• Which the release of FS2020 we see an explosition of activity on the forun and of course we are very happy to see this. But having all questions about FS2020 in one forum becomes a bit messy. So therefore we would like to ask you all to use the following guidelines when posting your questions:

    • Tag FS2020 specific questions with the MSFS2020 tag.
    • Questions about making 3D assets can be posted in the 3D asset design forum. Either post them in the subforum of the modelling tool you use or in the general forum if they are general.
    • Questions about aircraft design can be posted in the Aircraft design forum
    • Questions about airport design can be posted in the FS2020 airport design forum. Once airport development tools have been updated for FS2020 you can post tool speciifc questions in the subforums of those tools as well of course.
    • Questions about terrain design can be posted in the FS2020 terrain design forum.
    • Questions about SimConnect can be posted in the SimConnect forum.

    Any other question that is not specific to an aspect of development or tool can be posted in the General chat forum.

    By following these guidelines we make sure that the forums remain easy to read for everybody and also that the right people can find your post to answer it.

Blender2fsx Attach Effect Error - crash tree calculation failed

T

The Bronx

Messages
8
Country
us-newyork
I have been using blender2fsx for a while, but this is my first attempt to attach and effect to my scene. The blender2fsx toolset is installed and will export blender objects to MDL files.

I attempted to attach an obstruction light to the top of an airport control tower. When I do the export, I get a Crash Tree calculation error. No MDL file is generated.

My next attempt was to open blender to the default scene and then select the cube object. I initialize the tool set and generate a GUID. I then go to the attach tool and check Effects. I enter Obs Light 1 in the Name box. I enter fx_lightObsRedSteady in the Effect box. This is an effect that is part of the FSX sim distribution. I enter DAY=0;NIGHT=1 in the Param box. I click the Attach button. A message says the attach completed. I go to File>Export>Direct X for FSX (.x), select an output file, check the Apply Modifiers box and the Export MDL box. I then click on the Export FSX .x button. I get an error of crash tree calculation failed. A .x file does get generated but there is no .MDL file.

I and running win 8.1, FSX sp2, and SDK sp2. Both FSX sim and the SDK are installed in my ssd D: drive (not in the standard location). That all seems ok as exporting without an attached effect works properly.

I troubleshooting the problem, I move the effect and its texture in to the SDK XtoMDL folder and used MCX. I imported the .x file generated by blender2fsx, ensured the path was set to get to the SDK XtoMDL folder/file and attempted an export. I got the same error.

Has anyone seen this problem? Any hints on how to get past this error are greatly appreciated.
 
The Bronx said:
I have been using blender2fsx for a while, but this is my first attempt to attach and effect to my scene. The blender2fsx toolset is installed and will export blender objects to MDL files.

I attempted to attach an obstruction light to the top of an airport control tower. When I do the export, I get a Crash Tree calculation error. No MDL file is generated.

My next attempt was to open blender to the default scene and then select the cube object. I initialize the tool set and generate a GUID. I then go to the attach tool and check Effects. I enter Obs Light 1 in the Name box. I enter fx_lightObsRedSteady in the Effect box. This is an effect that is part of the FSX sim distribution. I enter DAY=0;NIGHT=1 in the Param box. I click the Attach button. A message says the attach completed. I go to File>Export>Direct X for FSX (.x), select an output file, check the Apply Modifiers box and the Export MDL box. I then click on the Export FSX .x button. I get an error of crash tree calculation failed. A .x file does get generated but there is no .MDL file.

I and running win 8.1, FSX sp2, and SDK sp2. Both FSX sim and the SDK are installed in my ssd D: drive (not in the standard location). That all seems ok as exporting without an attached effect works properly.

I troubleshooting the problem, I move the effect and its texture in to the SDK XtoMDL folder and used MCX. I imported the .x file generated by blender2fsx, ensured the path was set to get to the SDK XtoMDL folder/file and attempted an export. I got the same error.

Has anyone seen this problem? Any hints on how to get past this error are greatly appreciated.
Click to expand...

Hi The Bronx!

No, I have not ever seen that error. What version of the Blender2FSX are you using?

Kris:)
 
Hello krispy1001
Thanks for your speedy reply.
I have watched many of your videos. They are much appreciated. Although I am working on scenery, I have been able to extract the workflow I use from your videos. I am trying to use Blender, blender2fsx, and GIMP to do all that I can. The only other programs I currently use are MCX and ADE.

I am using:
// Direct3D .x file translation of context.scene
// Generated by Blender 2.75, Blender2FSX Version 0.8.4
// 2015-08-26 14:42:59

Is there anyway to see the command line that is being fed to the XtoMDL tool?

I am able to see the attach xml under Properties>Object>Custom Properties. I looks fine to me but I am not expert at what should be in there. I setup the FX Tools that run inside the sim. With that tool, I was able to get the Obstruction Light to show properly in the sim. So the problem seems to be with either the xml generated by the blender2fsx exporter or with XtoMDL itself.

My next steps are to go directly to XtoMDL in the SDK and see if I can get it to work via the command line. I also have downloaded the Prepar3d v1.4 SDK, and I will try that out too.

Have you used the Attach Effect tool? I don't recall seeing it in your videos.
 
The Bronx said:
Hello krispy1001
Thanks for your speedy reply.
I have watched many of your videos. They are much appreciated. Although I am working on scenery, I have been able to extract the workflow I use from your videos. I am trying to use Blender, blender2fsx, and GIMP to do all that I can. The only other programs I currently use are MCX and ADE.

