Experiences with FS2004 aircraft import/export

[tgibson]

I'm not sure which build you would like me to try this AI model with, since I don't know when you started making these changes?

 

[arno]

I'm not sure which build you would like me to try this AI model with, since I don't know when you started making these changes?

That would be the build before yesterday when I improved the reading of the visibility conditions.

 

[tgibson]

I tried converting it to FSX using the 12/29 build (the earliest one I have kept) and it is the same, except now the flaps don't animate.

I didn't keep the 1/4 build because it took a very long time to unzip for some odd reason. Today's is fine. EDIT: Got it from the Recycle Bin. I found the reason it is slow, the file had been set for Indexing.

EDIT: The 1/4 build compiles the same FSX model as the 12/29 build.

 

[arno]

I tried converting it to FSX using the 12/29 build (the earliest one I have kept) and it is the same, except now the flaps don't animate.

OK, thanks for checking. I will have a look why this model has issues.

 

[arno]

Hi Martin,

I'll push a new development release at the end of the afternoon. It will include the following changes:

• Fixed issue with empty LOD in He-177 model that caused the model to be invisible in the highest LOD.
• Fixed issue with parsing IfInF command that caused invalid visibility conditions, this made the wheels of the Me-262 not appear.
• Fixed issue when alpha test threshold for materials with only diffuse color, this could influence the issue with the pilot not visible in the Mig-17 (I have not had the time to test this in the sim).

I could not find anything weird in the models that had a dark pilot or wheel. So that is something I need to check in the sim later.

The displaced wheels in the He-112 is caused by the userdefined8 animation that is used. This one is not supported by FSX. So you will have to replace it with another animation or remove it to get a correctly working model in FSX.

For the folding wings and the flaps I think the posts above by Tom already indicate that this will not be a simple conversion. It looks like some AI specific animation will have to be used to make them work.

This new build also has changes to the material editor, hierarchy editor, animation editor and attached object editor. All these editors will only show the details of the active representation and update their information when a different representation is selected. If you find anything not working correctly after this change let me know, I found a few bugs in it already

I just found a quite serious bug in the material editor, as you can't update the properties now. So I will wait with pushing this development release until I have fixed that.

 

[arno]

I just found a quite serious bug in the material editor, as you can't update the properties now. So I will wait with pushing this development release until I have fixed that.

Fixed that bug and the new release is online now. See the post before for an overview of the changes.

 

[tgibson]

Hi,

I'll have to remember to switch to the internal model before trying to edit the VC materials. Seems to work fine, BTW.

I converted the AI DC-6B to FSX with this latest release, and there is improvement. The things that worked before (takeoff flaps, prop visibilities, animated airstairs panel visibility) still work OK.

Works now and didn't before:
Landing gear is visible and retracts properly.
The left main and nose wheels rotate as they should.
The nose wheel steering works properly (special AI animation)

Still not working:
Right main wheels do not rotate.
The black nose gear opening and nose gear doors do not disappear when the gear is up. (They are applied on a solid fuselage).
The props (all) do not rotate.
The airstairs visibility is backwards.
The animated airstairs panel does not move (I think, hard to tell).
The passenger door and black opening are displaced and do not animate or disappear when they should.

When the FSX conversion is loaded into MCX all animations appear correct.

 

[jetpilot1980]

Hi I just started experimenting with the new MCX and I am having some "mixed luck" while I am admittedly testing models that I previously converted for MAIW / gsnde, the first thing I noticed was that not all models are exporting successfully for me. The first two I tested were the NBAI F-14A Tomcat clean model (exported greatly!); the second one I have been experimenting with is the LHAI Nh-90 model which is giving me errors and not exporting just creates a 0mb .mdl file:

I am not sure what is causing this error with these particular models (I tried a few within these packages and got the same error with all of them) I have tried exporting as FSX, P3dv4 and 4.4 objects all giving me the same errors... Good news is I was able to convert / export them just fine in my previous copy of MCX so MAIW already has the completed job... But wondering what is different about this version to give me these errors?

Also never saw a response to my post in the other thread but I wanted to ask... Would two things be possible?

1. In the Level of Detail Creator window to be able to highlight / select multiple LODS at once for deletion as opposed to click a single LOD and click delete then repeat till I'd done...

2. In the Hierarchy window to be able to select and drag multiple parts and or attachments to different scenery graph nodes or model parts at the same time as opposed to having to select to drag these individually...

Thanks!

 

[gsnde]

Hi Arno.

Again many things have fallen into place. To make it easier to read I will report only what is not working correctly.
I know for some AI things we still need to figure out how MCX can do it.

