KPDX_Ongoing

[falcon409]

Just a few shots of the ongoing work to get a usable KPDX out of the FS9 version (FlightZone_02). So far, I have converted every object that Arno's Modelconverter_X will read, which is about 90% and that has raised my fps, from an average of 8fps to 16fps. The ground texture has been replaced with an accurate photoreal image done in 4 separate sections to make it easier to work with. My current dilemma hinges on the Autogen Trees and shrubs. Despite my best efforts, much of what I'm adding via the annotator is not showing up in the sim and I'm not sure why. What I may have to do is simply place tree and shrub "objects" to get something in the sim. I'd rather not do that because they won't be seasonal, but if I can't figure out the problem, that'll be my only recourse. I'm still redoing the AFCAD (about half-way done) and also looking for the bgl that houses the aircraft on the military side. They have B-52's, F-22 and Migs. . .none of which were ever assigned. The 123rd FS has F-15's and the Air Rescue Group is long gone, although there may still be some Choppers that fly out of that area.

[Sundog]

It's looking good. That was one of my favorite airport add-ons from FS9.

[VCN-1]

That looks good.

What program did you use to snap the images?

I like the location information displayed.

VCN-1

[falcon409]

That looks good.
What program did you use to snap the images?
I like the location information displayed.
VCN-1

It's a program called "Snapper"

http://www.michielovertoom.com/software/snapper/

:salute:

[VCN-1]

Thank you for the link.

VCN-1

[kjb]

Looking good, that sounds like quite a project.

On the autogen, could it be something with the existing exclusion rectangles?

[falcon409]

Looking good, that sounds like quite a project.
On the autogen, could it be something with the existing exclusion rectangles?

Very Possible, I'm going to pull all of the excludes and see what actually shows. Then start putting them back in one at a time to get a sense of which ones I need and which ones I don't.

[falcon409]

Looks like "tree Objects" will have to suffice. Nothing I've tried rectifies the inability of any of the autogen to display. I thought possibly it was the Orbyx scenery that was doing it, but turning that off had no effect. Trees on the very outskirts of the airport display, but once I move onto the airport proper, nothing shows up. I dislike planting one tree at a time, but that's what I'll start doing tomorrow. This will become a "Spring-Summer" destination only I'm afraid, but that'll be fine with me and I have the free "City of Portland" so I'm set for this area.

[kjb]

That's too bad. It sure would have been easier with autogen. Since you're stuck with tree models, I would recommend rebuilding at least part of the library with MCX to add an empty LOD and turn shadows off by default. You might build a small library of the default trees, say ten or so. Textures wouldn't be necessary since they'll still find the default textures. I just did the same thing with the default land vehicles library (158 models). Working LODs will keep the trees from killing frame rates too badly. I would try an empty LOD at 005 and see how that looks.

[falcon409]

That's too bad. It sure would have been easier with autogen. Since you're stuck with tree models, I would recommend rebuilding at least part of the library with MCX to add an empty LOD and turn shadows off by default. You might build a small library of the default trees, say ten or so. Textures wouldn't be necessary since they'll still find the default textures. I just did the same thing with the default land vehicles library (158 models). Working LODs will keep the trees from killing frame rates too badly. I would try an empty LOD at 005 and see how that looks.

Ok, most of what you just said. .. .made no sense to me, lol. Starting with "Since you're stuck with tree models,...." From that point on, ya lost me, lol. Sorry!:salute:

[AckAck]

I was lost after "So far," in your first post...

[kjb]

MCX is Arno's ModelConverterX found here. It's very good at tweaking and exporting models or even whole libraries. With the default trees, you could import the whole library, add an empty LOD (models vanish at a given distance), and export to a new library. If you only need a few tree models, you could just adjust the ones you need then export them to a new library.

SP2 broke LODs, so the processor is trying to draw every model regardless of the distance and whether you can actually see them from that far away. By using MCX to fix the models, you can make the trees a lot easier on the processor. They'll vanish like autogen does from a distance. MCX can also turn off the shadows for the model.

I've been using it to tweak models made with Instant Object Studio. IOS doesn't do LODs, so I use MCX to add and empty LOD. I've also been using MCX to add volume shading to the model. That makes the model able to cast shadows on itself.

Here's a sample model, made in IOS, then tweaked in MCX.

[falcon409]

MCX is Arno's ModelConverterX found here. It's very good at tweaking and exporting models or even whole libraries. With the default trees, you could import the whole library, add an empty LOD (models vanish at a given distance), and export to a new library. If you only need a few tree models, you could just adjust the ones you need then export them to a new library.

SP2 broke LODs, so the processor is trying to draw every model regardless of the distance and whether you can actually see them from that far away. By using MCX to fix the models, you can make the trees a lot easier on the processor. They'll vanish like autogen does from a distance. MCX can also turn off the shadows for the model.

I've been using it to tweak models made with Instant Object Studio. IOS doesn't do LODs, so I use MCX to add and empty LOD. I've also been using MCX to add volume shading to the model. That makes the model able to cast shadows on itself.

Yea, I've been using the MCX for all of the objects in the scenery thus far. I've run everything through it that will go through. It brought the fps up quite a bit (practically double on my system). We're talking about a lot of trees though and I know how to do single objects, but not a whole library.:isadizzy:

[Holger Sandmann]

Hi there,

don't know if this applies here but if one uses the "All" tag in an object exclude rectangle (in ADE, SBX, or other tool) it will also remove autogen in the nearby area. To avoid this, uncheck "all" and select all or a subset of the other checkboxes.

Cheers, Holger

[kjb]

Yea, I've been using the MCX for all of the objects in the scenery thus far. I've run everything through it that will go through. It brought the fps up quite a bit (practically double on my system). We're talking about a lot of trees though and I know how to do single objects, but not a whole library.:isadizzy:

There's no need to do the whole library. It would take quite a while to do the entire vegetation library. Just figure out which trees you want. Import the whole library and export the specific models. Then add them to a new library. Make sure the option to keep the old GUID is set to false. That's it.

[falcon409]

Hi there,

don't know if this applies here but if one uses the "All" tag in an object exclude rectangle (in ADE, SBX, or other tool) it will also remove autogen in the nearby area. To avoid this, uncheck "all" and select all or a subset of the other checkboxes.
Cheers, Holger

Thanks Holger. There are 5 excludes from the original scenery set and most of them, when removed, seemed to only be concerned with the default buildings. The AFCAD has considerable excludes all relevant to the taxiway signs. There has to be at least 30 excludes that cover the runways, taxiways and terminal areas. All of those as near as I can tell are only tagged for the signs and nothing else.