Model Design

[OleBoy]

This topic is for those with skills to design quality models. If needed, and to narrow things down, a building to be specific.
I want a hanger modeled to my specifications. A hanger I can place where I want it to be, anywhere in FSX.
I want the mesh so I can texture it to my likings, along with the source when it is finished. I may want updates done to the hanger in the future.

I don't necessarily want to pay someone else to do this. I will to get one modeled that I draw up.
Something else to consider, I am proficient at doing repaints. I can offer my services in exchange for yours.


Respond here or by private message.
**Please do not respond unless you can commit to the request.

This is my design.
http://imageshack.us/a/img823/1690/obps6232011.jpg
http://imageshack.us/a/img703/7708/hanger3fsx.jpg

[Lionheart]

Hey OleBoy,

Are you saying you would just like help on how to get that thing in FS?

Nice looking private hanger. A little bit of Alpine design.

[OleBoy]

Happy Thanksgiving, Bill.

I'll share a bit of the saga with a rather lengthy answer.

The images above are a couple shots I designed and modeled while messing around. That program Google Sketch-up, what a neat program. The more I messed with it, the more intrigued and elaborate I went in the designing stages. Something I attempted to do when I had the time. One shot there of it is in FSX, though it would never get finished the way I wanted it to be. Let's just say it had issues an eye could not see unless it was loaded in the modeling program. I planned having the hanger doors animated and operable by tuning the radio. At the time that was a feature not attainable within the program. I turned off the lights and left my project behind. I saved the model files just in case. Today I was browsing my hard drive for textures. My project files, there they were. They brought a very gratifying smile to my face when I saw them again.

In reality (no pun intended) I need to have someone create a model for me from scratch.

[OleBoy]

After my last post I decided to re-install Sketchup so I could load the model and pull dimensions from the design. As I was going around the model I was finding areas I had forgotten to texture. One thing led to another, next I found I was exporting, and importing into MCX. The DAE imported fine. Draw calls minimized as intended, and the MTE also worked as it should. After that I ran into a show stopper. The DAE will not export due to complexity. Oh, it exports. @ zero bytes. Is there a work around for exporting detailed models?

Dimus, if you read this (or anyone knowledgeable with Sketchup), is there a solution?

As seen in MCX.
http://img594.imageshack.us/img594/5494/imptomcx.jpg

[Lionheart]

Francois makes FS Scenery all the time with this program.

Have you gone into FSDeveloper.com to ask questions on how to export this into FS? You might be surprise at how easy it is. I think MCX (ModelConverterX) by Arno will conver this directly to MDL format, and then you run it through the BGLC-9 compiler with the location XML to create a proper BGL file.

You are almost there!

Bill

[OleBoy]

Francois makes FS Scenery all the time with this program.

Have you gone into FSDeveloper.com to ask questions on how to export this into FS? You might be surprise at how easy it is. I think MCX (ModelConverterX) by Arno will conver this directly to MDL format, and then you run it through the BGLC-9 compiler with the location XML to create a proper BGL file.

You are almost there!

Bill

Francois, I'll be darn. I do recall speaking with him about scenery and whatnot a while back. I did not even think of him being relative about GS. Maybe he will see this topic at some point.

Concerning FSdeveloper, I found after reading a few posts that MCX does in-fact have an issue exporting high detail models. He was going to look into it. I was going to wait to hear more.

[Grafmann]

OleBoy,

There is a limitation in the MCX exporter. It gives an error message when the number of texture vertices exceeds 65,535, then goes right ahead & writes a .mdl file with 0 bytes as you have described above. Check near the bottom of the Event Log for error messages when you export. Perhaps this is causing your problem.

I'm using the stable release of MCX (1.3.0). The latest development release may be able to handle more complex models, I don't know.

In any case Arno, the creator of MCX, & moderator at FSDeveloper.com is the expert, I'm just an amateur.

