MCX animations keyframe error SOLVED!

[Deano1973]

Hi folks, hope that somebody can help,

I'm converting an old FS9 freeware model ( HJG Boeing 707 E-3 AWACS ) to work in FSX and have followed an excellent tutorial to convert several types before now, but this one's got a bug I cannot solve.

The issue I have is that when importing into MCX the aircraft's main undercarriage leg appears to become duplicated at the CofG spot and cannot be removed as highlighting this component using the heircachy tool also highlights the other undercarriage legs, hence my suspicion that it's a duplicate. The nose wheel seems to also be duplicated at the CofG spot also, along with a couple of leading edge flaps.

The result of this is that when exporting to FSX and testing the undercarriage retracts but then pops out after the doors have closed. Likewise, the leading edge flaps retract but then remain out of position, horizontal to the wing

I think I've possibly narrowed it down to a keyframe error in all cases, but I don't see any means of manually editing the keyframes inside MCX - is that possible?

Any help anybody can offer would be much appreciated! I've overcome most other obstacles so far but this one's got me stumped!

 

[arno]

Hi,

In the picture I don't see a duplicate, only a gear at the wrong location. But this is most likely a bug. Do you have a link to the model so uw can test it?

 

[Henk Schuitemaker]

I converted a HJG KC-135E model, same problem. The problem is that the zero key frames for several animations are missing. I exported the model with export option "keep x file", then manually added the zero key frames into the *.anim file with notepad, then imported the *.x file and the animations worked.

 

[Deano1973]

Arno and Henk, thanks very much for your replies!

Arno: the model can be found here under "Base Pack": http://simviation.com//hjg/aircraft/boeing/e-3.htm if you wish to see what happens when the model is imported into MCX. I did identify the last ten r_gear_len=75 animations as being apparently responsible for the mysterious extra undercarriage ( and presumably the last ten l_gear animations too ) but I will try henk's solution above first to see if that fixes it.

Henk: your solution answers both of my questions at once, very efficient! I will give that process a try and report back here if it works okay! I did notice that the HJG KC-135E also suffered from the same issue so it's most likely the cause of my woes...

Thanks again chaps!

 

[Deano1973]

Hi gents,

The adjustment of the .xanim file did the trick and the aircraft model now animates perfectly in FSX! Many thanks for your help

 

[arno]

Hi,

I have fixed the bug in MCX as well now. Some animations had a time on the first keyframe that was bigger than zero and MCX did not render them correctly. I have fixed that now. Grab the next build tomorrow.

 

[Henk Schuitemaker]

Arno, thanks! I imported a couple of FS9 models which have missing zero key frames and the animations now work straight from the box. This is a great improvement.

 

[Deano1973]

That's brilliant Arno, thanks very much!