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GMAX background save problem

A

Alan Cottrill

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unitedkingdom
Hi.
I have spent about three weeks trying to work out what i was doing wrong,when trying to get my model background bmp scaled,at first i had clipped wing tips in the top view,i missed the obvious,ie turning the bmp 90 deg,then i could not figure out,how to get the scale box around my bmp to the width of my wings,it either went to far,or not far enough,today i managed to get that sorted,and i then saved using the (save as).
Then i started doing the wing box,only to make an error,so i tried to open my saved background file.
The GMAX programe shuts down imediatly,and i cannot delete the saved file,which i think somthing has corrupted it,because if i go anywhere near the icon,the computer shuts down windows explorer.:mad:
HELP !!!
regards alan.
 
Hey Alan,

Sounds like the file is either corrupted or uses so much memory that it causes your computer to throw a wobbly, (crashes).

I would go in and redo the scene and start over. I apologise as I dont know of anything else to do.

If I could give you some humble advice;

* Always save your work in steps 'up', all numbered, and perhaps even labled. Examples; Cessna Skyhawk 001 thru perhaps 300, or Beech Kingair 224 Wing Remapping. This way, you can backstep to earlier builds, merge parts that might be messed up, and get copies from earlier steps to redo them. With labels, you can tell a certain step that is important so you can find it later.

When saving a step or level, for me, I do it each time I finish a component or some major little build. If I map something, finish a part, etc, I hit Save, then Save As, and enter the next build up.

* Next bit of advice is to use JPG's mapped onto flat Polygons instead of Background BMP's. Reason being, as it is stated in Gmax, the BMP's will take a hurrendous amount of memory. I dont know why, and its almost a bug on behalf of Gmax. Gmax can use JPG's, PSD's and other such formats, so you may wish to switch over to what all of us are using, which is making floating JPG background Polygons. You can hide them, then delete them later. You can use the Measure Tape (Helper Tool) to measure out the drawing so that its scaled right. If you use absolute square Polygons and use modified drawings that are made as a pure square, then when you map the square photo to a square polygon (exactly square) then your backgrounds wont be squashed in any way.

Some people do 'photo boxes', mapping a box with the side views on the sides, front and back views, and top view. Then they flip the box polygons so its inside out. The beauty of this is that you can see through the walls to the inside, so they never get in the way of making parts.

Also, (what I do) is you can break apart the box and move the walls far away. Then, when you are in exact angles, like Left View, the background is right there, perfectly visible and not in the way. (Remember though, you can hide them).


I hope that helps.



Bill
 
Hi Bill.
I tried making bmps for my background views,but GMAX would not play ball at all,so i then made jpegs,but because they where made from a scan of an a4 sheet,in a mag,they are a bit large,but it does not seem to state a max size for these files.
I had just put a scale box around the background images,when i used the (saved as) then gave it my file name.
Then i started on the wing box,i had only just put the basic settings in on this,when i made a selection to incease my view,for a bit more precision,but this messed up my background.
So i then closed GMAX,and reopened it and tried to open my saved background,this is when it whent stupid,and would not open the background file.
I will try to do the background set up again,and see if i can open it,before trying anything else.
If need be,i will have to totally redo my jpegs,so as to be a smaller size.
Thanks for info,regards alan.
 
Do NOT use "background images" for your project. For modeling purposes they are worthless.

Build yourself a calibration box, and map your 3-view images to the polygons.
 
Hi Bill.
I tried to just redo my saved file background and it fails to open,without doing any modelling,the background jpegs with the scale box are only taking 49kb,so it should not be giving me problems like this.
How do i do it your way,as i have been following the tutorial for the p38 model.
regards alan.
 
Alan,

Like Bill and I said, you cant use the Background Images option. Its goofy. It doesnt work right. It also only takes BMP's. You can only use JPG's on materials.


You also cannot (cannot) do the entire tutorial starting at the P-38. You must (must) do steps 1 through to the P-38 tutorial or you will be totally lost. They give you tools in one stage to use in the next, and so on. Thus if you go straight to the last one, you wont know how to extrude, cut new edges, find the Move tool, scale a part, extrude a polygon or edge, or map graphics to a polygon.


Bill
 
Not to mention that the P38 tutorial is whacked. When you complete it, the aircraft will be backwards in the sim!

Honestly, you'd be much better off working through Milton Schupe's C162 Tutorial series:

http://www.flightsimonline.com/C162/

Unfortunately, Sim-Outhouse had a forum crash, and lost all their posts, but you can still complete the Tutorial series without those few links.
 
Another good tutorial is the Stupid Idiots Guide to Gmax'. (Ignore the name). It is one awesome, brilliant tutorial. You will have to google it as I no longer have a link to it.

But.......... I would still highly recommend doing the Gmax tutorials, starting with number one. Dont go to the next level till you can do the level you are on my 'memory'. Once you can make parts or map things or find tools that are in that level, 'then' go to the next level. Remember, you need to know where all the tools are. That is massively important. If you just do the tutorials and dont memorize the bits in it, you are lost on where to go or what to do.

Also, when you finish a level, try doing other parts, fake parts and things and use the info from that level of the tutorial so you can become acclimated with how everything works and where everything is located.

Then.... When you go to make a Photo Box for making a plane by, go here;

http://www.aerodynamika.com/cgi-bin/yabb/YaBB.cgi?num=1184284524

http://forums.avsim.net/dcboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=122&topic_id=33729&mesg_id=33729

And this is cool too. Making objects from Splines. I do this all the time now.

http://www.oregon-coast.net/FS2002/xsections/xsections.htm

Much faster then making wings from cylinders. You can make elaborate outlines of parts and make it a surface polygon, then extrude it out.

But, back on the original subject, focus on your emmediate learning of where everythign is, and how they worl. Learn one tool at a time. Experiment with it, like move tool, or scaling tool. Learn them well, 'then' move on to other bits. Learning where all the tools are is 3/4's of the battle in Gmax.





Bill
 
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