AR196 Project in AD2K

hubbabubba said:
Hi smilo:wavey:
...................................
Keep it funny for you, smilo. That's the only advice I can give you.
Click to expand...

"Lecture au dela de la fin de fichier."

is this French for,
Are you having fun yet?
somehow, i doubt it.

after working for most of the day, yesterday,
i got this popup message on my screen.
with no choice, except to close the popup window.
of course, closing the window removed the work.
oh yeah, now we're having fun!

ad2k offers two ways to build.
you can build in a master assembly
or just in an assembly.
after being compiled, a master assembly
creates a mdl which can be seen in the sim.
a plain assembly can not be seen in the sim.
BUT, a plain assembly can be inserted
into a master assembly.
here's an ad2k tutorial quote;

An assembly is a part of the model which is stored in a separate file.
Using assemblies brings some advantages :
When your model is a complex one, or a very detailed one,
using assemblies helps you keep a reasonable size of the files you are working on.

a master assembly is stored in a .3DM file
and an assembly is stored in a .MD1 file.

i know this system works, because i used it
way back when i was working on the A-20.
but that was way back when.
the master assembly/assembly selection process
is very simple, just one check box.
but now, ad2k will not build or even see a .MD1 file,
except when, in ad2k, i try to open a file
and click the file of type: Tous fichiers option
(i am guessing this means all types of files)
if i try this, i get
Lecture au dela de la fin de fichier.
and loose the contents of the file.
DRAT!!!

i have been up most of the night
trying to figure this out with no success.
i have even tried older versions of ad2k
and tried it on other machines,
but they are all running xp service pack3.
at this point, i have a sneaking suspicion
that some security update maybe the cause,
but i can't be sure.

unless i take an other machine,
and reinstall xp without the service packs.
now, that sounds funny! :jump:
 
Sorry for you, smilo. You have all my sympathy...:redf:

"Lecture au delà de la fin de fichier." Simply means "Reading beyond the end of the file." Now, that's what it means in French, but what it really means in computer geek lingo, I simply have no idea. I will take a pot shot; the file is erased and trying to read it makes you go "beyond". Anyway, not much of a consolation price, I know... as you often say; DRAT!:redfire:

Happy New Year... nevertheless...:kilroy:
 
thanks hubba,
that's the translation i got googling it.
except it was some musician
that lost a night of composing.
apparently, French program creators
like to use that phrase,
what ever it means.

i'll just say, so it goes,
start over and continue to muddle along.

i tried to install ad2k on an old me machine,
but gave up when it didn't want to read my usb drive.
maybe i'll try harder later.
i really don't need any more frustrations right now.

it's not a big deal, really.
it's just part of the game.

on the bright side,
i did find a file with all the frame work templates,
but not the coding.
the templates are a jumbled mess,
so i've decided to organize them
in a manageable order.

onward through the fog
 
with a very large dose of cautious optimism,
(yeah, i know it's out of character)
i want to report that i might have found
a workaround for the MD1 file issue
i eluded to above.
without going into to much detail,
the solution involves an inordinate amount
of file saving, compiling, renaming and more saving
and then recompiling the 3DM master assemble file
that i want to convert to a MD1 assembly file.

i have been able to work on a 3DM file,
convert it to MD1 and then insert it
into the main project file a few times now.
going back to rework it is a bit convoluted,
but i have done it successfully a few times today.
i am also saving and storing files out of the way
to what, at times, seems an extreme.
but it's easier than redoing them if i have another snafu.

the coding process for the wing to float to fuselage framework
is coming along rather nicely,
although, i still have a few overlaps to work on.
at the risk of being overly optimistic,
i am feeling pretty good about the progress.
 
GLORIOSKI!!!