Goodluck,
Grafmann

[OleBoy]

OleBoy,

There is a limitation in the MCX exporter. It gives an error message when the number of texture vertices exceeds 65,535, then goes right ahead & writes a .mdl file with 0 bytes as you have described above. Check near the bottom of the Event Log for error messages when you export. Perhaps this is causing your problem.

I'm using the stable release of MCX (1.3.0). The latest development release may be able to handle more complex models, I don't know.

In any case Arno, the creator of MCX, & moderator at FSDeveloper.com is the expert, I'm just an amateur.

Goodluck,
Grafmann

My model is far too complex for flight simulator. It has a vertice count of nearly 400,000. It was fun designing it. Back to the modeling board!

[Dimus]

I haven't run into this issue ever. I guess you have to simplify it. Try using textures instead of polys for the details.

In normal circumstances I would have offered my services to design your hangar as I like your idea, but these days are extremely busy at work and will be so for at least the next 3-4 months. PM me your email and I can send you some examples of objects that might be of help as reference.

[roger-wilco-66]

OleBoy,

There is a limitation in the MCX exporter. It gives an error message when the number of texture vertices exceeds 65,535, then goes right ahead & writes a .mdl file with 0 bytes as you have described above. Check near the bottom of the Event Log for error messages when you export. Perhaps this is causing your problem.

I'm using the stable release of MCX (1.3.0). The latest development release may be able to handle more complex models, I don't know.

In any case Arno, the creator of MCX, & moderator at FSDeveloper.com is the expert, I'm just an amateur.

Goodluck,
Grafmann

That's 65k vertices _per_ single drawcall (vertex stream / vertex buffer), not for the overall model. This is a limit that comes from FSX and the xtomdl compiler. There's nothing MCX can change here.

But there are a few tricks. Oleboy, reducing drawcalls batches the texture vertices together and therefore you can exceed that limit, expecially when MCX has to batch solid colors together and bake them into a texture. If you open the original (not drawcall optimized) file in MCX, have a look at the model properties, there's a table that tells you how many vertices are assigned to each drawcall. If you already exceed the limit here, you'll have to go back to the 3d design and make some fundamental changes here.
One of the problems that occur in that matter come from assigning solid colors (no textures) to 3d models. This should be avoided from the beginning for various reasons and can cause these problems when you bake the colors to a texture in the MCX drawcall optimizer as mentioned above. So if your model has solid colors, replace them with textures in SU. In GMAX / 3DS I'd optimize the model by welding vertices to reduce their number and so on but I don't know SU enough to give any tips here.

Edit: when you simplify the model, have a look at all cylindrical objects. These can have relativly high vertex numbers when they have too many horizontal and vertical segments, and that number explodes when texturing occurs. The same goes for cube objects. Check how many segments / vertices are used here. Just from looking at the object, my feeling is that 400k is way too much for a relativly simple object like that.

My 2ct as a fledgling GMAX user,
Mark

[roger-wilco-66]

Francois makes FS Scenery all the time with this program.

Have you gone into FSDeveloper.com to ask questions on how to export this into FS? You might be surprise at how easy it is. I think MCX (ModelConverterX) by Arno will conver this directly to MDL format, and then you run it through the BGLC-9 compiler with the location XML to create a proper BGL file.

You are almost there!

Bill

Exactly. You can easily export it directly as a FSX mdl file, in the newer beta versions of MCX even directly into a single-file archive BGL. You might have to correct textures though (power of 2) or convert them to dxt-bmps or better dds format prior to the export.

Cheers,
Mark

[OleBoy]

I haven't run into this issue ever. I guess you have to simplify it. Try using textures instead of polys for the details.

In normal circumstances I would have offered my services to design your hangar as I like your idea, but these days are extremely busy at work and will be so for at least the next 3-4 months. PM me your email and I can send you some examples of objects that might be of help as reference.

Thanks for popping in, Dimus.

