Difference between revisions of "Ground polygon creation with GMax"

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[[Category:GMax]]
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[[category:Modeling]]
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[[category:Scenery Design]]
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{{Infobox-Applicable-FSVersion
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| FSXI = false
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| FSXA = true
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With Gmax you are able to lay down surface polygons very precisely with your own custom textures.  
 
With Gmax you are able to lay down surface polygons very precisely with your own custom textures.  
 
  
 
== Prerequisites ==
 
== Prerequisites ==
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* Press the delete button on the keyboard
 
* Press the delete button on the keyboard
 
* Click on UVW mapping in the modifier stack to see the result including the texture.
 
* Click on UVW mapping in the modifier stack to see the result including the texture.
 
[[category:Scenery design]]
 

Latest revision as of 12:31, 24 October 2020

With Gmax you are able to lay down surface polygons very precisely with your own custom textures.

Prerequisites

  • The FS2002 gamepack is needed if you really want to integrate these polygons into the surface. If another gamepack is used the shadow below the airplane will not be visible on the polygons. See the tutorial Ground polygons with GMax how to integrate the polygons into the surface
  • A background image is needed to draw the polygons on.

Lay down the background image

  • Start Gmax and lay down the background image with the use of a Plane object.
  • Move the background image to a level just below zero. I use a Z value of -0.1m. All other polygons which are drawn later on will be at a level of 0 meters and will therefore be visible on top of the background image all the time.

Create an initial polygon

Don't worry about the precise shape and create the initial polygon with as few points possible. Just create a rough polygon, because editing the shape afterwards is very easy. If you need to create a rounded corner, do this with just 3 points. In one of the next few steps this will be automatically converted to a nice round corner.

Create the borders of the polygon

  • Select the Shapes button on the create tab
  • Select the Line button

    Ground polygons gmax 01.jpg

  • Create the borders of the polygon (a spline object):
    • Click on the first spot of an area where a polygon should be created.
    • Click on the next spot, etc.
    • Click on the first spot to close the object.
    • Click Yes at the following popup

      Ground polygons gmax 02.jpg

Fill up the polygon

  • Select the create tab
  • Select the modifier Cap Holes from the Modifier List
  • Notice the modify stack

    Ground polygons gmax 03.jpg

Apply a custom texture

  • Be sure the polygon is selected
  • Add the modifier UVW Map from the Modifier List
  • Start the Material Navigator
  • Select File System on the left hand of the Material Navigator and browse to the directory of the texture you want to apply.
  • Click once on the texture, so that the borders around the texture get red. Then click and drag the texture on top of the polygon.

    Ground polygons gmax 04.jpg

  • Use the usual options to modify the display of the texture on the polygon, like:
    • the U and V Tile
    • gizmo of the UVW mapping in the modifier stack in combination with the move and rotate mode
    • Length and Width
  • Sample:

    Ground polygons gmax 05.jpg

Smooth rounded corners

  • Be sure the polygon is selected
  • Select the plus sign in front of Line in the modifier stack. Don't worry about the texture which will disappear.
  • Select Vertex
  • Select a vertex and right click on it
  • Select Smooth or Bezier Corner:
    • Smooth is a bit static rounded corner, but is sufficient a lot of times.
    • Bezier corner gives you the most flexibility by using the green points at the end of small line which is attached to the point. Move those green points and see how it behaves.
  • If you use two or more smooth or bezier corner points next to each other, then you can create the most complex curves within a few seconds with a minimum of points.
  • Real smooth rounded corners are created by using three points and convert these to smooth or bezier corners.

    Ground polygons gmax 06.jpg

  • Click on UVW mapping in the modifier stack to see the result including the texture.

Add points to the polygon

After creating the rough polygon and make some corners smooth, you probably want to add some points to the polygon to refine the shape.

  • Be sure the polygon is selected
  • Select the plus sign in front of Line in the modifier stack.
  • Select Vertex
  • Select the Insert button in the Modify tab
  • Click on the line of the poly where you want to add the point. This will not immediately add the point but will attach the line to the mouse pointer.
  • Click on the exact spot where you want to add the point. Add as many points you want.
  • Press the <esc> button on the keyboard to finish adding points.
  • Click on UVW mapping in the modifier stack to see the result including the texture.

Delete points from the polygon

  • Be sure the polygon is selected
  • Select the plus sign in front of Line in the modifier stack.
  • Select Vertex
  • Select the vertex which should be deleted
  • Press the delete button on the keyboard
  • Click on UVW mapping in the modifier stack to see the result including the texture.