Too discouraging??

[Wyld45]

Boy I dont know Gents,...had been thrilled at the thought of building aircraft models untill I read alot of the threads from "Gmax for dummies". My heart
sank like the "Titanic" when I read of how some of these guys,(who spend WAY more time behind computer components than I do.)...and more than a
few saying how difficult it is just to learn the basics to start.

Well,I'm still very interested, but would like to hear different ideas and
opinions,or even something better than Gmax,or something that made
Gmax alot easier to learn. Remember,like most I would reckon,I'm a blue-collar workin man and dont spend alot of time with computer components or anything that takes months and months to learn.

Is it worth all the hair-pullin and gnashing of teeth?? :mixedsmi:

[Milton Shupe]

Wyld,

It is great to see someone else interested in developing. I would encourage you to do a little more homework before deciding.

I can offer a different view for you if you like. Down in the Design forum, we used to have (before the crash) a whole series of things to help you get started. I have recovered most of it but unfortunately have not gotten it all back into that forum.

I would ask that you check out this thread:

http://www.sim-outhouse.com/sohforums/showthread.php?t=93

I hope you will take the time to view a video I did (however crude) of the basic gmax inroduction. It simply tries to explain the components of gmax and generally how to use it (very high level). It is an .avi file of around 19MBytes zipped. Download and unzip it and give it a look if you will.

Then if you feel like you want to give this a try, then take a look at the set of tutorial exercises I did here for SOH Design forum. These are done with the beginning modeler in mind using the most basic tools in gmax.

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

If nothing else, just browse through the tutes to see what's there.

There are a few folks here that went through these and can also speak to your question. Hairyspin is one of them.

Let me know if I can help.

[Wyld45]

Milton,

Thank you sir, and its really great to see the hard work and information you put out there for everyone else. Guess I had that little sense of "Dread" I guess,or had an idea that "crafting" with a computer wouldnt take months,(well,its not a complete game Im wanting to make afterall??) Oh and you did have to say the word "Homework"!(Yike! how I hated those days.)

Well I've decided I've been the spectator long enough. I enjoy watching the movies,enjoy playing
the games,now I would like to at least have a creative hand in something someone else can enjoy!
(not to mention how many times I've looked at something and thought to myself,"I could do that better!") So without further ado,thanks Milton,I will be sure to check up on those items
and just prep myself for the long-haul!

Wyld45/<<S>>

[Pat Pattle]

Wylde, instead of jumping in at the deep end with an aircraft model, start with a building. This will get you used to very basic modelling & skinning and introduce LODs and damage-states and you'll produce something useable more quickly. :)

[hairyspin]

It's been described as trying to eat an elephant, but roast elephant is quite tasty! Pat's advice is sound, try something uncomplicated first.

The biggest problem is starting to think in the way the process works. I'm not so much blue-collar as black collar - I work with my hands and get fairly dirty doing so - but like any craft or trade you have to learn how a job is done first before tackling a big project.

The other problem is the lack of good documentation for gmax and aircraft building - proper How 'tis done documents. Gmax has exhaustive help files, but they don't tell you how to start from information and finish with a complete model. There's a tutorial in gmax for building a P38, but nobody I've ever seen recommends following it, and neither would I.

There are tutorials on the Web; some good, some indifferent, but not all are accurate and some are out of date on available tools or methods. Milton's are intentionally basic, but good and up to date - see the Aircraft Design & Animation (http://www.sim-outhouse.com/sohforums/forumdisplay.php?f=22) forum and the New links for old thread.

It takes time! I'm just realising I've got to start again with the cockpit for my model..... Have fun!

[Wyld45]

Thank you Gents,and thank you Pat and Hairyspin,(Love Pats "Hurris" by the way!) and that advice
does make it sound easier.(Now I'm just trying to eat one "elephant" hind-quarter by myself!)

I will certainly be sure to try that first and get a good feel for that part of it. Cheers! :ernae:

[OBIO]

Wyld

I too have been discouraged by Gmax. I have tried and tried and tried to get my head wrapped around Gmax and have not been able to. And I am a computer savy, software savy person. I taught myself to use Photoshop, CorelDraw, Pagemaker....so I thought I should be able to learn Gmax....boy was I wrong! Then I went looking for tutorials on how to model aircraft with Gmax, and found a good number of them...and each one had me doing things differently and none of them were set up from step 1 up through a finished model.

