Switches and dissapearing parts problem..

[JanHas]

Hi,

I'm having some trouble with the switches in OF. Some switches do make the parts disappear. The rear ramp uses the switch 5 (canopy open /close) and it works fine. When I use switches (according the list in LE) for the gear doors and landing gear parts (all xdof's) the parts disappear when I have retracted the gear. But I want to keep the doors visible..
With the F-16 models (same Switches but standard DOF's) the parts will remain visible. I have already added "isComplex 1" to the C130.dat file.

What am I doing wrong here? In LE 3dViewer everything looks fine..


yes... that's a new high detail model I build from scratch..

[ccc]

wow GREEEEEEEEAT job!!

since you've set iscomplex =1,

for rear ramp, you don't need a switch=5. just use XDOF 30, act as canopy.

for nose/main gear door, you don't need a switch, just use gear door DOFs to animate them.. or the switch nodes will show up/disappear when called by 3d engine.

and, in parent data page, be sure to set nSwitch and nDOF value properly.

btw, what's next for us?

[JanHas]

CCC!! You're the man! This fixed the problem!Now I can move full speed ahead again!

Still a lot to do.. Basic skin is done (this YJ squadron skin needs some tweaking) and I will add a second skinset (JSDAF blue or RoKAF camo). Then downgrading it to Lod2 material since the Lod1 beast is 9043 normals and 9770 poly's big... (down from 16000). Lod3 and 4 also will be fixed.. C130.dat file needs more adjusting as well.. you get the picture..

[Sherlock]

Beautiful work JanHas!

[JanHas]

I have a few questions..

1. When the switched parts disappear, will this improve frame rate? yes/no
2. Can I adjust the turning rate of the flaps? They move to slow.. (somewhere in the c130.dat file?)
3. How can I adjust the use of propellers textures? I have 4 steps (like afterburner steps) but I don't see the right sequence of the textures (more power should mean a faster looking texture part). It looks like there are a few cycles of texture use in the steps of prop rpm increase.. example 30%->40% power means texture 1,2,3 and 4 are used. 40%->50% texture 1, 2,3,4 are use again. etc.. I looking for something like this.. 0%->25% texture 1, 26%->50% texture 2 etc. Can I adjust this in the C130.dat file?

Thanks!

[ccc]

1. When the switched parts disappear, will this improve frame rate? yes/no

i don't know. My guess is.. NO, or minimal.
when a high-poly, large-texture model drawn in 3d world, the stutter is inevitable. IIRC RV coding master said model lod cause less lag than texture..CPU handles the calculation fast and easily.
BTW i suggest you save time and effort on lower lods.. just adjust LOD show-up distance and use existing lower lods. i vaguely remember master said that. when a model is called, all lods will be loaded to upper memory/fast catch all at once..means a bigger bulk of data swapping(and lag) if you've many "high-quality" lower lods that not frequently visible at far distance.

2. Can I adjust the turning rate of the flaps? They move to slow.. (somewhere in the c130.dat file?)

err.. i just remember there are editable canopy/hook/refueling probe opening rates in dat file.
If no such flap rate setting, you can try XDOF features .. the [ Angle Multiplier ]. For example, your basic setting is [Max DOF angle 40 deg, Angle multiplier =1 ], now change to [ Max DOF angle 20 deg, Angle multiplier =2 ].. you got the flap rate doubled and keep the same max open angle. Fiddling the angle multiplier value and get the right feeling you want.

3. How can I adjust the use of propellers textures? I have 4 steps (like afterburner steps) but I don't see the right sequence of the textures (more power should mean a faster looking texture part). It looks like there are a few cycles of texture use in the steps of prop rpm increase.. example 30%->40% power means texture 1,2,3 and 4 are used. 40%->50% texture 1, 2,3,4 are use again. etc.. I looking for something like this.. 0%->25% texture 1, 26%->50% texture 2 etc. Can I adjust this in the C130.dat file?

sorry, no idea about this part.
BTW just to remind you ..when propeller turning faster than some RPM, the prop textuxre should look turning slower and reverse the turning direction, the visual residual? effect. Also watch out the turnning direction of propllers.. IIRC some are clockwise, some are reveresed.

[JanHas]

Thanks for the answers!

[JanHas]

Does anyone know how to get ride off that propeller wobble? I have the parts perfectly square, centered and texmapped. Still it looks distorted (off center, jumpy and skewed)..
Is it some code in the C-130.dat file? In LE the props look fine..

[ccc]

sorry JH... i do not understand your question..

[Sherlock]

sorry JH... i do not understand your question..

I think he means that when the propeller is spinning it is NOT forming a perfect circle like in real life. But, instead, is jumping (wobbling) up/down or sideways, so it looks odd

[JanHas]

You are right Sherlock, that is my little problem..

Is the prop coded in the exe or is it a data edit?

[ccc]

hmm.. i think the propellers can spin along X-axis smoothly. i use simple DOF#40, matrix like this..
1 0 0
0 1 0
0 0 1

i checked Fred's complex, throttle-related prop DOF, it uses the same matrix and #40 in FF. the throttle-related effect is done by switching between subtree nodes -- at min throttle it uses four-solid-blade propeller, when throttling up, the spining part switching to solid blades+transparent blades. The switching mechanisim is controlled by acdata.dat.

btw, to have a rounded spining prop plate, you may use textured-flat node for max throttle stage.

[JanHas]

The props indeed use dof40. First stage has solid blades, stage 2->5 have tranparent texture spinning looking textures.

Could you tell me which code in the acdata.dat (C-130.dat I assume) is responsible for that? Is it controlled by "animEngineRPMMult"? If so, you does this relate to the different stages? How does it work? The last stage is hardly used and stage 3 a lot..

[ccc]

code stuff is beyond my scope, better ask Fred.

[JanHas]

Will do.. thanks!

[ccc]

GREAT JOB! The C130 package is released!!