-------:greenbo:--------
after many hours and even days
of dinking around with the coding sequence,
i've finally had a breakthrough.

of course, this, by no stretch of the imagination,
means that i have mastered the process.
but i do feel that i have made major progress
and that i am definitely on the right track.

fortunately, i am on vacation
and have been able to devote
the many hours required for this task.
all this in spite of being a bit under the weather
with my annual holiday bout with a cold.
the cough induced headache is a real bonus.
 
No Dice said:
It is well worth waiting for............

Dave
Click to expand...
...that's one of the few things
regarding this project that i can guarantee.
there will be waiting a plenty.
sorry about that.
i sure hope you've got plenty
to do in the mean time.
 
smilo said:
funny you should mention that.
i was shooting for a winter solstice release date.
Click to expand...

Close Enough I Hope, Just Gald I am not Mayan!

Hell; all the bugs, gaters, snakes....Even Katrina couldn't kill us
Guess I'll be around to see it...less I get run over by a Bus.

Dave
 
...as long as someone doesn't
through you under the bus.
what are friends for, anyway.

i'm real close to retiring.
like in a few weeks.
but wife says, we need the money, though.
okay, fine. so, when can i retire?
when i can't walk, see, or use my hands?

i figure it would be just about fine and dandy
if i retired on 12-20-12.
just my luck.

back to business;
here's another shot with the left wings,
framework and floats added.
the bottoms of the floats are flat
so she'll ride level on the water.
that fix will come later.
next, i've got to figure out how to stick
the fuselage and all that stuff in between the wings.

maybe tomorrow, i'm getting a little tired.
 
That is a very pretty screenshot. You seem to be missing the lower half of each float though....

Seriously, It looks like you put together all the struts wthout any bleeds and I know that must have been a serious chore.

:icon_lol:
-Ivan.
 
Ivan said:
That is a very pretty screenshot. You seem to be missing the lower half of each float though....

Seriously, It looks like you put together all the struts wthout any bleeds and I know that must have been a serious chore.

:icon_lol:
-Ivan.
Click to expand...
thanks Ivan,
i am a little proud of it,
even though i know it's faults
and i am starting to realize
how much there is left to do.

you must have missed this part of the commentary;
smilo said:
...
here's another shot with the left wings,
framework and floats added.
the bottoms of the floats are flat
so she'll ride level on the water.
that fix will come later.
...
Click to expand...
also, i forgot to mention that the wings
were outsourced from the Ivan AF99 Factory.
even though i had a few issues
with the afx importing process,
they are far superior to the wing
i built using the default profile template.
many thanks for that.

last night i worked on the cowling a bit,
but then, i realized that i'd forgotten
to move the cowl templates
to the new COG alignment
that you adjusted for me.
that shouldn't take to long to fix, though.
 
smilo said:
(...)thanks Ivan,
i am a little proud of it,
even though i know it's faults
and i am starting to realize
how much there is left to do.(...)
Click to expand...

Now you're starting to talk like a real modeler, smilo:applause:!

And you have imported AF99 parts into AD2000? Impressive:jawdrop:...

Now, I understand your GLORIOSKI!!!
 
hubbabubba said:
Now you're starting to talk like a real modeler, smilo:applause:!

And you have imported AF99 parts into AD2000? Impressive:jawdrop:...

Now, I understand your GLORIOSKI!!!
Click to expand...
hello hubba, thanks, long time, no see.
i hope the holidays treated you well.

yes, ad2k is capable of importing afx files.
it's a very nice feature,
but there are a few issues.
most likely, operator error.
when i imported Ivan's wing,
some of the panels were flipped.
i have no clue why, but i worked it out
by finding the culprits
and then flipping them back individually.

