Pete_SMS

OK. I build a quick rough model of your car park, because I wanted to see how many faces/polys are required. After finishing the decks and some other detail, I had around 2900. Adding the lamps and a few other things probably around 4000 or lower, instead of the 7100. As for the holes, you could add four loop cuts, then you delete the two faces (top/bottom). This will create an open mesh where the hole is, so you have to fill the inside with four faces.

I have a colleague who is going like "Hey Pete, the Beaver is your favorite Bush plane, right?" and then he can't hold himself. I wonder why?

Looks very nice Arnaud! Another DHC plane. Count me in as a customer.

Hey Simon, I am absolutely not familiar with Sketchup, but I have the feeling, that the car park could have been modelled in Blender with a lower poly count. Is that a single object/mesh, or does it consist of multiple objects? Even X-Plane can handle polys much better than a lot big textures, I still wouldn't go crazy with polys. I keep my habit to have an eye on them. What do you mean by "make a hole for the ramp"? A little out of context, but you might be intersted in the following Blender tutorials. . http://cgcookie.com/blender/2010/12/22/modeling-a-building/ The next two are called "Modelling a Sci-Fi panel". Don't get confused by the name....it is really worth watching them. You will learn a few cool tricks, normal mapping and some texturing, Really worth it. http://cgcookie.com/blender/2011/07/22/creating-a-sci-fi-panel-part-1/ http://cgcookie.com/blender/2011/07/27/creating-a-sci-fi-panel-part-2/ You might wanna look at this too. Shows you how to work with array modifiers, which can speed up your modelling, when you are able to use them. http://www.blenderguru.com/videos/recreate-the-hallway-scene-from-inception-part-1-of-2

There you go ....

Should be easy. I will make a screenshot for you. A picture says more than a thousand words.

I guess you already did it properly after reading that you pushed it back in. Could have been that you "just" grabbed the outer edges and extruded them. Now, I am pretty sure that you selected the face, extruded it to the same position, scaled it down a little and then pushed it back in, right? Have a look at this double sided polygon setting, though. That might not help you with this problem, but later for sure.

Hey Simon, How did you create that edge where the strange shading is happening. Did you just extrude the edges of the cube and is AO switched on? Keep in mind, that Blender 2.5X and 2.6 is using double sided polygons as a default setting (you can find that setting under object data) and I would switch that off. This also makes sense when you export your mesh to be used inside X-Plane, because it will double your poly count if you leave that on and it might create other strange artifacts. So if that setting is on on your side and you extruded just the edges, you will have an extrusion with no weight as it is very very thin. AO effects the surfaces based on their proximity and orientation to each other, and in this case it would be very close and the closer surfaces are, the more light will be blocked and this could result in strange surface shading. What you could try is to remove these extruding edges and do a proper inset of that "keep right" face and try again. I am not sure if that is causing your problem. Just thinking here.

...and that is no problem

Thanks for sharing that story. I am a BIG P-51 Mustang fan and if you look in the cockpit these days you will see a GPS and other modern equipment. Pretty normal. But the good thing is, we can have both versions in a sim. Old and modern style without spending thousands of dollars.

Andy, next time I put that warning on just for you @NR Thanks! Yip, the recording of the sounds should take place some time in November and I will try the best I can to make this R-985 come to life in the sim.

Sounds like you also spent more time with that mechanic called "Gizmo". Pretty cool guy, eh? Or is it a lady...can't remember Cool stuff going on for that DC-3, and I am looking forward to the release. You guys do a great job so far.

Very nice work Max. Looking forward to see more as I am a warbird buff myself!

More work on the "co-pilot" panel. A few small things still missing on the panel and instruments, but work on the seats and interior will start very soon. By the way, this is the panel for the amphibious version and everything is 3D. Can't wait to start my extensive flight test and development program, spending HOURS in it ...but still some time away. It needs to be completely finished and textured and then I have to properly animate and export everything. Hope you like it....even with the Garmin sitting on the panel so far

I hear what you are saying, but most of the Beavers operated in a commercial environment today are equipped with a GPS. Either, one sitting right on top of the pilot panel, a Garming G430 at exactly the location you see here or even more sophisticated stuff on the co-pilot panel. However, I am an historic aircraft and warbird buff myself, and love the old style cockpits with more or less no avionic displays in there. Also a used, but not beat up, cockpit look is great. So please don't assume that this will be the only cockpit style. ...and nope, the Beaver wouldn't SCOFF at me. Just relax and wait for more shots and info.

If you think that was sexy.....what do you think about this? Some more progress on the cockpit with a few more flight instruments, switches, the flight control yoke, engine instruments, the Garmin G430 and a few nice little details.

While waiting for some specific info, work in the cabin progressed and I would like to show you a new work in progress render. As always, still LOTS of things missing in the cockpit, but you can get a first impression, what it may look like in the end and what detail goes into it. Just imagine some textures on it....well that is still some time ahead..... Hope you enjoy!

There is a good chance that I add one for the passenger version.

No coffee holder, but you could just imagine there is one. The original Beaver had an ashtray, though. However, my Beaver will feature a "No Smoking" sign. Yes, pretty stable when trimmed properly. So, no need to have an autopilot.

Very nice!

Well, maybe you will spill your coffee all over the cockpit

While getting more and more familiar with X-Plane animations, I have been playing around with a few ideas. One of them is airframe and engine vibration, which I think adds a little bit more realism to the aircraft. Instead of having a pure static cockpit, it would be cool if parts would vibrate due to a rough engine, or a power setting which is exciting vibrations or just vibration/shaking due to taxiing on a rough terrain surface. Well, my "dummy/test" cockpit was already nicely shaking and vibrating due to certain conditions like engine settings and terrain. Pretty cool, but also in its initial concept phase. Animations and plug-ins work very well together.

Glad you like it so far. With respect to framerates, it is a little too early to talk about it. Textures have the big impact on framerates if you have too many big ones. X-plane can handle a high poly count pretty much OK, though. Poly count and textures for the Beaver will stay in a reasonable range, so that I am not expecting a higher framerate hit than with any other general aviation add on.

I wanted to share this video and maybe you know it already. It is about flying, the Beaver and ... Just another Pilot ... This video is touching me, and really shows what flying is all about.

Thanks for the feedback guys. Much appreciated! The Beaver has been a real X-Plane development motivation booster for me during the last weeks and it will continue to do so. It is gorgeous and has so much personality. I just love it. @Andy: Yes, you are right. It has the white stripes on the side and the more yellow bottom wing surface, right? Maybe a painter is going to make this one later on. I am planning to have a neutral paint kit as well for the release, so that people can create their own favorite paint job.