How can I import .M3D into gmax?

L

Lennert

Guest
Hello fellow sim pilots!

I've been looking for a M3D importer for gmax everywhere, but couldn't find anything usefull, not even an extra prog that could import M3D and save as gmax! All I did find whas a whole lot of other ridiculously complex ways to convert model files into other model files, but not m3d to gmax..

I'm just starting off with gmax and wanted to import some existing stuff from CFS3 to get the dimensions right etc. Is there any way to do this?

Regards, lennert


P.S. I do have the CFS3 gamepack for gmax so I can at least export my stuff as .m3d, but an importer isn't included.
 
Hoi Leendert

Depends on what type of m3d.

CFS 3 m3d files is impossible to convert, however there are 3D tools that support the Quake m3d format. All you have to do then is to save a Quake file to 3ds or obj or dxf or lwo (depends what type of import plugin you're using in gmax) to import it in gmax.

Toevallig iets Nederlands aan het maken? Neem in dat geval svp contact met me op

(Happen to be building something Dutch? In that case please contact me)

Los Ballos
 
Two options:

- The sample Ju-88 and P-47 included with gmax give you two examples of gmax source files.

- Various tutorials (including mine) will get you set up with all the dimensions and hierarchies and such.

As far as I know, the M3D files are supposed to be "un-crackable" to protect the work of the modelers. As a creator of several aircraft from scratch, I very much appreciate having some protection. There probably is a way to get them partly un-done but I haven't yet seen it done.
 
viso said:
As far as I know, the M3D files are supposed to be "un-crackable" to protect the work of the modelers. As a creator of several aircraft from scratch, I very much appreciate having some protection. There probably is a way to get them partly un-done but I haven't yet seen it done.
Click to expand...

I don't think that anyone ever bothered to "reverse-engineer" CFS3 m3d files, too cumbersome obviously since the format differs from the other MSFS franchises.
 
Thanks for the replies people! It makes sense that the format should protect the modellers work.

I'm just making some extra ordnance for late-war/experimental jets like those from luft '46 to start off. I've allready succesfully made a new gunpod that looks good on jets and now I would like to make a rocket pod for R4M rockets and a pylon that should enable you to carry 2 bombs on 1 hardpoint. I've gotten the hang of gmax far enough so I can make the models the way I want to, but I just don't know how the helpers/dummy's should be named that mark the spots where the rockets/bombs should be suspended. Tutorials about aircraft don't discuss this kind of stuff, or not the ones I've read through anyway.

Regards, Lennert
 
If anyone could tell me how those dummy's should be named, or otherwise knows how to make such items work, it would be a great help!

Regards, lennert
 
I'm with you as well, Lennert. I have a good looking MiG-3 flying in CFS3 that can't shoot. It must be something very simple.
Cheers Thicko
 
thicko - I have two cannon on each wing and the hierarchy is

r_Cannon ..........................(the modelled object, looks like two gun barrels)
...Gun_grp0b0 ....................(dummy - group 0, barrel 0)
...Gun_grp0b1 ....................(dummy - group 0, barrel 1)

and something similar for the l_Cannon which uses group 1, barrel 0 and 1 (sorry about all the dots, I couldn't get this to format properly)

and I'm using the stock Tempest Mk.V's .xdp while I experiment. I had to delete the .bdp before the guns would fire from the correct positions....

HTH
 
Lennert said:
If anyone could tell me how those dummy's should be named, or otherwise knows how to make such items work, it would be a great help!

Regards, lennert
Click to expand...

I do use the P-47 as a reference of what is what. Also, I use the doc that comes with microsoft SDK at the official page.
I didn't go that far, but it helps ...
 
hairyspin said:
thicko - I have two cannon on each wing and the hierarchy is

r_Cannon ..........................(the modelled object, looks like two gun barrels)
...Gun_grp0b0 ....................(dummy - group 0, barrel 0)
...Gun_grp0b1 ....................(dummy - group 0, barrel 1)

and something similar for the l_Cannon which uses group 1, barrel 0 and 1 (sorry about all the dots, I couldn't get this to format properly)

and I'm using the stock Tempest Mk.V's .xdp while I experiment. I had to delete the .bdp before the guns would fire from the correct positions....



HTH
Click to expand...

Thanks! I allready had my gunpods working but I didn't understand exactly how the hierarchy worked. This should help me with any future gun projects!

I've allready studied the p47's file but it doesn't seem to have any markers for the hardpoints. It does have them for the guns, that's how I got the gunpods working..
If only they had included a gmax file for the bazooka tube or wfgr21 in the gamepack... :banghead:

Edit: @Noelberrier: Thanks! I totally looked over those docs! I can't believe how stupid I am!

The Modelling doc does have some info about naming the pylons on a plane (simply pylon0 to pylon10, even for left, odd for right side. pylon0 being the centerline) This might work for the double pylon I want to make..
But it can't be the solution for the rocketpod since it's supposed to hold 18 rockets. The R4M pylons hold up to 12 rockets in the game, so there must be a different hierachy for that.
Has anyone ever looked into this?

