Simviation Forums

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?

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.

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.

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

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.

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.