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MSFS20 The Basics of creating an aircraft for MSFS 2020

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isaacmx50

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mexico
Hey all, as stated in the title, I am really interested in getting the basics to create an airplane. In the past I worked as a 3d modeler and texturer and have some knowledge of coding, so the problem is not the design but the huge process and workflow. I tried reading the SDK documentation with the sample plane, but I cannot even understand why is there .bin files in the "model" folder, I also tried to export fome FBX to .gltf and replace it in a plane, but it doesnt render anything.

Any insight would really be appreciated!
 
Hey isaacmx50,
I started like someone in the forum grated me, with the Simple Aircraft from the SDK folder. In FS2020 create a new project with the Developer mod "file path of your choice"
create a simobject there. And insert the Simple Aircraft(the Simobject folder with all cfg's) into this folder Packagesource. the file path looks like this for me (PackageSources\SimObjects\Airplanes\"My Airplane name")
Copy this folder completely so that you can use the package bulider in the developmod.
I have gradually replaced the files with mine, I work with Blender, only I have problems with the export because my glFT files are empty even though they have a data size of over 2mb :scratchch and have no .bin file think you need this for FS2020, I don't know either, maybe because the game can do more with it:scratchch :D
 
There's three ways a glTF model can be encoded. It can be a purely binary file .glb, and embedded .gltf or a seperated format in which both a gltf and a bin file are being generated. In the latter case, the bin file contains your geometry information - the position of each vertice, the polygons, uvs, etc. The glTF file is a textfile of the json type, so you can read it with any ordinary text editor.
If you really want to dig into the structure of the glTF format, I can recommend the Khronos gitHub. However, if you just want to create, grab a 3d modelling tool like Blender 2.83, install the toolkit and get cookin'!
Dean and I compiled a short primer that should help with the first steps.

@BlackOdinAN2 check whether or not you have "selected object" ticked in the "include" section of the exporter. If you do, it'll only export objects that you have currently selected in the editor. As mentioned in the support thread, check out this:
www.fsdeveloper.com

MSFS20 - Blender Export settings to get things done.

Since this seems to pop up over and over again, let me show you how it's done. 1. Select the objects you would like to export. Press "A" if you want to export everything: 2. Go to File->Export and select the "extended glTF 2.0 for MSFS. 3. A wild export-dialog appears. 4. Make changes to...
www.fsdeveloper.com www.fsdeveloper.com
 
How should we arrange the model? Should we animate the control surfaces? How do thsoe tie in with the .xml structure?
 
You give the animation a name, plop the template in the XML and reference the animation name as a target.
 
BlackOdinAN2 said:
Hey isaacmx50,
I started like someone in the forum grated me, with the Simple Aircraft from the SDK folder. In FS2020 create a new project with the Developer mod "file path of your choice"
create a simobject there. And insert the Simple Aircraft(the Simobject folder with all cfg's) into this folder Packagesource. the file path looks like this for me (PackageSources\SimObjects\Airplanes\"My Airplane name")
Copy this folder completely so that you can use the package bulider in the developmod.
I have gradually replaced the files with mine, I work with Blender, only I have problems with the export because my glFT files are empty even though they have a data size of over 2mb :scratchch and have no .bin file think you need this for FS2020, I don't know either, maybe because the game can do more with it:scratchch :D
Click to expand...

have export model into *.bin and *.glTF, checked using Babylon sandbox, it rendered (with animation). insert to Community folder, aircraft model not rendered.

modify model.cfg and add model.xml (as per SDK sample and @Vitus sample from another thread)
is there any I had missed?

try to use project aircraft sample(no edit), project loaded but no aircraft added, eventhough "resync" several time.
 
Did you build the package as well? I think a simple resync is not enough when you change some of the more fundamental things of the package. I'm yet to find out when exactly a rebuild is required, but in this case I'm pretty sure that it is.
 
alright I can manage this *.glTF, by build a package. but it not directly update by resync, need to restart sim. first step passed.
 
You don't copy your package to community until your ready for release

Compile your package with package tool, load Sim, load project and your aircraft is available ️️️
 
OzWookiee said:
Edit cameras.cfg or use the aircraft editor in the Sim. Though it's quite broken with the latest release
Click to expand...

Are you able to get it to work ? With manual edit of cameras.cfg, is the process something like the below ? And do you know which camera in the default list is the Cockpit camera (or do we need to add it ?)
1. Load aircraft in Aircraft Editor, click on Camera tab
2. Select camera to modify
3. Enable Developer Camera and position camera in the required position
4. Click "Get camera" buttons,
5. Open "cameras.cfg" and manually change those values to those reported
6. Reload / Resync ?

Thanks in advance.
 
Hey, EggMan28, I've been hoping someone would do what you did--list the steps that worked for you in fairly simple terms. Thanks for that. What still throws me is how to complete the various fields in Dev mode in the sim. Mainly, the input and output field(s), and how they relate to the project locations on the hard drive. So if you could provide a bit more detail on your step #5 that would be a huge help. I think I've done something wrong there about 10 times, since no success. :( That's a lot of wasted time. LOL.
 
EggMan28 said:
Are you able to get it to work ? With manual edit of cameras.cfg, is the process something like the below ? And do you know which camera in the default list is the Cockpit camera (or do we need to add it ?)
1. Load aircraft in Aircraft Editor, click on Camera tab
2. Select camera to modify
3. Enable Developer Camera and position camera in the required position
4. Click "Get camera" buttons,
5. Open "cameras.cfg" and manually change those values to those reported
6. Reload / Resync ?

Thanks in advance.
Click to expand...

1. Load aircraft in Aircraft Editor, click on Camera tab
2. Select camera to modify
3. Enable Developer Camera and position camera in the required position
4. Click "Get camera" buttons,
5. Save & Resync

;)
 
Hav
bigglesworth said:
Hey, EggMan28, I've been hoping someone would do what you did--list the steps that worked for you in fairly simple terms. Thanks for that. What still throws me is how to complete the various fields in Dev mode in the sim. Mainly, the input and output field(s), and how they relate to the project locations on the hard drive. So if you could provide a bit more detail on your step #5 that would be a huge help. I think I've done something wrong there about 10 times, since no success. :( That's a lot of wasted time. LOL.
Click to expand...

Have updated that thread with more info.

Copy below:

Observations / more details on Step 5:

  • The aircraft need to have unique folder names under the "Package Sources/SimObjects/Airplanes" folder to be able to have more than one custom aircraft in the Community folder later.
  • I change the default "MyCompany_Simple_Aircraft" folder to something I want to use
  • I then click on the "AssetDir" ... button to select that folder instead
  • I should be able to do the same thing for the "OutputDir" ... but selecting the folder doesn't seem to change the values so I manually change it instead.
  • When I click back on the Project and click "Build Package", it should create the output in the "Packages" folder
  • That folder is copied to the "Community" folder and the aircraft should be visible in the game after a restart.
  • Adding thumbnail via the Inspector doesn't seem to add it to the game.
  • I create a "thumbnail.jpg" with 480x270 pixels and copy it to the same folder as aircraft.cfg
  • In "aircraft.cfg", under [FLTSIM.0] section, I have a ui_thumbnailfile ="thumbnail.jpg" line

1599746401182.png
 
OzWookiee said:
1. Load aircraft in Aircraft Editor, click on Camera tab
2. Select camera to modify
3. Enable Developer Camera and position camera in the required position
4. Click "Get camera" buttons,
5. Save & Resync

;)
Click to expand...
That worked, thanks ! I noticed that Cockpit was the "ClosePilot" camera.

1599748166104.png
 
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