(P.S. if a mod reads this, could the name of the topic be changed? The current name has become quite inapropriate)
 
Reading through the modelling doc I've found another page that gives some hints, but it's still a bit vague about how the mount points should be named:

[FONT=&quot]Weapons are added as library objects, and are defined in the .xdp of the aircraft. The aircraft model should have nodes named pylon0, pylon1, et The number is the one referenced as Hardpoint ID= “#” in the .xdp. A pylon object is then attached to the point as defined in the .xdp as PylonType= “[name]”. This references a model in the [/FONT][FONT=&quot]/pylon[/FONT][FONT=&quot] folder. The pylon model has mount points numbered 0-16. Use pylon_null if you want no geometry in the pylon (inside a bombbay, or if they pylons are modeled into the aircraft already, for example). The actual payload, the bombs, drop tanks or rockets, are then attached as the PayloadType= “[name]” where [name] is a model found in the [/FONT][FONT=&quot]\weapons [/FONT][FONT=&quot]folder.[/FONT]

So.. they should be numbered 0-16. But just a number won't cut it, since you can't export names that start with a number. I've tried it with using pylon0, pylon1 etc. but it doesn't work unfortunately! maybe I should try mount#..
Can anybody else make sense out of this?
 
Darnit.. the answer was on my harddisk all along! mount# worked!

My apologies for bothering you guys with something I could've found out myself if I had looked a little longer..

I hope a screenie will set things straight! Here's PREEZE's (Duncat nowadays?) Junkers unnamed ground attack jet with my new 6 barreled gun pod and external double pylon with 2 stock 250kg cluster bombs.

my.php


my.php
 
Speaking of pylons, you'll next want to look into the XDP notations required to carry a certain number of bombs on a given pylon. Matthias once explained the math behind the funny numbers. I'll mention it here since it's on-topic. Take a look at a He-111 or other bomber and you'll see what I'm talking about.

Matthias explained this once ... it's basically the binary value of the number of weapon positions. As examples:

1 wpn = 1 = 1
2 wpns = 11 = 3
3 wpns = 111 = 7
4 wpns = 1111 = 15
5 wpns = 11111 = 31
6 wpns = 111111 = 63
7 wpns = 1111111 = 127
8 wpns = 11111111 = 255
9 wpns = 111111111 = 511
and so on and so forth
 
I was allready aware of that system, but thanks for sharing anyway! The easiest way to know which number you need to enter is this formula:

(2^x)-1

In which x is the number of pieces you want to mount

For example, if you need 8 rockets on a pylon you get:

2^8 = 256
256 - 1 = 255

I've also finished my rocket pod yesterday btw, it took some time to get the rockets to line up with the tubes correctly but eventually I got it to look and work fine.
I still want to work on the models for these three items a bit more, the gunpod looks odd with the straight cone on the front and the barrels dissapearing in a grey surface like that, so that needs a bit extra detailing. And I also need to make a new model for the panzerblitz 2 rockets since the stock ones are a bit thinner then they actually were, so they don't fit tightly into the tubes which I made to original specs.
I hope eventually it will be good enough so it's a good alternative for people who would like to use PB-2's on planes with fixed pylons.
 
Good to hear you're making progress, Lennert! I still have a long way to go deciphering the .xdp in any detail.

Although the sim has been around a long time now, today's hardware can easily stand better, more accurate models. Compare the stock p-47 with Johno_UK's Sea Fury for a good example of how far the best modellers have pushed the old girl.

Keep at it!
 
Pylons

Lennert said:
I was allready aware of that system, but thanks for sharing anyway! The easiest way to know which number you need to enter is this formula:

(2^x)-1

In which x is the number of pieces you want to mount

For example, if you need 8 rockets on a pylon you get:

2^8 = 256
256 - 1 = 255

I've also finished my rocket pod yesterday btw, it took some time to get the rockets to line up with the tubes correctly but eventually I got it to look and work fine.
I still want to work on the models for these three items a bit more, the gunpod looks odd with the straight cone on the front and the barrels dissapearing in a grey surface like that, so that needs a bit extra detailing. And I also need to make a new model for the panzerblitz 2 rockets since the stock ones are a bit thinner then they actually were, so they don't fit tightly into the tubes which I made to original specs.
I hope eventually it will be good enough so it's a good alternative for people who would like to use PB-2's on planes with fixed pylons.
Click to expand...

You probably know this already so excuse my redundancy on this subject. In the xdp there is an entry called internal pylons. This figure tells the computer how many weapons are stored internally and can only be used when the bomb bay doors are open. (Well at least that has been my experience). For what ever that is worth.
 
hairyspin said:
thicko - I have two cannon on each wing and the hierarchy is

r_Cannon ..........................(the modelled object, looks like two gun barrels)
...Gun_grp0b0 ....................(dummy - group 0, barrel 0)
...Gun_grp0b1 ....................(dummy - group 0, barrel 1)

and something similar for the l_Cannon which uses group 1, barrel 0 and 1 (sorry about all the dots, I couldn't get this to format properly)

and I'm using the stock Tempest Mk.V's .xdp while I experiment. I had to delete the .bdp before the guns would fire from the correct positions....

HTH
Click to expand...
I tried changing an existing aircraft with a Hex editor and it didn't work.
Is there anyway to change a 2 gun group (P-51H/P-72)plane into having 3 groups(P-51D)?

With the Hex editor, it looked fine after I edited it, just like the P-51Ds, but it doesn't seem to work. And yes I modified the XDP and deleted the BDP.

HaHA, I hope this post/question made sense to someone.
 
Glad you didn't ask this a couple of months ago: here goes.......

If you don't have the gmax source file, forget it. :banghead: If you do have the source file, add another dummy to each gun group on each wing and add the extra barrel to each group in the .xdp so the tracer effects and muzzle flashes show for the two extra guns.

There may be another way around this, though: you'll need to speak to 0-1 Driver. An effect could be added to the .xdp to give muzzle flashes and tracer from additional gun positions not in the original model, but I don't know if this could be triggered by the other guns firing. I'm no expert on this, so don't be too surprised if this kite crashes and burns! Good luck!
 
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