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Need help with three view
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the problem was that somehow, when i copied my gamepacks folder from my desktop to my flash drive, it changed all of my gmax paths. since i still had the on that was working open, i was able to look at its paths and look at the paths of the files that werent working and fix them. so the problem was resolved.
just for some showing... here what i have done so far. still have some work to do with the fuselage like smoothing the tail more and doing all of the area around the cockpit windows.
as a whole
and with some smoothing
mind you, before this model, i had absolutely no experience with gmax at all. didnt even know what tools to use until working along with Miltun's tutorial...
this is after about 9 hours of work over this weekend...
just for some showing... here what i have done so far. still have some work to do with the fuselage like smoothing the tail more and doing all of the area around the cockpit windows.
as a whole
and with some smoothing
mind you, before this model, i had absolutely no experience with gmax at all. didnt even know what tools to use until working along with Miltun's tutorial...
this is after about 9 hours of work over this weekend...
my way
ime new to gmax, the tutorial gave me nightmares,,so this is what ido.
scan or dowload views..check views are to same scale..find models length,wingspan, height,with gear down...if not leave some space...in paint crop,top to wingspan and length..rotate to correct orientation, save as bmp.
left, to length and height, front, to width and height...this works for me my scale backdrops are 1,72 scale...i have left, front ,top, bottom.note cropping means wingtip to wingtip of paint image, i think this works with jpegs...
load gmax,in top view make flat plane the wingspan and length in metres of aircraft..paste bmp.do same for other panes,you can have top bottom front back left right..these panes can be moved around to align them,maybe having your undercarriage rest on the ground grid in perspective...they can be frozen but turn of show frozen in grey first.when you rotate them you see through them...add an object make sure nothing is selected.and save scene..if you save selected you wont get the whole scene...there is a lot of improvements you can make to this simple process,see image.
ime new to gmax, the tutorial gave me nightmares,,so this is what ido.
scan or dowload views..check views are to same scale..find models length,wingspan, height,with gear down...if not leave some space...in paint crop,top to wingspan and length..rotate to correct orientation, save as bmp.
left, to length and height, front, to width and height...this works for me my scale backdrops are 1,72 scale...i have left, front ,top, bottom.note cropping means wingtip to wingtip of paint image, i think this works with jpegs...
load gmax,in top view make flat plane the wingspan and length in metres of aircraft..paste bmp.do same for other panes,you can have top bottom front back left right..these panes can be moved around to align them,maybe having your undercarriage rest on the ground grid in perspective...they can be frozen but turn of show frozen in grey first.when you rotate them you see through them...add an object make sure nothing is selected.and save scene..if you save selected you wont get the whole scene...there is a lot of improvements you can make to this simple process,see image.
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You've basically summarized the tutorials. All are variations of "put the image on a plane and make sure you scale the planes properly"
The *most* important thing is the pre-gmax work to be done - making sure that the images being used are in scale, preferably to each other - before you start adding them in the program.
The *most* important thing is the pre-gmax work to be done - making sure that the images being used are in scale, preferably to each other - before you start adding them in the program.
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So true... I have found many blueprints that were incorrect. Only after making the wings, cutting out all the ailerons and flaps and things, did I discover the drawing was out of scale, the side didnt match the top or front, etc, etc, etc... Horrible.
In a program like Photoshop, you can copy/paste a layer, move it over another area and check the widths and lengths or parts of the drawings to make sure its accurate. Measuring them, even on the computer screen, can be done to ensure things are right and square.
Some people that do some of these drawings are not engineers, and only do art for magazines and sometimes only make 'nice drawings' based on visual appeal instead of hard data and dimensions..
Bill
you are spot on, my most important source for my first build is a publication, produced by the scale modeling fraternity, these people are fanatical about precise detail, and very helpfull. but the most usefull tool apart from gmax, is a 1.72 polystyrene model kit, that sits on my desktop, and encourages me to
get on with the job..now what i need is a three way scanning laser to input my model into gmax, i am willing to pay several english pounds for one...plus
postage of course..jim
get on with the job..now what i need is a three way scanning laser to input my model into gmax, i am willing to pay several english pounds for one...plus
postage of course..jim
n4gix
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Well, there is such a device, but it's considerably more than "several english pounds" though...
http://www.simple3d.com/
http://www.simple3d.com/
OR.... you could browse for photomodelling software.
I've seen a few over the years. Basically, you take a series of photos of your "real" model over a calibrated grid/template.
You use the software to bring in the photos, in some cases "teach" the software the location and order of the grid/template, and then let the software create the mesh.
