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MSFS 2024 materials

arno

arno

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The latest development release of ModelConverterX includes support for MSFS 2024 materials. Based on the information in the SDK (schema’s, Blender scripts, …) I have tried to implement all new material options and also the schema’s that have changed since MSFS 2020.

The information in the schema’s and SDK did not always align, so I might be missing some material attributes or have made mistake for some material types. If you find anything missing or incorrect please let me know in the forum.

As part of adding support for the MSFS 2024 material options I also made sure that ModelConverterX can export a glTF file for MSFS 2020 or MSFS 2024. So make sure to select the right format when you are exporting an object. The file format with the name of just glTF is to export a plain glTF file without MSFS specific extensions, for example when you want to import an object into a modelling tool.

Continue reading...
 
Do you have plans to implement Asobo's EXT_meshopt_compression to import 2024 models that use that feature?
 
I haven't looked at that yet, but can put it on the todo list. Does MSFS 2024 use this optimization before or after the package tool?
 
arno said:
I haven't looked at that yet, but can put it on the todo list. Does MSFS 2024 use this optimization before or after the package tool?
Click to expand...

No idea tbh. Probably a compression being done afterwards. It's a bit customized by Asobo though.
 
arno said:
It seems it is a standardized way to do compression. If I can find a model somewhere that uses this extension I can have a look at supporting it.

github.com

glTF/extensions/2.0/Vendor/EXT_meshopt_compression/README.md at main · KhronosGroup/glTF

glTF – Runtime 3D Asset Delivery. Contribute to KhronosGroup/glTF development by creating an account on GitHub.
github.com github.com
Click to expand...

Arno, is this the compression you mention in "MR [ 524 ] - 2025-02-13 20:19:59.695000" ? There are no models loaded if they use this compression. If you have 2024, the Asobo Windmill uses Meshopt also, maybe this is a better file to use since it's smaller.

Edit: I included the full model files to my post.
 

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Thanks, I have generated some simple test models with meshopt compression already and am studying now how to implement it. The windmill model would be a good test to use then as well.

The merge request you mentioned is not about meshopt compression, but about the normal zstd compression that is added on each gltf in the MDL/BGL format.
 
arno said:
Thanks, I have generated some simple test models with meshopt compression already and am studying now how to implement it. The windmill model would be a good test to use then as well.

The merge request you mentioned is not about meshopt compression, but about the normal zstd compression that is added on each gltf in the MDL/BGL format.
Click to expand...
Hi Arno, any luck with this?
 
Yes, the current development release supports the mesh optimization compression. And I am currently also working on support for the Draco compression that you see in some objects.
 
arno said:
Yes, the current development release supports the mesh optimization compression. And I am currently also working on support for the Draco compression that you see in some objects.
Click to expand...
I, and many other livery creators, owe you a big sloppy kiss. We've been scratching our collective heads over the ext_meshopt plugin and you've solved it for us! I'm in the process of creating a paint kit for the C172 using MCX. The only unfortunate issue is the generic naming of the nodes, but that's a small price to pay for compatibility!

While I'm still building and testing it, I'm hoping to be able to utilize Blender to create a livery submodel that will work in FS24 to use its powerful dynamic livery system.

Thanks again!
 
Hi,

MCX does read the node names from glTF objects, but in the scenegraph optimisation they can get lost again. I can have another look if I can optimise this in some way.
 
arno said:
Hi,

MCX does read the node names from glTF objects, but in the scenegraph optimisation they can get lost again. I can have another look if I can optimise this in some way.
Click to expand...

So, attached here, if viewed in full, you can see under the scene collection that all the nodes are just named that, nodes appended in numerical order. Fortunately, it does retain the node layouts and textures (albeit having to link to them because the Blender I'm using doesn't recognize ktx2).

In any case, thanks in advance for whatever you're able to do. I'm currently learning how to possibly export liveries as decals or even as a submodel so I can make clean and optimized liveries for just about any plane in MSFS 2024.
 

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Also, be aware that if you export the glTF from MCX that you will loose features like skin and bone animations, since MCX does not yet support those.
 
arno said:
Also, be aware that if you export the glTF from MCX that you will loose features like skin and bone animations, since MCX does not yet support those.
Click to expand...
Actually, I was able to get animations as long as I export the 2024 model as a 2020 model. I guess I got lucky? Maybe it's something with the C172 model itself? As for skin, you mean textures? It's not a big deal, I just convert the ktx2 files to PNGs and re-link. A bit of a bore, but an easy thing to do.
 
No, I mean the skin and bone animations used for wing flex and character animations.
 
arno said:
No, I mean the skin and bone animations used for wing flex and character animations.
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Ohhh, I understand now. That's quite all right. I understand that may be important to others, but fortunately I do liveries for GA aircraft, so that's not really an issue for me.
 
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