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X-Plane 10 scenery Q & A


tkyler

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it possible that you could be mistaken in writing the "kind" of light

 

Possible?   possible?  More like, PROBABLE!   You are very right and I was very wrong in writing that...good catch.   I changed it so others won't be misled.   Those look really great...good usage of your light and I'm glad you are up and running.

 

As far as the lights being on in the daylight, ...instead of using "full_custom_halo".....use "full_custom_halo_night".     These have their daytime parameter set to zero so they do not show during the day.

 

wouldnt' have been accomplished without your incredible help. Help for with I am grateful. Thank you, Tom, from the bottom of my heart

 

You are very welcome.   I hope to have my x-plane training school up some time in 2014 and be able to teach all sorts of stuff.

 

Tom K

Edited by tkyler
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And this IS the answer that I was hoping for, my dear Tom!!! You have an anser handy for every question, this is incredible!!! Excellent!

 

I'll try to post s few shots with your new lights, so that you can see the difference and more to the point, others, if ever interested in this matter.

 

Again, thank you so very much!!

Edited by MacCekko
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Hello Tom and everyone else.

 

I was looking around the autogen scenery and noticed that X-plane draws sidewalks on the city streets. I would like to know the process XP uses to draw streets so I can replicate for the areas near the airport where streets are missing, parking lots, etc., so it blends in seamlessly with the rest of the scenery. I am aware of the decals used over textures for the gritty effect but that's about all I know about it. I would like to use the default assets so I'd appreciate if someone can tell me which assets are being used for drawing streets the way X-Plane does.

 

Thanks and good day to all.

 

Juan

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Tom,

I have proceeded in upgrading somehow the Florence Peretola scenery so that now it has an "interesting" use of spill lights, if I may say so, that incredibly do not seem to kill the framerate.

 

Although I have read many time the "Lights.txt" document, I still have a couple of doubts, though:

1 - is there a way to have a billboard light that is ON during daytime? I have put some custom_halos on the ceilings of some opened hangars and I loved to have a spill light even during daytime (and I did), but, in fact, I get the spill but I don't get the billboard (oh, BTW, the spill light on the floor during daylight is AMAZING!!!). Provided that is almost irrelevant since nobody is gonna take a look at the ceilings from the inside, it would be perfect to control a billboard that is lit during the day. It should also need to be coloured, but this it's not essential.

 

2 - Much more important: is there a way to get a custom_halo that blinks/flashes during daytime? For some cars and trucks I have used the "LIGHT_NAMED PD_ltbar_1a" (and 1r, and 1w, etc, used over the top of X-Plane library Police cars), but they are simple billboards and NOT spill lights. So, is there a way to get custom_halos to flash somehow? I was thinking of using an airplane strobe (provided I cannot add colour to them), but I wouldn't wanna mess with airplane lights inside objects that in fact are NOT aircrafts, since those lights tend to behave in a so different manner and so thet are way better when left alone, in my personal opinion.

 

Your help as always would be precious.

Thank you so very much...!  :P

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  • 3 months later...

Hello Tom

 

I'm very much a newbie at both X-plane and X-plane scenery design so please forgive me if this question seems to be idiotic.

 

I have studied the new WED manual and the wiki and various tutorials but I have found no clear answer:

I want to create some scenery (using 3D models as buildings or using open scenery objects) but not necessarily in an area where there is an airport. Is it possible to therefore create scenery without attaching it to an airport's exclusion zone?

Obviously it must be possible, but how? Could you point me in the right direction or suggest an internet resource where I can find out how to do this?

 

Thanks

 

Dave Britzius

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Hi Dave,  welcome to the jungle.  I'm not sure I'll answer everthing, I'll just ramble on and we can at least start a dialog.

 

When you click and insert anything in WEDs map window, you are specifying a latitude and lontitude point for that "click"...as I'm sure you know.  3D objects are what we call "single point" objects, as they only have a single lat/lon point and a rotation value.  This is in contrast to polygons and other things that occupy "area".   Therefore you can put objects anywhere....the problem is that with WEDs plain black background, unless you have some kind of visual reference like a accurately imported image map underlay, placing those objects is not particularly easy. 

