George, I've not been tinkering with FG for quite some time but about a year ago I was bitten with the FG modelling bug. I'm an experienced modellor so I decided to experiment making planes. What I found was that though FG uses PLIB and can "in theory" use any of the supported formats, the ony one I could successfully get into FG was *.ac (AC3D). While *.obj and *.3ds formats show up, their textures do not. Now, this is not to say that you have to use AC3D to make models (in fact there was--don't know if it is still the case--a few version differences in the AC3D format that AC3D creates and FG expects). I used Wings3d for modelling and used Blender to convert to the final *.ac format. In addition, I used Ultimate Unwrap for creating the UV maps (e.g., applying the textures to the model) and The Gimp for the graphics work. So you can use a medley of tools, if you wish.
You'll also need a good text editor. Once you get the hang of editing the XML by hand there's nothing quicker. Also, since *.ac is an ascii based format you can correct a multitude of modelling sins by delving into the code. Takes some patience to learn but it is the most efficient. Though it's out of date, I was chronicling my FG adventure at my site: www.static-lift.net. --jeff -- _______________________________________________ Surf the Web in a faster, safer and easier way: Download Opera 8 at http://www.opera.com Powered by Outblaze ------------------------------------------------------- All the advantages of Linux Managed Hosting--Without the Cost and Risk! Fully trained technicians. The highest number of Red Hat certifications in the hosting industry. Fanatical Support. Click to learn more http://sel.as-us.falkag.net/sel?cmd=lnk&kid7521&bid$8729&dat1642 _______________________________________________ Flightgear-users mailing list [email protected] https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/flightgear-users
