P3D v5 ModelConverterX Conversion of a FS9 aircraft

[blaunarwal]

I´m actually converting the Fokker S-14 Machtrainer from Emile and David. It has some static elements, like a gpu and chokes, which I don´t know under what condition within MCX, I should select them to show up. Sure, the chokes could be with parking brakes but what is with the gpu?
I have some planes, after parking the plane has a timer and after this, pilots dissappear and chokes, ladder etc. show up.

How can I do this with MCX?

Any help is appreciated.

Dan

 

[=rk=]

Do you have a link to the file? The likelihood that GPU is a standalone component is pretty low. You can see if it has it's own distinct texture, again, low probability, but eliminating that, would solve it. Most likely GPU is part of the canopy animation, that is where I'd put it, that and the chocks. you can tell if they vanish as the canopy cycles and if that is the case, you will have to redo the canopy animation, or tolerate a fixed canopy, to eliminate them.

IF the above is true and you intend to proceed, then isolate the canopy assembly and export to Collada. It is important to get the canopy aligned, so if you cannot get the parts with the canopy closed, advance the animation until the canopy is closed, export that way and skip the next paragraph.

Import the assembly in Sketchup or Blender or whatever and find the GPU and chock parts. Erase them completely. Export this edited assembly to Collada.

Back in MCX, use the Merge Tool, to combine your fixed canopy with the rest of the model.

 

[blaunarwal]

Hi Rick
Here is one link. The plane comes in different versions.

AVSIM Library

Flight simulators premier web site. Freeware, forums, community; it all comes together at AVSIM.

library.avsim.net

When importing in MCX, you need to set some variables to 1 instead of 0 to get the extra objects. I can isolate the gpu, its powerline is somehow connected to a part over the canopy. But my question ist rather, how shall i use it. When does it show up?
What terms are selected to make it visible? Is it a visibility condition in MCX, or should I use an animation to make it show up? The visibility conditions do not make real sence to me. A lot of engine related stuff, but of course, zero rpm would be a condition but not the only one. That´s the reason, I need help. Engine off is one condition, I can´t select a second one.
Dan

 

[tgibson]

I have my ground equipment show up when the engine is shut down and the parking brake is on.

The part name in my modeldef file:

   <PartInfo>
   <Name>ground_equipment</Name> <!-- visible when brake is on and all engines are stopped -->
      <Visibility>
         <Parameter>
            <Code>
              (A:BRAKE PARKING POSITION, bool) 1 == (A:GENERAL ENG1 COMBUSTION, bool) 0 == (A:GENERAL ENG2 COMBUSTION, bool) 0 == (A:GENERAL ENG3 COMBUSTION, bool) 0 == (A:GENERAL ENG4 COMBUSTION, bool) 0 == &amp;&amp; &amp;&amp; &amp;&amp; &amp;&amp;
            </Code>
         </Parameter>
         <MinValue>1</MinValue>
     </Visibility>
    </PartInfo>

 

[blaunarwal]

@tgibson
That´s what I´m looking for. I made sure, to load the modeldef file with your entries according to your tutorial.

Now, how do I tell MCX, this is ground equipment?

 

[blaunarwal]

Ok, I got it. If the right Modeldef.xml is loaded, I have the ground equipment as visibility option.

 

[blaunarwal]

I tried to add more definitions into modeldef, but when I load the object, MCX creates an error; Object reference not set to an instance of an object.
The definition were not used and the code looks ok. I had to transform it from FSDS to MCX format. There´s another ground_equipment option which I just named 2.

  <PartInfo> 
    <name>ground_equipment2</name> 
        <Visibility> 
            <Parameter> 
                <Code>
                    (A:RADIO HEIGHT,feet) 10 &lt; (A:BRAKE PARKING POSITION, bool) &amp;&amp; (A:General eng1 oil pressure, psi) 20 &lt;
                </Code>
            </Parameter>
            <MinValue>1</MinValue> 
        </Visibility>
    </PartInfo>

<PartInfo>
      <name>instructor</name>
      <Visibility>
         <Parameter>
            <Code>
                (A:PAYLOAD STATION WEIGHT:2,pounds) 1 &gt;
            </Code>
         </Parameter>
        <MinValue>1</MinValue> 
      </Visibility>
   </PartInfo>   

<PartInfo>
      <name>belt_copilots_seat_empty</name>
      <Visibility>
         <Parameter>
            <Code>
                (A:PAYLOAD STATION WEIGHT:2,pounds) 1 &lt;
            </Code>
         </Parameter>
        <MinValue>1</MinValue> 
      </Visibility>
   </PartInfo>

There were no such problems, when I added T. Gibsons extra definitions. Can someone see, what´s wrong here?

Thanks
Dan

 

[tgibson]

In ground_equipment2 you need an && at the end of the Code section.

 

[blaunarwal]

That did it. You have any hint, how to learn this language?
I have a little programming experience in Pascal and reverse Polish notation, but here, I hadn´t seen the missing AND.

 

[tgibson]

When writing conditions, you need one less comparison (AND or OR) than the total number of conditions. Since you have 3 conditions, you need two comparisons. They can either be placed as you did, after each comparison, or all at the end of the line.

 

[blaunarwal]

A logical approach

 

[blaunarwal]

Tom, did you create a condition, for pilots to be in the plane and dissappear, after the engines were shut and cooled down?

 

[tgibson]

Hi,

No I didn't, sorry. But you should be able to test A:GENERAL ENG1 COMBUSTION, bool and that A:GENERAL ENG1 OIL TEMPERATURE, celsius is below a certain value, determined by testing. If you have a multi engine plane you may want to test the other engines too.