Registering GMax

[falcon409]

I've decided, for umpteenth time, to try using GMax. In order to use it I must register it (Free). The problem is that the discreet.com website no longer shows GMax as a product so the link that the program gives you to obtain the registration code is a dead link. Any suggestions?

[hairyspin]

Go to TurboSquid, failing which the registration workaround at FSAlpha

[falcon409]

Go to TurboSquid, failing which the registration workaround at FSAlpha

Thanks Tom. . .forgot about Turbosquid, but it was the FSAlpha workaround that fixed it. Now to force myself to imagine GMax is where I really need to be, lol. . .ughhh!

[MCDesigns]

good luck Ed!

What happened with sketchup, you seemed to be doing well with it.

You wanna try a hard modeling app to wrap your head around, give Blender a try, LOL.

[Tako_Kichi]

You wanna try a hard modeling app to wrap your head around, give Blender a try, LOL.

Hey! I started out by modelling in Blender many years ago.

Once you get used to the rather peculiar user interface it was actually quite a nice program to use. I built a couple of vehicles and a famous Buddhist temple that were intended for use in a Flying Tigers based combat flight sim that never saw the light of day.

At that time there was no way to get the models into FS2004 or FSX but I believe it may be possible to do that now.

[MCDesigns]

Hey! I started out by modelling in Blender many years ago.

Once you get used to the rather peculiar user interface it was actually quite a nice program to use. I built a couple of vehicles and a famous Buddhist temple that were intended for use in a Flying Tigers based combat flight sim that never saw the light of day.

At that time there was no way to get the models into FS2004 or FSX but I believe it may be possible to do that now.

LOL, yep, everyone I know that actually uses Blender says the same thing. I am not a key shortcut person (point and click) which is why I don't get along with it. But it is a great app for free especially with many capabilities beyond Gmax. I can't model to save my life in it, but love the baked in texture feature and the rendering capabilities with cycles. As for FS, I have exported a few .objs and then with MCX saved as .MDL, worked fine.

[Dev One]

Ed,
I've used nothing else but Gmax, so cannot compare, but my models are made from photos pasted into AutoCAD & then drawn in 3 views using the known dimensions. I then dimension the critical parts & then choose a basic shape in Gmax to manipulate. E.g. for a wing I choose a cylinder of scaled length & chord at the root, I can then squash it to the wing thickness & then change the shape to make it the aerofoil profile. Then for the plan view taper it as required by scale. For rounded wing tips measure the radii in AutoCAD & then in Gmax produce cylinders of appropriate diameter, placing it - or them accordingly.
One can then slice the wing at the cylinder nodes & then manually move the vertices to match. After that its a case of massaging the thickness & edge radii to suit.
Get used to the mirror function - do not use the pictogram in the toolbar!
HTH for a start.
Regards
Keith

[Dutcheeseblend]

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Yet it might be sensible to start using Blender. There's a Blender2FSX toolset available now, which I'm using for 6 months now. I'm creating my Fokker with Blender, and believe me, workflow is just rocking.

[hairyspin]

Now to force myself to imagine GMax is where I really need to be, lol. . .ughhh!

There's a handy thread at the Aircraft Design and Animation forum on all the things that ought to be set up in Gmax before even installing a modelling SDK. Worth reading!

[Milton Shupe]

Thanks Tom. . .forgot about Turbosquid, but it was the FSAlpha workaround that fixed it. Now to force myself to imagine GMax is where I really need to be, lol. . .ughhh!

Bruce at FSAlpha (I believe that is his name) taught me how to map for textures. We sort of learned together but he was a little ahead of me.

Ed, I am available to help you get started on TS or any online Desktop sharing software.

[Bjoern]

I've successfully completed one of the many Blender tutorials. As long as you mentally stay away from your (G)Max knowledge, it's pretty nicely to use.
As for Blender having a "bad" interface, let me just tell you that a few commercial tools for "finite element method" modeling and analysis are even worse!