You can then import that mesh into your modelling program to stage, finish off, etc.
Caveat: You may end up with a mess of a mesh, that although it "looks" good, is not really useful for modelling. *but it may serve as a template over which to model*
If I'd put in as much time and effort learning gmax as I've put in trying to get shortcuts to modelling, I'd be a expert modeller, even showing Bill & Bill how to do stuff!!
n4gix
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Felix, you are just searching for a tool that includes a magic button labled "Click Here for Instant Model"
You could cheat a bit and take the import MaxScript that BOBO produces, bundle it up into a neat file and add the button to your toolbar.
Everytime you clicked on that new button, Max/GMax would automagically create the mesh for you. The downside being that it would always be the same model, but what the heck!
You could amaze your party guests when they ask what you do for recreation...
Yup... and I learned it wasn't that blue checkered box!
You could cheat a bit and take the import MaxScript that BOBO produces, bundle it up into a neat file and add the button to your toolbar.
Everytime you clicked on that new button, Max/GMax would automagically create the mesh for you. The downside being that it would always be the same model, but what the heck!
You could amaze your party guests when they ask what you do for recreation...
hehe
i was of course joking about the 3 way laser scanner, you cant buy much with english pounds these days. many years ago i studied graphic art, one technique i learned, is called descriptive geometry.like g max but on paper..
3 views, and a plotting technique, to produce a accurate artists view of a 3d object with respect to the picture plane, and the viewers distance and angle of view..cad systems were out of reach of mst graphic artists, and this avoided the mistake of producing a formation of objects at different distances by merely resising which of course is wrong as distance from the picture plane changes the viewing angles...unless you want one full size object, and lots of tiny objects right next to it...i dont know why ime writing this ive got gmax, i dont need all those rotrings pencils smudges and ink blots.
i do miss em sometimes..i would miss gmax, its become a really annoying,frustrating friend...jim
3 views, and a plotting technique, to produce a accurate artists view of a 3d object with respect to the picture plane, and the viewers distance and angle of view..cad systems were out of reach of mst graphic artists, and this avoided the mistake of producing a formation of objects at different distances by merely resising which of course is wrong as distance from the picture plane changes the viewing angles...unless you want one full size object, and lots of tiny objects right next to it...i dont know why ime writing this ive got gmax, i dont need all those rotrings pencils smudges and ink blots.
i do miss em sometimes..i would miss gmax, its become a really annoying,frustrating friend...jim
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This used to be advertised on the FSDeveloper forum
https://www.nextengine.com/indexSecure.htm?gclid=CLuAuMT3o6ACFU0A4wodeCujww
Jim - the flightsim modeller's equivalent is .......
Aircraft Factory (AF99) 99 or BAO's Flight Shop! - thr programs used to make models for FS before FSDS and gmax...
i dug out my old manuals on descriptive geometry, it would be fairly easy to write code to do this on a pc,,,one giant snag.
this produces an artists rendition of a 3d object with fine accuracy..except of course flat, on graph paper, in 2d...i think i prefer gmax, the only coding i ever learned was assembler. more frustrating than gmax..as a newbie with gmax i have had to track down my stupid mistakes.a faint line on the side of my beutifully smooth fusalage.after fooling around with complicated solutions,
a stray vertex perfectly aligned with the edge of a polygon.and me happily building polys next to it.and assuming it was part of an adjacent poly.leaving an almost nanometer wide gap..delete those stray vertices..except ive grown fearfull of the delete..
the co,efficient of drag is proportional to the square of the velocity..ime getting there..jim
this produces an artists rendition of a 3d object with fine accuracy..except of course flat, on graph paper, in 2d...i think i prefer gmax, the only coding i ever learned was assembler. more frustrating than gmax..as a newbie with gmax i have had to track down my stupid mistakes.a faint line on the side of my beutifully smooth fusalage.after fooling around with complicated solutions,
a stray vertex perfectly aligned with the edge of a polygon.and me happily building polys next to it.and assuming it was part of an adjacent poly.leaving an almost nanometer wide gap..delete those stray vertices..except ive grown fearfull of the delete..
the co,efficient of drag is proportional to the square of the velocity..ime getting there..jim
D
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Edit - Apologies, what follows is just the same method as earlier sketched by Felix. I clean overlooked that reply. Only read if you want it put in other words.
Here is a variation on the three-views backdrop theme. This one is cutting some corners.
For sake of illustration let’s do it for the left side view only.
Get a good line drawing or work from a photo which presents a reasonably true side view. (Often photos are better but watch out for any perspectival distortion.)
