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Aircraft Shadows in FS9

D

docII

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8
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us-california
Hey everybody,

I want to not have shadows on part of my aircraft, is there anyway in to model in the gmax SDK for FS9 to not have them? I know it can be done in FSX, but I haven't seen any post about FS9.

Thanks
 
Oh oh,

no shadow on the Plane - you model is not living, it is dead. :eek::eek:

I hate FSX without shadows.
 
My plane is a float plane, and the shadow on the floats shows the bottom. I can see a shadow of the water rudder, so I would like to get rid of just that shadow. Make sense?


docII
 
Hi
Add a shadow model and omit any parts you dont want to see a shadow of.
In fs9 if there is no shadow model the external model is used to render the shadow.
Wozza
 
I have no idea how its done in G-Max but its exactly the same as adding a Vc model except the models name is projectname_shadow.Use the shadow model to remove unwanted shadows and lower the total polly count.if you dont want any shadows at all ( ya cant see them from the vc anyway in fs9 :) ) just make a very tiny single sided polly.Ive even seen a few ppl make the shadow model a total different model :)
Im sure Felix and or other g-maxer's will give you a better rundown on how its done
Cheers
Wozza
 
Au-MaV said:
I have no idea how its done in G-Max but its exactly the same as adding a Vc model except the models name is projectname_shadow.Use the shadow model to remove unwanted shadows and lower the total polly count.if you dont want any shadows at all ( ya cant see them from the vc anyway in fs9 :) ) just make a very tiny single sided polly.Ive even seen a few ppl make the shadow model a total different model :)
Im sure Felix and or other g-maxer's will give you a better rundown on how its done
Cheers
Wozza
Click to expand...

MAke a third tiny cube called "shadow"?

What do the gmax samples in the FS2004 SDK have?
 
Picture, please.

I need Picture please.
I have nothing see from what about here is to call.
 
FelixFFDS said:
MAke a third tiny cube called "shadow"?

What do the gmax samples in the FS2004 SDK have?
Click to expand...

To be honest Felix, I've never seen any reference to a "Shadow Model" outside of FSDS.

To my knowledge, MS/ACES never mention it with regards to FS8, FS9 or FSX. It may be mentioned in CFS, but since I've never even seen any of the CFS releases, much less any SDKs, I couldn't possibly know for certain... :D
 
I have done a search at google:

I have found this:
The first purpose built low polygon AI Concorde available for both FS2002 and FS2004. Includes Animated Inbuilt Scenery(AIS) and unique 'Pushback' feature for FS2004 only. Model features animated gear, wheels, nose and visor, engine fans and gear doors. 3 LOD models, optimised shadow model, dynamic shine and light mapping. File also includes pre-compiled CONCORDE traffic file by Matt Dyer for FS2004 and all required text files for use with TTools for FS2002. Comes with ACFU utility by Micheal corcoran for easyily adding official AIS-AI repaints. For FS2004, but works well in FS2002 minus the 'Pushback' feature.

Here is the Link:
http://fsusa.blogspot.com/2008/10/arnz-ais-ai-concorde.html

But for what is the Shadow Model?
 
Unless a separate "shadow model" is included, the entire exterior of the aircraft is used to generate the "ground shadows" of the aircraft.
 
n4gix said:
To be honest Felix, I've never seen any reference to a "Shadow Model" outside of FSDS.

To my knowledge, MS/ACES never mention it with regards to FS8, FS9 or FSX. It may be mentioned in CFS, but since I've never even seen any of the CFS releases, much less any SDKs, I couldn't possibly know for certain... :D
Click to expand...

Hey Bill
There a a tiny bit of info about the shadow model in the fs9 sdk (makemdl.doc)
so I assume its cross platform ;)
from the sdk
"Name of the input file (.x file). The file name has the following form: Base_Name[_TYPE][_LOD][_A-Z].x
Where:
• [_TYPE] is the model type. Use “_interior” for virtual cockpit (VC) models and “_shadow” for shadow models.
• [_LOD] is the model LOD. LOD (level of detail) is a three-digit number from 000-400.
• [_A-Z] is ignored.


Add button Opens a dialog box to allow you to select an .x file.
If the file name ends with:
• [A-Z]: this part of the file name is ignored.
• _interior: the file is assumed to be the VC model.
• _shadow: the file is assumed to be the shadow model.
• _###: the ### is used as the LOD value. The LOD value ranges from 000 – 400 and is the pixel size on screen that determines when this model should be used.


I did say tiny didnt I :D
Wozza
 
Last edited:
n4gix said:
To be honest Felix, I've never seen any reference to a "Shadow Model" outside of FSDS.

To my knowledge, MS/ACES never mention it with regards to FS8, FS9 or FSX. It may be mentioned in CFS, but since I've never even seen any of the CFS releases, much less any SDKs, I couldn't possibly know for certain... :D
Click to expand...

Wozza just beat me to it. I looked it up in the FS9 makemdl.exe SDK.

With gmax, the convention is to create an "exterior" and "interior" node.

Per the FS9 SDK, when used stand alone with programs that create the x file directly, you would use the convention mymodel.x mymodel_interior.x and mymodel_shadow.x ...

I would assume that a "shadow" node would do the same thing?
 
Ok, I managed to extract the .x file {after an all day "trial and error" session} using the MDL Commander and Middle Man programs. Tried to compile the name.x,name_ interior.x and name_shadow.x and every imaginable combination of the three with no luck at all. MakeMDL spits out an error log a mile long every time.

I tried compiling my ship model also, and I get a long error log.

Any clues?
 
Last edited:
FelixFFDS said:
I would assume that a "shadow" node would do the same thing?
Click to expand...

Well, that should be simple enough to test, by creating a single, tiny cube Linked to a "shadow" node...

If sucessful, one should have nothing but the tiny cube as a shadow in spot view.
 
ajweber said:
Success!! Got it to compile through the MDL Commander and MiddleMan process, with only the shadow model showing in spot view!! Yippeee!!

Here is a link for anyone else interested:

http://www.3drad.com/forum/index.php?topic=577.0
Click to expand...

I see nothing in that thread that refers to a shadow model, so I'm puzzled about the relevance to this issue.

As for MiddleMan and ModelCommander, I've had a "MM_MkMDL.plugnplay.zip" package available for many years.

http://n4gix.home.comcast.net/~n4gix/MM_MkMDL.plugnplay.zip

It is simply unzipped to the C:\gmax\gamepacks\fs2004\plugins folder. No other installation is required, and it comes pre-configured to save the X files... :D
 
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