P3D v3 Converting FSDS mdl to GMAX

[ronezra]

Sorry if this has been asked/answered before. (After looking for an hour I decided to just ask!)

I want to inport a FSDS object into Gmax to animate it. (The only animated objects I have done that display correctly in P3Dv3 is the one I did in Gmax. All the FSDS mdl's rotate in exploded positions.)

Can MCX do that? I have imported the FSDS file and mdl into MCX and it diplays correctly both times. But everything I tried to export from MCX will not import into Gmax with the textures mapped.

Thanks for any help.

:<Ron>

 

[arno]

Hi,

Did you export as 3ds? You'll have to enable the display of the material in gmax (blue white checkered button). Also check all texture names, since the 3ds format only supports the 8.3 file name format. Else you don't see it. But the texture mappings are there.

 

[=rk=]

The only animated objects I have done that display correctly in P3Dv3 is the one I did in Gmax. All the FSDS mdl's rotate in exploded positions.

If FSDS models animate poorly in P3D V3, then you are doing something wrong, because FSDS is all I use. Here is a simple animation of a rotating radar that works exactly as intended in P3D that you can use to compare to your FSDS work.

 

[ronezra]

Hi,

Did you export as 3ds? You'll have to enable the display of the material in gmax (blue white checkered button). Also check all texture names, since the 3ds format only supports the 8.3 file name format. Else you don't see it. But the texture mappings are there.

Yes, I exported as 3DS, but I had forgotten about the blue&white checkered box. It took awhile for me to remember how to do it, but I did get the textures to display in Gmax.

Thank you for your help.

:<Ron>

 

[ronezra]

If FSDS models animate poorly in P3D V3, then you are doing something wrong, because FSDS is all I use. Here is a simple animation of a rotating radar that works exactly as intended in P3D that you can use to compare to your FSDS work.

Rick, thanks for the reply. I was not really clear in my first post. I don't have a problem with animations that are in one, normal, axis. I have done several similar to yours with no problem in P3Dv3.

The problem I'm having is when I try to animate more than one part at the same time. Imagine a battleship gun turret. The turret rotates in azimuth on the (FSDS) Y-axis. At the same time I want to raise then lower the gun barrel along the Z-axis. When I'm done, the model rotates and displays correctly in FS9 and FSX. But with the same model in P3Dv3, the parts are not "connected" together - they rotate independently (usually in a pile on the ground - like a transporter malfunction).

Many years ago I did a working backhoe in Gmax that moved the bucket open/closed, the arm extended/rotated, and the whole body up/down (simulating the weight of dirt in the bucket). It was easier to do than in FSDS and that same model still works correctly in P3Dv3. I attached the backhoe and a telescope (was the battleship analogy) models.

If you have a way to do the telescope in FSDS, I'm all ears! I'm pretty good in FSDS, but Gmax was more than I had time to learn.

Thanks,

:<Ron>

 

[=rk=]

This animation seems pretty close to the articulated motion of your telescope. It is an arm with jointed elbow, holding a wand and raising in salute, as a ground marshal might do. It is connected to a model with animated legs that combine with forward motion to convincingly mimic the human walk cycle. While developing the model, I would ambulate it as a first person vehicle and notice that the leg motion increased or reduced pace to match speed. Granted I did this work in FSX, but I was working for a commercial developer - still am - so I should have heard about problems. Just to be sure, next time I go into a test, I'll bundle these models as a scenery object and check them. My next test will be animated steering wheels that are already rotating, so that model will also qualify for your "more than one part at the same time animation" condition.

 

[ronezra]

This animation seems pretty close to the articulated motion of your telescope. It is an arm with jointed elbow, holding a wand and raising in salute, as a ground marshal might do. It is connected to a model with animated legs that combine with forward motion to convincingly mimic the human walk cycle. While developing the model, I would ambulate it as a first person vehicle and notice that the leg motion increased or reduced pace to match speed. Granted I did this work in FSX, but I was working for a commercial developer - still am - so I should have heard about problems. Just to be sure, next time I go into a test, I'll bundle these models as a scenery object and check them. My next test will be animated steering wheels that are already rotating, so that model will also qualify for your "more than one part at the same time animation" condition.

You did the salute.mdl in FSDSv3.5 and it displays like this in P3Dv3? Boy, I am not nearly as good in FSDS as I thought! I'd like to ask you how, but I KNOW how much time that answer would take! How would you feel attaching the FSC file and just let me play with it and try to figure it out on my own?

Thanks,

:<Ron>

 

[=rk=]

I don't have rights to the geometry, so I can't release it for use in other projects, however MCX will export to FSDS...I am going to go ahead and edit out the attachment since you already have it. Good luck with it.

 

[=rk=]

One last thing I wanted to mention; the model will provide the breakdown of the FSDS key frame animations and the parent parts, however, the procedure used probably matters. You have to have all the parts present in FSDS before performing a compound animation. You cannot build a simple animation and then merge that animated part with a larger project, at least not intuitively. As careful as I am to preserve coordinates, once I have animated a tire I can't get it to "sit" next to it's axle. If I animate them both in FSDS; first the parent axle with a 200 frame, center_wheel animation, -90° y-axis rotation keyed every 50th frame and then the wheel at 100 frame, center_tire__still animation, -25° x-axis rotation keyed every 25th frame, I get a front steering tire that rotates with forward motion.

The transporter malfunction allegory seems very similar to my consequence of joining previously animated parts, perhaps the previous paragraph contains that particular solution.

 

[ronezra]

As careful as I am to preserve coordinates, once I have animated a tire I can't get it to "sit" next to it's axle.

The above sounds like the problem I have with the telescope - the rotated parts do not stay attached in P3Dv3.

I used MCX (v1.4 beta) to export the salute.mdl to a FSC file and then loaded it into FSDS. The model was there with the 6 parts, but no animation info came with it. I haven't had time to look at why/how the animation was not there. I'm new to MCX and probably exported it incorrectly. I'll also try again with MCX v1.3.

Thanks for your help!

:<Ron>

 

[=rk=]

You are welcome. You may have to isolate each animation to get MCX to export them and I know that kind of defeats things. It requires a bit of searching for me to find the actual .fsc because I went through many iterations before I got this one down and then there is the other arm and each leg, different versions, etc.
The pattern for the tire animation should work for any multiple animations. Ambient animations are adequate as a parent and you just follow that structure, animating each dependent in turn. Wheels within wheels so to speak.