SceneryDesign.org I have just added a new feature to the ModelConverterX development release. It is a MDL Tweaker that you can find in the special tools menu. Let me first explain how this tweaker differs from loading a MDL into ModelConverterX itself. When you import a MDL into ModelConverterX the object is read and stored in […]
Custom shadow model
A recent question by Don Grovestine on the FSDeveloper forum made me look more at the shadows of FSX models. As everybody knows, turning on the shadows in FSX can have a considerable influence on the performance. But the FSX MDL format also does allow you to specify a custom model that is used to […]
First beta Animation Tweaker available
I have just put the first version of the Animation Tweaker in the ModelConverterX development release. You will find it in the Wizards menu. This first version can do two things (or actually it does those two automatically to all files you process with it): Make FS2004 animations with more than 1024 frames Update the […]
The CAT is not dead
One of the first tool I made for scenery designers was the Conditional Animation Tool, CAT. The first version of this tool was released in 2003 and I mainly started making it because I grew tired of tweaking animations by hand (and I got tired of explaining people how to tweak them by hand). After […]
Longer FS2004 animations
Remember the limitation in the FS2004 GMax for the length of animations? The tool does not allow us to export animations longer than 1024 frames. This is quite annoying, since that limits your animation length to only 55 seconds. Luckily the FSX gamepack does not have that limitation. I have written down how to tweak […]
Places multiple instances
I am working on a ModelConverterX update that will include better support for the placement of objects. One thing that will change is that placement information will be read from BGL files. But I am also changing the functionality in ModelConverterX that allows you to place objects. One of the main changes there is that […]
Ending the rumours?
It for sure was an interesting week with the new announcements Microsoft made about Flight. Will it end all the rumours that have been going around for a long time already? Let’s see. The new announcement makes a lot of things more clear. Flight will have an integrated addon market and it is focussed around […]
Follow me
Last week I finished the model of the new railroad bridge near Zwolle for the NL2000 scenery. It was the first bridge model I made with SketchUp and it was an interesting experience. As most modelling tools SketchUp provides a lot of operators and I had not used all of them in my previous objects. […]
Happy 2012!
I would like to wish everybody a happy 2012! Let’s hope this is going to be an interesting year again for FS addon developers. I think the signs are quite good, with Microsoft Flight around the horizon and X-Plane 10 as a promising platform as well. Let’s see where that all goes during this year. […]
Christmas wishes
Christmas is approaching quickly, so I would like to wish everybody a merry Christmas. I hope you’ll have a great time. We’ll be visiting some family, so no FS development for the next couple of days.