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Need some Gmax setup help

Definately.

Michael;
Yes, it would be a great idea to talk to someone on the same page! Have you been able to get your scenery imported to FS. ? (with or without textures!) It was a happy moment when I finally saw my first obect in FS. (Even though it was half underground!). I don't know if this is relevant, but for every object I place into FS I end up with two BGL's in the scenery folder. I think one is the actual object and the other is the library file, (which could contain multiple objects).
Arno; correct me if I am wrong, but I think thats right. :)

David
 
Hey David,

At last! I have partial sucess. I finally managed to export my object into flight sim and actually see it. But there is still a problem and I have to go back to a previous question.

Arno,

I tried exporting the building using the default coordinates of the .XML file (Seattle Tacoma). Voila! There was my building but without texture.. just a big grey box. So there is something incorrect with my texture file. It's currently a composit Bitmap (there are several texutures in one Bitmap [originally a .JPG]). As I mentioned in an earlier post, Imagtool did not like the .JPG format and then complained about the dimensions of the .BMP file after I converted it.

What is the acceptable size and/or format for Imagetool? I notice that just about everything in the FS9 Texture folder is a BitMap. (?)

Next scenario: I then managed to edit and recompile the .XML file to put the object at my local airport (again, with no texture.. but I can see it!).

Previously, I had specified an altitude of 485 Feet (altitudeIsAgle=TRUE) and saw nothing. This time, I left the altitude at "0" and my building appeared. That confuses me. Does FlightSim put things at the 'local' ground level if no altitude is specified? Maybe my object was hundreds of feet below ground or hundreds of feet in the sky, where I would never think to look.

Man, figuring this stuff out is a little addictive. It irriates me but I have to keep trying.

David, I have no idea why you might be getting two .BGL files every time. That hasn't happend to me. But hell, I'm so green at this ... you might as well ask a potted plant. :)
 
mkd1964 said:
As I mentioned in an earlier post, Imagtool did not like the .JPG format and then complained about the dimensions of the .BMP file after I converted it.

What is the acceptable size and/or format for Imagetool? I notice that just about everything in the FS9 Texture folder is a BitMap. (?)
Click to expand...

I recognized, that the textures (I don't know if this is a fact) must be in the size of a quadrat. So 128x128, 512x512 .... then I havent't problems with the size.

The best result is to create a bmp file (uncompressed, pure, and big :rolleyes: ) and then you convert this with imagetool into a DXT-Bitmap (Extended Bitmap = this format uses the FS) via Image-Format-DXT 3

mkd1964 said:
Next scenario: I then managed to edit and recompile the .XML file to put the object at my local airport (again, with no texture.. but I can see it!).

Previously, I had specified an altitude of 485 Feet (altitudeIsAgle=TRUE) and saw nothing. This time, I left the altitude at "0" and my building appeared. That confuses me. Does FlightSim put things at the 'local' ground level if no altitude is specified? Maybe my object was hundreds of feet below ground or hundreds of feet in the sky, where I would never think to look.
Click to expand...

As far as I know the altitude value is the value for the scenery over ground. so 458 feet would be dangerous for departing airplanes :D
When you entered the altitude and you cannot see anything, try the map-view (Ctrl+S) ans zoom out. This is how I found an object of mine some time ago ;)
To place the building on the ground select "0".
 
Hi David,

minula said:
I don't know if this is relevant, but for every object I place into FS I end up with two BGL's in the scenery folder. I think one is the actual object and the other is the library file, (which could contain multiple objects).
Arno; correct me if I am wrong, but I think thats right. :)
Click to expand...

If you end up with two BGL files for each object, you are not doing it really efficient :). If you use an object library, the idea is that you collect all your objects in the one library XML and all the placement codes in the placement XML. So you end up with two BGL files for all your objects.

If you just use the default GMax XML file, you get one BGL per object, as then you have the MDL file and the placement in one file. But this method can lead to problems due to locked objects, so in general using a library is better.
 
Hi Michael,

mkd1964 said:
What is the acceptable size and/or format for Imagetool? I notice that just about everything in the FS9 Texture folder is a BitMap. (?)
Click to expand...

The size of your texture must always be a power of 2. So things like 128x128, 256x256, 512x512 are acceptable. But 64x128 or 256x1024 is also valid.

The texture indeed has to be a bitmap as well. The DXT format is a compressed bitmap format, so most designers also keep their origional texture somewhere without this compression. For example as a normal BMP file or a PSD (ImageTool can also read PSD files directly).

mkd1964 said:
Previously, I had specified an altitude of 485 Feet (altitudeIsAgle=TRUE) and saw nothing. This time, I left the altitude at "0" and my building appeared. That confuses me. Does FlightSim put things at the 'local' ground level if no altitude is specified? Maybe my object was hundreds of feet below ground or hundreds of feet in the sky, where I would never think to look.
Click to expand...

