Gathering good library objects…what best to do?

[Boosty]

Greetings,
As a newbie, my searches for objects are limited to the perfect fit for me and my knowledge of ADE. Not completely satisfied, I was going to ask about the validity of dealing with the “old-school” api’s/macros to get more objects, but then I read this about that: “Time spent learning Gmax or Sketchup would give you a better return on your investment than time spent learning how to convert .api's to .mdl's in my opinion.”*
I certainly respect this man’s opinion, and since I’ve recently learned how create FS objects that originate from Sketchup, I may be in business! Question though, are scaled 3D images of “stuff we use” readily available out there as Sketchup's .sku files? Hmm. I expect that seasoned FS designers have adequate object libraries at their disposal…and I want to do as the Romans do.

Thanks for your time.
Boosty (GaryG)

*quote: Jim Robinson –December 2010

[Jim Robinson]

If you find an .api macro that you just can't live without for your scenery, it's not a huge deal to convert it to a useable model with ModelConverterX, but there are literally hundreds of objects already available in pre-compiled object libraries and most are considerably better than those old macros anyway.


Here's a compilation of the runway 12 objects:

http://www.flightsim.com/vbfs/conten...me=rwy12_1.zip


And here's a compilation of EZScenery objects:

http://www.flightsim.com/vbfs/conten...e=ezoliv33.zip


They will install dozens of .bgls, you'll have to add each one (or the ones that interest you anyway) to ADE using the Library Object Manager. Not sure what you'll do about thumbnail images, there are some thumbnail packs available but I don't know whether they work in ADE or not. This is a situation where Instant Scenery really shines - you don't need thumbnails because the live preview in the sim shows you what the object looks like with textures and all.

You can search the file library here under "FS2004 scenery objects" using the search term *.* in the filename field and find hundreds more scenery objects, note that many of them may already be included in the compilation packages linked above. It's best not to include these libraries if you ever distribute your sceneries, just provide a list of the required libraries and links where your end user can download them. This is because duplicate object libraries in the same FS installation can cause problems.

As for Sketchup files that can be converted for use in the sim, check out the 3D warehouse (google it). You'll find hundreds of things but typically they aren't very well optomized for FS use. Most have dozens of tiny little odd-sized textures, some can be consolidated onto larger texture sheets with MCX's drawcall minimizer, but it always seems to fail on a few. I'm no expert on this, I've had no luck at all actually, but then I didn't try very hard. I've always built the model I wanted and made my own texture sheets to fit, and almost exclusively in gmax, with the exception of a few Sketchup models I built just to try out the program basically.

Jim

[Boosty]

Hi Jim!
Great information, Sir!, A big, big, thanks for the resources. I will get into these this evening! I didn't keep many objects previously because they were RWY12, or Instant Scenery, or other and I just didn't know about compatibility. I believe I will soon have a lot of cool objects-yes I do.

Hey, I also believe it was you who recommended Airport Design Editor initially to me, and Instant Scenery2, too. That was more great advice, as well. See what you have done? Your input has ben instrumental in my successes (or lowering the arrrg factor, at least).Yes sir, I'm having alot of fun with this- but SHE (waa-waa-waaaa) just shakes her head, but, well, I told you about Mikey, didn't I?
Oh yea, she likes you, now too. lol Y’know, now that I can create objects, I wonder if I can put Oscar from Sesame Street in a P51D and tell HER…aw, never-mind- it would just not turn out good, for me, I know it.

Hey, thank you very much again Jim, you are a true asset to all us lost boys for sure, and a class act.
Have a great day
Boosty (GaryG)