 

One way to get around it is to use google earth and determine the lat/lon point you want to place the object.  Then in WED, you place the object in the window in a random location and then in the properties palette, you manually change the lat/lon points of the object.  The object will then "disappear" from the screen though as it will relocate when you type in the new values and this creates yet another problem (that MAY be fixed by now....I requested it ten times).   In the past, you could not zoom into single point objects....so after you type in new lat/lon points...then getting that object back into the map view  to use as a reference in placing other stuff isn't as straightforward as it may seem.  It maybe though that feature is in the latest WED....I've been off of WED development for a while and haven't tested it.  After the object has disappeared, you would select it in the outline panel and then try and zoom in using the menu: "view > zoom selection'.  If that menu is grayed out with the item selected in the heirarchy panel, then the "zoom to point" feature STILL isn't in WED yet (but man it should be!!)   You might could zoom out,  select the item in the heirarchy and see the bounding box handles in  the map view though.

 

There are a few "unknowns" here though that I myself have not tried.  I am unsure if you can do a scenery export without having at least one airport specified in the heirarcy pane.  Now that doesn't mean you have to have anything on the airport, or it could be an "empty" one...or even import a nearby one just to get you in the "vicinity" of where you want to place objects.

 

If it was me, I'd probably import the nearest airport layout using "Import >apt.dat", then zoom into that to get me "close" to where I want to place objects....then I'd place the object randomly in the map window...type in the lat/lon coords manually and once zoomed into that places object....assuming I was placing several objects in that same area.....place other objects and finally export.   If the objects are so far removed so that there IS NO nearby airport...then I'd just try placing the object in the window and typing in coords manually, zooming into the area and try exporting.

 

The exclusions zone aren't something you 'attach to' per se.   They are simply a shape where you can tell x-plane not to draw or place autogen entities and you should be able to use them irregardless of airport affiliation.  I guess the big question is can you export out a scenery with no airport "created" in WED.  I'll find out and report back.

 

TomK

Edited by tkyler
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@OlaHaldor.

Thank you very much for your response. Tom seems to confirm what you say .

 

@tkyler

Thank you also, Tom, for your detailed response. 
It looks like the simplest approach is to create a fictional (unused, invisible) "airport" and work from there.

I will check out whether it is possible to zoom to single point objects.

I will make some experiments and see what works best.

Thanks for your help.

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Tom,

 

I would like to get your opinion on a tool I just made, called OSMAirportsX. It takes OSM and OurAirports data for a particular airport and generates the airport file (apt.dat) and scenery files (.dsf) for objects within the airport. For the apt.dat, it generates airport boundaries, runways, taxiways, taxi lines, aprons, beacons, PAPIs, Frequencies. For the scenery file, it generates airport terminals, fences, hangars and other buildings. For the scenery objects, it uses OSM data to extract the 2d footprint and then uses an appropriate facade to generate the scenery object. The results look very promising. Here is a picture of an airport generated using the tool. This was completely tool generated without using WED, Overlay Editor or hand modifying the apt.dat / .dsf files.

 

post-12070-0-98028300-1377724196_thumb.j

 

Since I use OSM data, the runways, taxiways, building placements are very very accurate compared to real world. In fact, I overlaid an orthophoto on the airport I made, and found that the placement was perfect, no alignment changes were required. 

 

I use random ranges for facade heights as well as building types, so what would really help are a lot more facades (office buildings, terminals, parking lots, control towers). More the available facades, more diverse the scenery can become. The tool can also be used as a starting point for a new scenery developer. From nothing, a complete airport can be made in a few seconds. All that remains are a few tweaks (some airports come out perfect, some require tweaks, especially the taxiways), depending on the quality of the OSM data.

 

In particular, I couldn't find a facade for a control tower (I tried out a class bravo airport and the lack of a tower was glaring). Does the X-Plane 10 library already have one, or is it planned for the near future? I don't want to use an obj because I want the object to match the OSM 2d footprint for realism, so my reliance on facades.

 

The tool will be open sourced, once I fix a few bugs.