When you set altitudeIsAgl to true this means the altitude is AGL (average ground level). So 0 means at the ground. If you set AGL to false, then you can specify the altitude compared to the sea level.
 
Texture still not visable

Hey everyone,

Thank you for the explination about the .BMP format and the help with my altitude question. I understand now (I think my building was up in the sky).

However, I still am having no luck getting the texture of my object to display.

I opened my .BMP in MS Paint and it's dimensions are 256x256. All I did was click 'Save' and then I was able to open the Bitmap in ImageTool. I then opened ImageTool and clicked on:

Image > format > DXT 1 and then saved the file with the same name and
extension (Yes, I over-wrote the existing file..
but I have the original saved somewhere else.

I then copied the newly formatted .BMP into my "\Texture" folder in FlightSim.

I still only see a big grey box for my object.

What could I be missing?

The original texture was in .JPG format when I applied it to the building in Gmax.

I then converted .JPG to .BMP and then, finally, converted the Bitmap format to DXT1. From there I copied the newly formatted .BMP to my \Texture folder.

Can anyone see anything wrong with the order in which I did these steps?
Might it help if I delete the scenerey area from FS and then add it again?

I'm at a loss.

Thanks for reading.

-Michael.
 
Hi Michael.

Why not make a zip file of the MDL, the BGL, the texture, and the gmax file, and attach it to a post in a new thread? Then maybe we can walk you through it.

Dick
 
Have you tried a DXT3 texture?

Is everything alright with the placement of the texture in gmax?
 
Still not there

Ok,

Itsimon, I'm not sure if I've done it correctly or not. I can see the texture in Gmax. This is my first attempt but it seems to be correct when I view the object in Gmax.

I just tried saving the .BMP in DXT3 format and still no change. I'm sure that I'm missing something completely obvious.

So I've attached the relevant files. I would be very appreciative for anyone's help.

Arno, please move this thread to the appropriate forum as it is now not about Gmax.

If you use my default settings and wish to see my object, start FlightSim like this:

Country = United States
State/Province = Texas
City = Dallas
Airport = Dallas Love Field
Runway = 31L

The object is placed at about 1:00 (One O'clock) at the far end of the runway.

Thanks for reading and any help. I really want to learn this stuff.

-Michael.
 

Attachments

  • GreyStone.XML
    GreyStone.XML
    508 bytes · Views: 380
  • Greystone.jpg
    Greystone.jpg
    13.9 KB · Views: 428
  • GreyStone.BGL
    GreyStone.BGL
    1.4 KB · Views: 522
  • GreyStone.mdl
    GreyStone.mdl
    1.3 KB · Views: 482
Last edited:
Hi Michael,

mkd1964 said:
I just tried saving the .BMP in DXT3 format and still no change. I'm sure that I'm missing something completely obvious.
Click to expand...

DXT3 is only needed when you use an alpha channel that requires more then 1 bit. So in general DXT1 should be more then enough. Did you try to add mipmaps to your texture as well in ImageTool?

mkd1964 said:
Arno, please move this thread to the appropriate forum as it is now not about Gmax.
Click to expand...

That's a bit hard to do, as the beginning is about GMax. I would have to split the thread in two, but that is not easy as you can not follow the discussions in that case. I think that is why Dick adviced to open a new thread for the files :).
 
Textures and DXF importing

HI

Thanks for all the previous help Arno. I have a question, when I import a DXF file into Gmax, why aren't my bitmap textures imported into gmax too? The object itself looks good but no textures on them (other than the default white).

I am probably missing something obvious again, but I have tried everything I could think of.

Thanks again,
David
 
DXF is a very old AutoCAD export format and does not support texture mapping, and only a small range of layer colors. While AutoCAD is capable of building 3d models, it is not as easy as programs designed specifically for 3d modeling. AutoCAD works best for making plans to be printed weather it is architural, civil engineering, mechanical drafting, landscape design or cartography. The later versions of AutoCAD now allow for exporting a scene as a 3ds format which will include image mapping. But as soon as a file is exported/converted to a DXF by any program, there will be no texture coordinates or textured material definitions. So, unless you just are looking to exchange a shape between programs, stay away from DXF and use 3ds instead, if you can.

Lou
 
Lou already answered the question, but next time please start a new thread for such a question. This thread is going to much off topic this way.
 
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