Has anyone seen replacement prop textures for the wonderful XP-54, XP-55 and XP-56 by Jeffrey Nissen? I haven't had much luck in finding any that work. The textures that come with the aircraft display as a very reflective solid disc with blades painted on it. When I've replaced the textures with those from other aircraft, I get the same results. By the way, this is the best MSFS site ever. I learn more here about the hobby than all of the other sites I visit combined. Keep up the great work and thanks.
Props
- Thread starter Tanmann
- Start date
I'm gonna take a guess here based on the fact that you changed textures with no change in the animation. . .what you see is due to the fact that the prop animation and texturing is part of the mdl file and cannot be changed.
I fly the Sadler Ultralight and I tried the same thing with similar results. I discovered that the appearance of the prop is coded into the mdl file and there's no way to change it.
Let me just add a bit here to the responses.
If the texture name ends in "_t", then it should have an alpha channel. If so, the alpha color needs to be near black in the RGB spectrum, i.e. 30,30,30 roughly. If it is white, then that may be your problem.
If the texture name does not have an "_t", and if it has an alpha, try the same as above.
If the texture does not end with an "_t" and there is no alpha channel, the transparency is set in the model.
If you are trying to run this in FSX, not FS9, then that is a different ballgame and you need to post your question in that forum.
Hope this helps.
If the texture name ends in "_t", then it should have an alpha channel. If so, the alpha color needs to be near black in the RGB spectrum, i.e. 30,30,30 roughly. If it is white, then that may be your problem.
If the texture name does not have an "_t", and if it has an alpha, try the same as above.
If the texture does not end with an "_t" and there is no alpha channel, the transparency is set in the model.
If you are trying to run this in FSX, not FS9, then that is a different ballgame and you need to post your question in that forum.
Hope this helps.
Thanks Milton, great information there. Have you ever considered writing a book, lol. You have a wealth of information from years of experience and it's refreshing to have it come out as bit's of wisdom when folks get bogged down in here from time to time. Thanks for your generosity.
Thanks Falcon. There are many ways to do things and mine are not always the best. I try to keep things simple and I still have to refer back to previous works as some of it I only do once or twice a year. I understand it is hard to find specific answers to specific problems so if I can help, I am happy to do it.
When I started in 2002 with gmax, there were a handful of people who knew anything about gmax modeling all the way through texturing, animations, and exporting. Just the basics were so very frustrating that I promised when I got through the first project (the Dash 7), that I would help others.
I have done many graphically illustrated tutes to answer questions and tried to share gmax source as a reference or for parts. We all learn differently so you do all you can to explain, and still it can be very confusing the first go-around.
Then of course, things change from sim to sim ... LOL
When I started in 2002 with gmax, there were a handful of people who knew anything about gmax modeling all the way through texturing, animations, and exporting. Just the basics were so very frustrating that I promised when I got through the first project (the Dash 7), that I would help others.
I have done many graphically illustrated tutes to answer questions and tried to share gmax source as a reference or for parts. We all learn differently so you do all you can to explain, and still it can be very confusing the first go-around.
Then of course, things change from sim to sim ... LOL
This was a tricky one....took a bit for that light bulb in my head to begin glowing..but by golly, it finally lit up and I now know how to fix the prop blurs on these planes.
Initially, the prop blur textures did not have alpha channels...so I swapped in some prop blur textures that I know are good ones. And that made matters worse.
Then I went into MDLmaterial to see if by chance the prop blur material was set with a material alpha (transparency) that was too low, or high...which ever it would be for the material to not be transparent enough. Found nothing there.
Then I went into the prop blur textures and gave them a solid black alpha...which ordinarily would make them totally transparent. And this made the shine on the prop blur even worse....and at that point, the two rocks in my skull happened to bump into each other and generated an idea.
So I opened the MDL file up in a Hex Editor and my idea turned out to be correct. The prop blur material, for some odd reason, had reflective ability. Reflective is nice, but not on prop blurs and VC panel place holder materials...you know, the unseen material that the VC gauges are shown on. I removed the reflective from the XP-56 prop, fired the sim back up and the result is much much nicer.
I will do similar modifications to the XP-54 and XP-55, then find or modify some appropriate prop blur textures, then I will e-mail the author of the planes and get his permission to upload the tweaked MDLs.
OBIO
Initially, the prop blur textures did not have alpha channels...so I swapped in some prop blur textures that I know are good ones. And that made matters worse.
