FSXA Rotating Beacon

[GaryGB]

I do not use GMAX, nor do I have it installed (only tinkered with it once back in FS2002 to create a Platform surface before we had MCX).

Hopefully Tom and/or Arno will take a look at this for you.

GaryGB

 

[tgycgijoes]

thank you, me too.l

 

[tgycgijoes]

Here is a GMAX and FSX MDL file that loads into MCX and animates. Hope you can use them. Of course you can rename them to anything you like.

Thank you so much for patiently getting this to work. The gmax file won't open in MY GMAX which maybe is the problem all along. The error is: mtlgen.dlt is missing Can I impose on you just a little because of that and attach the white and green beacons to it and then provide the MDL with them active if its possible. I have attached lights but I don't know how to make beacons in MDCx if it's even possible.
When I tried to do spotlights for a gate before, I was told they only work in P3DV4 by Arno. My attachments are just like airplane lights. I was able to put blinking red on the tower. I Googled this error and found a post here in FSDeveloper that that file is in plugins in GMAX and a guy who copied it into C:\GMAX and it worked for him but I still cannot open your GMAX file, so again if you would still indulge and add the beacons to it I would be really grateful. Thank you. Hope you had a very happy Thanksgiving.

 

[GaryGB]

Yet again, my knowledge of GMAX is NIL, but I believe others following this thread hoping to learn how to use GMAX may find this info useful:

https://www.google.com/search?q=GMA...IBAzUuMZgBAKABAaABAsABAQ&sclient=gws-wiz-serp

https://calclassic.proboards.com/post/75259

https://www.fsdeveloper.com/forum/threads/mtlgen-dlt-is-missing-error.1143/

Although you may have something that works in your particular situation, gMax was not meant to be launched by clicking/draging a gMax file. If you install another gamepack, your solution will not work properly. For each gamepack there are certain parameters that are defined in the gMax link for that gamepack. Each gamepack has its own INI files that set these parameters. If you have more than one gamepack installed, gMax does not know what parameters to use for any particular gMax file when you try to open the file without first launching gMax with the proper icon.

Lou

PS: I also wonder if FS' default (or a custom 3D model equivalent of FS' default) civilian airport beacon Green / White cones can be attached to this ?


I believe that Effect (*.Fx) lights are not going to show very well at a distance; IIRC, this has been attempted before in FS2002 / FS2004 / FSX.


IIUC, that is why ACES implemented the translucent light cones that rotate along with the lamp heads of the classic airport beacon model(s).

https://www.fsdeveloper.com/forum/threads/airport-rotating-3d-beacons.451551/


BTW: This may be what some of us are going to do in Blender etc. to make a 'proper' civilian airport beacon with rotating Green / White cones.


NOTE: Historically, the bogus "flashing Face" beacons in MSFS 2020 are little more than just that ...sort of a custom large scale FS2Kx Effect (*.Fx).


IMHO, these are not as realistic when used in the sim, as Green / White translucent emissive cones with gradient transparency along their length.

Also, I cannot see the Green light in MSFS on my AMD video card, unless I enable "Bloom" ...which makes MSFS less sharp and highly distracting


Newton Drumond and Fern Marques innovated a kit for making such beacons for FS2Kx years ago; Holger / OrbX used similar beacon types as well.

https://library.avsim.net/search.ph...beacon_towers_171753.zip&CatID=root&Go=Search


IMHO, the FS community needs to move past antiquated technology of "Flashing Faces", and use rotating 3D cones and/or true 3D volumetric lights.


Otherwise one could make a custom model of a 3-sided support tower using FS' default texture and place FS' default rotating beacon on top:

https://www.fsdeveloper.com/forum/threads/what-features-for-version-1-50.16405/page-2#post-107493


IIRC, the default radio tower texture is:

[FS install path]\Scenery\Global\Texture\gen_beacons.dds


GaryGB

 

[tgibson]

Well, you are right that file doesn't open in my GMAX either. It has a bug that corrupts some files when saving. This one opens in my GMAX, and also has an FSX material for the lenses, which I forgot last time. The MDL file is updated as well.

