Goran_M

Yes, but not much. It's progressing slowly in the way of textures. I'm talking with Theo on a regular basis and I gave him a deadline we both agreed on for finishing textures for the whole plane. There are few more little things to model but I'm going to do those in the next few days and they are nothing to brag about but I want them done. Theo has so far UV mapped the entire Center pedestal and has begun texturing it. What I have seen looks awesome! I'll be putting screenshots up soon when I feel I have something juicy to show. After texturing comes animations and then the fun task of programming some systems using the new xlua language. Most of the systems will be done with default planemaker programming. The FMC will definitely be custom and that will be taking up the majority of my time. The first screenshot of the center pedestal (textured) will be posted within a day or 2. Also, while Theo textures the aircraft, I have been reading up on, and practising Maya and Lightwave. I don't really want to use Blender anymore. Simply put, that kind of software is superior to Blender. So my next project, the Bonanza G36 will be done entirely in either Lightwave, Maya or 3DS Max. Yes, there are other Bonanzas out there, but this one will have a couple of special somethings that the others don't have. I have 2 more definite projects after that but I will post info on those at a later date. Goran

I've said this to other people who were interested in creating any kind of 3D model and have asked me some questions. If, after you model something, you can sit there, look at it, and honestly say you've done a good job, then you can move on. YOU will know if you haven't done something properly. It's when you finish it, move on to something else, but that little voice keeps telling you, "The ***** you modelled is no good! You need to fix it!" And that voice gets louder and louder until you go back and finish it. Then the voice changes to "That's a kick ass ****** you modelled!!". Learn to be your own worst critic. In the future, if you do end up doing this full time, not many people are going to tell you whether something looks good or not. It's YOUR responsibility to judge that for yourself. And you're at the RIGHT age to start learning that. It would surprise the hell out of everybody here if you model something, are completely satisfied with it, and then make a post that makes jaws drop without asking anyone else if it looks good. As with ANY creative process, it can take a few days to learn the basics of modelling in 3D, a few months to get pretty decent at it, but it takes YEARS to master it. It's hard to tell whether what you have done "looks" right. You would need to provide wireframes and object views from a lot of different angles. When you finish a section and you need help, post it and see what happens. Goran

Rafael, there are many different ways to model in Blender. What's important is you get the best possible result. The way I made my wingbox is different to how many other people make their wingbox. Same with the control surfaces. I did them in a very unorthodox way but they actually turned out exactly how I wanted them too. You will find, in the course of developing this project, new and better ways to model things. Until, one day, you find a workflow for every object, cut, shape, whatever you model that works best for you. That's what ultimately makes this an artform. Keep working on it. What you do today will probably be deleted and re done somewhere down the line anyway. You won't get it "right" the first time and at times you will want to quit. Believe me, I wanted to, more than once. But you learn from the experience. Goran

I was going to describe how I cut holes for gear doors, windows, etc... but Jason found a video that demonstrates it nearly exactly how I do it. I personally think this video is better. So, enjoy the viewing and make some holes. http://www.cgcookie.com/articles/tip-hole-cutting-on-curved-surfaces Goran

I found the best way to make these things. And it works flawlessly. You can get a nice cut in about 10-15 minutes with very little to no triangles for a complex cut like main gear doors or windows. I won't explain it here. It's a bit complex and detailed. I'll probably put up a tutorial soon when I have a spare hour or 2. And it's geometrically 100% accurate in it's method. Very clean modelling. Goran

I thought I'd keep everyone informed on what is happening. I got my hands on some more photos of the Hawker 4000 and I have spent the last few days adjusting things, adding bits and pieces and modelling new things. I can safely say, with the exception of the cabin seating (which I plan on changing to a lower poly version) the entire aircraft has been modelled. I'll spend the day tomorrow modelling all seats and then start on the GA stuff I had planned while Theo textures the 4000. When the textures are done on the Hawker, I'll get into animating it and then take it from there. I have flown the object model of the Hawker and it performs well in the sim with regards to fps. I don't really want to put up more screenshots of an untextured aircraft because there really isn't much to show that is different to what has already been posted. If everything pans out like I expect it to, I'll have the GA released in the next 8 weeks or so and the Hawker a short time after that. Goran

And guess who's texturing it?

I'm at the point now where I've made a list of what needs to be done to finish this project. There is 1 more thing on the exterior to model. However, there are a few small things to model on the interior. The cockpit is still being worked on. I've redone the entire panel and centre console, because, well, surprise, I wasn't happy with how I modelled it before. Things bugged me about it and now it's looking pretty much like I want it to look. Anyway, Theo's been busy texturing Jason's 800. He's still not finished modelling it but it's getting there. However, Theo's gotten a little sick so that may have to be put on hold. Anyway, a small screenshot of the (nearly) completed centre pedestal and main panel. Goran

Absolutely spectacular! You make me want to do circuits around this airport. Goan

:) :D "We got a call from a group of airplane enthusiasts called the RAF." PRICELESS. THAT'S a race!

