Gmax Tutorials

[Milton Shupe]

Setting up a calibration box can be found in a link in my original post above. But, here it is:

http://www.flightsimonline.com/gmax/calbox.htm

Before the SOH forum crash, there was a better one available but hopefully this one will do the trick for you.

[pilotwing]

First of all thanks for the help now I got my own calibration box,and the cessna,i do all the vertice pushing but now my left side is wrong here are the screenshots (in order:Front as it was,left whit the front wrong,right side of the front fixed,left view of the model whit the front fixed)

[Milton Shupe]

I see two issues here.

1) The aspect ratio of the length to the height is incorrect. The calibration box appears "squashed"/too flat. The ratio should be 2.7:1

2) There is an issue with the 3-view drawings in that the spinner of the aircraft in one view is higher than in another view. For example, in one of mine, the spinner tip is at pixel 209 and the other is at 191. This is a fallacy of the drawing, not of your work. (see attached and note the lines I drew through the spinners)

Before you create the calibration box sizes, you must ensure integrity of the calibration, the relationships of length, width, height. You can create the calibration box directly from measurements of the aircraft. At least the box will be sized correctly even though we must work with flawed drawings.

Then, after cropping the 3-views carefully, apply them to the cal-box. Try not to use the fit command but rather adjust the UVW gizmo to allow for differences. One way to try to match up side and front/rear views is to draw horizontal lines through the spinners in each view. Then adjust the UVW gizmo until you have the lines in teh front and side views matching up.

Get this as close as you can then build from the side and top views. Adjust as necessary and use your artistic skills to make it look like the RW aircraft.

I know this is a bit frustrating as I went through it with these drawings as well.

[pilotwing]

So,i need to do my own calibration box or modify the one i downloaded,but my model was fine!,thanks,and by the way,how do i apply the bitmaps to the calibration box?

[Milton Shupe]

http://www.flightsimonline.com/gmax/calbox.htm

[pilotwing]

Whit gmax i can make models for combat flight simulator 3 or CFS1?
I ask because i dont have FS2004 and i like to test my model (when finish of course)

[hairyspin]

CFS3 - yes. CFS1 - no; don't know what you need for that, but it isn't gmax. You'll need the CFS3 SDK from microsoft and the plug-in for gmax which you'll get at the CFS3 home site http://www.microsoft.com/games/combatfs3/

[polecat0942]

Hate to bother you guys. I have made several attempts in the past to work with Gmax. I started working on a B24 long ago for CFS3 (Long before FirePower ever came out) and never really got too far. At that time, I set up a calbox etc., using the method described in the gmax tutorial for making a p38. Using the 4 views given in gmax: top, front, left/right, and perspective, I made my box and and fit the backround image for each view into it (of course they would always offset when I would mess with lock zoom/pan, still do). Now I've seen the calbox done in 3D like the calbox included in this tutorial but have to admit I don't understand it. When I open the calbox only the one window (user) opens up. Are you supposed to only use the one window? I guess I'm having problems understanding this first basic step. Do I no longer need the 3 or 4 other views that are present when gmax first fires up? For some reason (and having air for brains is a good one) I am having a hard time wrapping my brains around this. Any and all help will be greatly appreciated.

Cheers,

John

Edit: just looked at my original B24 attempt files -- dated 2/5/2004 lol

[Milton Shupe]

John,

Do not use the calibration techique in the gmax tutorials ... it is faulty.

There is a whole list of tutorials at the start of this thread. One talks about setting up calibration boxes.

Here is a tutorial on gmax basics. Maybe it will help get you started:

Download the zip of the .avi file to play:
http://www.flightsimonline.com/C162/...basicintro.zip

In gmax, you have 8 basic views:
Right, Left, Front, Rear, Top, Bottom, Perspective, and User. You can use keyboard keys to switch. E.G. R, L, K, F, B, P, and U.

The standard views are necessary for doing certain things when strict directional alignment of your view is important. Any views not standard is the User view for panning around and getting different view perspectives.

Watch the video I did to get a basic intro to gmax basics. Then check out the calibration tute in my first post here, then scan the C-162 tutorials for lots of helpful info.

Milton

[polecat0942]

Thanks Milt, I had no idea about the tutorial method being flawed. I'll study more and I'm sure I'll be back with more questions.

Cheers,

John

Edit: I'm getting a 404 error on that link above.

[Milton Shupe]

http://www.flightsimonline.com/C162/...basicintro.zip

Try this one.

[polecat0942]

Thanks Milton, that link did it :friday:

[Firebar]

Just a quick query,

How are you setting up the images in GMax? Whenever I do it (Via applying a meterial) it gets really blurry. Is there a setting i've missed or just a better way to do it?

Cheers
Matt

[Milton Shupe]

Lots of ways to do it depending on what version of FS you are designing for and what graphics programs you use.

I develop for FS9, use Gmax 1.2, so I simply use 24-bit bmp or convert them to jpeg for use in gmax. They must be sized a power of 2 (256x256, 512x512, 1024x1024), or a combination of powers of 2 like 256x1024.

When moving to FS texture folders, you then copy and convert those textures to 32-bit, DXT3, 8-bit, or whatever your FS version supports.

Large exterior parts need large textures. Think about "pixels per foot" dividing your part length on the texture by the texture pixels L,W, or Height. This number need to be high enough to have texture clarity.

Small aircraft fuselages might me mapped across a 1024 but a large aircraft will need halves mapped to a 1024.

VC's also require large textures because you are so close to the detail. A small fighter cockpit panel is okay on a 1024, but a two-pilot aircraft will require you to break the panel into halves or thirds to get clarity.

Examples attached.

http://www.flightsimonline.com/howard500/Image234.jpg

http://www.flightsimonline.com/ac500/Image165.jpg

[Firebar]

Sorry I didn't make myself clear. When I am texturing the dimension box with the three views they come out really blurry, see atached. I all of the tutorials you've posted the images are much clearer. Is it possible for you to say what I'm doing wrong?

( although the VC stuff is useful)