From 3DS Max 8 to FS...how to?

[Kack911]

Hello all,

I've searched here as well as other forums, but I have yet to find the best way for me to get my new project into FS.

I am using 3ds Max 8 to create a ultra-realistic rendition of Dayton International Airport. I've been working on it for the past three or four days now, and I've gotten it to a point that I'd like to see how it will look in the sim.

Unfortunately, I really have no idea what the pipeline from 3ds to FS is like. Can anyone help me with a step-by-step walk-through of the conversion & compiling process?

Also, I have nil experience when it comes to texturing, but I really want to include realistic ground textures in the project. Besides, given the method of construction, I'm pretty sure that I HAVE to do custom texturing.

Of course, I'll leave the more advanced topics such as "how to include airfield lighting" and "advanced photo-texturing" for a bit later. I just want to get the prototype in-game first.

Any help is greatly appreciated!

I've attached a few quick renders of my progress so far.

Regards,

Nick Landolfi

 

[owenhewitt]

Hello all,

I've searched here as well as other forums, but I have yet to find the best way for me to get my new project into FS.

I am using 3ds Max 8 to create a ultra-realistic rendition of Dayton International Airport. I've been working on it for the past three or four days now, and I've gotten it to a point that I'd like to see how it will look in the sim.

Unfortunately, I really have no idea what the pipeline from 3ds to FS is like. Can anyone help me with a step-by-step walk-through of the conversion & compiling process?

Also, I have nil experience when it comes to texturing, but I really want to include realistic ground textures in the project. Besides, given the method of construction, I'm pretty sure that I HAVE to do custom texturing.

Of course, I'll leave the more advanced topics such as "how to include airfield lighting" and "advanced photo-texturing" for a bit later. I just want to get the prototype in-game first.

Any help is greatly appreciated!

I've attached a few quick renders of my progress so far.

Regards,

Nick Landolfi

Hi Nick,

It is my recommendation to wait until you are able to obtain FSX Deluxe. The exporter that is included in the SDK is able to export both FS9 and FSX objects. From that point, you will want to use bglcomp.exe to compile an FS .bgl file for use as a scenery object. I believe there is more information on exactly how to use bglcomp in the WIKI.

Best,

Owen

 

[Kack911]

Hi Owen,

That process doesn't sound too terribly difficult, I was expecting worse!

I already downloaded the RTM bits from Connect, so I'll have a look in the SDK and go from there.

One other thing...like I mentioned before, I have very little knowledge of texturing, but I have to assume that how I break up the ground polys now will have a major impact on how the textures are applied and scaled later on, right?

Is it better to leave a 10,000ft runway as a single object, or is it necessary to break it up into smaller lengths for better/more accurate texturing. Same for taxiways with complex intersections...is it ok to have two taxiways that intersect at a 90 degree angle be part of the same object, or should those be split up as well?

I'd hate to take the wrong route early, and not be able to fix it later...

Thanks Owen!

Nick

 

[Dirk@EDVE]

Hi Nick,

when you design an airport, you have to stick by the specifications that the sim imposes on you. A runway is a single object, period. At least up to now - I don't know how these things will be handled in FSX.

So, make sure you read the SDK first. More often than not you will find out that the wonderful things you created in Max can't be brought into the sim.

I wish you good luck with your ambitious project!

Dirk

 

[owenhewitt]

Hi Owen,

That process doesn't sound too terribly difficult, I was expecting worse!

I already downloaded the RTM bits from Connect, so I'll have a look in the SDK and go from there.

One other thing...like I mentioned before, I have very little knowledge of texturing, but I have to assume that how I break up the ground polys now will have a major impact on how the textures are applied and scaled later on, right?

Is it better to leave a 10,000ft runway as a single object, or is it necessary to break it up into smaller lengths for better/more accurate texturing. Same for taxiways with complex intersections...is it ok to have two taxiways that intersect at a 90 degree angle be part of the same object, or should those be split up as well?

I'd hate to take the wrong route early, and not be able to fix it later...

Thanks Owen!

Nick

You're welcome, Nick. I am more geared toward aircraft design, and I've always used AFCAD for doing anything regarding runways for scenery (yes, I did make a version of my local airport for my own use). As far as what you're going to need to do regarding the texturing of the runways - that's a question for the other scenery dev's around here. Anyone??

Best,

Owen

 

[arno]

In general it is not adviced to make the total airport layout with GMax or 3DS Max. The MDL scenery format is certainly not suited for it and the most common workaround is to use the Fs2002 MakeMDL and then tweak the output to be able to make ground polygons. Connecting this to 3DS Max should be possible (see the article on the Wiki), but it is not that easy.

The common way to make scenery is to use the XML code for the airport layout and only design the 3D objects in GMax/3DS Max.

 

[Kack911]

Thanks everyone for your responses. Its very appreciated.

Arno, when you speak of using xml to create the airport surfaces, is that the sort of thing that AFCAD does? If so, that is unsuitable for what it is I'm trying to do. I need to have precise control over the geometry of the pavement including taxiway fillets, paved "shoulders", etc. Thats why I opted for the power and control afforded by 3ds.

Dirk, when you say that the runway must be a single object, are you referring to the underlying facilities data, or the physical runway model that I'm building? I was under the impression that the two are completely seperate? If I have a 10,900ft runway as one unified object, I imagine that only one texture can be applied to it, correct?