I had pretty much given up on learning to model in Gmax. Then I came across Milton Shupe's tutorials and am going to give it another go. I have looked through Milton's tutorials, and can say that he did them up right. Clear, easy to understand, step by step instructions. And the way Milton has you using Gmax is so much less complicated than the other tutes I have tried. They had you doing 85 things to make a circle....Milton simply shows you how to make a circle in one or two steps.

Give it a try. Gmax is free, and there are very few things in life that we can say that about. It will take time, dedication, and effort. And since very few people have the money to go out to movies and such, if you are going to be home, might as well spend some of that time learning Gmax.

OBIO

[FOO FIGHTER]

Like so many others, I have tried GMAX and couldn't make squat. I just gave MS's tutorial a cursory look and found it easy to follow and informative - I think I'll give it another shot.

I'm a little confused though: The tutorial covers models for FS2004, how do you convert/modify these for CFS3?

[Mathias]

Well, actually starting with the tutorials that come with Gmax is a good idea.
Particularly the box modelling tuto (you build some sort of toon character there) is a great starting point as it teaches most of the basic technics (move/rotate/scale in subobject level, viewport navigation etc pp).
Once the basics are mastered I recommend trying your hands at this:

http://www.sim-outhouse.com/sohforums/showthread.php?t=16418

[Mathias]

Like so many others, I have tried GMAX and couldn't make squat. I just gave MS's tutorial a cursory look and found it easy to follow and informative - I think I'll give it another shot.

I'm a little confused though: The tutorial covers models for FS2004, how do you convert/modify these for CFS3?

The CFS3 SDK comes with a set of docs and tools, available here:

http://www.microsoft.com/games/combatfs3/cfs3_sdk.aspx

[Pat Pattle]

Thank you Gents,and thank you Pat and Hairyspin,(Love Pats "Hurris" by the way!) and that advice
does make it sound easier.(Now I'm just trying to eat one "elephant" hind-quarter by myself!)

For the record, The Hurricane was Patrick Didiers and the cockpit was by Mathias - I just added some knobs, bells and whistles! :)



The tutorial covers models for FS2004, how do you convert/modify these for CFS3?


The actual modelling process is the same, it's the naming of parts and the hierachy that make the difference.
(and provides the headaches Milton! :icon_lol:) There's also a number of animations that fs9 supports that cfs3 doesn't.

[crossram]

Making models with gmax is just like anything else...it just depends on how bad you want to do it, and then learn how to.

Seemingly, alot of users start out with one misconception. That once you open gmax, that working models will pop out, once a week.

But, the facts are that it takes a little 'work'. Hehe...scary word, huh. Considering that you take NOTHING, and made something out of it, can be fairly rewarding. Self-satisfaction.
It does become time-consuming, though, and can take quite some time to complete a model (aircraft). If that scares ya off...you don't want it bad enough.

Ask Dancat how much time he has in his Fw...then ask him if it was worth it. I'll wager he has much satisfying time involved, as he put the bird he wanted together. Simply something he wanted bad enough.

[FOO FIGHTER]

Copy that, thanks gents. One last question: I would like to try an make a scale model of an IJN carrier (Zuiho). Is there a size limit for ships in CFS3?

[Pat Pattle]

Is there a size limit for ships in CFS3?

Nope, don't think so! :)

[crossram]

There's also a 'sample' ship, included with the CFS3 SDK, that you need to work with gmax. (Just be sure to double-check the size/scale on the sample ship.)

The sample ship will show you the basic parts and pieces you need, to make a working model.

Have FUN with it!

[seacondor]

As everyone says here start with something simple. Do some of the tut's.
This was you will have a chance of progressing. In the end if you like making your own stuff it is a good hobby. Just be grateful you don't have to worry about lighting, environment and rendering processes. That is 10 times harder to deal with. Give it a go and stick with even if it looks hard, it all comes together in the end. Good luck.

By the way, what's going on around here. I've been away from the hobby for a while and look in and see all the old missing faces showing up again.
Good to see....:ernae:

[Pat Pattle]

Hi Greg! :) So good to see you on the forum again. :wavey:

[remcoc]

Hi Greg! :) So good to see you on the forum again. :wavey:

Likewise!

Welcome back Greg!

RemcoC