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  • Please see the most recent updates in the "Where did the .com name go?" thread. Posts number 16 and 17.

    Post 16 Update

    Post 17 Warning

It's a start

falcon409

falcon409

SOH-CM-2025
Decided I was going to learn to do some simple custom buildings even if it killed me, lol. This is the control Tower at Wheelus AFB, Libya. Very unique design. I won't say how many I trashed before I got to this point, lol.
 
Looking good, Ed! It only gets eaiser with the more hours you invest and the experience you gain. Hopefully we'll be able to see some fully custom-made sceneries from you down the line!
 
Bomber_12th said:
Looking good, Ed! It only gets easier with the more hours you invest and the experience you gain. Hopefully we'll be able to see some fully custom-made sceneries from you down the line!
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That's what I'm hoping as well John...we shall see. I have a lot I need to do for North Texas Regional as well and it's right down the highway from me so I have access for some good images there.
 
Atta Boy!

Way to go Ed. :applause: That is looking really good. :medals: I can say from personal experience that being able to create your own custom scenery objects is the only way to be able to make the sceneries of the local airports that interest you.

Please continue to post your progress.:salute:

RD
 
rdaniell said:
Way to go Ed. :applause: That is looking really good. :medals: I can say from personal experience that being able to create your own custom scenery objects is the only way to be able to make the sceneries of the local airports that interest you.

Please continue to post your progress.:salute:

RD
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Thanks RD. . .it was your recent posts that spurred me on, so I'm tackling it head on and referring a lot back to the video tutorials when I run into something new or something that's already explained that I didn't understand the first time. Long way to go, but at least it looks like the picture, lol.
 
falcon409 said:
Decided I was going to learn to do some simple custom buildings even if it killed me, lol. This is the control Tower at Wheelus AFB, Libya. Very unique design. I won't say how many I trashed before I got to this point, lol.
Click to expand...

I thought it was Graves Lighthouse in Boston Harbor? Just kidding Ed, its looking good.
 
Another one bites the "3d" dust!:icon_lol:

Looking good Ed. Give me or RD a shout if you run into issues importing it to FSX or texturing it.
 
That's great to see Ed:applause: I might even have a go myself for the long, dark, winter months.
 
Roger said:
That's great to see Ed:applause: I might even have a go myself for the long, dark, winter months.
Click to expand...

That's a good idea Roger. That way you'll get the nice warm light reflecting off your computer screen onto the upper half of your body. Nice warm light is good for your mental well being.:jump:

RD
 
Nice work Ed! A journey of a thousand polygons begins with the the first poly, or something like that. ;)
 
I appreciate the encouraging words. Similar to how I approach everything is to make it as difficult as possible, when it actually can be relatively simple with practice. Not that I've mastered anything of course, but it wasn't very long ago that I was unable to even construct a simple house without cussing and banging my head on the keyboard, lol.

Added some texture to get a better idea of how it will look. Made some changes to the top and cut in the rest of the windows, added the railing and started to add the window panes. The one thing that I noticed from the photo I have though is that the base (the brick section) is actually taller than what I show....I don't want to start over, but I may have to inn order to get that part right.
 
falcon409 said:
The one thing that I noticed from the photo I have though is that the base (the brick section) is actually taller than what I show....I don't want to start over, but I may have to inn order to get that part right.
Click to expand...

Can't you grab the polys from the top of the brick section and raise them a little higher? I don't know much about SketchUp but I would think it's possible. I would hate to see you have to start over but that is the curse of the modeler.
 
Paul Domingue said:
Can't you grab the polys from the top of the brick section and raise them a little higher? I don't know much about SketchUp but I would think it's possible. I would hate to see you have to start over but that is the curse of the modeler.
Click to expand...
I'm not sure Paul, it isn't apparent in this image, but there is a slight taper to the entire tower and I don't think that it will continue that taper when I try to pull. It'll be tomorrow before I get back to it, but I'll do some testing. . .after all, there's always the "undo", lol.
 
Fixed. . .just pulled the bottom down, reset the ground level to "0", then stretched the base to fit the slight taper. Looking better, I just need to add the antenna on the roof and work on importing it into FSX. I'd like to see what it looks like in the sim.
 
falcon409 said:
Fixed. . .just pulled the bottom down, reset the ground level to "0", then stretched the base to fit the slight taper. Looking better, I just need to add the antenna on the roof and work on importing it into FSX. I'd like to see what it looks like in the sim.
Click to expand...

For future reference....If you find that you have to pull something "down" below the 0 point in SketchUp, you can always just set your elevation to reflect this in ADEX. Example....Say your object is -10 feet below the starting point, then you could just set your elevation to +10 feet in ADEX. This puts the object on the ground in FSX.

Roger, you asked about importing from SketchUp into FSX. The short answer is NO. The SketchUp DAE file has to be converted to a BGL file first. Model Converter X is used for this.

RD
 
I thought maybe this would help anyone interested in getting into making scenery objects.

1. SketchUp to make the objects.
2. Model Converter X to convert the objects to a BGL format along with DDS textures.
3. ADEX to place the objects in FSX.

RD
 
Thanks RD. . .I googled the process and got it converted pretty quickly. The current model is now in FSX, but not as it should be. The textures are apparently a problem and I'll have to fix that. The "stucco" and the "red" were dropped during the "minimize drawcalls" I think. Anyway, I have to get going here, helping my daughter move today so I won't get to work on this again til this evening.
 
Ed, if you keep the model simple enough and use one texture sheet, you won't need to minimize drawcalls. Looking good!
 
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