If that is the case, then I doubt I'd be able to get the required level of detail...I'd like to avoid blurry runway markings. Is it possible or advisable to create individual polys for each runway marking, or should this be done exclusively through texturing?

Any more opinions, thoughts, or advice is welcomed.

Regards,

Nick

 

[Dirk@EDVE]

Hi,
what I meant to say was that the physical model of the runway is always one piece. It has length, width, no height, and it is totally flat. These values, as well as markings, texture etc. can be changed with AFCAD2.

Me, I've never built an airport from scratch. I correct the airport layout with AFCAD2, exclude the unwanted buildings and make new ones with GMAX.

I think it's possible to build a taxiway in max, texture it to your liking, make it "uncrashable" and position it a little bit above the "real" taxiway. But I've never tried that.

Dirk

 

[Tasmanet]

I am using 3ds Max 8 to create a ultra-realistic rendition of Dayton International Airport.

Nick,

The big thing with FS is to keep poly's down . I use Rhino3D to make all buildings Monorails etc as GMAX is a dog. I then export as .3ds and into GMAX where I add the textures.

At the moment I am working on Walt Disney World
Example the
Wilderness Lodge is 169 KB and the Texture is 1024 x 1024
Magic Kingdom is 282 KB and the Texture is 1024 x 2048
Contempory is 212KB and the Texture is 1024 x 1024

I also work on Patents , Inventions etc and one of my Rhino Files is 106MB and is not all that detailed and no textures. The mechanical device would fit into a 4 car garage

So I dont think you can have a highly detailed Airport without a lot of compromises.

Steve

 

[Dirk@EDVE]

Yes, Steve, you are absolutely right. Keeping the poly count down is essential, because at the end of the day, we're talking "real time rendering", right?

GMAX works right for me. I have some experience with 3ds Max, Rhino, Lightwave, Cinema 4D etc. pp. - but for my FS buildings I prefer GMAX. I'm about to complete a romanesque cathedral (which looks great by my standards), and it has no more than about 200 vertices.

Why is GMAX a dog? I love dogs!

And Nick, your problem is probably that you are a skilled modeler, but not yet an FS scenery designer - but you'll get there eventually.

 

[Tasmanet]

So do I as I am one.

Why is GMAX a dog?

Life is to short to get into that one.
But I do like the way of doing Textures in GMAX/3DStudio/3DStudio Max

I love dogs.

So do I as I am one.

we're talking "real time rendering"

Thats right along with FS trying to work out Real Time Weather, Real Time AI Traffic etc

 

[Kack911]

Hi,
what I meant to say was that the physical model of the runway is always one piece. It has length, width, no height, and it is totally flat. These values, as well as markings, texture etc. can be changed with AFCAD2.

Hi Dirk!

Sorry if I seem a bit dense, but I'm not sure I totally understand what implication this has for my project?

I understand that in AFCAD, and indeed within FS9, that the "actual" runway is a single planar non-segmented object. But quite a few scenery projects out there (FlyTampa, FlightZone, Simflyers, etc.) do not use AFCAD for the actual scenery design. Instead, the AFCAD is layered under the custom ground polys.

Thats what I want to do. I'm just unsure of how I should segment my runway and taxiway objects to facilitate accurate texturing. Since ATC, AI, and even the user are actually using the hidden AFCAD (XML?) runway, I'm not sure why the sim would would require that my Max designed runway be non-segmented?

I would have assumed that the only requirement is that all of my ground polys be planar, so as to sit nicely on the flatten? Am I way off base?

I've done a lot of scenery design, starting in FS4, but this is my first foray into Max/Gmax, so I'm not too familiar with all this conversion/tweaking/hacking stuff. This is quite different than the in-game WYSIWYG interface of ASD for FS4...or even AFCAD for that matter. I figured I'd broaden my horizons "a little".

Anyway, the feedback is most appreciated.

Take care,

Nick

 

[arno]

Hi Nick,

Arno, when you speak of using xml to create the airport surfaces, is that the sort of thing that AFCAD does? If so, that is unsuitable for what it is I'm trying to do. I need to have precise control over the geometry of the pavement including taxiway fillets, paved "shoulders", etc. Thats why I opted for the power and control afforded by 3ds.

Yes, that is the kind of code I talked about. For my high detailed projects that is also not what I prefer, so in use the GMax Fs2002 gamepack for those. The Fs2004 MDL format is just not suited to make ground polygons, so you will have to use the old Fs2002 gamepack to be able to make proper ground polygons.

But quite a few scenery projects out there (FlyTampa, FlightZone, Simflyers, etc.) do not use AFCAD for the actual scenery design. Instead, the AFCAD is layered under the custom ground polys.

Yes, these also use the Fs2002 gamepack (or handwritten code with a similar structure).

I would have assumed that the only requirement is that all of my ground polys be planar, so as to sit nicely on the flatten? Am I way off base?

That is correct.

 

[Dirk@EDVE]

Hi Nick,

I understand that in AFCAD, and indeed within FS9, that the "actual" runway is a single planar non-segmented object. But quite a few scenery projects out there (FlyTampa, FlightZone, Simflyers, etc.) do not use AFCAD for the actual scenery design. Instead, the AFCAD is layered under the custom ground polys.

That's exactly what I was trying to point out. Sorry if I didn't make myself quite clear!

Dirk