Looks for static car models.

[jt23]

Hello, I am in the process of editing an airport in FS 2024 to use as a private airport. One thing I was thinking of doing is adding some sports/sipercars to the apron of the airport near where I will park my plane, and I am wondering if there is a model pack that might include cars like this I can use.

Edit: I found this vehicle pack, but I'm not sure whether I can use it in the editor or if it includes any high-end cars like Ferraris or McLarens.

Ethnicfs vehicles library - MSFS Add-on - Flightsim.to

✓ For Microsoft Flight Simulator: Different vehicles low poly and high quality for maintain MSFS performance in all type of pc config. Vehicles : cars, truck, van, boats, construction vehicles, train (and railroad kit). Suscribe...

flightsim.to

Thanks

 

[rhumbaflappy]

You can use it in MSFS 2024 if you place the package in Community, just like any other package. A word of caution... the scaling of the objects might not be right, so you might need to scale them in the sim. I didn't see any high-end cars.

 

[jt23]

You can use it in MSFS 2024 if you place the package in Community, just like any other package. A word of caution... the scaling of the objects might not be right, so you might need to scale them in the sim. I didn't see any high-end cars.

Hello again. Thanks for the help, yeah the only supercar I see is a Ferrari Testarossa.

 

[jt23]

Also there should be no issue if I get a model from someone else and then import into blender myself and then save to MSFS.

 

[rhumbaflappy]

Also there should be no issue if I get a model from someone else and then import into blender myself and then save to MSFS.

No. That's not alright unless you are never going to distribute the package. Copyright infringement, unless specifically OK'd by the creator of the model.

 

[SPerx]

There is a way to make your own models and avoid copyright issues. Get an AI 3D model creation package. I use ELEGOO Chituglyph. It is a subscription service but you can use it for a month or so and un-subscribe; or keep on using it if you want to, for example, make other objects for your scenery. Chituglyph gives you the option of creating a textured model from either one or 4 images. The 4-image option requires front, rear, left and right views. If you select the "with textures" option it will generate the model textured to match the source image. If you get the un-textured image you can do your own texturing BUT the generated model will be an incredible dense geometry, normally around 1.5 million polygons although you can reduce that by using the "decimate" tool in Blender. The Chituglyph model will only have one texture, which looks a mess. I believe that is because they probably texture each polygon as the model is created. Also, if you decimate a textured model too much, you will get undesired effects, such as blotchey texturing. I tend to decimate down to 150,000 polygons which seems not to hurt frame rates in MSFS and preserves the texturing. Having got a satisfactory model in Blender you need to scale it to its real-word dimensions and then export it using the MSFS exporter.

The single image generator prefers a front 3/4 view. It will replicate what is sees; mirror the side it can see to the far side; and take a wild flying guess at the back end. That is what happened with the RAF Mk9 crash truck ( yellow side stripe ) below. Also, that vehicle's foam monitor is floating unsupported above the body.

If the vehicle is complicated, as with the Crash trucks below, the AI generated model will have some odd artefacts as mentioned, but cars should be fine for your stated purpose.

It sounds complicated but in fact once you get the hang of the work flow it is really quite straightforward. Also, even with the complicated textures you can re-colour a bodyshell simply by doing a global colour replacement in a graphics package of your choice. I have attached some images of vehicles I have created using this methodology.

 

[jt23]

No. That's not alright unless you are never going to distribute the package. Copyright infringement, unless specifically OK'd by the creator of the model.

Oops, I didn't mean that I would just take someone else's work; I just meant there would be no issue if I had someone else make a model for me or get one from a site that sells models and then load it into Blender, then save to MSFS. Is that correct? I am just planning to use this airport for my own use. Also, on a scale of 1-10 with 1 being easiest, how hard is to create a simple mansion/rich person's type house, and if I have someone make a model for me, are there any considerations that need to be taken into account when making the model so that it shows correctly in the sim? I don't need it to be super detailed or anything, but I want something that looks better quality than just the default stuff. And lastly, is there a way to force increase the draw distance for things like buildings and airport textures when editing them or placing them? As you can see in the attached pic, I seem to have an issue with blurry airport and terrain, even when I'm not that far away, and changing the LOD in the game settings doesn't seem to fix it. My computer isn't super high-end, but I have a Ryzen 5 5500 and a Radeon RX 6600 along with a 2TB SSD and 16GB of RAM, which I think would be enough. Also, I am running the game on medium settings and my connection speed ranges from 100-300 Megabits per second.

