I was hoping one of our Model Converter X gurus here could point me to a tutorial that shows how to make autogen scenery show through the prop blur disk on a FS2004 port-over plane. The plane in the attached pic is a FSX conversion of Paul Clawson's FS2004 TBD Devastator parked on Yanco's USS Enterprise (CV-6). If push comes to shove I can live with the plane as is, but it's annoying to see water under the airplane instead of flight deck, or have trees and buildings disappear on land.
You need to import the model into MCX, identify the prop blurred texture and change some of the properties to InvertSourceAlpha / Source Alpha then fix all the other animation issues and export it as a true FSX native model
The best way to make sense of what I just said is to check out the FS9 to FSX conversion document created by Tom over at CalClassics
https://calclassic.proboards.com/thr...aft-fsx-format
Then go over to the MCX forum on FSdeveloper when you run into issues (which you will)
https://www.fsdeveloper.com/forum/fo...converterx.87/
That said converting models to be fully native in FSX and P3D is a very satisfying way of wasting hours of time
Gavin
Gavin, thanks for the links to CalClassics and FSDeveloper. Apparently the prop blur disk is a part of the aircraft... I changed out the texture to one that I knew worked well and nothing changed. I will run the .mdl file through MCX on some day when I have a higher tolerance for frustration and disappointment - maybe I'll get lucky!
I just took a look at the model and the blurred prop is a texture called "TBD prop.bmp".
Swapping this for one that works better in FSX may minimize the issue but to truly fix it you need to do a true conversion.
The upside is this is a fairly simple model and a good place to start learning how to convert
Gavin
In fact it is a great model to start with.
This is what I accomplished already (admittedly I have a bit of experience)
Gavin
Gavin, were you successful in getting the autogen scenery items to show through the prop blur disk? Did you use Paul's original FS2004 TBD for the conversion?Originally Posted by gavinc
yes and yes
I've started the CalClassics conversion tutorial, going through it step-by step to convert Paul's FS2004 TBD on my own.
My first FS9 to FSX conversion attempt and I get this abomination.
Left and right wingfolds and the tailhook were the only red-highlighted parts on the MCX animation box. I didn't take any action with them as I had no idea what to do. The tailhook disappeared and the outer wing panels detached and stacked themselves up as shown. On a positive note, autogen objects and scenery were visible through the converted prop blur. Gavin, any suggestions?
Don't worry we all started there.My first FS9 to FSX conversion attempt and I get this abomination.
Left and right wingfolds and the tailhook were the only red-highlighted parts on the MCX animation box. I didn't take any action with them as I had no idea what to do. The tailhook disappeared and the outer wing panels detached and stacked themselves up as shown. On a positive note, autogen objects and scenery were visible through the converted prop blur. Gavin, any suggestions?
The wing fold and tail hook animations were highlighted because MCX doesn't know how to automatically convert them. So when you did the export it just garbled the animations hence your issue.
You need to re-import the FS9 model and assign the unknown animations to the appropriate FSX equivalent before you do the initial export to FSX format.
For the tail hook you should find an FSX animation called "tailhook_pct" in the Assign Animation type list and the wingfold animations are wing_fold_l_pct and wing_fold_r_pct
Gavin
Gavin, thanks for the reply. I will run the mdl file through again with the animation lines you provided.
Another question: On my failed conversion, after I added the prop_slow part, the prop_still continued to be visible and spin after the prop_blurred kicked in. The original FS9 TBD does not seem to have a prop_slow part, just a prop_still and prop_blurred. Do I have to have a prop_slow part in FSX?
Gavin, those animation selections did not appear on the drop-down list in MCX. I have version 1.4.0 which I believe is the most recent.
Make sure the props have the Visibility condition matching the name (prop0_still, blurred and slow)
For the prop slow, I just save a copy of the still and rename the animations and visibility conditions to slow and merge it back in.
You can't take the sky from me...
Brian, thanks for the reply. I was following the CalClassics tutorial gavinc recommended and my prop_slow is same part as prop_still. This is how the currently converted plane looks when the engine is running. (see pic) The prop is always visible, never changes to prop_blurred only. Is there a RPM value I have to set somewhere, or should I use my prop_blurred part in place of prop_slow?
Your modeldef.xml is missing the animation definitions.
Add this to your file (make sure you do a backup just in case)
<Animation name="tailhook_pct" guid="DC63F28E-5132-4fa2-9892-EBB46F72F7BE" length="50" type="Sim" typeParam2="tailhook_pct" typeParam="AutoPlay" />
<PartInfo>
<Name>tailhook_pct</Name>
<AnimLength>50</AnimLength>
<Animation>
<Parameter>
<Sim>
<Variable>TAILHOOK POSITION:1</Variable>
<Units>percent</Units>
</Sim>
</Parameter>
</Animation>
</PartInfo>
<Animation name="wing_fold_l_pct" guid="2C79D434-1318-44ea-A6A1-DEAE474EEE07" length="100" type="Sim" typeParam2="wing_fold_l_pct" typeParam="AutoPlay" />
<PartInfo>
<Name>wing_fold_l_pct</Name>
<AnimLength>100</AnimLength>
<Animation>
<Parameter>
<Sim>
<Variable>FOLDING WING LEFT PERCENT:1</Variable>
<Units>percent</Units>
</Sim>
</Parameter>
</Animation>
</PartInfo>
<Animation name="wing_fold_r_pct" guid="571DC0FF-78AA-4aa7-BD64-AACAC2AA929C" length="100" type="Sim" typeParam2="wing_fold_r_pct" typeParam="AutoPlay" />
<PartInfo>
<Name>wing_fold_r_pct</Name>
<AnimLength>100</AnimLength>
<Animation>
<Parameter>
<Sim>
<Variable>FOLDING WING RIGHT PERCENT:1</Variable>
<Units>percent</Units>
</Sim>
</Parameter>
</Animation>
</PartInfo>
After doing this you will need to re-convert the original FS9 model to get the animations back.
