Learning AD2K

[aleatorylamp]

Hello Smilo,
OK! Thanks. The tail-skid bleeds through from almost any forward horizontal or forward-upward angle.
I´d put that in so the plane wouldn´t have to drag the tail on the ground, thinking of converting it into a wheel later.

It is obviously un-sequenced, to be found at the end of the FUSE SA in the Tail Assembly.
I suppose taking it out into a separate SA, using a bottom rear-fuslage seal and a Jump Plane instruction it could be fixed.

You mention issues in plural, so there must be more. Let´s see...

Cheers,
Aleatorylamp

[smilo]

nope...as far as i could see,
just the horizontal stabilizers and the skid.

if you want to turn the skid into a wheel,
it's best in it's own sub assembly.
if you want to keep it as is,
within the Tail MDI,
look in the fuse assembly
at the last polygon entry.
just above it, insert a return.
you will also have to name the polygon.
be forewarned, they don't like being named.
check out what happens.
off the top of my head,
i can't remember how to get around it.

at the top of the list,
insert a jump plane
and call the skid and everything else in the sub assembly

[smilo]

as stated above,
one bleed issue is
"the stabilizers digging into the fuselage"
this is clearly illustrated in the screen shot,
by the left stabilizer digging in...notice, the right stab
has been repaired.

the red line is the plane of the fuselage side
where the stabilizer and fuselage intersect.

so, why does the left stabilizer bleed
through the left side of the fuselage?

in the second screen shot, for ease of viewing,
just the right side fuselage panel is visible,
along with lines drawn to indicate the stabilizer/fuselage
intersection planes with the horizontal stabilizers.

notice how the inside of the left stab crosses the line.
this overlap is the source of the bleed problem.

when a jump plane is created properly,
the sim viewer orders the parts in sequence,
so, from the side, you see
first,the fuselage panel,
second, the stabilizer.

the problem arises because the small inside portion
of the stab protrudes beyond the fuselage panel.
the viewer can't tell how big the stab is.
all it knows is that the stab, in it's entirety,
will be viewed after the panel.

the solution is simple...trim the stabilizer
at the points where it touches the fuselage panel.
both screen shots show the right stabilizer
after it has been trimmed.

of course, there is a caveat...be careful trimming.
if you take too much, there will be the inevitable
"string of pearls" as evidence that a gap exists
between the stabilizer and the fuselage.
accuracy is everything.

if you would like, i will gladly post
a step by step of the modification process.
just let me know.

[aleatorylamp]

Hello Smilo,
Thanks a lot!
Will study and be back later!
BTW, the gear animation not working would be because the jump to the wing is too far maybe? We´ll cross that bridge when we get to it, so it´s not on the menu yet!
Cheers,
Aleatorylamp

[smilo]

excuse me....what gear animation not working?
mine is working just fine.

you are right, we'll jump back to that,
when we finish the task at hand.


UPDATE;
oh gosh, i'm sorry.
i missed your "unanimation" comment in post #170.

i thought there was a glitch on my machine.
for some reason, when i first enter free flight
in the mcubefly, go to altitude in slew, freeze,
and then, try to raise the gear...nothing happens.
is this what happens for you?
if so, change aircraft to, say, the stock bf109e,
raise and lower the gear a couple times.
it works, right?
change aircraft again to the mcubefly3.
try to move the gear...i'll bet it works.
weird glitch.

hey, wait a second...have you just compiled the Tail?
i'll bet you can't find the Mcubefly3 in the cfs aircraft list, right?
unless you've changed the directory path,
ad2k has over written the model and aircraft.cfg files to Tail.
it's a pain to jump back and forth from one 3DM to another

[aleatorylamp]

Hello Smilo.,
Thank you for your concern and attention.
Actually, it is turning out to be a lot of fun, this venture into Ad2000!

On the Ugly100 Tutorial, the gear moves, girating progressivel, to disappear just before stowed.
On the CubeFYI, the whole gear just flips away, so RANGE is not working yet. I thought it may be exceeding the Jump distance limit in bytes.

It´s best I start subdividing the aeroplane into more assemblies now, isn´t it?

Then, if I wanted to make the skirt and wheel remain visible while stowed, I would also have to separate the strut from the Gear SA, but that is not so important for now.

The Stabilizers seem OK, I fixed their roots to be flush with the fuselage sides, working in top view. Rather than selecting the vertices with the "n" key and adjusting with the mouse, I typed the correct values into the chain-editing window.

Now for the tail skid bleed - I can put in a wheel later.
If I do a 3D wheel, I´ll change the main gear to 3D too, but that´s also for later.

