doing in MDCx I get lost again. LOL.
 
Good news and bad. I followed your tutorial and yes everything you said to do worked. The bad news is that the library object tailhook is not visible. Since I can use the aircraft just like it is in FSX with tailhook info in the aircraft.cfg I'm not going to spend any more time on it. Thank you for taking the time to help. I learned something how to fix huge faraway planes if it occurs again. As far as converting it to FSX that works perfectly.
 
I don't like to quit so I took another stab at this. Imported the F11C mdl added the attach point for the library object including the guid that I saved for it. I figured that maybe like in scenery I had to have the tailhook.bgl in the model folder like it has to be in the scenery folder to appear. OK? Not really. After using the MDL Tweaker to reduce all those numbers as Tom suggested, I save the MDL. Wisely, made a backup of the original in the folder. The aircraft appears a proper size in the preview window in FSX(A) but when I open it at an airport, the virtual cockpit is gone only the 2D is there and there is no mdl.interior like some aircraft in the model folder just the mdl. HELP!!!!! I can go back to my original mdl and fly fine but I would like to have the tailhook if its possible not to lose the VC in doing so.
 
If it is an FS2004 aircraft (no "interior=" in the model.cfg file in the model folder) then the VC is part of the model and you will lose it during the MCX Export to FSX format. You can export it separately using MCX - my tutorial explains that.
 
I can't find any exact answer to this, how exactly do you add a library object to a model using MDCX? The "add library object" selection does not have a pulldown for choosing the directory of the object library, that's not a problem, I can just type in the path and object name and its GUID. But I did all of that and the object never shows in the sim. Do I have to put the object library BGL in any specific directory or what? Like I siad the add library object function has no pulldown to select the path for the BGL. So where the heck should the BGL be put for it to work?
 
The object library BGL file can be placed into any active scenery folder.
 
So I can put the BGL into my addon scenery folder ,or my global scenery folder? I'm just not sure how to attach an object to a model, there is no step by step instruction on how to do it.
 
I want to add a vissible person into the driver seat of a addon vehicle. It already has a passenger in the back seat, but I want to have one in the driver seat. I tried using MCX to attach an object (the driver) onto the mdl placing it directly into the driver seat. But when I load the model into the sim (FSX) it doesn't show the object. What am I doing wrong? I placed the object into a bgl libray file, copied the GUID into the attach object in MCX, posistioned the object. saved the model and exported the model into the correct folder, copied the bgl into an active directory, still the object does not show up when loaded into the sim. What did I do (or not do) wrong?
 
I don’t know, it sounds like you did it right.

Is the attach point still visible if you import the model back into MCX?
 
Yeah, I loaded the model into mcx and the attach point does show up. One question, will an attached object actually show up in the VC when I load the model? If not, is there a way to make it show in the VC?
 
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