Getting Started With Gmax

Gmax export problem with some textures not transferring - they show in Gmax but not in FS9 - I keep getting this problem on my other models & the only way so far to overcome it has been to redraw the item & remap it. This time though it ain't working on a couple it items - a toroid for the tyres & a plane surface.
I've tried converting to a mesh & pressing UVW remove - which it does in Gmax & the FS9 export, but they still do not take the texture when re-mapped.
Any ideas folks - I'm losing a lot of hair.
Keith
 
Dev One said:
Gmax export problem with some textures not transferring - they show in Gmax but not in FS9 - I keep getting this problem on my other models & the only way so far to overcome it has been to redraw the item & remap it. This time though it ain't working on a couple it items - a toroid for the tyres & a plane surface.
I've tried converting to a mesh & pressing UVW remove - which it does in Gmax & the FS9 export, but they still do not take the texture when re-mapped.
Any ideas folks - I'm losing a lot of hair.
Keith
Click to expand...

Keith,

Remember that gmax will use any size and shape texture but FS needs a "power of 2" texture, and in the correct format.

So be sure that your gmax textures are power of 2, and 24-bit bmp or a jpeg copy. Then copy your 24-bit to FS and convert it to 32-bit with alpha or DXT3 with alpha.

Now, also remember that it is the texture name, not the material name, that FS needs. :)

Hope this helps.
 
Thanks Milton, but I don't think that is the problem as the other parts that do work are mapped with the same DXT3.bmp texture, just a different part of it.
I have however bodged a fix for the tyres by merging & rescaling from another of my aircraft & redrawing the panel that was a plane, with a box & deleting the sides & back...... The vagaries of Microsoft or autocad????
Anyway a screen shot of it (WIP) is on Britsim.com.
Keith
 
I would however be interested in what the problem is. If you would send me the part exported as a gmax file, I'll take a look at it.

You can use the email in my profile if you choose to do hat.
 
hairyspin said:
Thank you Keith, that reminds me of the Universal Warning.

mirrorbutton.jpg

Use the Mirror modifier instead (or there'll be weeping, wailing and gnashing of teeth...).
Click to expand...


Get rid of it - Hold alt + left click and drag the mirror button down, then delete it when prompted.
ctrl + left click drag will duplicate a button.

The gmax interface is highly customizable, you can create your own buttons for the most used functions.

Note: Gmax saves all interface changes automatically, however if you save a custom ui it can be used on different computers or uploaded for others.

View attachment 77179
 
The accursed blot is gone from my toolbars!

Thank you tobob, I tried to find a way before and failed. Very much obliged!
 
Often forgotten: animation controllers

When setting up GMax for FS developing, set the position and rotation animation controllers to Linear by default: they're Bezier and TCB respectively by default. If you don't do this you can get very odd animation results, especially in FSX.

To do this select or create a simple object and go to the Motion panel:-


9GwSXUH.jpg
YApw6aE.jpg




Once this is set you can forget it like most of us do. :dizzy:
 
Last edited:
Tom, your sharing this is something I don't recall going through to get set-up. Thanks for sharing this.

Hopefully this does not affect anything "modeled", and just animation. I can deal with having to re-animate if I have too.
 
Any object already animated can have its animation controllers changed as shown: it doesn't mess up any keyframes you've already set. You'll probably have to check your existing animated stuff and change as appropriate. :running:
 
Scale / Size

Perhaps someone's already came across this one I'm not sure. My Gmax units are set to Meters under preferences and Units, and the grid unit is set up to say that 1 square is 1 meter however after following the tutorial and getting my plane in FSX it appears almost twice the size of a Cessna 172. Is there other options or settings I should be double checking? All aircraft measurements are pretty well spot on according to all available POH and flight data material which came direct from the manufacturer... Any help is much appreciated. Thank you. Kind Regards, Matt.
 
OzFlightSimulations said:
Gmax units are set to Meters under preferences and Units
Click to expand...

Careful there, it's the System Unit Scale found under Customize/Preferences, General tab which must be set to 1 Unit = 1.0 Metre. The dialog is shown in post #20 above and that must be correctly set or the exporter won't compile to FS.


and the grid unit is set up to say that 1 square is 1 meter
Click to expand...

The Grid Unit doesn't affect the units the model is sized in, but the Viewport unit does: go to Customize/Units Setup... and set the units the Viewport will display: you can work in feet, inches and fractions of an inch if your data is so listed but the model will still compile because the System Unit is correct. It was Felix of FFDS who put me on to this and it's been a great help. :encouragement: You can work in feet while your data is in feet and switch to millimetres or metres where your other data is in these units: the model will still compile to FS.

The grid unit only affects how the lines are spaced on the Home grid or any user-defined grid.
 
Scale / Size

Thanks for that, I will definitely follow it up. So far I have attacked Gmax again and done the following. I imported another aircraft which is similar in size to the plane I'm making into model converter x and then into Gmax as .3ds. Then I measured the plane against its manufacturers specs using the tape tool. Found the measurements to be within reasonable margins. I then moved the model on the longitudal axis away from the centre of the scene and clicked merge, dropped my plane in there and measured - almost double the measurements in the book and compared to the similar aircraft, was much the same result as my FSX test with the Cessna 172 parking under the wings. So having said that I think now after repairing the units of measure I should be able to relatively scale the plane I'm building back down so it doesn't look like "supersize my plane"

Thank you to everyone at Sim-Outhouse for your time and patience and help so far with my project, I know I've asked probably a lot of dumb questions.

Kind Regards
Matt.
 
Updated my original first post to activate links to tutorials in new locations.

Hope this helps. :)
 
Milton, 3DSMax is free for three years, when you subscribe for a studen account. As far i know it get the -2014 version, totally legal!:)
 
Not all of us are students Miro, or likely to be again...

However, many of the tips above apply equally to 3ds Max.
 
hairyspin said:
When setting up GMax for FS developing, set the position and rotation animation controllers to Linear by default: they're Bezier and TCB respectively by default. If you don't do this you can get very odd animation results, especially in FSX.

To do this select or create a simple object and go to the Motion panel:-



dg1a.jpg
und5.jpg




Once this is set you can forget it like most of us do. :dizzy:
Click to expand...

My default has always been Bezier. Are you saying this would be true for FS9 Gmax as well?
 
It's been a long time since I did anything in FS9 but the linear controllers are an FSX SDK stipulation. Scale animations however are not supported in FS, although skinned mesh animations are possible in FSX.
 
To avoid heartache

Many of us learn this the hard way, but you're much better working in this order:-

Build the model first
...Map the model second
......Animate the model LAST

It's very tempting to animate the undercarriage and have it folding up and unfolding a treat, but if you have to adjust anything or reset scale or transforms in the process of mapping, you'll have to redo the animation all over.

Patience!
 
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