 

Shankar

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Thanks Dave,

 

I've been working on adding gates and jetway support. With some much needed bug fixes, I finally got this done. At last, we have the necessary infrastructure in place for a class bravo airport. It is by no means complete, but airports are looking more and more crowded now. Here's what I got out of the tool for KDTW (Detroit Metropolitan Wayne County Airport). Again, it is completely unedited by hand, directly out of the tool.

 

post-12070-0-83576400-1378189295_thumb.j

post-12070-0-76104400-1378189323_thumb.j

post-12070-0-07403500-1378189337_thumb.j

 

If we can build this in 10 seconds (time taken for the tool to run), imagine the amount of time saved in designing X-Plane sceneries! Scenery designers no longer have to start from scratch because 85% of the airport is done already.

 

As always, comments and suggestions are deeply appreciated.

 

Shankar

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TomK, is it possible to add another light definition?

 

What i'm looking is just like the sodium lights you have add to lights.txt, but white (color: 1,1,1). My airport's night lighting is white and mostly i'm interesting in white (like your sodium) billboards. I have made the beam as I wanted with LIGHT_PARAM full_custom_halo_night, but no luck with proper billboards.

 

I have tried even custom billboards, but I haven't find a way so they are visible only from the front. You can see them all the way around.

 

I have actually test to added myself to lights.txt (I know that is not a good idea!),  but they work. Here the definitions:

BILLBOARD_HW white_flood_BB 1.0 1.0 1.0 1.0 4 4 2 0 X Y Z 0 0 0 0 0 

Could this be added to lights.txt for a next update?

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Hi Guys!

I'd like to use Maya to create an airport as I find it a lot more simpler to model and create the UV texture maps/textures than useing WED for the modeling of the runways and taxiways.

One question: Is it possible to model and texture the runways/taxiways in a 3D program like Maya or 3DS Max, and then somehow import them into WED for the build process to use in X plane 10?

 

Any suggestions or advice would be greatly appreciated. Thanks. :)

 

Regards,

Hawk.

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Hi Guys!

I'd like to use Maya to create an airport as I find it a lot more simpler to model and create the UV texture maps/textures than useing WED for the modeling of the runways and taxiways.

One question: Is it possible to model and texture the runways/taxiways in a 3D program like Maya or 3DS Max, and then somehow import them into WED for the build process to use in X plane 10?

 

Any suggestions or advice would be greatly appreciated. Thanks. :)

 

Regards,

Hawk.

 

Yes it is but it ain't easy and would an exaustive discussion.

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Yes it is but it ain't easy and would an exhaustive discussion.

Thanks Redfisher.

 

I realise that to outline the process in detail would require a large tutorial, or as you said, an exhaustive discussion, but if you know the process required to do this, then maybe you would be so kind to briefly outline the procedure for me? Don't worry that I would find it hard to understand as I'm quite competent and would be able to work it out.

 

I have a theory of how to do it: By creating(with Maya/3DS Max) the runway/taxiways as objects and place them in WED that way and line them up with the original WED created runway/taxiways, and then make the original WED created runways/taxiways invisible? But then would the drape function work with an object? I don't think so.

 

PS: Does anyone know the scale that Xplane models are worked in? Is it real world scale? Meters/Feet?

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X-Plane uses a proprietary 3D format called 'obj'...not to be confused with wavefront OBJ.   The xp obj format is simply UV mapped triangles so you can, of course use any 3d program to create and UV the geometry.  the trick is exporting the geometry into x-plane's format.  Currently that is done with either Blender or AC3D, both of which have exporters for x-plane OBJ format available for them (add-on, not native).    The OBJ format has several "directives" as part of its specification...one of which is called a "draped poly".  A draped poly lays flat on the terrain and this is, therefore, what you would be looking at for runways.  Applying these "directives" to the 3D geometry in order to tell xplane how to  handle the geometry is inherent in the workflow in AC3D/blender....inherent through the exporter scripts that is.   Usually, you apply properties to the geometry, maybe a string property and this will cause the exporter to output the proper commands to the OBJ file during export.  Because the OBJ is just text though, its possible to edit the file by hand, but this is where the explanation gets a bit more lengthy as many more questions arise.

