That is interesting. When I go from FS2004 -> FS2004 they are kept fine. So I would have to check what is different with them in the FSX model that you are loading here. I don't have your FSX DC-6B at the moment, I'll get that model. Could it be the visibility conditions is on the same node as an animation?
The object chain for the chocks (for example) is SceneGraphNode/SceneGraphNode/ModelPart. All visibilities are set to None.
The way the FS2004 exporter in MCX now works is that when the emissive mode is blend (or a variant of blend), it will export as a nightmap. If it is additive (or a variant of additive) it will export as a lightmap. That was the best mapping I could think of. I don't know what emissive mode you had in the input FSX model.
It is MultiplyBlendUserControlled. As I said, it only became Blend one time, and after that it was Additive.
You mean in the FSX MDL it has the specular texture already? But it probably also has the blend settings set to show transparency then. Not sure how to best handle that on the conversion.
Yes it does, and Blend Environment by Specular Alpha is set to True. Blend Diffuse by Diffuse Alpha is also set to True. It's a popular material setting for glass in FSX. But since Blend Environment by Inverse Diffuse Alpha is set to false that probably means it is not set up for reflections and thus would be transparent. So I assume the specular texture should be removed in an FS9 conversion? But with the vast array of options for FSX textures I can understand how this might not fit other people's "typical" use of these options. Perhaps FSX/P3D creators could chime in? Of course once the model is in FSX/P3D it's relatively easy to modify these settings as one desires.
What do you mean with twist halfway? That only half of their animation is shown?
No, the entire keyframe range is used (0-100), and thus it twists over the entire prop RPM range (from full fine to full coarse). But it only turns about 40 degrees instead of the usual about 80 degrees. The 0 keyframe is the same (full fine); the 100 keyframe is only about 50% of what was in the original model.
That seems to be because the alpha channel is fully black. In the preview it's not used as it is used for reflection, but apparantly for the thumbnail it has an impact.
Actually the alpha channel is fully white when loaded into DXTBmp. But actually, 256 color images cannot contain an alpha channel.
I have seen that in some testing as well, but that is only the case when the engine stops it seems (or when the still version is shown probably). Not sure what happens there yet. I'll check.
Correct, only the still props. I should have mentioned that. When the plane is loaded they look fine, but when they start to rotate it becomes obvious.
How would you expect them to be exported to FSX instead? The BGL_LIGHTs that FS2004 files use are not available in FSX anymore.
This is how they look when I Import an FS9 aircraft into MCX:
Here is how I edit them to make them work in FSX as landing lights:
Ignore the red rectangle, these are from my tutorial. Note this is performed while the plane is still in FS9 format - trying this after conversion to FSX is an exercise in futility. You cannot set the Orientation correctly (or at least I haven't found a way).
Note the changes to the File Name, no AutoGeneratedName, Orientation, and Position. Note also that these are attached to a rotating landing light case. I do not know why MCX changes the Position upon Import but lights attached to animated parts are often (always?) dislocated to the part's rotation point. The location when MCX imports an FS9 plane is shown at "Extra Unneeded Points" in the image above. It needs to be moved to "Point Centered on Light", and the orientation is rotated 90 degrees (green axis forward).
Also note that since GMAX requires a two piece parent/child landing light assembly, that would create twice as many attachpoints as are needed. For some reason MCX doubles that as well. So 2 landing lights becomes 8 attachpoints. I only use 2 of them. The AttchPointName is for convenience only.
Finally, note I use a custom visibility condition to turn the landing lights on and off (note this is from the web, I did not write it):
XML:
<PartInfo> <!-- used for Attached Object landing lights - controlled by a landing light switch. -->
<Name>special_light</Name>
<AnimLength>100</AnimLength>
<Visibility>
<Parameter>
<Code>
(A:LIGHT LANDING, bool)
</Code>
</Parameter>
</Visibility>
</PartInfo>
Note that taxi lights are controlled by the same code, but with the Name and Code changed (A:LIGHT TAXI, bool). But the fx_landing effect is used for taxi lights as well. My tutorial has more details if needed.
