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New Bonanza

I noticed in the screen-shot; the glass looked odd, and the chrome looked white... I downloaded the red paint-job from Simviation.. No alpha channel ..

Now.. if you, or anyone likes that look, no big deal.. but I think the glass and chrome recipe I came up with, is a big part of the the realistic look..

Your DDS file (p35_1_T.dds) is saved in DXT1 format.. (which doesn't allow for alpha).. so even if you imported it, it's not saved with one. DXT5 is what I used..
 
Not usually being a light aircraft fan I was particularly impressed by the work on this aircraft . This is a very high standard model for "Freeware" and I look forward to flying it much more. Congratulations Brett!:applause::applause::applause::applause::applause:
 
Anyone know of any repaints being done for this, besides the red one already out? I haven'tseen any repaints for any other of his planes either. Are they hard to repaint?
 
I've got this one done, but I wasn't really planning on uploading it. I'm pretty new to painting, and it's probably not up to the standards we usually get around here.
The paintkit for this plane is pretty simple, though, if you wanted to give it a try on your own. If you don't have photoshop, download gimp 2.6. It's free and does a nice job. I also use DXTBMP to put it all together.
 
C´mon, that paint looks splendid, besides you have to start somewhere and this IS a good start!!!:applause: Would be great to have it!

Alex
 
That paint-job looks excellent :applause:

"Paint Kit", is a very loose term. What I like in one, is simply the layering that allows details like rivets and weathering and such, to remain on "top" of any "paint"

Also, for convenience sake.. layers for the; alpha, spec and spec-alpha are in there. You really don't need to change those much on my models.. it's just important to have access to them. The how-n-why about those layers gets into a re-painting tutorial.. and this isn't the place for it.

The whole repainting thing gets tricky when you stray away from the original theme. Non-tubular fuselages require complex; sometimes polygon-by-polygon material mapping, else things get stretched and distorted. My other models were problematic for repainters, because it was just to much work (trial and error), to get a new theme (different stripes, more stripes, no stripes, etc etc) to go grom the editor, to the model.

On the Bonanza.. I really tried to keep painters in mind.. and the only place it gets tricky, is where the fuselage comes to a point, at the tail... and the top of the empenage. An experienced repainter will be able to make sense of it.

So far .. all the repaints have been pretty much re-coloring of the existing theme.. I might try a different theme eventually.. but right now I've got my hands full, modeling where the wings meet the fuselage, on a Bae146 :mixedsmi:
 
Thanks for the kind words, guys. You may change your mind when you see it up close, though.

I read your documentation, Brett, and I couldn't find anything about uploading repaints. Do you have any restrictions or objections? If not, I'll put it out there for anyone who wants to have a look. Also, thanks again for the great plane. It really seems to fly just right. I'm having a great time in it. :salute:
 
Hi Brett

I really like this little plane, both inside and out :applause:

I have just found two small issues that I would like to ask you about.

1) I have looked everywhere in the cabin (I think), but I just can't find a handle or lever for the parking brake. Have I missed something?

2) When flying in the direction of the sun, I get this strange light on the floor:

Bonanza_light.jpg


It moves across the floor when I make a turn, or if I rotate the plane in slew mode, so it is rather clear to me that it is related to the position of the sun. Has anyone else noticed this effect?

The basic facts about my setup: FSX Acceleration running on Win XP SP3, using a good old GeForce 8800 GT card.

Best regards
Kim Dahl
 
Hi Kim,

That light is a head-scratcher.. I tried making a "shield" (one-sided canopy), but it didn't help. I intended to research it later, but it got lost in the shuffle..

And yeah.. I always use the key-board for parking brakes.. so it never even entered my mind.. :kilroy:
 
Hi Brett

Thank you for your quick reply :)

I hope you find a solution for the little light issue. Perhaps someone here has an idea?

And about the parking brake: I also usually use the keyboard, but I always look for the moving part when I get into a new plane while using the "keyboard brake"...

Regards
Kim
 
kimdahl said:
Hi Brett

I really like this little plane, both inside and out :applause:

I have just found two small issues that I would like to ask you about.

1) I have looked everywhere in the cabin (I think), but I just can't find a handle or lever for the parking brake. Have I missed something?

2) When flying in the direction of the sun, I get this strange light on the floor:

Bonanza_light.jpg


It moves across the floor when I make a turn, or if I rotate the plane in slew mode, so it is rather clear to me that it is related to the position of the sun. Has anyone else noticed this effect?

The basic facts about my setup: FSX Acceleration running on Win XP SP3, using a good old GeForce 8800 GT card.

Best regards
Kim Dahl
Click to expand...

I believe the light issue also extends to the exterior as shown in this shot where the reflection obliterates some of the planes detail.

Reflections can be controlled by a Fresnel Ramp applied to the texture. I've done this with scenery objects and it should be possible for planes as well. In the Material Editor of Gmax I activate a black 256 wide by 4 high texture file of dds type, and check the reflection box. I believe the amount of reflection is controlled by the blackness of the Fresnel Ramp file.

Checkout the SDK on FSX materials which shows many different uses of maps. Use of the Fresnel Ramp file may totally change the look of the plane, so use with caution or not at all.

There should be many plane and paint experts here that could give you better advice.
 
Yeah.. materials are complicated.. and I'll be the first to admit (especially when trying to get a good chrome and glass off of the same bitmap as the rest of the paint job), that I just poke in the dark until something works.

As far as the interior goes, though. That maertial has no fresnel ramp, nor even a specular map... and an all-white alpha.

Thre exterior "shine" and having trouble seeing even the paint, when the sun glares at that angle..seems realistic to me.
 
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