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Old 15th September 2008, 08:09 AM   #1
somt1033
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Default creating .acf files

Hi,
currently i am trying to convert CAD airplane models into x-plane.
I have ac3d with the x-plane plugin installed, Solidedge and X-plane 8 and 9.
I am modelling airplanes in Solidedge to compute to moments of inertia.
It would be nice to be able to convert these models into x-plane, so i donīt have to redo them in ac3d.

My status is:
I converted a solid edge .asm file into an .obj8 file with ac3d.
As far as i understand, xplane needs an .acf file for visualization.
I tried to use the Planemaker to open the .obj8 file and convert it into an .acf one which did not work.

Am i on the right road??

How do you create .acf files?
Does the Planemaker only accept .acf files or can it also open .obj8 files???

Please give me some advice on how to interface ac3d and x-plane's planemaker.

Thank you in advance,
Marvin
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Old 15th September 2008, 10:08 AM   #2
somt1033
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Default Re: creating .acf files

Ok,
I don't want to bother you with noob questions, so i did some more research and i think i figured out how to do it, but i haven't tried it yet.

So here is what i think might work:

1.Convert cad file to .obj8 file with ac3d.

2.Create textures for it using Photoshop/ac3d

3.create new aircraft folder in ...xplane\aircraft
copy some already existing aircraft with all files and sub folders into this new
directory.

4. open the texture files of the already existing x-plane aircraft in photoshop or something compareable
and delete them and save them.

5.copy the .obj8 file of the cad model together with it's textures into the ...newaircraft\objetcs
folder of the new aircraft.

6. start planemaker. Now, the old aircraft should be invisible because we deleted
the textures. Under misc objects import the cad aircraft model with lat lon
equal zero.

This should work i hope. I will try tomorrow.
The Flight dynmaics will be that of the original aircraft which was made invisible.
But this is no problem for me, because i only use X-plane for visualiation.
The flight dynamics are simulated by Matlab/Simulink which is interfaced to x-plane via UDP.

Fell free to comment on what i suggested here!
Help is welcome!
Greetings,
Marvin
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Old 23rd December 2008, 06:18 PM   #3
Chuck Bodeen
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Default Re: creating .acf files

I'm an old timer at X-Plane, but fairly new to AC3D.
If you want the plane to fly correctly in X-Plane you don't want to start with any old existing acf file.
Plane-Maker is quite similar to AC3D, but it knows about such things as fuselage, wings, etc.
Use images of the three orth views of your AC3D model as successive backgrounds in Plane-Maker. Create the fuselage, wings, etc. on top of those backgrounds.
When you have all the parts assembled and you like the way it flies, you can overlay your plane with AC3D objects (using Plane-Maker to place them) and make many or all of your X-Plane pieces invisible.
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Old 13th April 2009, 06:54 AM   #4
rogerThemac
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Smile Re: creating .acf files

Correct me if I have got this around the wrong way, but what you re saying is to create the aircraft 9 paint included) in AC3D first and then do the building again in X-Plane. Only then will you find if the aircraft actually works as an aircraft???
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Old 13th April 2009, 10:30 AM   #5
Chuck Bodeen
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Default Re: creating .acf files

Quote:
Originally Posted by rogerThemac View Post
Correct me if I have got this around the wrong way, but what you re saying is to create the aircraft 9 paint included) in AC3D first and then do the building again in X-Plane. Only then will you find if the aircraft actually works as an aircraft???
I always create the plane in Plane-Maker first. I work on it until it flies correctly.
Then I can use front, side, and top views for backgrounds in AC3D.
The AC3D object can be more detailed than the Plane-Maker ship. In Plane-Maker version 9 you can specify that any or all of the parts of the airplane are not to be painted on the screen. This is faster than painting them "invisible".

In the final product you may have a mixture of Plane-Maker parts and AC3D parts. Some of the AC3D objects (say a rudderr) may be attached to the Plane-Maker parts that move.
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Old 14th April 2009, 12:29 AM   #6
rogerThemac
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Unhappy Re: creating .acf files

The idea of creating in XP9 is good. The idea of doing detail / paint schemes in AC3D is even better. The problem, as a OS 10.5 person, is being able to bring AC3D files (.obj8) back into XP9. So far it ain't skydiving...
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Old 14th April 2009, 11:52 AM   #7
Chuck Bodeen
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Default Re: creating .acf files

Quote:
Originally Posted by rogerThemac View Post
The idea of creating in XP9 is good. The idea of doing detail / paint schemes in AC3D is even better. The problem, as a OS 10.5 person, is being able to bring AC3D files (.obj8) back into XP9. So far it ain't skydiving...
I'm a Windoz person. Is there a problem exporting *.obj8 files from AC3D in OS 10.5?

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Old 14th April 2009, 08:35 PM   #8
rogerThemac
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Unhappy Re: creating .acf files

At the moment the most recent version of .obj files I can export from AC3D is .obj8. The problem is that XP9.22 will not reognise that format as openable in XP. I am open to all reasonable sugestions, (but will not be going to Windows just for a solution to this issue).:-D
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Old 15th April 2009, 11:23 AM   #9
Chuck Bodeen
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Default Re: creating .acf files

Quote:
Originally Posted by rogerThemac View Post
At the moment the most recent version of .obj files I can export from AC3D is .obj8. The problem is that XP9.22 will not reognise that format as openable in XP. I am open to all reasonable sugestions, (but will not be going to Windows just for a solution to this issue).:-D
May I suggest that you bring this up on the x-plane.org forums and also contact Ben Supnik at bsupnik@xsquawkbox.net
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Old 15th April 2009, 11:24 AM   #10
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Default Re: creating .acf files

Quote:
Originally Posted by Chuck Bodeen View Post
May I suggest that you bring this up on the x-plane.org forums and also contact Ben Supnik at bsupnik@xsquawkbox.net
Try x-plane.org forums and Ben Supnik at bsupnik@xsquawkbox.net

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