There has GOT to be a better way...

[Daycab]

Man, this is getting tedious.  This is after a couple hours of work too!  Isn't there some way to do this without all of the little stray polygons all over the place? 

daycab

[Brett_Henderson]

Are you trying to map the wings and fuselage, all at once.. with an unwrap no less ? ?


Man.. I don't think that can be done by a human 

Even a symetrical, tubular fuselage presents problems where things converge.. like the aft-end and nose.

Break it up into pieces and experiment with mapping each part with just a normal, planar UVW. Then do a mesh select (or split the fuselage longitudinally into two parts), so that you can map each side independently.

[Daycab]

The entire fuselage wasn't like this, just stray pieces here and there...

[Brett_Henderson]

The entire fuselage wasn't like this, just stray pieces here and there...

I know (I think).. but that looks like an unwrap of a very complex part.. Picture what it would look like, if you tried to represent the entire surface in 2 dimensions. Try selecting all the wing polygons and detaching them into their own part(s)...

[Daycab]

Can I use more than one UVW Unwrap?  I have been using Flatten Mapping and getting what is above.  If I use more than one modifier, I can use normal mapping and do Front/Back and Left/Right to get a much cleaner  map...

Back/Front Mapping



Top/Bottom Mapping



daycab

[Daycab]

Box mapping is my friend...

[Brett_Henderson]

There are as many ways to do this, as there are people doing it 

The trick is to get the bitmap to work with the mapping (obviously).

My advice is to have several parts (sometimes even making the fuselage into several part).

You'll start getting a feel for it as you experiment.. no matter what is published; there's really only one way to learn this stuff..  practice !

[Daycab]

Ok, I'm still having problems with this. 

In trying to apply my textures, I did the following:

I mapped them to the part in Max, saved it and exported it as an x-file.  Then I converted it to a mdl file and put it into the Extra folder.  No problem here...

To apply the texture, I created the map as a 2048x2048 bmp.  Then I used the Nvidia Plugin to convert it to a .dds, changed the name to Extra300s_T and dropped it in the texture folder.  No deal.  I just got a black plane again.

As an alternative, I used DXTbmp to convert it to a DXT5 file, then used Imagetool to convert it to a .dds, renamed it and moved it to the texture folder.  Still no joy... 

Anyone want to hazard a guess as to what I am doing wrong?


daycab

[Brett_Henderson]

First thing that comes to mind, is that there might be a filename issue. You've already got a texture to show up, so you've got that part down.

Are the filenames  EXACTLY the same as the mapped files ? Are there any regular bitmaps lingering in the texture folder (like the one you used during mapping) ?

[Daycab]

Well I wish I knew what I did right before... 

[Brett_Henderson]

If it's a compression type (DXT5), and file type (DDS), that FSX recognizes.. and it's of perfect, binary dimensions.. and the pre-extension filename is exactly the same as the diffuse bitmap used in the material.. and it's in the texture folder... it WILL show up.

Now, ther are probably Max settings that GMAX does not have, so it could be something I'm not familiar with..

Check with the guys at the www.freeflightdesign.com forum 

[Daycab]

Ok, so I figured out what I was doing wrong.

[Brett_Henderson]

I'd have to see a screenshot of the mapping, and a screenshot of the bitmap.

[Daycab]

Here they are together.

[Brett_Henderson]

Yeah.. that's what I needed to see.

OK.. this is where the differences between Max and Gmax might come into play.. but I think it's pretty close.

Try mapping each part (or group of polygons) individually with  just the UVW (no unwrap).

-Select a part (or mesh select a group of polygons.. ie a fuselagge or wing half), and add a UVW.

--Expand the UVW and select the gizmo

---Move and resize the GIZMO until the bitmap is aligned to just THAT part (or selected polygons)

(In Gmax..if it is selected polygons, you'll need to collapse the UVW before selecting other polygos (like the other half).

Your bitmap does not need the unwrap option, because it's not designed to be "wrapped" around a part.

You might find that as you add details (like rivets), you might need to use an unwrap, to keep details from "stretching".. But from the looks of your map. it looks like you've got that taken care of. It looks like you've selected polygons in groups that will map (the fuselage for example) from top/bottom and both sides.