While taking a break from modelling, I stumbled onto this video. THIS is what I call quality viewing! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0iK7S4jnIPk&feature=channel Goran

Theo is starting the textures today on the 4000, so I thought I'd post up the last rendered screenshot of it without textures. NOW, I'm happy with how it looks. (Notice I did the wingbox...again!) Goran

A few more screenshots of the 4000 and 800XP. These are all untextured. Only colored in Blender. The 4000 is still getting things ironed out and I'm making sure everything is as smooth as possible. I was experimenting with some things so the screenshots of the 4000 show it without the wingbox and the section of fuselage where the door is located is missing. We have both stripped down a lot of polys. I've gone from 660 000 polys to 350 000. Jason has stripped just under that figure. We have both tested these planes in X plane and they run very smooth. I have 200MB of Sydney scenery installed and I use that for my benchmark. FPS didn't drop below 21 with high detail settings. I will post my X Plane settings up along with my PC specs in a later post so people can compare. The 4000 A render in Blender. Blender lighting and renderring is very unforgiving when it comes to showing flaws in the model. With the nose section attached (minus the door section) Goran

AND, a wireframe of the 4000. Goran

Pricing is still being determined. We do have a passion for this (modelling, simming and flying) and we want to be fair to our customers, so we will think about different things we can do to benefit everybody. Nothing is set in stone yet but we'll discuss things in the future and decide how we can proceed with package discounts. Goran

Gentlemen, Just to keep you all posted on the progress. We are developing at an incredibly fast rate. The Hawker 4000 is very near completed on the modelling side of things. I originally wanted to finish modelling 2 weeks ago and have the texture maps done for Theo to work on, but other details have presented themselves and I added them into the 3D model. THAT is almost done and Theo has begun texturing some parts that are actually completed. I've seen the textures he has compiled and they look great. There are a few issues to resolve but they have been expected and should be eliminated without too much fuss. Jason has just about finished the Hawker 800XP (in a matter of weeks! Am I that much of a Slavedriver???). I have seen it and it looks awesome. There are still a few things to fix or modify, but they are few and far between and it should be ready for texturing very, very soon. Ultimately, we would rather release a fully working, high quality aircraft with little or no bugs in a couple of months than a buggy, poorly textured model in a matter of weeks. We will have more screenshots very soon of both aircraft. Cheers Goran

As you guys know, the forums suffered a small setback that Cameron has now fixed. As a result, some posts were lost as were screenshots. But never fear! Here they are again. As well as some other new ones. Lighting is a WIP. Also, Theo has started work on the textures. The colors that are shown here are experimental. Also, a grab of Jasons cabin with lighting. Goran

Hawker 4000 Cabin Layout, completed. No render. There is still some heavy fps testing to be done on both of these. They are poly heavy (obviously). My 4000 is currently at just under 400 000 polys. But better to add objects now and then cut them back if needed, than to add them gradually as we test. My budget is 500 000 polys. Goran

Front landing gear wheels and struts have been re modelled. Wheel is resized and strut is lengthened. AND Drinks and refreshments, anyone? This will be in both bizjets that are being made. Albeit, slightly different, so they represent their own individual aircraft galleys. Goran

Nova I'm not saying 100% it will be done by October, ( I don't really like giving out definite dates) but it will definitely (if there are no crazy circumstances)be out before December Goran

Hi Mick Please see this post. http://forums.x-pilot.com/index.php?topic=298.0 Goran

I wanted to wait until everything was pretty much finalized. I just spent several hours on the Skype phone to Cameron. After weighing up all the options presented to me, and in the interest of the other people working with me on this project, we have agreed to sell our products through X-Aviation. Cameron has the confidence that we will produce some high quality work, and with the X-Aviation team of programmers helping us, we will be putting out some pretty high end stuff. Jason and I have many projects planned comprising of GA, bizjets and heavy airliners. The first 2 projects we are planning to release are the 2 Hawker business jets. The 800XP and the 4000. I originally anticipated release for both of these by end of August, however, to maximize realism in these aircraft in the way of a custom FMC, we are pushing back that date to sometime in October (hopefully). We will have our own website also, mainly to showcase our products in conjunction with X-Aviations website, but all sales will go through X-Aviation.com. We will have our own support forum up and running very soon in the commercial vendors section of these forums, but in the meantime, please continue to visit this section of the forums with any comments, feedback or questions and Jason or myself will be more than happy to answer them for you. Goran

From now on, all posts regarding the 4000 will be posted in the Hawker Fleet Project. Goran

Thanks Nick. I mostly just add color to see how it would actually look. As I'm new to Blender, I wasn't sure if the colors get imported into X Plane. Goran X Plane CAN import Blender rendered objects. Just tried it. Works great

When a person works on blender so much, that he gets screen burn from the blender interface, he has to be able to model that good. A small update. While Jason works on the object version of the 800XP, I've started working on the flight model. It'll be done by tomorrow. Then I'll return to the 4000 and whatever Jason doesn't finish on the 800, I'll jump in and help so we can get it out. And also we have another person jumping on board with us to help with texturing. OlaHaldor is a genius with render baking and texturing. So he will be working with Theo to bring us a very high quality addition to our projects. I've also re done my landing gear for the 4000. Below are screenshots showing Olahaldors work and my landing gear. The reflection, unfortunately, cannot be rendered in X Plane. But we'll definitely be making some top quality textures and releasing repaint templates. Some more news will be coming soon but I will mention that in due time. Goran