 

So for you, I'd recommend you'd model / UV / texture it in Maya, export it out in some poly format that will import cleanly into blender/AC3D....usually  *.lwo or *.obj (wavefront) works fine.  Then once in blender, you can apply any directives that x-plane provides and export out in OBJ(xplane) format and use WED to place it.  The OBJ format is in meters.

 

TomK

Edited by tkyler
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X-Plane uses a proprietary 3D format called 'obj'...not to be confused with wavefront OBJ.   The xp obj format is simply UV mapped triangles so you can, of course use any 3d program to create and UV the geometry.  the trick is exporting the geometry into x-plane's format.  Currently that is done with either Blender or AC3D, both of which have exporters for x-plane OBJ format available for them (add-on, not native).    The OBJ format has several "directives" as part of its specification...one of which is called a "draped poly".  A draped poly lays flat on the terrain and this is, therefore, what you would be looking at for runways.  Applying these "directives" to the 3D geometry in order to tell xplane how to  handle the geometry is inherent in the workflow in AC3D/blender....inherent through the exporter scripts that is.   Usually, you apply properties to the geometry, maybe a string property and this will cause the exporter to output the proper commands to the OBJ file during export.  Because the OBJ is just text though, its possible to edit the file by hand, but this is where the explanation gets a bit more lengthy as many more questions arise.

 

So for you, I'd recommend you'd model / UV / texture it in Maya, export it out in some poly format that will import cleanly into blender/AC3D....usually  *.lwo or *.obj (wavefront) works fine.  Then once in blender, you can apply any directives that x-plane provides and export out in OBJ(xplane) format and use WED to place it.  The OBJ format is in meters.

 

TomK

Thanks for the quick response here Tom. You have answered everything I wanted to know in a clear and concise way. I'm sure I'll be able to take this information and make good use of it. Thanks Tom! :)

 

Just one point I want to make sure I understand correctly, and this is probably going to sound a little daft, but you said, "The OBJ format is in meters"...... So if a hanger in real world is 100 meters long and I model that as 100 meters in length in Maya, then when I get it into Xplane it will render at the correct size? I just want to make sure that there is no scale factor needed to apply to any modelling to obtain the correct render size in XPlane. :)

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well blender and AC3D modelling is "unitless" per se...at least with regards to the OBJ format as there is no unit information inherent in the exported file.  So as long as whatever you are exporting from blender/ac3d is "100 units long", then it will be 100 meters in x-plane.  I'm not sure than the *.lwo format supports unit information so its might be that as long as whatever you export in Maya is 100 "anything", then it will come into blender as 100 units and thus exported out to 100 meters for x-plane.    The only unknown here is if you set units to meters in maya, will maya do some kind of conversion on those numbers when exporting to some intermediary format like *.lwo to get into blender.  My guess is no and that using meters in Maybe would be fine. 

 

Sometimes, when I want to model in blender in feet...being that its unitless (at least 2.49 which I use is, not sure about 2.6+)...I'll do just that and right before export, scale the whole model by 1/3.28  to "convert" it to meters and then export that out.

 

TK

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well blender and AC3D modelling is "unitless" per se...at least with regards to the OBJ format as there is no unit information inherent in the exported file.  So as long as whatever you are exporting from blender/ac3d is "100 units long", then it will be 100 meters in x-plane.  I'm not sure than the *.lwo format supports unit information so its might be that as long as whatever you export in Maya is 100 "anything", then it will come into blender as 100 units and thus exported out to 100 meters for x-plane.    The only unknown here is if you set units to meters in maya, will maya do some kind of conversion on those numbers when exporting to some intermediary format like *.lwo to get into blender.  My guess is no and that using meters in Maybe would be fine. 

 

Sometimes, when I want to model in blender in feet...being that its unitless (at least 2.49 which I use is, not sure about 2.6+)...I'll do just that and right before export, scale the whole model by 1/3.28  to "convert" it to meters and then export that out.

 

TK

Thanks TK..... I'll give it a try and see how things go. :)

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