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Part names for FSX?

bpahe

bpahe

Resource contributor
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sweden
Hi!

Could anyone point me in the right direction of where to find the proper partnames to use for an aircraft (FSX or FS2004). In the SDK, that is. I am certain that I have seen a list of the proper names to give rudders, tires and so on, but I really can´t find it... :banghead:

/hans
 
bpahe said:
Hi!

Could anyone point me in the right direction of where to find the proper partnames to use for an aircraft (FSX or FS2004). In the SDK, that is. I am certain that I have seen a list of the proper names to give rudders, tires and so on, but I really can´t find it... :banghead:

/hans
Click to expand...

Hans, there is no such list! Unlike previous versions, FSX's compiler could care less about "partnames." You could name your left/right ailerons "Fred" and "Ginger" for all it cares! :eek:

What is important is that the Animation Tool and/or Attachpoint Tool associate the correct animation and/or visibility condition "names" with the proper parts...

In many ways, this is a blessing, since there's no possibility of anyone having an animation fail because they can't spell! :D

As a practical matter however, I'd strongly suggest that we all stick with at least giving our model's parts relevant names if for no other reason than that of organization... :coffee:

As far as I'm aware, the only official list of "partnames" published was that found in the FS2002 MakeMDL SDK. I long ago printed that entire document out and put it in a looseleaf binder.
 
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Hm. Well, I´m defeated then. But I like the names Fred and Ginger though... Actually, I found my printed list of the animation tags just a few minutes ago, must have mistaken it for the FS2002 list. Thanks!

/hans
 
Sure - now you don't have to neccessarily apply part names that correspond to their animation tags within the animation tool, but it sure makes a lot of sense from an organization standpoint to continue with that practice...I sure intend to!!

Best,

Owen
 
Now, having said all that, which basically brings the point that not only do you have to tell FS-X what the tag is and what it does, but you have to tell it several times....

If you're a good little modeller, and followed the instructions (like me ... for which I got a star in class), teh SDKs were installed, and there's a little gem in the modeling SDK:

C:\Program Files\Microsoft Games\Microsoft Flight Simulator X SDK\SDK\Environment Kit\Modeling SDK\animation tags.html

Animation Tags
Overview
This document contains a list of the animation tags used by aircraft models in Microsoft ® Flight Simulator X. The aircraft name listed as using the tag is just one example, other aircraft may also use that particular tag.
Click to expand...
 
Part names and other schtuff

Well, I think that I have behaved fairly good so far ;) , but then I have not come to the process of animations until now. But I have that little gem printed, neatly stacked on my desktop (the real one, not the OS desktop...).

Since I really am a newbie in this area (aircraft designing), lets turn this into a newbie thread - having made a linear keyframe animation, naming it (naming an animation?) accordingly to the documents, using objects called r_flap, r_aileron and so forth, I select my model and export it using (for the time being FS2004) the gamepack MakeMdl, are there any other steps which I have to take for the animation to function in FS?

And is there anything else that I should have in mind, considering that although FS2004 is my choice for trying out the model, FSX is here and alive and will be my sim in the future?

/hans
 
Youngling (in designer terms, that is), as you are building - as yet - for FS2004, make sure you have downloaded and installed the applicable gmax gamepack for FS2004. THe animation list that I pointed out is for FS-X. While the tags you use for FS-X *may* be the same as for FS2004, the process and gamepacks are different.

Within the gmax SDK (specifically, the makemdl SDK) you will find the "allowed" tags for both default animations (those which the sim will recognize without further machinations and incantations) and the key frame animations (those that do require machinations and incantaions of the XML kind).

Since for each "default" animation there is an equivalent keyframe variant, *my* suggestion is that as you gird thy loins and venture forth into the wilderness of flightsim modelling, that where possible you prepare your model with keyframe animations and "forget" about the default animation tags. At the very least, when transferring the model to FS-X, you won't have to re-tag and animate the model...:)
 
Good morning!

Well, things did really work out for me yesterday afternoon (knock on wood!). I authored a keyframe animation for the ailerons, and at first it did not show, however naming the parts "R_Aileron_Key" (and L_Aileron...) instead of just r_aileron did the trick - just as the SDK says. ;)
Not only did the aileron animations show, suddenly also the rudder & flaps took advantage of the stock animations and started to move. Not in the right directions, but adjusting the pivot took care of that - even though the stock animations might be a way to make it too easy, it is still a great feature built into FS (there are others, automatic shadowing for example, compared to Auran Trainz where you have to make a model for the shadow - I guess we don´t know how lucky we are, or?).

So, authoring a few more keyframe animations seems not to be too hard, but I guess it get worse when I embark on the interior model?

/hans
 
bpahe said:
Good morning!



So, authoring a few more keyframe animations seems not to be too hard, but I guess it get worse when I embark on the interior model?

/hans
Click to expand...

Hans - while I can't make out on your photo how much hair you have on your head - at this time, I would suggest a hairpiece, of considering that the fad now is to go bald, that you do so now. I believe that the current fad for baldness was started by flightsim modellers as they struggled to figure out how to make little parts in the interior model do what the modeller wants them to do. Oh, simple things like a control column, yoke, or throttle levers, and nothing, but .... how to animate the little fuzzy dice correctly? Should I model that non-linear gauge or should I project it instead? How about dangling keys? an air vent. .... Once you get past the "simple things" you'll be surprised at what you want to do - just because it looks cool!

The neat thing, however, is that rarely do we realize we're actually gonig nuts because we're surrounded (virtually, of course) by others that are equally nuts over this, and see nothing wrong in helping out someone to figure out how to model a brewing pot of coffee!
 
Bald? Me? Well, you haven´t mentioned the flight dynamics yet... :D

/hans
 
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