Polys are something I didn't even think about when I started messing with GS. Manual?, Read? Read what? I merely opened the program and learned as I went. Before I knew it I had built something. And it looked good.
That approach and continued method got great results, but it was entirely not practical for an FSX model. I can't believe I managed to get the model exported and useable in FSX back when I did, even if it was missing some textures.
I won't give up on the design. I like it. I'll have to change how I build it with textures applied. Now I know "how" to do this. Because the way the textures are tiled threw me a curve. I did not realize just one of those tiles could be repositioned to the exact area. Manual?, Read? Read what? :blind: LOL!


That's 65k vertices _per_ single drawcall (vertex stream / vertex buffer), not for the overall model. This is a limit that comes from FSX and the xtomdl compiler. There's nothing MCX can change here.

But there are a few tricks. Oleboy, reducing drawcalls batches the texture vertices together and therefore you can exceed that limit, expecially when MCX has to batch solid colors together and bake them into a texture. If you open the original (not drawcall optimized) file in MCX, have a look at the model properties, there's a table that tells you how many vertices are assigned to each drawcall. If you already exceed the limit here, you'll have to go back to the 3d design and make some fundamental changes here.
One of the problems that occur in that matter come from assigning solid colors (no textures) to 3d models. This should be avoided from the beginning for various reasons and can cause these problems when you bake the colors to a texture in the MCX drawcall optimizer as mentioned above. So if your model has solid colors, replace them with textures in SU. In GMAX / 3DS I'd optimize the model by welding vertices to reduce their number and so on but I don't know SU enough to give any tips here.

Edit: when you simplify the model, have a look at all cylindrical objects. These can have relativly high vertex numbers when they have too many horizontal and vertical segments, and that number explodes when texturing occurs. The same goes for cube objects. Check how many segments / vertices are used here. Just from looking at the object, my feeling is that 400k is way too much for a relativly simple object like that.

My 2ct as a fledgling GMAX user,
Mark

Draw calls were a major hit for the model. 28 in total. Even after running the MTE it didn't help much. And there were a LOT of solid colors.
As for the cylindrical objects, not needed. But the LOOKED good! LOL I confess, I LIKE details. I just can't have them the way I design them in. I'm taking a different approach using hig-rez textures laid on simple exteriors. It will take some doing. And PATIENCE. I'll get it sorted eventually.


Exactly. You can easily export it directly as a FSX mdl file, in the newer beta versions of MCX even directly into a single-file archive BGL. You might have to correct textures though (power of 2) or convert them to dxt-bmps or better dds format prior to the export.

Cheers,
Mark

Thanks for the assistance, Mark. Regardless if you have much SU knowledge. You ARE trying to help.
I'm in the process of creating a texture template in Adobe Photoshop that I can export/use. I'm sure that will help drawcalls immensely.

Mr. Ortis, Bill, I can't forget you. I almost did. Any help you can muster goes under the ole hat. Thanks :)

Grafmann, thank you. All the input I receive helps!

[Lionheart]

What some people do is have very small squares on a texture sheet, and they will assign parts to that small area on their UVW Mappings. But.... It tends to look a bit basic if they are large areas on a model (like a big wall).. I found that shading areas really helps with their realism, but with super small parts, those small squares in a large texture sheet really help.


To get around the texture per 65,K Limit, you can create Copies of your material into 2, 3, 6, 8, etc, to accomodate the entire model. Just note that you must change some setting on each material a fraction of an amount to make them truly different or it will not count as a new material. Example, change shine from say 20 to 21, for one, repeat with 22 as the second copy, 23 for the third copy, etc.


I have put some very complex shapes and assemblies in FS. Parked planes, army tanks in groups of 20, supply depots with tons of vehicles and oil drums and buildings, etc. So one hanger should be no big deal, getting it in there. Just remember in the future to be easy on Polygons. You do not want 50,000 polygons in a single fire extinguisher. ;)



Bill

[stiz]

if you want you can send me a .obj or .3ds version (MCX can do that) i could build it and get it all built, textured, exported and useable for you. It'll be done in 3ds max mind you. Anyways its a pretty simple shape so shouldnt take long to do :)

[rdaniell]

Here's a small tip that I stumbled upon that I thought some of you'll might not be aware of.....If you don't want all your windows lighting up at night, then use a slightly different window texture with a unique name for the ones you want to light up. Just apply the LM texture to that texture.