After the skid sequencing, we´ll do the animation!

Update: AD2000 confuses things if it uses several builds of the same aircraft with only one Compiling name, so I´ve separated them:
-CubeFly is the original un-sequenced one.
-MCubFly2 is your nicely sequenced one with the externally rectracting gear.
-MCubFly3 is the current, sequenced one being corrected in detail with the normal landing gear.
-CubeFYI will be based on the version we have at present, as soon as I start separating several SA´s into insertable Assemblies.
Perhaps it will be easier to put in a Jump Plane Sequence for the tail skid once the Assemblies have been separated rather than doing it now.

All of these have their own Aircraft in CFS.
Even then, CFS confuses textures, but that´s because of resource saving - if textures have the same name from one aircraft to another, they don´t get exchanged. Repaints of the same texture names can be a bit funny!

Cheers,
Aleatorylamp

[smilo]

connection to soh is iffy at this time.
getting server too busy...pain in the ass.
have lost messages in transit before.
...it's very annoying.
will try to post later.

[smilo]

let's see if this works...
i can only hope the server isn't too busy
and decides to flush my post.

i completely understand creating different models
of the same model...renamed.
you should see all of mine,
both as ad2k 3DM and DMI files,
not to mention, the different compiled models in cfs.

as we've seen, using the same aircraft directory
for compiling different 3DMs has issues.
namely, the cfs aircraft model.cfg, .MDL
and the aircraft.cfg are overwritten
to the name of the current 3DM being compiled.
okay, fine...that makes sense.
but, maybe, i still wanted the over written model
to still be on the cfs aircraft list...but now it's gone.

what to do about it?
sure, i could change the ad2k directory every time,
i want to work with a different model 3DM.
back and forth and back and forth, every time.
sorry, i find that technique cumbersome.

so, what to do to achieve my end?

this morning, i did a little experiment
in the main cfs aircraft folder.
i copied the cubefly aircraft folder
and pasted it back into the main aircraft folder...twice.
then, i renamed one of the copies cubeTAIL,
and the other, cubeMCFLY3.
i can do more as needed as long as i make sure
each new folder has an .air file
of the same name as in the aircraft.cfg and model.cfg.
keeping each name beginning with cube
keeps them all in the same location in the aircraft folder,
cutting down folder search time.

so, what's been accomplished?

each time i compile a 3DM, no matter what it is,
it is sent to the same cubefly folder in cfs.
all i have to do is cut the new cubefly
model folder and the aircraft.cfg
and paste it into the appropriate cubexxx folder.

i think it's a heck of a lot easier,
than changing the directory every time
i work on a different 3DM.

this brings me to another problem,
half the time, when i think we're working
on the same 3DM model...we are not.
for example, i'm working on TAIL bleeds
and you talk about the unanimated gear.
i become confused, because,
back at the mcubefly, mine works just fine.
i didn't know you were talking about a different version.
all i can ask is, can we, please, stay on the same page.
dealing with all the complexities and nuances of ad2k
is far too confusing enough.
i understand the desire to explore,
honest, i do...i encourage it.
but, please understand, i'm easily confused.

time to go make coffee

[aleatorylamp]

Hello Smilo,
I´m still on the same page as you, I haven´t undertaken anything else.
I was just surprised to see the Jump Gear + Range thing not working,
and mentioned it, speculating on whether it was due to an excessively
long Jump.

You had recommended a division into more Assemblies, which I hadn´t
done yet because we haven´t finished with the corrections.

So, I continued to work on the display problems i.e. possible glitches
hidden by textures. Thus, I took away the textures, discovered a few
issues and solved them: Unflipped and/or non-existing panels (not even
in Desk), Stabilizer and Elevator parts pinching the fuselage, all that.

Then you pointed out something else was amiss, and I found the Tail
Skid being obnoxious, and that´s where I´m at now.

However, I don´t know if it is better to split the plane into several assemblies
first, or to tackle this Tail-Skid glitch by inserting a Jump Plane, now. This would
be after the other two present Jump Planes in the Tail Main Code Page, and would tell
the program which of the two, Fuselage or Tailskid, to draw first, depending on
the above/below position relative to the seal plane (which is the bottom
rear-fuselage surface).

The file is still called MCubFly3, because I thought things had to be corrected
before changing the name. I can change it now if need be.

When I commented on the gear un-animation, you were surprised it wasn´t
working and mentioned I should send you the plane to see what was wrong.
It is the same version, the MCubFly3, where my animation doesn´t work properly and yours
does, i.e. mine retracts and stows in a flash, yours has progressive movement.

