FSX Special Animation

[Raul]

GMAX: How can I set the motion tags for an object who is affected by a landing bogey tilt rotation and at the same time by compression?
I'm using FSXA

 

[tgibson]

Normally you create two parts and link one to the other. The parent handles one of the two animations, and the child performs the other one.

 

[hairyspin]

Here's a quick & dirty example which uses Look At constraints in Gmax. These must be collapsed to keyframes before exporting to FSX, so the second file has that done for you.

Look at the hierarchy to see how this is organised.

 

[Raul]

Thaks hairspin and tgibson for your answers.
I have tried the way tgibson propose but it didn't work for me, after that I tested something very similar to your proposition and I still have problems. This is why I posted this thread. Here are some view of what I have done.
I pictured frame 0,10,100 and 200, also the result.

Obviously, I am doing something wrong. Have you an idea?

 

[tgibson]

Make sure that your animation controllers are set to LINEAR in GMAX.

 

[hairyspin]

Have you noticed the entire lower set of parts has moved, not just the oleo? As Tom says, use linear animation controllers only:- http://www.sim-outhouse.com/sohforu...rted-With-Gmax&p=814795&viewfull=1#post814795

I found with practice that all animated objects need a Reset Xform before setting up the animation. F'rinstance, Look At constraints will pick up scaling applied to a parent object and apply it to the constrained, animated child object otherwise.


Tidy landing gear, btw!

 

[Raul]

Thank you guys, I verified my animation controllers and are set to Linear. I didn't remember when I did it. Now, I have to update myself about the Reset XForm and Look At constraints. I'll be back soon.

 

[Raul]

Have you noticed the entire lower set of parts has moved, not just the oleo? As Tom says, use linear animation controllers only:- http://www.sim-outhouse.com/sohforu...rted-With-Gmax&p=814795&viewfull=1#post814795

I found with practice that all animated objects need a Reset Xform before setting up the animation. F'rinstance, Look At constraints will pick up scaling applied to a parent object and apply it to the constrained, animated child object otherwise.


Tidy landing gear, btw!

Thanks,
Well, I went trough the topics you explain before. First I reset XForm, then I used Look At constraint. Is a very powerful function, and it works neat for making animations in Gmax. Once I collapse my rotation to frames I saw that the rollout related to Look At constraint disappear. This means that the Look At's target is to be able to create frames in an easy way but do not have anything to do with FSX. After collapsing, I tagged my objects as l_gear and Export. The result is exactly the same as before. What it brings me to pose the same question. How can I do, in Gmax, to set an animation that in FSX respond to bogey tilt and to compression animations?

 

[hairyspin]

You need to do this to all objects in the gear, not just the piston and cylinder. If you still can't get your head around it, send me the undercarriage and I'll rig it for you. Email address sent in PM.

 

[Raul]

You need to do this to all objects in the gear, not just the piston and cylinder. If you still can't get your head around it, send me the undercarriage and I'll rig it for you. Email address sent in PM.

Thanks Tom, I think I will accept your offer.

 

[Raul]

Thanks Tom, I think I will accept your offer.

Hairyspin, did you received my files I sent you on March 12th?

 

[hairyspin]

Yes, check your email for preliminary findings.

 

[Raul]

Finally I found something that works for me, and I would like to share it with all you guys.

1- I create the upper and lower objects in gmax.
2- I used Look-At Constaint to set the Keyframes for each part, Upper and Lower objects. The objects are then perfectly aligned.
3- I clone these objects and reduced it about 80%. I positioned them at the same local rotation center as the original objects and rename them as Upper and Lower Dummy.
4- I linked the Original objects to the Dummy objects respectively.
5- I linked the Upper Dummy object to the main axe of the landing gear and the Lower Dummy object to bogey object to complete the hierarchy.
6- I save my file and Export it. I run FSX and noticed that the parts didn't aligned.
7- I went back to gmax and rotated the originals objects to compensate the miss alignment, leaving the dummies untouched.
8- After 2 or 3 times of trial and error, the two parts of the piston worked well in FSX, although in gmax it doesn't align as you can see in the picture.

Note: The original objects were Tagged with l_gear (0-200) and the dummies with l_bogey_tilt (0-200) for the left landing gear. I can post the full code for l_bogey_tilt if someone needs it.

I think this is not the best solution but it's a solution and any comment to do this in a better way, will be appreciated.

Thanks to tgibson and hairyspin for your advices and comments.

 

[hairyspin]

Good job, Raul! I was going the same way with it.

 

[Raul]

Thanks Tom, I think that making a little more job we can find a general rule to avoid the trial and error thing.