3DS read by gMax?

[Travis]

Isn't that possible?  I was just checking out 3D Cafe's stuff, and it all looks really cool.  Most of the good stuffs in 3DS format, and as I recall, gMax can read them, right?

[Felix/FFDS]

Yes - however, remember that *most*  3rd party (non-flightsim specific) models tend to be for visual scene rendering, rather than flightsim use, so you'll have to "finish" them by cutting control surfaces out, texturing, etc.

[Travis]

Fine by me!  I would rather do that myself than have it done poorly by someone else!

Also, that saves me the trouble of getting the technical specs for aircraft that I can't find or aren't able to find.

[Felix/FFDS]

Also, that saves me the trouble of getting the technical specs for aircraft that I can't find or aren't able to find.

You still haver to do your "homework" some models may not be exactly "accurate"   Good luck

[Mike Thurman]

Hey Felix, can one export from gmax in 3DS format??

[Felix/FFDS]

Hey Felix, can one export from gmax in 3DS format??

"No".

Then again, why would you want to?  3DS is what I call an "exchange" format, readable by several programs, but not a "finishing" format.

You can export to MD3 (Quake) format, and from there use one of the commercial conversion programs to convert to dxf, 3DS, etc. formats.

[X_eidos2]

Another thing you should be aware of when working with 3ds. If you export a model into 3ds format, all the part and group names will be shortened to 10 characters.

This can be a real headache at times.