So, we are doing the same thing, not to worry!
Cheers,
Aleatorylamp

[smilo]

as i see it, at present,
we are on a minimum of two pages,
most likely three...

first page, the Tail,
talking about horizontal stab bleeds,
which have been remedied, and now,
the skip bleed.

second page, an issue with gear "unanimation"...
since our last work was on the Mcubefly3
wing and gear, i thought you were still
having a problem with the animation there.
to which i responded, what? mine works fine.
my mistake...i should assume nothing.

and finally, the third page...
if i am not mistaken, now i understand,
the gear unanimation, the texture issues,
and the "division into more Assemblies"
are proposed within the cubefyi, correct?

in future, i will try to be more understanding
and not overreact when i am confused.
my apologies for doing so in the past.
i will do my best, not to do it again.
although, be forewarned, i'm 70 years old
and old guys are known to be cranky.

about the division into more sub assemblies
to be inserted into the project 3DM.
the initial suggestion was a radical attempt,
in order to isolate the wing/gear assemblies
for ease of visualization,
so you wouldn't have to wade through
all the unrelated main page instructions.
i was under the impression,
the radical proposal was shelved,
since, the same effect was achieved
by calling the wing/gear with gosub instruction.

further, i don't believe this model is complex enough
to warrant more sub assemblies used as MD1 insertions
into the main project. the tail section is more than enough
to demonstrate the Insert Assembly process.

this is, by no means, suggesting that additional sub assemblies
should not be added within the main project.
a prime example would be a tail wheel assembly
if you so choose to add one.
if that should be the case, by all means,
a new sub assembly and jump plane
would, absolutely, be in order.

that said, i don't believe one is necessary
if you decide to keep the skid.
taking care of the skid bleed issue,
can be accomplished within the fuse assembly itself.

so, there you have it...
just another long winded explanation
of my point of view.
once again, my apologies if i ruffled feathers.

[aleatorylamp]

Hello Smilo,
Not to worry at all! It is easy not to understand everything.
I´m 65, and it can get a bit confusing for me too, sorry!

It is easily clarified though, by just saying so, as we can see,
so all the better: Even less of a problem! OK, I get you, and
I´m not upset.

I didn´t understand the radical approach had been discarded.
I had interpreted it as only a manouever to discover and isolate
glitches, but then mistakenly thought, at one point or another,
I would have to divide the model into several different assemblies,
and that this was postponed until after the Tail Assembly clean-up.

OK, clarified! I´m glad the model won´t need splitting. I can do that
on another one in the future. I´ll keep the skid in the Fuse SA of the
Tail Assembly! Excellent. Thanks for the confirmation. That´s my
next planned step.

Come to think of it, it did seem strange to me, having to split up the
model - all that beautiful sequencing you did would have to be re-done!
I should have realized...

I wonder why the animation works for you, with the same Jump Gear
Coding, and not for me... I should have made the un-animation problem
clearer when it happened. My comments on that had been far too short and
easily overlooked! ...Well, we shall see!

Thanks very much,
Cheers
Aleatorylamp

[smilo]

okay, great...it's all good.

let's finish the tail, and then,
look into the gear unanimation, okay?

here's what i did with the skid;

first, in the graphic editor,
make the fuselage bottom panel a seal.

now, open the FUSE SUBASSY, T
scroll to the bottom.
above the RETURN should be two 3 sided GPOLYs
and a GCOLOR above them.
click to highlight the GCOLOR call,
key, Ins, Enter to add a RETURN above the GCOLOR
next, click on the blank space to the immediate left
of the GCOLOR...type SKID and key enter.

okay, we're done with part one.

scroll to the top of the FUSE page.
click on TEXTURE to highlight,
key, Shift (+) Ins to insert a jump plane sequence,

here's what mine looks like;
(ignore the ..... in front of each entry.
they are just a means to get a big indent)

................. JUMP PLANE SKID2FUSE
................. PLANE -4.110, 0.000, 0.096, 0.995
................. GOSUB SKID
................. GOSUB AFTFUSE
................. RETURN
SKID2FUSE GOSUB AFTFUSE
................. GOSUB SKID
................. RETURN
AFTFUSE.....TEXTURE fusaft

and so on and soforth......

of course, i'm assuming you know how
to get a GOSUB ? to call SKID and AFTFUSE.

click on the question mark,
scroll down to the name you want
and then, click on it

be sure to double check your work
to make sure all the calls and instructions
are correct and in the proper positions.

compile and check it out in cfs.

you're done...what's next?