 

[jt23]

There is a way to make your own models and avoid copyright issues. Get an AI 3D model creation package. I use ELEGOO Chituglyph. It is a subscription service but you can use it for a month or so and un-subscribe; or keep on using it if you want to, for example, make other objects for your scenery. Chituglyph gives you the option of creating a textured model from either one or 4 images. The 4-image option requires front, rear, left and right views. If you select the "with textures" option it will generate the model textured to match the source image. If you get the un-textured image you can do your own texturing BUT the generated model will be an incredible dense geometry, normally around 1.5 million polygons although you can reduce that by using the "decimate" tool in Blender. The Chituglyph model will only have one texture, which looks a mess. I believe that is because they probably texture each polygon as the model is created. Also, if you decimate a textured model too much, you will get undesired effects, such as blotchey texturing. I tend to decimate down to 150,000 polygons which seems not to hurt frame rates in MSFS and preserves the texturing. Having got a satisfactory model in Blender you need to scale it to its real-word dimensions and then export it using the MSFS exporter.

The single image generator prefers a front 3/4 view. It will replicate what is sees; mirror the side it can see to the far side; and take a wild flying guess at the back end. That is what happened with the RAF Mk9 crash truck ( yellow side stripe ) below. Also, that vehicle's foam monitor is floating unsupported above the body.

If the vehicle is complicated, as with the Crash trucks below, the AI generated model will have some odd artefacts as mentioned, but cars should be fine for your stated purpose.

It sounds complicated but in fact once you get the hang of the work flow it is really quite straightforward. Also, even with the complicated textures you can re-colour a bodyshell simply by doing a global colour replacement in a graphics package of your choice. I have attached some images of vehicles I have created using this methodology.

Great advice. Thanks.

 

[toprob]

Yes, I use Tripo for my static vehicles, I can just give it the make, model, year and colour and it'll create a car in less than a minute, and texture it in a couple of minutes. You can choose the number of faces, to keep the vertex count low, then pop it into Blender and make a few LODs using decimate. Here's a link to one I've done, a Kia Sportage, you can actually download this and use it if you wish. It's only 1665 vertices. The prompt I used was 'grey 2025 kia sportage'. Like most of these AI tools, it is subscription-based, I pay US$20 a month, but of course you can just pay for the months you need.
Kia Sportage Tripo model

 

[jt23]

Yes, I use Tripo for my static vehicles, I can just give it the make, model, year and colour and it'll create a car in less than a minute, and texture it in a couple of minutes. You can choose the number of faces, to keep the vertex count low, then pop it into Blender and make a few LODs using decimate. Here's a link to one I've done, a Kia Sportage, you can actually download this and use it if you wish. It's only 1665 vertices. The prompt I used was 'grey 2025 kia sportage'. Like most of these AI tools, it is subscription-based, I pay US$20 a month, but of course you can just pay for the months you need.
Kia Sportage Tripo model

Thanks for the help. I had a look at the site you linked, and from what I can tell, you get so many free credits. I take it you have to subscribe to download them? Also I am wondering if you can help me with the draw distance for things like buildings and airport ground textures. I have included more details in a comment above, including a picture.

 

[SPerx]

Thanks for the help. I had a look at the site you linked, and from what I can tell, you get so many free credits. I take it you have to subscribe to download them? Also I am wondering if you can help me with the draw distance for things like buildings and airport ground textures. I have included more details in a comment above, including a picture.

Chituglyph gives you 200 credits to begin with, you can use them to create one or two models. Then the subscription adds credits each month. The un-used ones carry over so you do not lose them. Other AI model generators are available, so I suggest you research what is best for you. I use Chituglyph because I use ELEGOO 3D printers, so it makes sense to keep to the same software suite.

By draw distance I take it you mean LODs? I have only used them once. If your models do not appear as soon as you wish, you could try the trick of adding an invisible place to the model which is rather larger than the object. That forces MSFS to draw the whole model sooner than if it were the model object alone.

