• 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.

Just a thought

F747fly

F747fly

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Hey everyone,
It's been a while since I've last realistically reported anything back here (real life has been busy for me).

I wanted to discuss this idea that has been bouncing around in that vast emptyness that is head. Do we all remember the DC-3 file in the original FSX SDK which we could open in GMAX? The idea is quite good for new developers I thought, the very basics they need to know they can find there, e.g. animation tags, applied textures, light attachments, etc.

Now to me atleast it seems that Gmax is no longer really a viable option for most developers anymore so I assume most new guys don't start with this anymore either. This is actually ashame because that means the DC-3 files might become kind of useless over time, so I thought why not bring this back? The idea that is. I've planned to work on a LI-2 (to keep things different you know) in blender and upload it as a source file when it's done (supposibly with textures and all). You think this is a good idea or will I just be waisting my time here?
 
Helps your development, helps others, inspires at the very least. I'd have been wasting my time if I'd read this and hadn't expressed my endorsement, so thanks.
 
Go for it!

To save yourself some work, you can start with the default DC-3 and import it into Blender.
The only difference to a Li-2 is just the engine anyway (and an optional dorsal turret if we're talking military usage).
 
That’s how many of us learned how a model was made up: not just the mesh but the hierarchy, particular names for objects, how textures are applied, animations, LODs, etc.

Just do it.
 
Thanks for the support guys!
@Heretic I am actually afraid about the copy rights issues associated with that idea, although this could be in the realm to gst this done a good an easy fasion so I'm seriously considering this.
 
Just a question from someone that knows nothing about modelling aircraft for FSX and P3D, but why would Gmax not be a viable option any longer? I mean, most of the P3Dv4 default aircraft are still Gmax ones:confused:.
 
robystar said:
Just a question from someone that knows nothing about modelling aircraft for FSX and P3D, but why would Gmax not be a viable option any longer? I mean, most of the P3Dv4 default aircraft are still Gmax ones:confused:.
Click to expand...

In reality it seems Gmax is getting out of fashion amonf the new guys. I personally did start using gmax and I think it taught me something valuable. But I recall that Gmax is missing feautures required now so most new guys are prone to use something else I'm afraid...
 
Strictly speaking, to build a fully P3D v4 compatible aircraft model you need 3ds Max 2012 or newer: that is, to use all the available features of v4: I believe Blender is still playing catch-up there (get well soon, Kris!) Gmax never did support P3D native models and those built for P3D with Gmax rely on its legacy support of FSX models. And as we all know, FSX is dead and buried and no-one builds (or buys) stuff for it any more... :duck:As for fashion, I should like to see numbers behind any claim about Gmax use.

But that isn't the point! A publicly available Blender source for a complete model doesn't exist yet, while there are examples for both Gmax and 3ds Max. So do it!
 
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F747fly said:
@Heretic I am actually afraid about the copy rights issues associated with that idea, although this could be in the realm to gst this done a good an easy fasion so I'm seriously considering this.
Click to expand...

I've used the model as a basis for enhancements and published them. So far, no lawyer has showed up in my mailbox.

robystar said:
Just a question from someone that knows nothing about modelling aircraft for FSX and P3D, but why would Gmax not be a viable option any longer? I mean, most of the P3Dv4 default aircraft are still Gmax ones:confused:.
Click to expand...

GMax has issues on Windows 10.
 
Well I guess I still want people to use Blender aswell...
Heretic said:
I've used the model as a basis for enhancements and published them. So far, no lawyer has showed up in my mailbox.
Click to expand...

Well in that case I'll save myself the trouble a bit. Thanks for the info.
 
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I think that it's a great idea, I've always followed a personal belief that a certain amount of my output should end up in the public domain as open-source. I believe that it contributes to the overall state of knowledge (and thus the overall quality and thus popularity of the software).
 
Thanks for the support guys, I feel a lot more confident about the usefullness of this project now!
I've started taking the default DC-3 in to blender, thank god for modelcoverterx, and am now getting the UVs ready as they have to be mirrored.

thanks.JPG

Due to my use of windows 10 though my idea of also renaming all individual objects back to their name as they are within the Gmax file might be in jeopardy. If anyone could help me with these names that would be great!

EDIT: got Gmax to work to the extend that I start opening files but I can only find a .max file :confused: I believed there also was one that could be opened in Gmax wasnt there?
In case there isn't could somebody who has 3DS MAX contribute to this by sending me a picture of the objects list?
 
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Part names are totally irrelevant and destroyed during compilation anyway. So name them as you see fit (and is sensible).
 
That is actually true, I just thought it might make more sense to rebuilt the original as accuratly as possible.
 
Thanks Robert, this is exactly what I was looking for. Now I've been able to rename everything according to a LOD400 naming.
 
How about adding a set of sub-systems templates of the entire DC3 aircraft too?
This helps beginners to only focus on just ONE aspect of the aircraft like:
- Gear retraction / extension animation
- Flap, Rudder, Elevator animation
- Propeller animation
- Opening, Closing doors in fuselages
- Wing bending/flexing animation

Here's my example of (only) a DC3-landing-animation sequence, done in Blender V2.77a (see attachment below) including
frame [0-20] - Shock absorber motion
frame [21-150] - Raising (or) lowering the entire gear
 

Attachments

I see what you are getting at Rowald, I see the point of doing this but the whole idea is that one learn blender a bit (though it is assumed you have some knowledge) and want to see what the necessary parts for making an aircraft are. This obviously entails a lot of stuff and frankly I don't think having individual parts in individual files will necessarily help people, as it can be found in the DC-3 file. Basically everything one needs will be in there: you can examine the mesh, the orientation points, keyframes, animation tags, light effect attachments, etc.
 
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