I will send you a new Zip file for testing tomorrow. I will also send it to Tom, so he may chime in. Pictures also will be added tomorrow, I need to hit the sack.

non-AI Yakovlev Yak-38 Forger (Kazunori Ito)

• FSX conversion - Not ok
• Flaps not animated during start
• Wings not folded
• Wheels no longer look like wheels (see picture)

non-AI Avro Anson (Dave Garwood)

• FS9 import - not ok
• Rudder not right on import (see picture)
• FSX conversion - Not ok
• Flaps not animated during start
• Rudder not right

non-AI Dornier Do 17 (Ross McLennan)

• FSX conversion - Not ok
• Flaps not animated during start
• Pilots textures not right - light and dark is reversed (see picture)
• Door not animated

non-AI Fieseler Fi-156C Storch (Tim Conrad)

• FSX conversion - Not ok
• Flaps not animated during start
• Door not animated
• Elevator not animated

non-AI Heinkel He 112B (A.F. Scrub)

• FSX conversion - Not ok
• Flaps not animated during start
• Gear and wheels still misplaced

non-AI Heinkel He 177 Greif (Chris Lampard)

• FSX conversion - Not ok
• Flaps not animated during start
• Flaps separated from fuselage during landing
• Door not animated
• Props invisible when rotating fast

non-AI Heinkel He 177 Greif (Kazunori Ito)

• FSX conversion - Not ok
• Flaps not animated during start
• Wheels no longer look like wheels (see picture)
• Props not animated
• Pilots textures not right - light and dark is reversed (see picture)
• Door not animated

non-AI Heinkel He 219 (Kazunori Ito)

• FSX conversion - Not ok
• Flaps not animated during start
• Wheels no longer look like wheels (see picture)
• Props not animated
• Pilots textures not right - light and dark is reversed (see picture)
• Door not animated

non-AI Junkers Ju 87 Stuka (Alphasim)

• FSX conversion - Not ok
• Flaps not animated during start
• Canopy not animated
• Gear & Wheels not visible and/or misplaced
• Running prop not animated / visible
• 4 artifacts above wings

non-AI Lockheed P-38L Lightning (David C. Copley)

• FSX conversion - Not ok
• Flaps not animated during start
• Canopy opaque
• Canopy not animated

non-AI Messerschmitt Bf 109 (Mike Wholaver)

• FSX conversion - Not ok
• Flaps not animated during start
• Canopy not animated
• "door --> engine hood" not animated

non-AI Messerschmitt Bf 110 (A.F. Scrub)

• FSX conversion - Not ok
• Flaps not animated during start
• Gear ands wheels not animated correctly
• Tail gear invisible
• Canopy not animated
• Fuselage part sitting on nose (see picture)

non-AI Messerschmitt Me 262 Schwalbe (Graham)

• FSX conversion - Not ok
• Flaps not animated during start
• Canopy not animated
• Slats not animated

non-AI Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-17 Fresco (Kazunori Ito)

• FSX conversion - Not ok
• Flaps not animated during start
• Canopy not animated
• Pilot not visible
• Wheel only partly visible - outer rim (see picture)

non-AI Northrop P-61 Black Widow (Kazunori Ito)

• FSX conversion - Not ok
• Flaps not animated during start
• Props not animated
• Wheels no longer look like wheels (see picture)

non-AI Vought F4U Corsair (Anthony Sullenger)

• FSX conversion - Not ok
• Flaps not animated during start
• Canopy not animated
• Wings not folded
• Hook not animated
• Drag tail wheel flips left and right while taxi

Pictures
Wheels not looking like wheels

• Yakovlev Yak-38 Forger (Kazunori Ito)
• Heinkel He 177 Greif (Kazunori Ito)
• Heinkel He 219 (Kazunori Ito)
• Northrop P-61 Black Widow (Kazunori Ito)

Pilots textures not right - light and dark is reversed

• Dornier Do 17 (Ross McLennan)
• Heinkel He 177 Greif (Kazunori Ito)
• Heinkel He 219 (Kazunori Ito)

Rudder not right

• non-AI Avro Anson (Dave Garwood)

Various Issues
non-AI Messerschmitt Bf 110 (A.F. Scrub

non-AI Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-17 Fresco (Kazunori Ito)

non-AI Heinkel He 112B (A.F. Scrub)

 

[slacker]

My observation with the very latest mcx:

Special tools/smooth shade object doesn't appear to be working properly with animated parts, worked as expected in previous mcx version.

Options/Object Model settings for shading appears to have no effect.

Removing animations via Animation Editor allows proper i.e. normal shading behavior as parts not animated are not adversely affected by current mcx.

Tested this with several of Kazunori Ito's models and have seen this in others like Mike Stone's.

Hope this helps and thanks again for the awesome work.

 

[gsnde]

Arno,

Something Tom pointed out as well before: many animations work fine in MCX but not in the sim. How comes?

 

[arno]

Arno,

Something Tom pointed out as well before: many animations work fine in MCX but not in the sim. How comes?

The simple answer is probably the animation definition that is used. MCX only renders the key frames, but has no logic to drive them. Or it could also be there is a visibility condition involved that prevents the animations from showing.

 

[jetpilot1980]

So I just tried a couple of more conversions first the RFP 747-200 and the IL-76 by Ilya Kulikov (Monumentum) and Kirill Konovalov believe I got it off avsimrus... Anyway, my results are rather mixed...