I've never tried attaching beacon effects to a GMAX object, I don't think it's possible to attach the standard beacon like that (although it is possible to create an empty attachpoint and add the beacon to that using XML in the object placement code - but the visible beacon also appears). A standard effect will not look much different from the blinking red light, for example - as Gary says, not very visible.

Hope this helps,

 

[tgycgijoes]

I was just able to attach a green spot to one side and a white spot to the other side of t he FSX MDL in Model Converter X V1.5 but they are stationary and do not rotate with the beacon. Do you know what is wrong I an going to post over at MDCx and see if ARNO can tell me what I need to do or is it just not possible.

 

[tgycgijoes]

I found a post by ARNO to a guy in AVsim who wanted a spotlight. ARNO says that GMAX spotlights do not translate into FSX so so much for that. I hope he answers my post positively on how to get those spots I just made to rotate with the beacon of sadly a dark beacon is of no use at an airport.

 

[GaryGB]

If it were possible to attach FS' default (or a custom 3D model equivalent of FS' default) civilian airport beacon Green / White cones to this 3D model, one might wonder if the same effective proportional relationship exists in FS2Kx between object size / extent and emissive visibility distance ...cited here:

https://www.fsdeveloper.com/forum/threads/msfs-scenery-lights.455868/post-906887


We can import FSX' default airport_objects BGL into MCX (seen here in MCX showing those emissive cones in Night ('LightMap') mode:

NOTE: This object also has a Green and White attached Effect as seen in MCX Attached Objects Editor dialog:

We can then and export that object from MCX, and import that into Sketchup, in which we see the total size / extent:


Horizontal extent of (2) cones (including gap at Origin of Axes) = More than 1,379 Feet = ~ 420 Meters

100 Meters visibility per Meter total extent of (2) cones = 100 Meters visibility x ~ 420 Meters horizontal extent = ~ 42,000 Meters visibility ?


Perhaps use of FS' default Green / White cones object (or a custom equivalent) yields a visibility radius compatible with ARP visibility of ~50,000 Meters ?


UPDATE: I tested the default FSX civilian airport beacon on the default support base tower in the Finney Ground CH+ A/C.

Altitude is 45 Feet AGL at the rotating beacon base; Green / White cones disappear by 2,041 Meters distance at 1.0 zoom.

NOTE: The cone objects are only 12-sided, and AFAIK, that number of Faces is unlikely to cause a performance hit when rendered as an animated object with gradient transparency along the length of each cone; objectively, IMHO, they look quite realistic at Night in FS.

GaryGB

 

[tgycgijoes]

I just exported the beacon as an mdl and placed it at the airport. I compiled it and updated KEYF on FSX. Opened it up and the beacon is beautiful and rotates BUT the attached effects even though they were attached as spotlights AND show the beam in MDCx are just points in FSX(A). I am getting kinda frustrated with this. Even if they are able to rotate with the beacon they are still just points. I don't understand exactly what you trying to explain above.

 

[tgibson]

To get them to rotate you need to open the MCX Hierarchy Editor, find a Model Part that rotates, and drag the Attached Effect on top of it so it become a child of that model part. Then it will rotate with that part.

 

[GaryGB]

I just exported the beacon as an mdl and placed it at the airport. I compiled it and updated KEYF on FSX. Opened it up and the beacon is beautiful and rotates BUT the attached effects even though they were attached as spotlights AND show the beam in MDCx are just points in FSX(A). I am getting kinda frustrated with this. Even if they are able to rotate with the beacon they are still just points.

I don't understand exactly what you trying to explain above.

If we look down the inside axis of rotating hollow light cones, we must see a Green or White light on the origin (lens surface) if it crosses the A/C POV.

That light seen directly on-axis at the POV (Point-Of-View) of the user aircraft camera is provided by the (weak) Effect(s) which are attached to the MDL.

The Green / White light cones are apparently animated independently from the Green / White beacon light head assembly (not sure how / where).

