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Still having exporting problems...

K

kdryan

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Ok, so let's see if I can work some of this out while I am writing it. Sometimes it helps to put things in perspective, and perhaps someone can point out something I have missed, because I have absolutely no idea where to go from here. I am going to do my best to state my situation, the problems I am having, and what results I get. If you see something that looks wrong, please tell me.


My situation is that I am running both 3ds Max 8 and gMax on my Laptop and home computer.
The laptop runs Vista and the home pc runs XP. Here is the situation on my home PC. I'll handle the laptop later.

I have intalled the SDK, SP1, SP2 and the Acceleration SP.
I have installed the SDK and 3ds Max in their default locations. gMax is installed to the Autodesk folder. (C:\Program Files\Autodesk\gMax)
I have run the ConfigSDK tool from the SDk.
I have configured a path in 3ds Max to the 3ds Max 7/Plugins Folder in the SDk.

As a result, At the top of my toolbar in Max, I have two new headings labeled 'Aces Tools' and 'Aces Documentation' and a screenie is included below of what is under each heading. I can also export as FS .mdl, FS .cld and FS .x file. Under gMax, I get no new toolbars, and I have the option to export as FS .mdl and FS .cld files.

When I try to export as a .x file, the system crashes with no clues as to why. It does ask me if I want to save the scene first, but afterward there is a .x file on the desk top in notepad form. The contents of that file are attached below.

Now, is where I start to get lost...

TBC
 

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I had some success earlier exporting my Peashooter model, so I thought I would try deleting everything except the fuselage and removing all textures so it would be as basic a model as could be. I wanted to rule out a problem with my model. Still crashed. I tried creating just a box in a new scene and exported it as a .x file no problem. I took that x-file and dropped it onto the XtoMdl tool and it created a mdl for it just as pretty as you please. So I'm guessing the problem is with my model somewhere and I am betting it IS with textures.
 
You have had some very odd experiences with both Max7 and GMax. Perhaps it's because of you meekly accept the "default paths" for installation...

I have both Max8 and GMax installed in "non-default" locations:

C:\Autodesk\Max8
C:\Autodesk\Max8\3DSM7

C:\gmax
C:\gmax\gamepacks\FSX_GmaxGamePack

I like short paths! Also, I do not typically install non-microsoft programs in the C:\Program Files folder, most especially not under Vista! :D

I also copy/pasted the entire ..\3DSM7 folder to reside in the Max8 path, and have my Max configured accordingly.

As to your reported export failure, it may indeed be related to your materials... You did create "FSX Materials," right?

The .x file you posted got only as far as writing out the template information, but then stopped prior to actually writing out any of the model's information.
 
Click on Material Editor,

Click on 'New'

Select FSX Material out of the 3 available. (Multi, FSX, Standard are the choices).


:D

Still, I would think you could export even with standard materials.. Crazy..

Ryan/KEVIN, it has to be something so simple, and its looking at you in the face... Stairing.. Staring....
 
Ryan/KEVIN,


A. Make sure FSX Tools are showing at the top tool bar in Gmax. If they are not, go to Tools (hammer icon, far right Control Panel). There, select 'Run Script' at the bottom. Select 'FSXTools.ms' and click Run or OK. You should then see the FSXTools at the top of the toolbar.

B. Open Material Editor (red sphere) and click New at top of its panel. You 'should' see 3 choices for materials, and one should say FSX.


wait........ Are you using Gmax or 3DS Max? And if Max, what year/version/edition?

If Max, and if new, you will have some hurtles...


EDIT: Ok, I see you have Max.

If you go to the FSX SDK folder, and go to the primary folder there, you should see a program there called ConfigSDK.exe. Running that will usually 'link' all SDK programs and items to their main 'network' allowing many tools to function. (Never works for me, but might work for you since you have Max).



I really hope you get it working. I have heard so many people having problems getting Max to work right with FSX. Scary to have so much money on a program and have so many errors getting it to simply export. You can buy two good cars for the price of that program. You would think there would be some state of the art powerful linking system for it when such a huge amount of money is riding on it....


Bill
 
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I truly don't understand. It took less than thirty minutes for me to configure both Max8 and GMax for FSX... :scratchch

BTW Bill, you can also use the top menu bar to find the "Run Scripts" command.
 
