AR196 Project in AD2K

[smilo]

VOILA!!!
thanks fellas.
as soon as i saw it,
the memory banks kicked in.

as i've said in the past,
i am continuously amazed
by how many french words and phrases
i use in my everyday conversation.

it's to bad that i didn't pay closer attention
in that french class i failed back in the ninth grade.
so it goes.

i hope i am not kidding myself,
but i feel like yesterday was a very good 196 progress day.
even though i can't say that i have it down pat,
i am starting to figure out the viewing order process.
trial and error, trial and error,
and then some more trial and error.

i have been trying to put together
the gunstation/cockpit area which includes
the fuselage exterior and interior,
the exterior and interior canopy framework,
panel area, and later, the tailgun needs to be added.

one thing that i've noticed is that
pieces must be added within a sub assembly
in the proper sequence, or else
the texture shading does not look right.
for example, if i cover 5 bulkhead templates
from a forward bulkhead to the aft,
and then later, decide to add 1 more template
just forward of the 5 i previously did,
there is a shading issue with the new
far forward group of pieces.
i have tried changing the sequence in the model editor,
by moving the new pieces to the top of the list,
but still have the issue.
i went to bed with this problem
and might have come up with a solution.
i need to go test the theory.

maybe, a few screen shots would help clarify.
next post, after i fire up the working machine.

just a quick update;
a few days ago, i think i found the reason
for the shading issue. here's a quote;
A vertex may belong to several chains.
In that case, a modification of the vertex will affect all the chains to which it belongs.
Using the same points as vertices of adjacent polygons is important to smooth the colour at the surface of the model (Gouraud shading).

correcting the problem, by "aligning" polygons,
will take a little more work,
but should solve the issue.as of late, i have been working to learn
the polygon alignment process.I am very hopeful this will work.

[smilo]

another quick update;

after working for a week or so,
early, early this morning,
i was finally able to put this together.

i am concerned about the amount of detail,
but it was fun building this thing.

if anyone wants to take a closer look
at the model for this section,
let me know and i will post it.

next up, wing control surfaces.

[hubbabubba]

When I was building with AF99, I would make parts as if they were infinite, keeping the heart-breaking "compromise" thing for the end. I don't know where AD2K puts the limit (Well... I don't even know if it has a limit!), but I would not be too much concerned with overkilling at this point.

For some reason, protruding cylinders, fared or not, in radial engines, was always a snag for AF99 modelers. I think it is due to the very awkward way it treats glue parts. I haven't seen your cowling in situ, but I will guess that AD2K has an advantage in that respect.

The learning curve for AD2K appears to be much more rewarding, or it may simply be that the modeler is very talented. I would lean towards the latter...

[smilo]

many thanks, hubba.
you are too, kind.

i've always thought that the valve covers
are a defining feature of the 196.
i don't know how many attempts i made,
trying to get one close, without way overkilling.
trust me, a lot.
once i got down to this size,
ad2k has a nice rotate/duplicate feature
that did most of the hard work.
gluing, or the seals in ad2k, are relatively easy.
i just made a chain, or polygon, at the base
and declared it for each valve cover.

i know there are limits within ad2k,
but so far, i am unable to figure out
just what exactly they are.
i'm sure i will find out soon enough,
when i start putting the project together.

as you said, it will be the heart-breaking "compromise" thing

______________________
btw, i just had a quick look at your Tirpitz.
very impressive.

[hubbabubba]

(...)
______________________
btw, i just had a quick look at your Tirpitz.
very impressive.

It's not "my" Tirpitz, I want to stress that point; James Elwood build her from bow to stern. I simply "enlarged" her to more respectable proportion and made it "flyable" ("sea worthy"?).

This is also why it will never be released "at large". If I ever release a ship of my own, besides CFS1 objects, it will come out of my own dry docks.

[smilo]

yes, i read the read me
and saw that it was elwood's.
but, you are the one that brought it back to life
and made it usable for multi-player. aren't you?
i'm sure you are...well done for all that work.

i looked at her and thought,
hmmm, i wonder what ad2k could do?
but, then again, i've got plenty to do already.

[smilo]

frustration level-high
aggravation level-high

after three days of dinking with the flaps animation,
it's time to set it aside and try something else.

actually, it's not the animation.
the flaps extend and retract just fine.
the problem is with adjusting the angles
the flaps move with relation to the wing.

i have tried and retried so many option,
my head is spinning...please, make it stop!
i have read the tutorials for fs98 and fs2k
and both give basic information for flat wings,
and therefore, for flaps and ailerons
with no movement angles....aaaaarrrgh

maybe later, i'll post pictures
maybe not

[Ivan]

For the angles, Aircraft Animator does a really excellent job. If you have that, try just building a couple pieces to run through AA and see what it chooses for angles.

- Ivan.