RD

[OleBoy]

What some people do is have very small squares on a texture sheet, and they will assign parts to that small area on their UVW Mappings. But.... It tends to look a bit basic if they are large areas on a model (like a big wall).. I found that shading areas really helps with their realism, but with super small parts, those small squares in a large texture sheet really help.

To get around the texture per 65,K Limit, you can create Copies of your material into 2, 3, 6, 8, etc, to accomodate the entire model. Just note that you must change some setting on each material a fraction of an amount to make them truly different or it will not count as a new material. Example, change shine from say 20 to 21, for one, repeat with 22 as the second copy, 23 for the third copy, etc.

I have put some very complex shapes and assemblies in FS. Parked planes, army tanks in groups of 20, supply depots with tons of vehicles and oil drums and buildings, etc. So one hanger should be no big deal, getting it in there. Just remember in the future to be easy on Polygons. You do not want 50,000 polygons in a single fire extinguisher. ;)

Bill

I appreciate the info, Bill. I'll be visiting this topic frequently with all the knowledge it contains. Great reference!
But, WHOA there big fella. You're a well seasoned vet when it comes to modeling. Me, I'm learning to walk yet. :icon_lol:


if you want you can send me a .obj or .3ds version (MCX can do that) i could build it and get it all built, textured, exported and useable for you. It'll be done in 3ds max mind you. Anyways its a pretty simple shape so shouldnt take long to do :)

I duly appreciate your offer Stiz. Although the model was already imported into 3DSmax. It's a godforsaken mess I tell ya! The only comment I can say to that is, I'm as green as an UN-ripe apple when it comes to modeling. It's not worth the time to dissect.
I took some time and really studied the design. Took some measurements, and started fresh. The modeling and textures seem to be going together fairly smooth. It's starting to look like something again. I'm about half done with it. And, it exports fine so far.


Here's a small tip that I stumbled upon that I thought some of you'll might not be aware of.....If you don't want all your windows lighting up at night, then use a slightly different window texture with a unique name for the ones you want to light up. Just apply the LM texture to that texture.

RD

Good tip RD!! :salute:

Here's the new model in it's current state.
http://img255.imageshack.us/img255/518/wipdp.jpg

[anthony31]

As for the cylindrical objects, not needed. But the LOOKED good! LOL I confess, I LIKE details. I just can't have them the way I design them in. I'm taking a different approach using hig-rez textures laid on simple exteriors. It will take some doing. And PATIENCE. I'll get it sorted eventually.


No need to throw the baby out with the bath water. Cylindrical objects need not take up too many polys. Just make a cylinder with 12 faces and that adds up to no more than 36 triangles (even less if Sketchup makes the top properly). For a scenery object 12 faces is more than enough to show the cylinder, use 16 faces for more detail. Any more than that and you're just wasting polygons. Just looking at the pic of your hangar you shouldn't need more than 10,000 polys to do the whole thing (even with the round posts).

Important thing to remember is to delete any polygons that you will not be able to see, for example, with the posts they will have the curved sides, a top and a bottom. The bottom is pointing to the ground so will never be visible so delete that poly to free up polygons (and more importantly save FSX having to work out whether it needs to draw these polygons or not, ie it improves framerates).

[OleBoy]

I'm dealing with with starting over fairly well. A different approach. The correct way.

This is the new hanger.