Those Green / White light cones are actually what we would see at a distance rotating with the rotating Green / White beacon light head assembly.

Emissive rotating Green / White beacon lights visible at a distance are actually provided by the translucent Green / White light cones, NOT Effects.

GaryGB

 

[GaryGB]

To get them to rotate you need to open the MCX Hierarchy Editor, find a Model Part that rotates, and drag the Attached Effect on top of it so it become a child of that model part. Then it will rotate with that part.

Tom: could you show us how to animate a Green / White light cone object so it rotates identical in speed to a Green / White beacon light head assembly ?

AFAIK, since we must assign timing of conditional display visibility for Green / White light cones like we would for Effects, the Green / White light cone object must be maintained as a separate object from the Green / White beacon light head assembly, and thus it may not be a "welded" object ?

IIUC, this would be referred to as a "child" object attached to a node of the Green / White beacon light head assembly ?

GaryGB

 

[tgycgijoes]

I understand emissive textures from illuminating windows in my buildings BUT the beacon has no textures on the lenses so it is not possible to add emissive textures to the lens. When I opened it up once it had a translucent lens texture but that is on both sides so what you suggest can only be added once. Unless I am wrong, when I wanted spotlights at my gatehouse at NAS Corry Field, Arno said that they do not work as spotlights in FSX only points of light and that is what I just saw on the field. The beacon is fantastic but it is not illuminated except for a small dim green light in the middle. I found a post about using the Attached Effect in GMAX but an effect is still a point of light NOT a beacon or spotlight in FSX. Phooey!!!

 

[GaryGB]

The Face to which the Green / White Effect is attached, is what we see inside light cones at cone origins, but cones are separate from a actual beacon light assembly.

Otherwise we cannot control the time of activation (conditional display) for Night emissive properties for light cone objects like we would fro an Effect.

Obviously we would want the actual beacon light assembly to still be visible during daylight, so it must be kept separate from the rotating light cone.


IIUC, we do not have volumetric particle-based light Effects available for spotlight in FSX.

Blender and 3DSMAX etc. may now offer this to MSFS' run time rendering engine, but at great cost in FPS if not done properly.


IIRC, according to Bill Leaming (aka "n4gix") of ESDG / MilViz, FS2Kx requires emissive translucent light cones with Faces on all sides of such objects for spotlights.

If you examine the FSX default parking lot / ramp light towers in MCX, such spot / flood lights are emissive 2D / 3D objects, but not Effects or volumetric particles.


Alternatively we could use multiple Faces of flat crossed-planar 3D objects with translucent emissive textures.

Otherwise, the ACES "light cone" concept already under discussion here looks quite good.

GaryGB

 

[tgycgijoes]

In point of fact then, what I want to do in FSX and probably P3DV3 is not possible and I am in fact just going to use the default civilian beacon in ADEx at my airports and not custom beacons in FSX. Thanks to everyone expecially Tom Gibson for his creation/animation of the Flight Light 80 beacon.

 

[tgibson]

That's what I ended up doing as well, using the default beacon. It's easy to place where desired using ADE or XML, so it's quite simple to use.

Gary, the Ambient animation in FSX moves at a constant RPM per keyframe, so if the beacon and light cone have the same number of keyframes and are both animated for 360 deg. rotation they should rotate at the same speed.

 

[GaryGB]

Many thanks, Tom, for sharing your considerable insights with us on this aspect of 3D modeling / animation in FS2Kx.

GaryGB

 

[tgycgijoes]

I second the thanks muchly

 

[tgibson]

Sorry I couldn't be more help. Custom beacons would be great to have.

 

[tgycgijoes]

Tom, you went above and beyond, no apology please. FSX and FS9 are just not programmed to do this. Only P3Dv4 and V5 and MSFS are according to ARNO to have spot lights which is what we needed. I may get P3DV3 next year if I am motivated. I read that my FSX stuff will work in that and I do not want MSFS which none of it works in. Have a very Merry Christmas.