[aleatorylamp]

Hello Smilo,
Thanks a lot! That was fast...

Good! So it won´t even require a separate SA for the skids!
I had just built the seal, and then some visitors came and I had to stop, and now I´m sleepy...
I´d been thinking of putting it in the Main Code Page, but of course, it´s MUCH better in the FUSE SA!
It´s very similar to the spinner/blades/propdisk one I did in the PROP SA. Great stuff!

OK, I´ve written the code in.
Hey... it´s not working, and I have the seal OK at the bottom - and it´s past midnight here!

Wait! I know, there´s a RETURN to be put in before the SKID label!
And Ho, Ho, Ho!, and a bottle of Rum! It´s WORKING!

That´s nice! Thanks again... Of Course!!

More. tomorrow!
G´night,
Aleatorylamp

[smilo]

sleep well.

when you wake up
and start ad2k....WAIT.
before you change the directory,
open TAIL3DM, from the File menu,
select Rename, uncheck the master project box,
click OK, now, click the save icon.
at this point, it's up to you whether to rename back
to check the master project box or not.
i'm going to...we will be going back later for texture mapping
and will want to see the painted model in cfs.

[aleatorylamp]

Hello Smilo,
I understand you mean this as a cautionary
measure, to make sure the Tail section is not
checked as Master - I have always had the
Tail Assembly "master-unchecked" in the box.

Unless of course I haven´t...

OK, then! So it´s time to rename the project to CubeFYI.

Update:
OK, It´s renamed! I also changed some GColours so as not to confuse
it with any previous versions. Once we start working on CubeFYI, I´ll
have all previous versions towed to off-premises storeage.

Very well, it´s Time for Lunch: Guten Apetit!
Cheers,
Aleatorylamp

[smilo]

okay, CubeFYI, it is.

i have downloaded and renamed the MCubFly3.3DM
that i received friday in the MCubFly3 for anim check.zip.
i compiled it without any changes
and looked at it in cfs as CubeFYI in slew mode.
i see no issues with the gear retracting or extending.

EXCEPT...the first time i tried to retract the gear,
key, G nothing happened.
i changed aircraft, key, Alt, A, A, arrow up, Enter
and watched the gear retract on that aircraft.
i then, changed aircraft back to CubeFYI
and the gear was retracted...odd, but, okay fine.
from that point on, i can retract and extend
the gear without issue....very strange, but it works.

when i fly the plane (not in slew) and take off
the gear retracts and extends as it should,
the first time, every time.

[aleatorylamp]

Hello Smilo,
How strange... Thanks for the testing and for the exact info.
On my computers the gear on the same plane, when you´re flying:
Press "G": Now you see it. Press "G": Now you don´t.
I doesn´t matter if you load the plane after another one, or start CFS1 with it.

However, loading Ugly100, whose sample code comes with Tutorial98, compiled
on the same computer, displays a smooth gear animation.

So much for computers and their capacity of displaying animated movement.
They are all to some degree, only aleatory lamps, poor things. Unless of course they aren´t.
Eadweard Muybridge could already do a good job in this aspect towards the end of the 19th Century.

I think I´ll call in a Tarot card-reader, and tell her to bring her crystal ball too,
and while I wait, I´ll have another cup of tea.

Cheers,
Aleatorylamp

[smilo]

yeowzers...that is perplexing.
unless you're running an ancient
or, maybe, hotsy totsy new machine,
i doubt it's a machine issue.
but, i could be mistaken.
i'm running an old xp.

i think at this point,
i would open the model editor for the ugly100
and then, take a screen shot
of the main page gear coding.
save and close.
then open the CubeFYI and open
the model editor to the same place.

now, you want both, side by side
so you can compare the two, up close and personal.
there's got to be some minuscule coding difference,
usually, a misplaced return or some such.

or, just for testing purposes,
go into cfs/aircraft folder
and copy the air file of an aircraft
you know the gear works for. say, the ugly.
paste it into you CubeFYI folder and rename it.
who knows?
at this point, we're grasping at straws.

[aleatorylamp]

Smilo!!
yeowzers, YEOWZERS!
...you are a Genius! It IS the .air file and the gear´s perfect.
How did you know? ...Well, that´s just saved me the psychiatrist´s bill.
OK! So, now that it´s granted, that two plus two is four, all else follows.
Well, well, what do you know...
I still can´t believe it.
Cheers,
Aleatorylamp

[smilo]

"you are a genius" ?
complete with underline and caps?
jeepers...that's pretty serious stuff, thanks.
(don't let it go to your head, milo)


honestly, i think it was luck.
a week or two ago,
when i was messing with the gear animation,
of course it wouldn't work.
somehow, i started thinking about a float plane.
(might have been the 196 in the aircraft list)
obviously, it doesn't have gear.
thinking....muddle, muddle...
maybe i should try a different air file.
there you have it.
i like finding solutions to problems.

anyway...it works...yippie, skippie.
what's next?
the prop?
the whats and whys of vectors?
seals and jump planes?

