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FSX 64K Polygon Material Limit wiped out!

Messages
10,088
Country
us-arizona
Hey all,

Yep.. You read it right. The 64K limit of polygons on one material is now gone.

You will need;
* Prepar3D SDK's, versions 2.x and 3.x
* ModelConverterX_140 (available here, latest version 140, not 130 or 120 but '140' )
* A version of 3ds Max that can run the P3D SDK's (I use 2014. Use what you can that P3D supports)


Work flow;
* Create Scene
* Setup Max to export with P3D 2.x SDK
* Export Selected Parts
* Drop file into Plugins folder of P3D SDK V3x
* Run your X and Xanim files through the P3D 3.x SDK XtoMDL
* Drop into your Model folder of your plane
* Open MCX 140
* Drop the MDL file onto MCX 140 to open it
* Export MDL back into your Model folder via MCX 140 (yes, you read that right. You open the model up, export it back into the folder via MCX).
* Open Tweaker and set your scales for visibility distance if there is a issue with the plane in your view window when selecting in your simulator
* Done....................

You must do this work flow in order with those versions of SDK's. One can only do this, another can only do that, etc. MCX then filters out all the 'special name issues' on materials and things so that FSX can read the model.

This procedure was discovered by Joseph / fsxar177 who found that P3D SDK V3 could export to MDL files without the 64K limit, then found that exporting into and out of MCX 140 will filter it so that it can now run in FSX and P3D V1. :)

Merry Christmas from Joseph...

I tested this on a model with a hurrendous amount of polygons and it worked without issue. This model mainly has one texture for all the flying body shape. Landing gear included. 2 Iterations of mesh smoothness. Exported without issue.

3098535.jpg
 
Last edited:
Messages
10,088
Country
us-arizona
If you do not have a way to convert XtoMDL, you do not like using the DOS route, you can create a simple BAT file.

* Open Notepad
* Post below version of this BAT compiler
* Edit to your computer system and file name
* Save as something like 'CreatePlane' or 'Compiler', etc.
* Change file name from TXT to BAT.
* Place it in your P3D SDK V3x Plugins folder
* Copy your latest modeldef.xml (parts code list) to the BIN folders of both the Prepar3D V2x and V3x SDK folder systems, (bin folders). You must do this to keep your animations.
* Done.....




Below in Example, note the changes you must make.

EXAMPLE /// START ////////////////////////////////////////////////////////

rem Move this file to Local Disk\Lockheed Martin\Prepar3D v2 SDK 2.0.8547.0\Modeling SDK\3DSM2014_x64\Plugins\ <<<--- CHANGE THIS TO PROPER ROUTE ON YOUR COMPUTER
rem Move LJ.x and LJ.xanim to same location. <<<-- CHANGE THIS TO YOUR FILE NAMES
rem Execute this file.

XtoMdl /XANIM /DICT:..\..\bin\modeldef.xml LJ.x > LJ.log <<<-- CHANGE THIS TO YOUR FILE NAMES

XtoMdl /XANIM /DICT:..\..\bin\modeldef.xml LJ_Interior.x > LJ_Interior.log <<<-- CHANGE THIS TO YOUR FILE NAMES

pause

EXAMPLE /// END //////////////////////////////////////////////////////

In the above 'Example, my files are named LJ. If you do not want to use LJ, simply change it to whatever you are using, such as P-40, Fairchild, BellancaSomethingMark94, etc, etc. Place this file in your Plugins folder for P3D V3x SDK.




Copy this one to your Notepad file, then modify it.

////////////////COPY////////////////////////////////////////////////////


rem Move this file to Local Disk\Lockheed Martin\Prepar3D v2 SDK 2.0.8547.0\Modeling SDK\3DSM2014_x64\Plugins\
rem Move LJ.x and LJ.xanim to same location.
rem Execute this file.

XtoMdl /XANIM /DICT:..\..\bin\modeldef.xml LJ.x > LJ.log

XtoMdl /XANIM /DICT:..\..\bin\modeldef.xml LJ_Interior.x > LJ_Interior.log

pause


//////////////////////END COPY///////////////////////////////////////
 
Messages
10,088
Country
us-arizona
Great to finally be able to build and apply materials and export and not have to fear those material limitations. I was hitting those all the time.
 
Messages
466
Country
us-california
I prefer to use the XtoMDL from the v1.4 SDK with the last patch that was released for it (1.4.6787.0). It's no longer available, but I've kept a copy backed up on my system. You can export a model from any of the P3D 3ds Max plugins (even v4) and then compile the MDL with this version of XtoMDL. The model will work in all versions of P3D and FSX without the extra hassle.

Download
 
Messages
913
Country
indonesia
Just wondering why it set 64K limit for polygon material? there would be a reason?
it should be carefully using beyond the limit, hope there not rising another problem.
 

Paul Domingue

Resource contributor
Messages
1,530
Country
us-california
I prefer to use the XtoMDL from the v1.4 SDK with the last patch that was released for it (1.4.6787.0). It's no longer available, but I've kept a copy backed up on my system. You can export a model from any of the P3D 3ds Max plugins (even v4) and then compile the MDL with this version of XtoMDL. The model will work in all versions of P3D and FSX without the extra hassle.
You can not compile a (native) P3D v4.x model with the v1.4 SDK XtoMDL.exe. The models may work fine for now but eventually there will be compatibility problems as v4.x is improved upon.
 
Messages
1,484
Just wondering why it set 64K limit for polygon material? there would be a reason?
it should be carefully using beyond the limit, hope there not rising another problem.

Remember how old fsx is...this limit probably had to do with the hardware available at the time.
 
Messages
10,088
Country
us-arizona
Just wondering why it set 64K limit for polygon material? there would be a reason?
it should be carefully using beyond the limit, hope there not rising another problem.

Hello Kalong,

There was an issue with the compiler. They (Microsoft) werent able to fix the issue. I cannot remember why the reason was for this, but it caused a crash in their compiler for some reason. The work around was to make 1 or more copies of the material and change them slightly, then apply them to the parts so that you had under 64K polygons per material.

Now you do not need to worry about that.

The issue was back about 12 years ago. Now, computers are compiling models that are near or over 1/2 million polygons. RAM and computer chip power are incredibly more powerful.


Bill
 
Messages
466
Country
us-california
You can not compile a (native) P3D v4.x model with the v1.4 SDK XtoMDL.exe. The models may work fine for now but eventually there will be compatibility problems as v4.x is improved upon.

Well yeah, I realize. As long as you're not doing anything Prepar3D-specific, you're fine. It's more of a convenience thing in the short term for those that want a shared workflow across all platforms.
 

Paul Domingue

Resource contributor
Messages
1,530
Country
us-california
Messages
31
Country
unitedstates
Just wondering why it set 64K limit for polygon material? there would be a reason?
it should be carefully using beyond the limit, hope there not rising another problem.
The exact number is 65535 when MCX gives the error,I should mention it is the highest number which can be represented by an unsigned 16-bit binary number, some computer programming environments may have predefined constant values representing 65535, it's pretty famous for many reasons, its literally all 1s (I am pretty sure).

But anyway, I will have to try this out, thanks for the info Bill + Joseph.
 
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