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FSXA Query on Bounding Box

D

dreamaero

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77
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india
Hi friends,
While scanning through various post on this forum and also the wiki section I came across this topic called the Bounding box, what exactly is this bounding Box and why is it used.
I would also like to know how do I make one for my scenery...

Thanks

Regards
Dreamaero
 
The Bounding Box determines when the object will be seen. If you have ever noticed an object that "pops" into view as you are turning towards it, that is the effect of the bounding box. If the bounding box is very small, it will only be seen when you are looking straight at the object. If the bounding box is large, then as you turn away from the object it will be seen right to the edge of the screen. This also can be a problem when you attach an effect to an object that is larger than the object itself. You need to increase the size of the bounding box to avoid the effect "popping" in and out of view.

Hope this helps,
 
Sorry if I am hijacking this thread but if I were Dreamaero my next question would be: How do I change the size of the bounding box?
 
Thanks for the reply Tom and Robystar to you as well,
Please feel free to ask as many questions you like...as I too will get to learn.

I want to know to steps of making the bounding box as till date whatever objects I have made in gmax and exported to fsx i did not make any bounding boxes so I have no knowledge of how its made and in what ways it will affect my model....

I had once made a hangar in gmax without a bounding box (as I did not had the idea of what a bounding box was), and exported to fsx, when I went near the hangar some of the textures simply vanished and when I went away from the hangar all the textures were clearly visible...Do you think it was because of the absence of the bounding box.

Please tell me the steps involved in making the bounding box.

I am making a small and simple terminal building for one of my test scenery,
Its size is as follows:
Length: 1400 meters
Breath: 365 meters
Height: approx 150 meters

Do I need to make a bounding box for it...and how long bounding box will I have to make.


Sorry if I am hijacking this thread but if I were Dreamaero my next question would be: How do I change the size of the bounding box?
Click to expand...

Also tell me how to change its size :), incase I make any expansion to the building :) in the future.

Sorry if this a dumb question but I am still a beginner.

All help appreciated

Regards,
Dreamaero
 
I work in FS9, and use MDL Tweaker for that purpose. For FSX you can use ModelConverterX: go to Special Tools/MDL Tweaker, open the MDL object, and change the bounding box there.

BTW, GMAX will automatically change the size of the bounding box as you change the size of your building, AFAIK.

Hope this helps,
 
Thanks Tom for the reply,
As I said earler I am making a small terminal for my test scenery, I have encountered a problem in mapping the textures. I need help. I have referred to several threads and tutorials about mapping but I dont seem to get my building textured the way I want it to be. I am attaching a file made in gmax for you to refer...plz show me the steps and I will try it again. I am also attaching the uvw maps so that you may know why I am stuck. I have a problem in the side wall uvw file...How will I texture this. Because of this problem I am unable to design complex buildings.
I need your help in texturing this please help me...However I have not attached any textures with the file as I still have to make the textures....

All help appreciated

Regards
Dreamaero
 

Attachments

Another thing you can do with buildings like terminal fingers that have the same "look" all the way down them is to create a small part of the building's texture that spans from the left edge to the right edge of your bitmap, then tile it multiple times onto the side of the the finger. You do this by setting the map to cover only a small part of the finger's length. The texture will repeat many times along its total length.

If you have a building that needs more than one texture sheet, the simplest thing to do it break it into separate parts, with each part being textured by one texture sheet. Since you almost never need to smooth a building across a texture sheet boundary, this works fine (unlike an aircraft model). If you need to use more texture sheets on the *same part*, you must use a Multi-Material (a more complex process).
 
Thanks for the reply,
Yes, 1400 meter building is way too big for texturing on a single sheet, I wonder how other scenery designers make such beautiful and complex terminal buildings that look so real and big. Take for instance flytampa Dubai X, the two terminal buildings including the concourse for the A380. Simply Awesome!!!
Anyways, back to the topic, did you see the zip file I attached, in that there was a uvw file with the name side_wall.uvw, I needed help with this particular file as I was having difficulty mapping the textures on it.

Regards
Dreamaero
 
Sorry, I don't even know what a uvw file is. I've been using GMAX for many years and have never even seen one. I texture with 24 bit BMP files.
 
Thanks tom....
Actually by uvw file I mean, when you select the Unwrap UVW modifier you get 3 options that is Edit, Save and Load....when you click on "save" you get a dialog box to save the mapping of your model with an extension of .uvw
Anyways I have completed texturing the building and will try to export and see the result in fsx...however I am doing this for the first time so lets see what result I get...I will be placing the bounding box around the model and see if I succeed.

Thanks once again

Regards
Dreamaero
 
Hi all,
I need a quick fix....I want to add a transparent glass texture to my airport terminal building...
Do I need to keep the glass texture with other parts of the building in the same texture sheet or do I need to keep the glass texture on a separate texture sheet.
And where do I need to put my glass texture in Gmax Material Editor, in the Diffuse Map or Opacity (where is the Opacity setting in Gmax Material Editor)
And do I need to do the same thing with the light map texture. Please let me know. All help appreciated.

Regards
Dreamaero
 
Hi,

I think that (trying to:)) understand the FSX materials chapter (in the FSX SDK - Environment Kit - Modeling SDK) may clarify some things.
 
Hi,

So did I, but I thought somebody else would be smarter than me:). I think it is a matter of semantics, Some call it this and then again others call it differently and that is why you get confused.
I do not use Gmax to texture but ModelconverterX. Maybe that can help?
 
Hi Roby,
I made the model of the building I was making and textured it in GMax through UVW mapping modifier...I used the textures in .png format as I use Gimp. I mapped it using these textures in Gmax but after exporting it in MDL and importing it Model Converter X, the textures mapping was not the way I had mapped in Gmax, the glass window texture was in the place of the roof and the roof texture was in the place of the glass window, the texturing was disturbed...:eek:
Model Converter X did not recognize .png textures so I converted the textures to dds and used dds textures after importing in Model Converter X...the texturing on the model was disturbed. What must be wrong?:scratchch
I have however deleted the model and plan to start it again....

Thanks
Dreamaero
 
How did you convert your .pngs to .dds? If you used DXTBmp you need to "Flip image and alpha" from one of the menus, I can't remember which. If you used Imagetool then you must have another problem as Imagetool handles the flipping by itself. Basically a .dds needs to be flipped vertically so if all else fails you can do that in your paint program but don't overwrite the .png you're using in gmax or everything will be flipped next time you open your project.
 
Yes, I guess that is going to solve the problem.
Edit: oops, no:eek:! Because if you used ModelconverterX to convert the png's to dds format then the program already does the vertical flipping.
PS: If ModelconverterX does not recognize png format then you should update MCX with the latest development release ( http://www.scenerydesign.org/development-releases/) like Jim said in another thread.
 
Last edited:
Hi Jim and Robystar
After making the textures in gimp i exported the textures in png format....i used these same textures to map in gmax.....then i opened dxtbmp and saved ( save as option)the textures as dds dxt 3 as the textures have a semi transperant glass alpha channel.....this dds texture i used after opening the model in MCX and the textures on the object were flipped...

Jim....as u said i did not flipped the image in dxtbmp maybe because of this there might have been a problem. I will try again and let you know..


Thanks for the reply
Take care
Regards
Dreamaero
 
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