Then I went into MDLmaterial to see if by chance the prop blur material was set with a material alpha (transparency) that was too low, or high...which ever it would be for the material to not be transparent enough. Found nothing there.
Then I went into the prop blur textures and gave them a solid black alpha...which ordinarily would make them totally transparent. And this made the shine on the prop blur even worse....and at that point, the two rocks in my skull happened to bump into each other and generated an idea.
So I opened the MDL file up in a Hex Editor and my idea turned out to be correct. The prop blur material, for some odd reason, had reflective ability. Reflective is nice, but not on prop blurs and VC panel place holder materials...you know, the unseen material that the VC gauges are shown on. I removed the reflective from the XP-56 prop, fired the sim back up and the result is much much nicer.
I will do similar modifications to the XP-54 and XP-55, then find or modify some appropriate prop blur textures, then I will e-mail the author of the planes and get his permission to upload the tweaked MDLs.
OBIO
Great job OBIO. Who would have ever thunk it! LOL Thanks for the investigative work. :ernae:
I have a very nice prop blur image in place and have the maker's permission to use it.....it is the 4-blade prop blur image BananaBob did for the Yamamoto C-119. I picked the best of the best to use.
Have sent an e-mail to Jeffry Nissen asking permission to upload the tweaked MDLs. As soon as I hear from him, you all will hear from me.
OBIO
Have sent an e-mail to Jeffry Nissen asking permission to upload the tweaked MDLs. As soon as I hear from him, you all will hear from me.
OBIO
if he says yes then i'll throw my paintkit into the public domain 
delta_lima
Charter Member 2015
Great news Obio! This thread got me to download the lovely XP-56 (which somehow escaped my notice) - what a great plane. The prop mod would definitely help - wonderful news if it can materialise.
Regards,
dl
Regards,
dl
Cazzie
SOH-CM-2024
Thought I'd bring this back to the forefront
I have been very unsuccessful making a new propwash for Jeffrey's XP-55 and XP-56, but I have been able to do a new propwash for his XP-54. It has been uploaded here at SOH.
For a good sound to used for the XP-54, use David Copley's Sound found in his P-38F Folder. If you do not have this wonderful package for FS2004, I can highly recommend it. File name p38tp21.zip at FlightSim.
The XP-54 used a huge 24-cylinder inline Lycoming engine. Using the sound of two super-charged 12-cylinder Allisons sounds better than the aliased DH Comet.
Let this short video attest:
[YOUTUBE]sJIg77s1plk[/YOUTUBE]
Caz
I have been very unsuccessful making a new propwash for Jeffrey's XP-55 and XP-56, but I have been able to do a new propwash for his XP-54. It has been uploaded here at SOH.
For a good sound to used for the XP-54, use David Copley's Sound found in his P-38F Folder. If you do not have this wonderful package for FS2004, I can highly recommend it. File name p38tp21.zip at FlightSim.
The XP-54 used a huge 24-cylinder inline Lycoming engine. Using the sound of two super-charged 12-cylinder Allisons sounds better than the aliased DH Comet.
Let this short video attest:
[YOUTUBE]sJIg77s1plk[/YOUTUBE]
Caz
I am still waiting to here from Jeffry Nissen concerning permission to upload the tweaked MDLs for the planes. I have BananaBob's permission to include renamed versions of the 4-blade prop blur file that he did for Yamamoto's C-119.
For sounds for these planes I use USDA Grade A pure Lawdog audio:
XP-55 Ascender: P-40 version 2, Lawdog's newer package
XP-54 Swoose Goose: Hawker Typhoon Version 2 (H24 Napier)
XP-56 Black Bullet: F8F
OBIO
For sounds for these planes I use USDA Grade A pure Lawdog audio:
XP-55 Ascender: P-40 version 2, Lawdog's newer package
XP-54 Swoose Goose: Hawker Typhoon Version 2 (H24 Napier)
XP-56 Black Bullet: F8F
OBIO
Cazzie
SOH-CM-2024
Thanks OBIO, I'll give those Napiers a try, never thought of those. :isadizzy:
Ditto on the XP-56. I use the F8F P & W R-2800 sound.
For the XP-55, I use David Copley's P-38F Sound, but altered the sound.cfg to one engine. I have Lawdog's latest P-40, will have to tinker and give that a try too.
