FsX MDL format description

[Stranger]

Thanks for the answer!

Can we go through short example of actual data?

 		?	Static
			matrix
			index
AMAP 0: 	1	0
AMAP 1: 	1	1
AMAP 2: 	2	2
AMAP 3: 	2	3
AMAP 4: 	2	4
AMAP 5: 	2	5
AMAP 6: 	2	6


		Child	Peer	AMAP
				offset
SCEN 0: 	1	-1	0	0
SCEN 1: 	2	11	8	0
SCEN 2: 	-1	3	16	0
SCEN 3: 	-1	4	24	0
SCEN 4: 	-1	5	32	0
SCEN 5: 	6	7	40	0
SCEN 6: 	-1	-1	48	0

Can you please explain the relationship of few entries?

AMAP offset is clear: AMAP_index = AMAP_offset / 8.

Does the first value of AMAP entry represents matrix index as well? Is it the coordinate system conversion you talked above?

What is the meaning of "child"? "Has child" or "is child of"?

What is a meaning of "peer"?

Hope I'm not overflowing you with questions.

Thank you

 

[Marginal]

AMAP offset is clear: AMAP_index = AMAP_offset / 8.

Right.

Does the first value of AMAP entry represents matrix index as well?

I don't know what the first entry in the AMAP table represents. The second entry is an index into the TRAN table of matrices.

What is the meaning of "child"?

"has child"

What is a meaning of "peer"?

"next sibling"


So, to take your example, looking at a part marked as using SCEN entry #1:
- SCEN[1].AMAP_offset = 8, so AMAP index = 8/8 = 1
- AMAP[1].static_index = 1, so use the matrix TRAN[1].
But SCEN[0].child=1, so SCEN entry #1 is a child of SCEN entry #0:
- SCEN[0].AMAP_offset = 0, so AMAP index = 0/8 = 0
- AMAP[0].static_index = 0, so multiply the existing matrix (TRAN[1]) by TRAN[0] to give the final matrix for this part.

Another example, this time looking at a part marked as using SCEN entry #3:
- SCEN[3].AMAP_offset = 24, so AMAP index = 24/8 = 3
- AMAP[3].static_index = 3, so use the matrix TRAN[3].
But SCEN[2].peer = 3, so SCEN entry #3 is a peer/sibling of SCEN entry #2. SCEN[1].child=2, so both SCEN entry #2 and its peer/sibling SCEN entry #3 are children of SCEN entry #1 (as also are SCEN entries #4 and #5):
- So, using the info from the previous example, the final matrix for this part is TRAN[3] * TRAN[1] * TRAN[0]

As you can see, the child and peer/sibling pointers are difficult to work with. In my code after reading in the SCEN table I compute a parent pointer for each entry. This makes it easier to work up through the hierarchy.

Hope I'm not overflowing you with questions.

Not at all. The more people looking at this the more likely we are to work it out.

Disclaimer - this is all (informed) guesswork, and may be incorrect.

 

[Stranger]

Thank you for clarification!

I'll try to implement it in my code.

 

[Stranger]

That's it! All parts are in place. Thank you very much!

Now I've discovered that model is flipped right to left.
I also understand that to move control surfaces to neutral position the animation part have to be resolved. Am I right?

 

[Marginal]

Now I've discovered that model is flipped right to left.

You may be using a different co-ordinate system - see "Co-ordinate Systems" in the "Modeling File Formats" section of the SDK.

I also understand that to move control surfaces to neutral position the animation part have to be resolved.

I don't know, but I assume so.

 

[Stranger]

Well, here is the progress so far:

Right to left mirroring problem is solved by means of additional scale matrix applied to mesh:

-1 0 0 0
0 1 0 0
0 0 1 0
0 0 0 1

The animation format is fully decoded and looks much more familiar now. Haven't tried to apply any animation yet as I still have to dig the "Quaternion" interpolation subject, but the relationship between animations, streams, keyframes and particular parts is clear enough.