[aleatorylamp]

Hello Smilo,
OK... indeed! Something was wrong with the .air file.
The gear is checked with 1 (retractable), and the engine is a CFS1 one.
I had got it from my fixed-gear Porokivshikov Twin-Tail model - a slow
easy flier for model observation purposes.

I tried out several different CFS1 .air files like the one from the P47d,
Hubbabubba´s Taifun, and Ivan´s improvement on the AT-9 Jeep,
and they all worked.

With this last one, I decided to put in the new landing gear heights
and convert the 2 engines into one, and the animation was messed
up again! Reverting back to the original Jeep .air file, all was OK again.

Then I went back to the Poroklovshikov .air file, and looked into the
Landing Gear parameters to make it retractable - and I had a shock.
Very embarrassing... very! - and here I was blaming computers....

The Gear cycle time was set at ZERO! ... 0.000!!

What is still a mystery, is why the AT-9 Jeep .air file fails when the twin
engines are turned into one, and the landing gear heights adjusted.

Anyway, I´ve got over the shock now. Life goes on.

The Prop animation is now also doing exactly what the Ugly100 one does
- not very well, but animated after all.

Yes, OK, I´m game for a decent Prop anim! Let´s put in Ivan´s Prop-blur,
perhaps, or any other suggestion that you may have for the prop.

Cheers,
Aleatorylamp

[smilo]

a word (or forty) on air file selection.
i chose the one from a C-202 macchi
for no other reason than it sat
next to the cube on the aircraft selection list.
turns out, it was built with ad2k.

about the prop build;
we have a couple options.
place it in the finished position,
or at 00,00,00 and use a vector
to put it where you want.

i'm leaning toward center,
because it's an opportunity
to practice with vectors.
also, i like building animations on center
because, during the build/test process,
they are easier to view on center.

but, as always, it's your call.

i can see by the clock on the wall,
you are probably in bed.
sleep well.
i'll look for your reply,
either, just before i head off to bed,
or, during my middle of the night jaunt.

[aleatorylamp]

Hello Smilo,
Often it´s my early-early morning jaunt a bit before 6, after which I don´t
go back to bed and make tea and make planes. It´s about 10 pm where you are.

One more word about the change of .air files:
I can´t even use as an excuse because I don´t drink... As I say, it takes
time for the penny to drop. You were using your own .air file ...and then I put
in the non-working CubeFly´s gear parameters AGAIN, so the ZERO cycle time
obviously RE-infected any new .air file again! I can always say "this stupidity
will not happen again", but sooner or later, I know it will.

The Macchi built with AD2k, is it Ivan´s one?

Back to the nitty-gritty:
OK then. Good idea to do a 0,000 vector Prop, because I´ll need it to finish the prop
for at-the-moment-still-propless Pony (Ugly100 in blue).
Lead on, Mc Duff!
(I just looked this up, and Shakespeare really wrote
"Lay on, MacDuff" - there´s always something new!)

Cheers,
Aleatorylamp

P.S. One little glitch on the landing gear:
The lower strut ends contain an "unhidden" end extracted from the Desk SA,
and included in the LGEAR and RGEAR SA´s in the wrong place - in the SKIRT
GOSUB instead of the STRUT gosub, acusing minor bleeds with the wheel.

[smilo]

good morning.
i don't really understand how
a model's gear parameters
can infect an air file.
i'll have to take your word for it.

no, the c-202 is not Ivan's.
he doesn't use ad2k.
it was built by Herve Devred,
one of the authors of ad2k itself.

i will leave the prop building to you.
if you would like, i'll do the instructions,
or, you can do them, too.
we can do the vector later.

i'm off to bed shortly.

[aleatorylamp]

Hello Smilo,
In order to get the landin gear height settings right on the changed .air file, I copied the whole landing-gear and section over to the new .air file - gear cycle time is included in that section - hence "re-infecting" the new .air file with the non-animation "bug".

I should have said "The Macchi is not Ivan´s, is it?"...

Well, the prop is built, the propdisk is built, I only have to build the Prop blur.
What I´ll do is try to put it in my present sequence in the nose and e-mail the .3dm file to you, right?

Good night!
Aleatorylamp