The upper wall is a headache. I'll get it eventually.
http://imageshack.us/a/img16/5195/obh5.jpg
http://imageshack.us/a/img32/6581/obh6.jpg
http://imageshack.us/a/img708/2121/obh7.jpg
http://imageshack.us/a/img811/5354/obh8.jpg

And it imports to MCX, and exports as a .MDL :)
http://imageshack.us/a/img849/483/obhmcx.jpg

[N2056]

The key to successful modeling is easy.
If you want it bad enough you will find a way to make it happen. :icon_lol:
Okay...maybe not that simple, but you are working in the right direction, and learning something in the process. Looking good so far! :jump:

[Francois]

I am late to the party as usual......... and assorted people here know MORE than I could tell ya anyway ! Looking good and I am thrilled that you are learning too.... like I am :-)
It's just that 3D modelers need more lives than just one..... 3 would be nice :icon_lol:

[Lionheart]

Francois has been busy. He runs his own sim business, is an editor for several magazines, runs with a running group, plays tennis in competitions, overlooks sim payware projects, and is currently creating a gigantic 'Normandy WWII Landing Scenery' package complete will all the landing craft (ships) and things. (And he and his lovely wife tour the country sides on their motorcycle as much as humanly possible).



But... Francois knows about how to compile scenery from Sketchup where we do not. :(



So, did you win that last Tennis match?

[Grafmann]

OleBoy,

Nice to see you are still making progress, keep at it, you'll get there. The only other thing I thought of in the meantime was a reminder that Google Sketchup can create an Outer Shell which you might use to simplify your model. I wasn't sure if you had a lot of interior features in the upper room for example, that you might want to delete if you just wanted to look at your hanger from outside. After looking at it again though, it seems obvious that you do want to be inside looking out, at least on the bottom level anyway, so I don't think you'll get much benefit from creating a shell. It looks like you are on a better track now rebuilding the model & deleting unnecessary details.

Also thanks to Mark (Roger-Wilco-66) et all for the correction, & teaching me (us) something new, it's always appreciated.

[Francois]

LOL Bill !!! Yes, we won ! :icon_lol:

As for geting Sketchup into FSX: I have the best teacher and coach you could possibly imagine: Arno himself ! :applause:

Now to learn all the rest of the design stuff......... if you don't hear from me in 10 years or so, then call the cavalry!

[OleBoy]

I seem to be having some trouble. The model starts to export from SU as a .DAE file, then crashes at 57%.

I don't understand. I don't think I'm overlooking anything? The model is very very minimal for poly/vertices. I'm wondering if it has to do with my textures and how many of them there are. They're all of different sizes (custom) and not on one or two sheets. Should I incorporate them all together? I dred doing it that way. Sketchup is not that friendly. Having them all on one or two texture sheets (and applying the textures) will be like finding a needle in a hay stack! Are there any other ways of doing the textures to minimize them?

http://imageshack.us/a/img845/7082/obps4.jpg
http://imageshack.us/a/img441/3961/obps4m.jpg

[Francois]

Not sure of other ways but to have all kinds of separate texture sheets. I put mine on just one 2048 x 2048 sheet and apply them from there. It does mean you have to plan this ahead or do the entire texturing anew ...... :-(

The model does not look so complex that it should have problems exporting. How many different textures do you have?

[OleBoy]

There are 29 textures in all. Each surface being separate. Is this the reason it will not export?
I played things safe as I created my textures. I saved them as PSD for each surface. Easily transferable to one or two if need be. Then the re-mapping. The master template size is 4096x4096 that I'm currently working from. (2048x2048 is likely best.) Keep in mind that I'm learning by trial and error. :)

After pulling a few textures off the template and onto the model, I'm finding that the textures are real blurry. I thought it could be related to the way the file was saved.
I ran several tests, saving it differently each time. The formats tested were, PSD, PNG, and JPEG. Each time the images were very blurry on application.
Is there a particular way the templates need to be saved in, so photo-real clarity is obtained?

One more thing. Windows. I would like to have the appearance of actual glass in the frames like aircraft. Is this possible? Please share the procedures for the application.
I'm sure there's more I want to reflect on. I hope once I get the textures re-mapped I'll be seeing the export process go without a hitch.