On the RPF 747 I notice that the landing gear struts are missing on the external model and the control surfaces vibrate back and forth rapidly when moved and do not stay in the commanded position... In the VC I noticed that many of the gauges and switches from the instrument panels are missing.... Also the resolution of some of the cockpit markings / textures looks rather blurry when compared to FSX / Fs9 sceenshots... Also one question I did have is while I see that in P3dv5 the Concorde nose / visor variables are still used but I do not see an option to assign that as an animation type in MCX under the animation editor...

On the IL-76 I previously converted the exterior model using an older version of MCX the exterior model looks great but I did notice I could not get it to pickup on the APU door animation in the animation editor it just calls it "userdefined8" and is highlighted in pink... Not sure what I would assign it if I were to assign it... On the interior model again may gauges are missing and a few or them are only partially showing / obscured by black...

 

[arno]

I'll have to remember to switch to the internal model before trying to edit the VC materials. Seems to work fine, BTW.

Yes, but I think that is still better than having a huge list of materials that are used in a different representation only. But let me know if you have another view on this.

I converted the AI DC-6B to FSX with this latest release, and there is improvement. The things that worked before (takeoff flaps, prop visibilities, animated airstairs panel visibility) still work OK.

OK, I will check the remaining issues.

 

[arno]

Hi,

the first thing I noticed was that not all models are exporting successfully for me. The first two I tested were the NBAI F-14A Tomcat clean model (exported greatly!); the second one I have been experimenting with is the LHAI Nh-90 model which is giving me errors and not exporting just creates a 0mb .mdl file:

View attachment 91020View attachment 91021

Unfortunately the error messages don't really help. I suspect there is something specific in the model that causes the error, like a weird character in a texture or attachpoint name. But without having the mdl file to test with that is hard to say for sure. If you can send me the file I can have a look.

Also never saw a response to my post in the other thread but I wanted to ask... Would two things be possible?

I thought I had added them to the todo list already, but I forgot last time, so I have done it now. In between fixing the other issues reported I'll try to implement these feature requests as well.

 

[jetpilot1980]

Hi,

Unfortunately the error messages don't really help. I suspect there is something specific in the model that causes the error, like a weird character in a texture or attachpoint name. But without having the mdl file to test with that is hard to say for sure. If you can send me the file I can have a look.

I thought I had added them to the todo list already, but I forgot last time, so I have done it now. In between fixing the other issues reported I'll try to implement these feature requests as well.

Thanks Arno!

So for the NH-90 package I was using to test and got all those error messages here is the link https://militaryaiworks.com/downloa...rcraft-models-fs9/2225-nh-90-german-navy-lhai I tested several of the models in this package all with the same failure...

For my test with the 747 I used this package off flightsim.com FSX_RFPMOD_KLM_PH-BUA_V7.1.zip

and this is the IL-76 package I was testing

Il-76MD FSX - FSX Aircrafts - Avsim.su

www.avsimrus.com

 

[arno]

Hi Martin,

Thanks for the testing again, I'll update the issues on my todo list and check the remaining problems. For some I have some questions or comments below already.

non-AI Heinkel He 112B (A.F. Scrub)

• Gear and wheels still misplaced

Did you see my post about the userdefined8 animation in the model? You will have to manually change the animation to a different type that FSX supports or remove it. MCX can not do that automatically.

A general remark is that the posts by Tom already seem to indicate that certain user aircraft animations won't just work for AI, they would need to replaced by AI specific animations. That would then not be a conversion issue of MCX, but an activity that has to be done manually.

 

[arno]

Special tools/smooth shade object doesn't appear to be working properly with animated parts, worked as expected in previous mcx version.

Options/Object Model settings for shading appears to have no effect.

OK, I will check those two issues.

 

[gsnde]

Could MCX have a „convert as AI“ option? All specific AI triggers are known by Tom and our MAIW conversion guys and they can provide you with it.

Not sure if I make myself clear ….


Send from mobile hence short

 

[arno]

On the RPF 747 I notice that the landing gear struts are missing on the external model and the control surfaces vibrate back and forth rapidly when moved and do not stay in the commanded position... In the VC I noticed that many of the gauges and switches from the instrument panels are missing.... Also the resolution of some of the cockpit markings / textures looks rather blurry when compared to FSX / Fs9 sceenshots...

On the interior model again may gauges are missing and a few or them are only partially showing / obscured by black...

I will try to have a look at these issues, but I am not sure how easy I can reproduce them. They are quite generic comments and I am not an expert of course in how these models are supposed to work.

Also one question I did have is while I see that in P3dv5 the Concorde nose / visor variables are still used but I do not see an option to assign that as an animation type in MCX under the animation editor...

The animations that are shown in the editor are read from the modeldef.xml file. So if that animation is not listed in your modeldef.xml file it is not shown in the editor. But if the model uses such an animation MCX will add it as a custom animation.

On the IL-76 I previously converted the exterior model using an older version of MCX the exterior model looks great but I did notice I could not get it to pickup on the APU door animation in the animation editor it just calls it "userdefined8" and is highlighted in pink... Not sure what I would assign it if I were to assign it...

The userdefined8 is an animation that FS2004 has, but FSX does not support. Therefore it is shown in pink in the editor to indicate you that you need to replace it with an animation that FSX does support.