Take your bitmap as is (unless it is very big) but crop the edges so that they touch nose and tail. If it’s a .bmp convert to .jpg for memory reasons.
Use your paint program to get the pixel size of the image, say it’s 900, 300.
In gmax in left viewport mouse-draw a simple rectangular “plane” (that's one of gmax's basic objects, basically a wall) with arbitrary dimensions to begin with. Using the parameters slots, make the plane exactly 9.00 by 3.00 meters (which as you will note is pixel size divided by 100).
Create a material using the picture as diffuse bitmap.
Apply the material to your backdrop object. You now have a perfect backdrop with just one flaw – it’s not the right size (unless your a/c happens to be exactly nine meters long). No problemo – use uniform scale to up or downsize your backdrop until it is exactly as required (check via Properties readout; or have a simple calibration object with exact dimensions handy). Or do it with mathematics. Say your a/c is really 18 meters long. Divide 18 by 9, that’s 2. Now use the uniform scale rollout and specify 200 percent.
Move your backdrop to an appropriate center of gravity position, and well out of the way laterally.
Create your fuselage tube, or box, or whatever, and make it transparent (Alt-X toggle). In left viewport you can now see your plan through the fuselage. As a matter of fact, if your fuselage is a circular tube you can start pushing vertices right away.
Repeat for all further views needed. Use the method to add temporary backdrops for fine detail as you go along. I often use as many as eight or nine backdrops for small detail.
Important: export early and regularly to check for possible compilation errors. Look at your model in the sim using a comparable default a/c for a template.
Good luck! Using gmax and Ms-FS one needs plenty!
Manfred
Here is a variation on the three-views backdrop theme. This one is cutting some corners.
For sake of illustration let’s do it for the left side view only.
Get a good line drawing or work from a photo which presents a reasonably true side view. (Often photos are better but watch out for any perspectival distortion.)
Take your bitmap as is (unless it is very big) but crop the edges so that they touch nose and tail. If it’s a .bmp convert to .jpg for memory reasons.
Use your paint program to get the pixel size of the image, say it’s 900, 300.
In gmax in left viewport mouse-draw a simple rectangular “plane” (that's one of gmax's basic objects, basically a wall) with arbitrary dimensions to begin with. Using the parameters slots, make the plane exactly 9.00 by 3.00 meters (which as you will note is pixel size divided by 100).
Create a material using the picture as diffuse bitmap.
Apply the material to your backdrop object. You now have a perfect backdrop with just one flaw – it’s not the right size (unless your a/c happens to be exactly nine meters long). No problemo – use uniform scale to up or downsize your backdrop until it is exactly as required (check via Properties readout; or have a simple calibration object with exact dimensions handy). Or do it with mathematics. Say your a/c is really 18 meters long. Divide 18 by 9, that’s 2. Now use the uniform scale rollout and specify 200 percent.
Move your backdrop to an appropriate center of gravity position, and well out of the way laterally.
Create your fuselage tube, or box, or whatever, and make it transparent (Alt-X toggle). In left viewport you can now see your plan through the fuselage. As a matter of fact, if your fuselage is a circular tube you can start pushing vertices right away.
Repeat for all further views needed. Use the method to add temporary backdrops for fine detail as you go along. I often use as many as eight or nine backdrops for small detail.
Important: export early and regularly to check for possible compilation errors. Look at your model in the sim using a comparable default a/c for a template.
Good luck! Using gmax and Ms-FS one needs plenty!
Manfred
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Manfred -
a variation to try, and especially useful for those partial section views....
convert your line view section to black and white - INVERT colours so that your backgrond is black, your lines are white.
Create a material for your plane, but ADD THE IMAGE TO THE OPACITY SLOT.
Now you have a "floating" transparent section view that you can place in the exact location as a "jig" over which to make sure your model fits.
Selecting your diffuse colour then sets the color of the "line" .
This tip came up first in an AVSIM thread a couple of year ago, and it's worth repeating every once in a while.
a variation to try, and especially useful for those partial section views....
convert your line view section to black and white - INVERT colours so that your backgrond is black, your lines are white.
Create a material for your plane, but ADD THE IMAGE TO THE OPACITY SLOT.
Now you have a "floating" transparent section view that you can place in the exact location as a "jig" over which to make sure your model fits.
Selecting your diffuse colour then sets the color of the "line" .
This tip came up first in an AVSIM thread a couple of year ago, and it's worth repeating every once in a while.
D
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Just tried this opacity trick and it works just fine. Many thanks for the tip Felix.
Manfred
Manfred