Dimus, email received. Very impressive. :salute:

[Grafmann]

I'm not sure if this will solve the problem, but I seem to recall reading somewhere that the maximum texture size for a SketchUp model was 1024. This may be requirement for models that are exported to show up in GoogleEarth (to keep model size small) rather than a limitation within SketchUp itself.

Anyhow, in modeling my house I used 16 textures. Since my digital camera captures images about 3 times larger, I saved a copy & reduced them all to 1024 maximum (wide or tall) with the other dimension proportionate to keep the aspect ratio the same, & they were all .jpg format. I did this before I used them as textures, & of course had to drag to match the corners as normal in SU . It was a bit of work, & tedious, but manageable. With 29 textures you'll have more work than I did. The textures were still pretty sharp, I didn't experience the blurry problem you did. I was able to export to .dae without any problems.

Again, I'm not sure if this is what caused the problem at all, just offering what help I can.

As far as the window glass goes, I know you can assign one of the "translucent" materials in SketchUp; but I have no clue how that will translate into FSX. You may be able to use transparent textures for the windows via the normal alpha channel .dxt or .dds methods used in FSX. You may have to export SU to .dae first, then alter the texture format with Martin Wright's DXTBmp tool, or you may just be able to alter it within the Material Editor while running it thru ModelConverterX. As always, make backup copies & experiment.

[scott967b]

There's a lot of stuff on fsdeveloper on how to do transparency for scenery objects, but it remains a complex area in particular if you want to see things through transparent windows, also how shadowing works There's a basic recipe for doing your material in MCX but you have to be mindful of things like the back faces.

scott s.
.

[OleBoy]

Lets see. I re-did the model, made sure there were no UN-needed areas within the model that did not define the outer shell only, and remade the textures.
All textures were applied from one sheet, size 4096x4096. The model size (SKP) went up dramatically from 19mb, to 87mb. That's not going to work. I'm still having export issues where SU crashes at 57%.
I then reduced the template sizes to 2048x2048 for a test. SU still crashed at 57% on export. I tried saving the texture templates as .JPG, .PNG, .BMP, and PSD. SU still continues to crash.
To further the testing I exported as 3DS fine. Amongst others that also exported without apparent problems. I was unable to test beyond export.

I was able to get the .DAE exported once. The file size was very small, but it did export, and imported into MCX fine. But, there were no textures being displayed on the model when it was displayed.
I also made sure that there were no anomalies prior to export. All cameras, shading guides, etc = OFF so they did not have the chance to get exported with the model. Nothing I try seems to work

Also, there are settings within SU that allow textures to be displayed in high resolution. Not exported as such due to Google model limitations only. This (I think) also affects .MDL files that are made for FSX.

This is frustrating to say the least. I can't seem to find an answer anywhere that's relative to the situation I'm experiencing.

Next phase, re-do the model a third time. Ground up renovation and applying the textures as I progress, export the model after each stage. There has to be a logical answer.

Just to be sure the download/install was not corrupt in some way, I will also re-download and re-install to try to cover all the possibilities.

[rdaniell]

"I was able to get the .DAE exported once. The file size was very small, but it did export, and imported into MCX fine. But, there were no textures being displayed on the model when it was displayed."

Ole Boy, when I export from SketchUp to my scenery project's file, it exports as a .DAE file. When I import the .DAE file into MCX, I don't get any textures showing either. But the textures are there. I then update the texture files from JPGs to DDS and do a drawcall reduction using MCX. I then export the file as a BGL to my scenery project's file. Everything is there including the textures. I then just follow the normal routine of putting the model in the add-on scenery. I finish by using ADEX to place the object. You might want to give it another try as I too was concerned that NO textures showed in MCX.

Oh, I don't use MDL files as I only use the object in a specific scenery add-on.