Gavin
The problem is that you are not assigning the prop part the appropriate visibility condition. this screen shot is from Toms tutorial. You need to make sure that all the ModelPart's that are have prop0 animations are assigned the same visibility condition. Ie all Prop0_still animations have prop0_still visibility, prop0_slow parts have prop0_slow visibility and prop0_blurred parts have prop0_blurred visibility. This can be a bit tricky because MCX will allow you to assign a visiblity condition to the SceneGraphNode, however nothing will happen. You need to make sure that it is the ModelPart that has the visibility condition. This has bitten me on the bum several times.
Gavin
Gavin, thanks again for your help. I have figured out the props and how to keep the wings and tailhook from snapping to 0,0,0, now hopefully I can get them to animate like they're supposed to.
Edit: I just now read your last post (above). After I find the correct SceneGraphNode, is it necessary to change the visibility and/or animation tags on that line or just the ModelPart lines?
Hello, All-
For many of the models that I've ported over, I have overcome the same problem with autogen objects not appearing thru the prop disk by simply doing this: open the model in MDLMat, determine which entry applies to the prop disk, and set the alpha to a value of 1 or 2, but not 0. That usually takes care of the problem when porting over to FSX (you still have the good old clouds anomaly, though).
Have fun! -Mike Z.
Visibility tags definitely need to be associated with the ModelPart.Gavin, thanks again for your help. I have figured out the props and how to keep the wings and tailhook from snapping to 0,0,0, now hopefully I can get them to animate like they're supposed to.
Edit: I just now read your last post (above). After I find the correct SceneGraphNode, is it necessary to change the visibility and/or animation tags on that line or just the ModelPart lines?
Personally I don't mess around with the animations in the Object Hierarchy view. I change them in the Animation Editor.
Basic process,
- Import FS9 model
- Verify animations and fix if necessary in Animation Editor
- Tweak canopy glass in material editor if necessary
- export FSX model
- Re-import FS 9 model and get props (per Tom's instructions)
- Import FSX model & merge props using merge objects tool
- Set prop visibility on the modelparts using Object Hierarchy tool
- Export FSX model.
then repeat the whole process for the VC.
Gavin
Thanks Mike and Gavin (again). I decided to step away from the TBD for a day and come back to it later. I would not want to do these FS2004-to-FSX conversions very often, they're too much like work for a hobby pastime, but I will prevail with this TBD!
Mike, how can you tell in MDLMat which line entry is the blurred prop disk?
Hello, Sorry for the late response-
Unfortunately, it's trial and error finding the correct material entry. However, look at the left side of the list of material calls- you will notice that the entries next to the 'LOD' are either 01 or 02, 01 being for exterior entries, 02 for interior. The entry for the prop disk is often the last of the exterior entries- if not, one of the last.
Good Luck- Mike Z.
After stepping away from my TBD conversion project for a few days I came back to it yesterday and finally got the wing fold and tailhook animation to work on the converted mdl file, along with everything else. However I still have a few animation glitches and would appreciate a bit more "adult supervision" to iron this stuff out...
(1) Flaps extend with retract key and retract with extend key. When they retract they retract up through the wings.
(2) Left rudder swings aircraft to the right, right rudder swings aircraft to the left. Right rudder snaps back to neutral.
(3) Ailerons work OK unless stick is hard left or right, then left rudder snaps down and right rudder snaps up.
(4) Still can't figure out how to make prop_slow transition to prop_blurred when throttle is advanced. Per Brian's earlier comment, my prop_slow part is simply prop_still saved and merged back in with prop_slow name and visibility entries. Prop_slow just keeps spinning after prop_blurred appears... and I checked all three prop parts for the correct visibility entries.
I'm frustrated that I can't sort this simple plane out on my own.
Don't feel bad - we have all started out from exactly the same point, in fact there are days when I am still back at that point. The only reason that I know enough to help you a bit is that I have had the same issues (repeatedly) that you are running into and other people have helped me.I'm frustrated that I can't sort this simple plane out on my own.
The snapping and flap behaviour is because the wrong version of the animation is being used. If you look at the animation definition available in the animation editor you will see that there quite often is an xxxxxx_percent_key and an xxxxxx_key, this sort of behaviour is usually because the wrong animation is called for. MCX defaults to using the xxxxx_percent_key animation but quite often the xxxxx_key animation is the correct choice. So if you go into the animation editor in MCX and replace the rudder_percent_key with rudder_key it should stop the snapping back to neutral (do the same for elevator, L_aileron, r_aileron, L_flap & r_flap).
This may also fix the rudder working backwards, if not you can easily reverse the rudder animation in MCX. Go into the Hierarchy editor and find the ModelPart that has the rudder animation (there may be more than one). With the ModelPart highlighted in the left panel, right click on Animation in the right panel. You should now see a dialog box with three choices (Reverse Animation, Edit Animation and Delete Animation). Left click on Reverse Animation and then save the model.
These steps should solve your snapping and reversed animations
Assuming that you have the visibility condition correctly assigned to the ModelPart then there is one other possibility I can think of. Check in the propeller section of the aircraft.cfg. If there is an entry for rotation check that the value is a positive number. If it is -1 then change it to 1 and see if that solves the issue. I can't remember when I did my test conversion whether I had to do this or not.
Keep plugging away
Gavin
Gavin, thanks again for the additional info. Will attack it again later when my brain is in the right "Zen" state.
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