I am using:
// Direct3D .x file translation of context.scene
// Generated by Blender 2.75, Blender2FSX Version 0.8.4
// 2015-08-26 14:42:59

Is there anyway to see the command line that is being fed to the XtoMDL tool?

I am able to see the attach xml under Properties>Object>Custom Properties. I looks fine to me but I am not expert at what should be in there. I setup the FX Tools that run inside the sim. With that tool, I was able to get the Obstruction Light to show properly in the sim. So the problem seems to be with either the xml generated by the blender2fsx exporter or with XtoMDL itself.

My next steps are to go directly to XtoMDL in the SDK and see if I can get it to work via the command line. I also have downloaded the Prepar3d v1.4 SDK, and I will try that out too.

Have you used the Attach Effect tool? I don't recall seeing it in your videos.
Click to expand...

Hi The Bronx!

Yes, I have used the attach effect. I have made a couple platforms that you can land on and I have attached lights to them. If you would like, send me your Blender test file that you are having a problem with and I will look at it and see if I can figure something out. Please zip the file to e-mail it to me. Or you can upload it here. My e-mail is krispy1001@kp-coolstuff.com

Thanks, Kris :)
 
Hi The Bronx!

I have tested your Blender test file. It looks like it is a bug in the Blender2FSX addon. I have also tested No Crash, and Platform and they do not work as well. We will have to let Mr. Felix know that there are some bugs in the Blender2FSX ver#0.8.4 .

The only other advice that I have is to try an older version of the Blender2FSX add-on and see it it works.

Thanks, Kris :)
 
Thanks for the help.

I'll try out an older version and do some other troubleshooting to see if I narrow down the problem area.
 
I have tried an older version of blender2fsx and I got the same results (crash tree calculation failed error).

The version I used this time:
// Direct3D .x file translation of context.scene
// Generated by Blender 2.75, Blender2FSX Version 0.7.03
// 2015-08-26 20:06:49

I'll do more investigation on Friday, 28 Aug 2015.

Thanks for all the help.
 
The Bronx said:
I have tried an older version of blender2fsx and I got the same results (crash tree calculation failed error).

The version I used this time:
// Direct3D .x file translation of context.scene
// Generated by Blender 2.75, Blender2FSX Version 0.7.03
// 2015-08-26 20:06:49

I'll do more investigation on Friday, 28 Aug 2015.

Thanks for all the help.
Click to expand...

Hi The Bronx!

I was wrong there is not a bug with the Blender2FSX add-on. I forgot that you have to have visibility selected to see an effect.

I have uploaded my test Blender file for an attached red beacon effect.

below is an example:

upload_2015-8-26_21-50-18.png


I hope this helps you!

Kris:)
 

Attachments

After a lot of trial and error, here is information on using the blender2fsx attach tool.
Two things are required to avoid the Crash Tree error, and to get a working .MDL file out of the exporter.
1. A second object must be in the scene. The exporter calls XtoMDL and that program will give the error message if the object with the attached effect is the only objet in the scene. Objects with an effect attached, become invisible in the sim. As a guess, XtoMDL will not produce a model with no visible objects in it.

2. The visible object must have a material assigned. No material assigned to the visible object, means it will not display in the sim, so I think the XtoMDL program detects the condition as nothing visible in the scene, and gives an error.

It is not necessary to check the Visibility box on the Attach tab.

Here is the workflow for doing the minimum to get a light that is off during the day and on during dawn, dusk, and night.
1. Open Blender to the default scene. Name the default cube NightLight.
2. Copy the cube, name it Visible Object. Go to the Material context in the Properties tray. Click on the arrows and pick Material. That will automatically assign a material.
3. Select the Blender2FSXtab and click on Initialize Toolset.
4. Click on generate GUID. Enter a friendly name.
5. Select both cubes and raise them up above the ground plane. Select none. Select the NightLight cube and raise it up to be on top of the Visible Object cube. Keep the cube selected.
6. Click on the FSX Attach Point Tool Tab. Check the Effects box. Leave the other boxes unchecked. Fill in a friendly name in the Name box. Enter an effect name in the Effect box (fx_beacon will work). In the Param box, enter DAY=0;NIGHT=1 Click on the Attach button. If all goes well, a message will appear in the Info Header that there has been 1 item attached.
7. Duplicate the NightLight cube. Do not move the new cube. Rename the new cube DawnDuskLight. The attachment data was duplicated along with the cube mesh but the Params need to be set for dawn and Dusk display. In the Params box, delete everything in there and enter DAWN=1;DUSK=1. Click on the Attach button. If all goes well, a message will appear in the Info Header that there has been 1 item attached.
8. Unselect all objects.
9. Go to File>Export>DirectX for FSX(.x), Check the Export MDL box. Optionally, uncheck the Export Animations box. Select a file path, enter a file name, and click the Export FSX .X file box. If all goes well, a .MDL file will be created.
10. Use ADE or MCX to place the Model and generate a .BGL file.
Place the .BGL file in your specific scenery folder. Start up FSX and check the results.

During troubleshooting, I moved the textures found in the Textures folder that is a subfolder of the Effects folder-located the the sim-into my specific texture folder. I have not checked to see if that is required.

I have this working reliably with FSX sp2 and SDK sp2. I think it will work with the Acceleration pack as well.

I hope this is helpful for those beginning to use effects.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top