RD

[stiz]

I duly appreciate your offer Stiz. Although the model was already imported into 3DSmax. It's a godforsaken mess I tell ya! The only comment I can say to that is, I'm as green as an UN-ripe apple when it comes to modeling. It's not worth the time to dissect.


I was actually just gonna build over it. Offer still stands anyway :wavey:

[OleBoy]

I will surely keep your offer in mind, Stiz. :salute:

I think I finally got the model to export correctly and with .DDS textures. Although the drawcalls are rather large. I would like to place it in P3D as this is my sim of choice.
Can anyone tell me what to use or how to go about "placing" it in the location?

Or maybe it best I ask in the appropriate forum or website?

[Dimus]

Excellent Oleboy! (Btw did you get my email?)

To place the object you must first create a bgl file. This I think is now possible with MCX, otherwise you can use other compilers like Librarycreatorxml. Then it depends on how you want it placed and what programs you use for object placement. I make airports so I use ADE. When doing an airport I have already created a folder in my Addon Scenery folder with two subfolders, "Scenery" and "Texture". Put the object bgl in "Scenery" and your textures in "Texture". Then use the ADE object library function to read and place the object in your airport. Once you compile the airport the object will show where you placed it. If you want to place your object on an existing or stock airport you can open the airport with ADE and add your object to it.

If you are not doing an airport then there are other object placement tools that you can use. I don't know them all but I have used SbuilderX in the past. With that you can create bgls that also have the info on the location you want the object placed. This bgl if dropped inside an enabled scenery folder will cause the object to show. Your textures should also be in a valid and enabled "Texture" folder.

Lots of infor on FSDeveloper on all these, but just ask if you need help.

[OleBoy]

Excellent Oleboy! (Btw did you get my email?)

To place the object you must first create a bgl file. This I think is now possible with MCX, otherwise you can use other compilers like Librarycreatorxml. Then it depends on how you want it placed and what programs you use for object placement. I make airports so I use ADE. When doing an airport I have already created a folder in my Addon Scenery folder with two subfolders, "Scenery" and "Texture". Put the object bgl in "Scenery" and your textures in "Texture". Then use the ADE object library function to read and place the object in your airport. Once you compile the airport the object will show where you placed it. If you want to place your object on an existing or stock airport you can open the airport with ADE and add your object to it.

If you are not doing an airport then there are other object placement tools that you can use. I don't know them all but I have used SbuilderX in the past. With that you can create bgls that also have the info on the location you want the object placed. This bgl if dropped inside an enabled scenery folder will cause the object to show. Your textures should also be in a valid and enabled "Texture" folder.

Lots of infor on FSDeveloper on all these, but just ask if you need help.

Dimus,

Things are a bit crazy in the RW and my time to continue the hanger project is intermittent. I've spent some time reading/testing different programs (SBX, ADE) and I find they are dependent on simconnect. Currently my flightsim is a mess due to this not working for quite sometime, so I can not do anything until it gets corrected. Which is happening real soon as I have two new SSD drives arriving tomorrow. I will be doing a complete reformat/reinstall. Unless there is a way to place the hanger by lat/lon manually as a quick test.

The tools I bought for use in FSX, are currently not P3D compatible.

[rdaniell]

Ole Boy, just open ADEX and then open the airport where you want to place the hanger. You can do this by using the open with bgl function. Then just manually place the hanger, compile and open FSX. The hanger should be there. Most likely it won't be exactly where you want it but, it will be in FSX. (I left out a few steps but, I expect you are proficient at modifying airports.)

I have one airport that I use to test my model objects. When I'm satisfied with it, I then place it at the airport where I want it.

RD

[OleBoy]

Ole Boy, just open ADEX and then open the airport where you want to place the hanger. You can do this by using the open with bgl function. Then just manually place the hanger, compile and open FSX. The hanger should be there. Most likely it won't be exactly where you want it but, it will be in FSX. (I left out a few steps but, I expect you are proficient at modifying airports.)

