how did ac3d know i was working on a plane?

[Michael Wilson]

i added ATTR_shiny_rat 0.8 under the first line in the object file using a text editor, to make the fuselage shiny.

next i added 3 small air intakes to the nose. then i saved that and exported to object file. i noticed the ATTR_shiny_rat 0.8 was gone (which is ok with me if its necessary to re-write it each time) but what i dont understand is that it was replaced with the word "cockpit_region" ...how did ac3d know that i was working on a plane? ...i could have been making a car... i searched in the hierarchy and couldnt find anything with the word "cockpit".


here is the ac3d file and object file:
http://forjets.netfirms.com/z_tristar.zip



and here is the top few lins of what it says:


I
800
OBJ

TEXTURE fuse.png
COCKPIT_REGION 0 0 2048 1024
POINT_COUNTS 33262 0 0 107544
VT -1.888565 -1.435135 4.162186 0.713898 0.687515 0.132965 0.098495 0.581009
VT -1.607742 -1.724289 4.149582 0.713898 0.687515 0.132965 0.098053 0.573395
VT -1.920258 -1.484406 4.587143 0.713898 0.687515 0.132965 0.113251 0.579712

[captainpeter]

My ac3d plugin doesn't....
here's the output when I open your ac file and immediately do a file -> export -> x-plane 8....

A
800
OBJ

TEXTURE
POINT_COUNTS 29637 0 0 97557
VT -1.888565 -1.435135 4.162186 0.713898 0.687515 0.132965 0.116470 0.580231
VT -1.607742 -1.724289 4.149582 0.713898 0.687515 0.132965 0.115982 0.574005

[Michael Wilson]

im using the plug ins from probably a few months ago.

so i guess it might be because the plug in is meant for xplane which is about planes.

i had added some detail near the nose which i guess is near the cockpit, and then i noticed in the word "cockpit" when i opened it in a text editor. there were no parts with the word cockpit in the hierarchy.

[captainpeter]

Michael,
first make sure you use the most recent plugin (v320r1) available here: http://www.xsquawkbox.net/scenery/tools.php

if you use the very file you posted, put it into a new folder on your desktop, open the file in AC3D, export it to x-plane 8 obj format, will it still write the cockpit region data?

I have the gut feeling you are using a pre-release version of the plugin.
There have been quite a few changes in the way cockpit panel textures are recognized during the beta run.

cheers
peter

[Michael Wilson]

i will try that.

but just to clarify i wasnt meaning that there is a problem, im quite happy with how ac3d is working, i just couldnt believe that ac3d "knew" i was working on a plane. ..i was like "is ac3d psychic?".. i guess the only possibility is that because the plug in is for xplane which has to do with planes, then that must have something to do with it writing the word "cockpit".

[Snow]

Hi Mike,
it seems, you've textured something using the panel.png. If you don't specify cockpit regions, the X-Plane plugin takes the whole panel.png as one cockpit region.

"COCKPIT_REGION 0 0 2048 1024" has been inserted to the exported object, to make it possible to use the panel.png in addition to the fuse.png.

As far as I know, it's not recommed to use the panel.png in other files than the cockpit.obj, so you should find these parts, remove it from your fuselage object and add it to your cockpit.obj.

Peter

[Michael Wilson]

thanks for that.
i have no idea why the fuselage would be related to the panel png. i dont recall ever doing that. i guess i will have to look into this.