 

[jt23]

Chituglyph gives you 200 credits to begin with, you can use them to create one or two models. Then the subscription adds credits each month. The un-used ones carry over so you do not lose them. Other AI model generators are available, so I suggest you research what is best for you. I use Chituglyph because I use ELEGOO 3D printers, so it makes sense to keep to the same software suite.

By draw distance I take it you mean LODs? I have only used them once. If your models do not appear as soon as you wish, you could try the trick of adding an invisible place to the model which is rather larger than the object. That forces MSFS to draw the whole model sooner than if it were the model object alone.

Thanks, I haven't compiled my airport yet or placed any models so what you see in the pic is just the default airport that isn't loaded in yet; I just want to see if I can get them to appear farther away than what is shown in the attached picture. Including things like runway and ground textures as well. I don't know what's normal for the sim with my hardware and settings, but to me, I would think there would be a little more detail to the airport at that range isntead of a blurry outline at that range and I don't know if that's normal or if something is wrong with my system and if there's a way for me to get the airport to appear in greater detail further out.

Also, I was thinking of adding some beacon or strobe lights to the hills at the entrance of the bay, which is around 10-20NM away. Would it be better to add these as a separate element or can I include them with the airport and coudld I make the lights any color I want?

 

[toprob]

Thanks for the help. I had a look at the site you linked, and from what I can tell, you get so many free credits. I take it you have to subscribe to download them? Also I am wondering if you can help me with the draw distance for things like buildings and airport ground textures. I have included more details in a comment above, including a picture.

From memory, with the free plan (very limited) you could download a couple of HD models, but not the Smart mesh models. I don't know if that is still the case. I admit I signed up at first for a month, just to give it a test, but it's useful enough to keep so far. This is the most expensive subscription I have, though.

Looking at your screenshot, there is definitely a line in the middle ground beyond which the textures go mushy. I'm not sure if you've used any zoom here, but if not then it's not good. I compared your GPU with mine online, and although mine is low-specced (RTX 2070S), it still performs 30% better than yours, so I would imagine that this is part of the problem, and you may be stuck with it. It would be interesting to see how much your GPU is used here, if it hovers close to 100% then you'd need to lower your sim settings a bit.

 

[jt23]

From memory, with the free plan (very limited) you could download a couple of HD models, but not the Smart mesh models. I don't know if that is still the case. I admit I signed up at first for a month, just to give it a test, but it's useful enough to keep so far. This is the most expensive subscription I have, though.

Looking at your screenshot, there is definitely a line in the middle ground beyond which the textures go mushy. I'm not sure if you've used any zoom here, but if not then it's not good. I compared your GPU with mine online, and although mine is low-specced (RTX 2070S), it still performs 30% better than yours, so I would imagine that this is part of the problem, and you may be stuck with it. It would be interesting to see how much your GPU is used here, if it hovers close to 100% then you'd need to lower your sim settings a bit.

Ok so I tested it again, and my GPU software shows that the utilization is around 60-70% at PAVD airport.

 

[toprob]

That sounds ok. You could try moving to High settings and see if it makes any difference. If so, you can then change some back to medium to smooth the load on the GPU. When I work on scenery I like to have fairly high settings, and only pull back those that are less important to me.

 

[jt23]

That sounds ok. You could try moving to High settings and see if it makes any difference. If so, you can then change some back to medium to smooth the load on the GPU. When I work on scenery I like to have fairly high settings, and only pull back those that are less important to me.

Thanks. It sounds like you are saying my GPU should be performing fine based on those numbers; is that correct? If so does that mean there isn't much I can do to fix the issue? I have tried turning up the TLOD and object LOD settings to above 150 in the main menu, but it didn't seem to do anything. Also on a scale of 1-10 with 1 being the easiest how hard is it to build a simple house that looks good up close? I would like something better than default quality, if possible.

Edit: Oh, and lastly, I have finally been able to exclude most of the scenery I want from the airport; however, for some reason, I can't get the old localizer equipment removed, so now it's sitting in the middle of my runway. Any ideas on how I might be able to remove it?