GMax

[cloud9]

Yep, another one of these posts!!!
Ok, so I got GMax of FS disk one (thanks Jake!!) and downloaded the tutorials but what do they do??

I need help bad because I was hoping to make a realistic Commander 112 to help my pilots training (that's what I'm training in)

PLEASE HELP!!!
Andrew

[Katahu]

There are plenty of tutorials throughout the web. Here are some of the good ones:

Even though these tuts are based on car-modeling, the same techniques can also apply to aircraft.
http://onnovanbraam.com/index.php?m=tutorials

This is a forum with lots of experts on visual modeling in both Gmax and 3Ds Max.
http://forums.cgsociety.org/

However, for starters trying to make an addon for FS, I would suggest going to this site first.
www.freeflightdesign.com

You can also go to this site. There it contains a forum that is mostly centered around Gmax. It even has a download link for the application and provides registration.
www.turbosquid.com

[Brett_Henderson]

To practice real life techique in the sim.. the flight-dynamics are WAY more important than the visual model. You can make a visual model of a wall clock that will behave as the air/aircraft.cfg file dictate.

Now.. never one to discourage a budding modeler.. be advised that building one, especially if it's your first, is at least a 200 hour project. Even if you work at it 10 hour per week you're looking at AT LEAST five months to build, perfect, animate, texture and make/tweak the flight dynamics, contact points, etc. Just getting the center of gravity right and getting the flaps to do what they're supposed to do (drag, lift, pitch) can be a several afternoon endeavor.

I'm working on a Cessna P210T:







I'm about 3 months into it with at least another month to go (and I work on it

[Katahu]

Very good advice.

Let me also add that there will be times where you may or may not recieve much help with your first few projects. However, if you ever do find help, I suggest that you set up a team. One to model the aircraft, one to create textures, another to record and set up the sounds, one to set up the dynamics, and one to create the panel.

As you gain knowledge and experience, I suggest that you then start learning new things so that you can become less dependent on others and so that your addons can become more enjoyable.

It took me a few years to master most of Gmax. A year more to learn how to create textures, and almost another year to learn how to program some sounds. I still depend on others for finding the sounds. Right now, I'm hitting the books on how to deal with creating the dynamics of my next project [as indicated by my signature]. The dynamics of the Ferrari Enzo was made by somebody else, the dynamics of the Chevy was made by me [I still don't understand the concept of the dynamics].

As you can see, it takes time to learn. But the experience and knowledge gained over time is very rewarding. Remember this formula at all times:

Patience + Persistence = Pervaillence

[Milton]

Firestriker has some awesome tutorials and much more.  Check his website:
http://www.oregon-coast.net/Tutorials/index.htm

[Alphajet_Enthusiast]

The first breakthrough moment is when your plane finally meets the virtual tarmac. Milton here helped me with that, and it was an amazing experience!  :)