Gmax to FS: big trouble...

[pete]

first of all hi

i've been having trouble with the FS model
check this out:

THIS is what i have in Gmax



and THIS is what i get in FS


as you can see, none of the textures appear, and there is this weird bug where the right wing, gear and spoiler have their faces turned inside out

another bug you can't see on the pic is the size of the plane... it's HUGE!!
i know it has something to do with this error message i get when i'm exporting:

FS models are stored in meters. this model is not stored in meters. check to see if the dimensions are correct.

the dimensions ARE correct

i changed the units to metric in gmax but it didn't help

can anyone help me out ??

[Katahu]

I go through this one subject at a time.

The inside-out situation:

The reason why you see the insides of some parts of your model is that you have obviously used the Mirror button at the top of the GMAX tool bar (or whatever it's called). DON"T USE IT!!! FS2002 has a technical issue with this feature (I think).

Instead, do it the long way. Select the object you want to mirror. Then clone it (give it a different name obviously). Then go to the modify tab and then look at the modifier stack. On the pull-down list, look for a word that says MIRROR and click it.

You will then have the ability to choose which axis of the object you want to mirror on. Before you do this, there should already be a copy of the object in you view.

This way, you won't ever get that inside-out problem.

The Size:

Go to the Customize Menu and go to where it says Unit Setup. Under where it says Metric, it must say Meters.

Now go to the Customize Menu again and go to where it says Preferences. Look at where it says System Unit Scale. Right under it, you will see this:

1 Unit = [a decimal number] [Meters]

1 Unit refers to each individual grid box (the smallest ones).

This is my setting:

1 Unit = [0.03] [Meters]

I hope I made myself clear enough. Good luck.

[Moach]

thanx dude

but the mirroring thing led me to another problem:

the animated parts (gears, spoilers) had their keyframes inverted too, so they move to the wrong side

how do i fix this?

and i changed the scale thing to
1 unit = 0.03 [meters]

and scaled the plane to the correct dimensions
but it is still huge in fs2002

i think i need more help

[Felix/FFDS]

#1 - Build

#2 - Texture

#3 - Animate

Due to the nature of FS and makemdl, it's best to do it that way.

thanx dude

but the mirroring thing led me to another problem:

the animated parts (gears, spoilers) had their keyframes inverted too, so they move to the wrong side

how do i fix this?

and i changed the scale thing to
1 unit = 0.03 [meters]

and scaled the plane to the correct dimensions
but it is still huge in fs2002

i think i need more help

[Katahu]

You don't mirror any parts that have animations applied to them. You'll have to redo the animations for that parts the have been mirrored (which is not a problem).

And I really didn't mean for you to use the same scale setup as mine.

Are you scaling the physical model down? Like shrinking it down to size?

Use the grid boxes (the units) as a reference to size.

For example:

1 grid box (in the case of 1 unit = 0.03 Meters) equals to at least 1 foot.

Remember the old unit conversions that schools are teaching us?

12 inches = 1 foot
3 feet = 1 meter
3 meters