[smilo]

knowing the angles is not the problem.
i figured that much out.

the issue is plugging them into the program.
trust me here, i've tried tons of options.
a couple days worth.

basically, when the flap is retracted
and aligned with the wing, no problem.
and then when it's extended,
the flap alignment goes haywire.
if i adjust the angles so they are right when extended,
they are off when retracted.
there is a code sequence called Trans/Rotation
that is suppose to take care of this,
but i can't seem to make it work properly.

it's, obviously, operator error.

-----------------------------------
as i recall, i had this same problem with the A-20.
i couldn't figure it out then, either.

[Ivan]

Hi Smilo,

Post the angles that you are using and I will check out what Aircraft Animator uses by default with the Wing that I have. This is one of those kinds of things that I would find difficult to calculate by hand but Aircraft Animator generally makes a really accurate guess. Now I just need to figure out what the Arado 196 Flaps look like.

I found the Airfix Arado 196 at our local hobby shop a few weeks back. I also found a Dornier 17Z-2 there. Bought neither but I might eventually.

- Ivan.

[smilo]

hello Ivan,
a few years ago, a local hobby shop went out of business
and i acquired several WWII era models,
including a bf110 and do17.
they currently reside on a closet shelf, untouched.
don't know if i will ever find the time to assemble them,
but who knows, maybe someday...
the 196 model sounds very cool...covet, covet.

so, back to this fiasco.
i just spent a couple hours
writing a detailed explanation
of the wing to flap/aileron build process
and the build the hinge line and find it's angles process.
at first, i considered publishing it here,
but after looking at it, i decided not to.
talk about long winded...it's a flippin' typhoon!

long story longer...i used the wing you sent me,
copied it and removed everything, except the flap.
copied the wing again and removed everything,
except the aileron. then i added the sides
where the aileron and the flap join each other.
i also added the faces where each meets the wing.

i drew a line slitting the two faces in half horizontally,
root to tip and then, calculated the angle,
using the rotate feature of ad2k.
i came up with 5.8 to 5.9 degrees,
which is a accurate a the program will get.

next, i did the same thing from the top view
and came up with 5.4 degrees forward.

as i said above, i don't think the problem is the angles.
i can't seem to plug them into the program
and have them work for both extended and retracted.

i haven't even bothered with the aileron,
since it will involve the same process and angles.

here's a shot of the wing in 3d mode.
the modified wing in yellow,
the flap and aileron are in white,
and the added "hinge" line in green.

Attachment 59556

oh yeah, i forgot to mention,
i copied the wing again
and removed just the aileron and flap,
built the flap/aileron faces
and the aileron/wing tip edge.

[smilo]

I THINK I GOT IT!!!

starting at 03:30 this morning,
i reread the ad2k/fs2k tutorial
for the umteenth time...no exaggeration.
on the adding moving parts...page,
i noticed the line
"and this will make things simpler."
just for the heck of it, i clicked on simpler.
low and behold, a page came up
that explained how to calculate the angles
and how to set up the code.

well, i'll be jiggered!
it worked for the flap!
Attachment 59705
next, the aileron.

-------------------
i don't remember if i mentioned this before,
but i found that i can compile this model
for fs2k and it will show in cfs.
(ad2k has both, fs98/cfs and fs2k/cfs2 compile options)
i still need to add the cfs/fs98 sequencing codes,
but there are a few fs2k features that will show
in cfs1 if i compile for fs2k.
i think that's how the B-17 was done.
if i am not mistaken, this model will be cfs1 and cfs2 compatible.
we shall see about that.

enough talking, get back to work.

[smilo]

so much for the back flips
and all that kind of stuff.
it's a little much for an old man.

the aileron is done.
it works and shows properly.
along with all the other wing parts.
the main wing, flap, aileron and tip.

i was having a bleed problem with the wing tip,
so i chopped it off and put it in it's own subassembly,
made another seal plane, put it all together
and now she's sittin' pretty.

well, almost...when zoomed in,
there is a slight bit of the inner wing face showing.
it probably wouldn't show so bad,
if it wasn't orange.
i think i'll leave the easter egg as it is.

also, if you look at the above shot,
there is a shading issue with the tip.
i think i'll go mess with that now.

_______________________

[Ivan]

Hi Smilo,

If there is a feature in AD2000 to calculate the normals to each polygon on the wingtip you may find something interesting. I believe I got those polygons pretty close to where they should be, but this wing was built in about one evening, so I don't know that I checked as much as I should have. I still have it on my machine so I will check one of these evenings.

- Ivan.

[smilo]

hello Ivan,
sorry, i don't know what you mean,
"If there is a feature in AD2000 to calculate the normals
to each polygon on the wingtip"

what i did was delete the upper wingtip polys,
then copied the lowers, changed the coordinates
of the copies so they were the same as the deleted uppers,
then flipped them all.
interestingly, only one still has the shading issue.
all the others are okay. weird.
i still have not figured out why there is a shading issue, sometimes.

i have spent the afternoon and evening
working on the prop/spinner animation.
it's close, but no cigar.
i'm mainly, trying to figure out
exactly when the blur kicks in
and the turning props disappear.
the blur is one of those fs2k
things that works in cfs.
it uses alpha blending.

more later, i need to sleep...