I have one airport that I use to test my model objects. When I'm satisfied with it, I then place it at the airport where I want it.

RD

An accomplished repainter, yes. A modeler, I can make something that looks the part and make the textures for. Anything beyond those are completely new territory for me. And I'll add, very frustrating to have to learn on the fly. I managed to get the model in P3D. There are no textures showing on it for some reason. Dunno why as the .DDS textures are in the texture folder under the scenery folder. And the scale is way too small.

RD?, interested in helping me (place it for me) get it where it needs to be? I'll send the .BGL and textures to your email. I'd be very grateful for your help.
I'd like it intermingled in my Orbx PNW at either Centralia/Chehalis, or KHQM. I don't recall if you have the Orbx stuff or not.

[Dimus]

In MCX you have to assign the dds textures to all materials using the material editor before exporting the model. A good idea is to put the dds textures in the right Texture folder in your install and then in MCX material editor point each one to that location and export once done. The texture name is close to the end on the long list of properties in the material editor. Each one you assign will turn checkered in the model view in MCX, don't worry, this is normal. It will look OK if you export it and reload the mdl or bgl.

[rdaniell]

RD?, interested in helping me (place it for me) get it where it needs to be? I'll send the .BGL and textures to your email. I'd be very grateful for your help. I'd like it intermingled in my Orbx PNW at either Centralia/Chehalis, or KHQM. I don't recall if you have the Orbx stuff or not.

Sure...Look in your p.m. box for my e-mail address. I don't have any Orbx stuff but I can put it at KHQM for you to look at.

RD

[OleBoy]

Email sent. One way or another, either/or. I would just like to physically "see" my model in fsim as it is in SU.
Your help is appreciated.

[OleBoy]

My first Sketchup model, finally makes it's way into my virtual world. This would not have happened without the help of Dimus wanting to help. I'm very thankful for that.
Getting something I created in the simulator has been on my mind for a couple years now.

Getting the model in the simulator was difficult for me. I seemed to have issues with the textures not showing. Dimus, being the kind, helpful type, offered to help.
I accepted that help in a desperate sort of way. Hoping someone with more knowledge could figure out, or fix the model to make it export as it needed to be.

Dimus, I think you had your hands full taking on my project. You never really implied so, although I know it had issues aside from just textures.
I will learn this process of modeling and getting it in the simulator. This is very addictive! :icon_lol:

I appreciate your time spent helping (FIXING) my paintshop model. I'm ecstatic. :salute:

A few shots in Prepar3D.

http://imageshack.us/a/img823/2529/obps7.jpg
http://imageshack.us/a/img812/7082/obps4.jpg
http://imageshack.us/a/img211/5417/obps12.jpg
http://imageshack.us/a/img6/6161/obps6.jpg

[roger-wilco-66]

Nice! If this would be mine I'd buy a weed torch and get rid of the grass growing in my shop.
Just kidding, nice work, and congrats! :ernae:

How did you place it? If you have anomalies like 3rd party scenery elements showing through, you might want to raise the area with a flatten poly so it sits elevated above the custom grass or runway elements. You'll need to make a taxi ramp with vertices that have a z value (elevation) so you can access it without bumps / visual anomalies or even crashes if it's too high. Just a thought.



Cheers,
Mark

[OleBoy]

Nice! If this would be mine I'd buy a weed torch and get rid of the grass growing in my shop.
Just kidding, nice work, and congrats! :ernae:

Cheers,
Mark

LOL! Until I learn more of the process's involved the weeds will keep growing. I don't recall what it was placed with. It does have issues. Issues I can live with. I've got a lot to learn.

[Dimus]

Glad it works Oleboy. It really was not a big deal, I was lucky to discover those "inefficient" objects quite soon.

I just made a bgl using the MCX convert and place wizard putting it where Oleboy wanted it. It happened that there was a lot of ORBX grass growing there.:icon_lol:

I just did not want to mess with changing the scenery at all at this stage, just add an object.