Sorry guys, I have been at the Kennedy Space Center for the past 3 days. I have a seven year old daughter who either wants to be an astronaut or a veterinarian. Sometimes she says she wants to be an astronaut veterinarian... :rolleyes: :) So we took her over for a rocket launch, tour of KSC, and a luncheon and question/answer session with a real astronaut. Needless to say she came away from it all with stars in her eyes, so to speak. I have never seen her so thrilled about anything after a 3d Imax movie that featured a little girl growing up to travel to the moon. :)


At any rate, I have converted everything to FS textures. I'm assuming here that Aces Tools and FS Tools are the same thing here and the Export LOD tool equates to the FSTools Export tool. I don't think it's the paths that are causing me trouble. More likely I'm getting ahead of myself somewhere and am skipping over some basic stuff. I did what you said about putting the 3dsMax 7 folder in the Max directory and that seemed to help a bit, Bill.

When I verified my model, I came up with a whole list of flaws, and have narrowed them down to the following:

Broken GUID or Friendly Name
Multiple Root Nodes
Missing FS Shaders

See the attachments below to see what was indicated for each file.

This all raises a few questions, such as what are 'Root Nodes' and why are they bad? Having selected a GUID earlier, do I need to keep the same one or can I just assign them freely? And how (in a nutshell) do FS Shaders work?

I am making progress, a little at a time...


Kevin
 

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Hi Kevin,

Refer to the Page "New Aircraft Procedures" in chapter 'Environment Kit -> Modeling SDK' of the SDK-documentation.

Greetz, Felix
 
Regarding your questions:
  • Root Nodes: Your Max Scene is organized in a hierarchy. At the top of each and every .max file is a <Scene Root>. Everything else is a child of this Top Node. Then come your objects and materials, etc., all being children of <Scene Root>. Now, all the nodes/objects directly underneath the <Scene Root> are called 'Root Nodes', even though they are not the actual root of the hierarchy. This is because you wouldn't be able to change the <Scene Root> anyway, so just pretend it isn't there... To export your aircraft correctly to FSX/DirectX-format, the SDK requires a particular file hierarchy/organization, this is described on the aforementioned SDK-doc.
  • GUIDs: Globally Unique IDentifiers have to be generated by some capable tool (i.e. guidgen) if you want them to be consistent. The ACES-Tools incorporate a GUID-Generator. Click 'Create'-Button next to the GUID-textbox in the 'File Properties'-rollout of the 'ExportLOD' Tool.
  • FSX-shaders: Open Material editor in Max (hotkey: 'M') and click on the material template button next to the material's name textbox. Default is 'Standard'. In the now appearing list, select 'FlightSimX', hit 'OK'. You now have a FSX-material to tweak and apply to your objects. This is necessary because ACES defined some custom properties in their shaders, which need additional information stored in the material (Bloom, etc...).

Felix (now turning off "Klugscheisser"-mode...)
 
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Translating the issue of "root node" into something more comprehensible...

Think of the entire scene as though it were a folder structure on your hard drive...

The "root" of any file system is the highest level, for example C:\ is the "root" of your primary hard drive.

In this case, all FS aircraft models must have one of two "names" for the root node:

exterior -or- interior

So, to properly organize your scene, Link all objects to the "root node" name:
Code: 
exterior
   fuselage
   wings
   etc.

It becomes a bit more complex if you are planning to include LODs (multiple Levels of Detail objects) in your compiled model, but since you are building a simple, User Flown aircraft, LODs are just a complication you don't need to worry about at this time! :D
 
Ok, I think I have it... I started with the smaller parts and directed them upwards to the larger ones with the fuselage as the final part. I deleted the cockpit for now (I have it saved as a separate scene) and came up with no problems on the Root Node side of things. How can I view this hierarchy?

Kevin
 
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kdryan said:
Ok, I think I have it... I started with the smaller parts and directed them upwards to the larger ones with the fuselage as the final part. I deleted the cockpit for now (I have it saved as a separate scene) and came up with no problems on the Root Node side of things. How can I view this hierarchy?

Kevin
Click to expand...

The simplest (for *me*) is to click on the parts selection button on the tool bar, and then choose the hierarchy (show hierarchy) that will show the parts in the hierarchy tree order.

There may be other ways, but remember, with gmax, I'm just like the kid sticking his foot in the surf as it laps the sand. I'm not even to the point of treading water.
 
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