"gloriosky" was just an expression of joy
at finally getting the struts, floats, and wings
to show properly from all lines of sight.
it was very helpful to finally be able
to accomplish the sequencing.
because now, i know i can do it.
the trick will be to do it for the rest of the model.

i am debating the rebuilding of the entire fuselage.
i used default ad2k 12 sided templates to build it.
a comment Ivan made about texturing
a while back has been gnawing at me.
apparently, having flat "panels" on the
top and the bottom of the fuselage
may cause texture distortion later on.
i don't know. all i know is what i'm told,
and then, i'm still not sure.
anyway, i can change the bulkhead templates
to 14 sided, which will fix the problem.
plus, it will smooth things even more.

here's a shot of today's work so far.
she sits level on the water,
the spinner, cowling and forward fuselage,
all seem to line up properly.

whatever you do,
don't look at the right front strut
that connects the float to the forward fuselage.
there's some still work to do there.
...both sides, actually.

also, in the shot, the spinner is built using 14 sided templates,
and the cowling is made with 18 sided templates.
i have a specific reason for the high cowling count,
but won't go into it right now.
 
Hi Smilo,

I can tell you why some of the polygons were flipped in the wing. In AF99, the orientation of the polygon doesn't matter so I just make the next polygon by moving a couple vertices of the last one. That means that the direction will flip back and forth. I have never thought about it much because it doesn't affect a AF99 project. With other 3D Design packages it often is the case that the direction matters.

Pity AF99 missed out on a very easy way to represent direction. It would save a whole lot of trouble with Components.

Seriously, that plane is looking pretty good!

- Ivan.
 
thanks Ivan, both for the compliment
and for the explanation...makes sense.

honestly, i am being more detailed than necessary.
i want to see where the limits are.
i just hope i don't loose anything when i hit the wall.
backup the backups.:icon_lol:

now i am curious if i can easily build the reversed polygons.
i have a theory to test after dinner.
 
well, that was interesting.
ya learn something every day.

actually, i am surprised that my theory was correct.
when making a polygon in the side view,
if the points are drawn clockwise,
it is visible from the right side only in the sim.
if the points are drawn counter-clockwise,
the polygon is visible only from the left side.

i didn't check from the top view,
but i have no doubt that the polygon visibility
also depends on the direction which it is drawn.
ie, clockwise or counter clockwise.

is af99 like this,too?
 
Hi Smilo,

As I was commenting on before, AF99 doesn't care which direction the points go. The Polygon will face OUT from the center of the Component. In the big scheme of things (my son asked me last night what I meant by "Big Scheme of Things") ignoring information in this way is just plain stupid. Other 3D Design stuff uses this clockwise versus counter clockwise direction of points to determine the viewing of the polygon. I can write a program that will quickly reverse the points of a polygon. It isn't difficult.....

I figure that AF99 was built in a really big hurry to do a translation between SOME 3D package to SCASM. The listing order of points in SCASM doesn't matter so AF99 didn't pay attention to it. To have done it differently would not have been easy. There were many other shortcuts as well, but they were fairly adequate for the level of detail of FS98 aircraft of the time. Pity I don't have the source code for the application. I am VERY sure I could seriously improve the capabilities without a whole lot of effort. BTW, if this were to actually happen, to do it correctly would also require a few fixes to Aircraft Animator as well. That program has a bunch of bugs as well.

- Ivan.
 
Bonjour smilo :wavey:

To judge BT on your struts, I would need more than a 2D screen capture, but what I see looks great. But if you can import AF99 parts into one of your AD2000 project, you could probably import conditional jumps as well; code is code. One conditional jump that AF99 has but, apparently, AD2000 doesn't, is "speed above", which would settle your half-floaters problem. The altitude as a triggering event is unfit; just have to think of a landing at Interlaken.

If you can have the best of these two worlds, why not use it? That's a big GLORIOSKI!!! for me.

Hi Ivan :wavey:

In my thread "New ways to have fun with CFS1", I've already discussed the orientation of a polygon, so I won't do it again. But, in short, points' order is only necessary with contiguous planes with RefPoint. If AD2000 does it, it does it on its own. Same thing with AF99. It is only the way both programs handle the information that changes.

In SCASM, you can paint one side or the other... or both!
 
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