Help! RealFlight Evolution Aircraft Design for newbs.

[Apedzink]

there is a single object limit 65,535 and the aircraft limit it 135,000 triangles. 3dsmax has all the capacities to make models for rf so you can skip blender.

Okay so I meet the aircraft limit cause I can import it but it won’t let me fly it because of the single object limit. What constitutes a single object? Is that where classification of parts comes into play? Or is it something else.

 

[spykez]

AHahaha.... I'm still struggling learning the blender UI. Just got back at it, trying to create a new plain vanilla plank, improved Mk II. This time trying to some new tools like the mirror modifier....



Still looks worse than a 5 year old's drawing but getting the hang of it. Now just have to join the halves and cut them up into components!

 

[spykez]

there is a single object limit 65,535 and the aircraft limit it 135,000 triangles. 3dsmax has all the capacities to make models for rf so you can skip blender.

That's good to know. Not that I am in any danger yet of remotely encountering this unless I generate too many vertices smoothing stuff out.

Just out of curiosity, how many polygons does a typical model of yours have @legoman ?

 

[legoman]

That's good to know. Not that I am in any danger yet of remotely encountering this unless I generate too many vertices smoothing stuff out.

Just out of curiosity, how many polygons does a typical model of yours have @legoman ?

depends on the age and what I want the plane to have as features. older models had a strict limit of 8k/10k, 20k, 27k, and finally 135k. and variang collison mesh qualities.

My B-52H has 130,765 with 42,984 being the bombs,
My A-1H has 90,395 with 37,174 for the ordinance on the loadouts.
The Mig-21 has 39,531.
The RLU-1 Breezy has 52,241 with the four banger being 16,658 of the 52k,
The 707 is currently 54,534,
the DC-3 has 23,180 (made under the 7.5 limit of 27k triangle)

That's good to know. Not that I am in any danger yet of remotely encountering this unless I generate too many vertices smoothing stuff out.

Just out of curiosity, how many polygons does a typical model of yours have @legoman ?

that is what my first plane looked like and what I tell my "students" to make first. Make a set of boxes that is plane shaped.

Okay so I meet the aircraft limit cause I can import it but it won’t let me fly it because of the single object limit. What constitutes a single object? Is that where classification of parts comes into play? Or is it something else.

I am fairly certain one object would be FUSELAGE, ~CS_LMW, etc. (see below) now I am not sure if children that do not include the prefix "~CS_" count towards there own total or the parents total.

Also if you don't include a object with the prefix "~CS_COLL" RF will generate a one for the whole model and that will double your triangle count. you will likely need multiple Collision mesh for a model if you want a part to detach, break or interact with the ground or other airport items, it needs a collison mesh. the rudder pedals would not need a collison mesh as in 99.9% of cases they would be fully enclosed in a different object.

collison meshes should be a child of what they are representing the wings collison should be a child of the wing it represents.


the plane

the collison

both overlayed

 

[spykez]

Thanks for the info. Progress been a bit slow, mainly trying to learn Blender but have managed to mirror a plane-like shape, cut out some control surfaces. Just need to cut out the wings, stabs and name and check the pivots, hopefully this model will turn out better than the other one!



Edit: Just realised I have the plane back to front again... lol. I'll fix that tomorrow. Done for the night!

 

[spykez]

Looks like @ss but it flies. I supposed I achieved the 2 week target I set this time, but I remember I'd been meaning to try something like this ten years ago lol. Took the physics off the PT-40 airplane

1. Textures look horrid.

2. I think I messed up the SG and rudder pivots. I think I know why re: the rudder but not so sure about the SG.

Any ideas for any improvement?

Thanks against everyone!

 

[legoman]

View attachment 139066
View attachment 139064

Looks like @ss but it flies. I supposed I achieved the 2 week target I set this time, but I remember I'd been meaning to try something like this ten years ago lol. Took the physics off the PT-40 airplane

1. Textures look horrid.

2. I think I messed up the SG and rudder pivots. I think I know why re: the rudder but not so sure about the SG.

Any ideas for any improvement?

Thanks against everyone!

2 .SG pivot is fine the servo was reversed. left was right and right was left. the red axis on the rudder should point UP

try adding this modifier before export.

 

[spykez]

I will, thanks!

I should have thought of just reversing the servo, too, lol.

Will try those fixes and try and hack the front to add in an engine and spinner tomorrow.

Any ideas how to get a nicer cosmetic finish? I basically found just a foam material jpg off the web and converted it to a tga with gimp. On import, however, it looks weird and metallic and varies so much in brightness and shades of grey.

But that will have to wait for the morrow. Now is zzz time., good nite!

 

[Kaizarmerchantt]

Thanks. I found this as well.

I need to try and understand this, and see can I do the same on Blender.

I suspect it may take me about a week (I know nothing about Blender).

I'll keep watching here and post if I find out anything new in the interim. Else if anyone has any great RF/Blender videos of relevance to this enterprise, be very grateful! THanks.

I have a CAD model ready in Onshape. I want to import that from Onshape to Realflight. Will I need to remodel the whole thing in Blender/3dMax again in order to get the .fbx file? Is there a work around that will save my time and let me convert the geometries into required file format for Real Flight Evo?

 

[legoman]

I have a CAD model ready in Onshape. I want to import that from Onshape to Realflight. Will I need to remodel the whole thing in Blender/3dMax again in order to get the .fbx file? Is there a work around that will save my time and let me convert the geometries into required file format for Real Flight Evo?

these are the file types that blender can import, I dont remember 3dsmax's file types. If Onshape can export any of these file formats then blender can import them.

 

[spykez]

2 .SG pivot is fine the servo was reversed. left was right and right was left. the red axis on the rudder should point UP

try adding this modifier before export.

View attachment 139069

View attachment 139070View attachment 139068
View attachment 139067

I was wondering about what the edge split modifier did.

Is using smoothing from 'normals' any better than chopping up a mesh into faces?

 

[spykez]

Fixed the rudder and steering gear. I didn't mess with the normals directly, instead I selected the entire model and right-click menu smoothed it. Left the 2 wheels unsmoothed so they did not appear like shallow cones. Looks better but the texture still looks awful.. like the plane is made from glass or obsidian something like that.



Meant to also ask, I've imported my FBX as a PT-40 for physics. In blender the wingspan of my model is under 2m, just wondering how it got scaled up to 4.66m. Did I screw up somewhere?

Had to shrink the model to 32.5% to make it match up with the 1.51m width of the PT-40 physics model.

Also, I've noted the model is actually sinking into the grass like so.



SHould the pivot for the gear be at the very lowest part of the wheel to jack it up a little?

 

[legoman]

I was wondering about what the edge split modifier did.

Is using smoothing from 'normals' any better than chopping up a mesh into faces?

No.

no edge split


with edge split


[edit] added clarifying captions to the pictures

 

[spykez]

Ok, I see, the first example is messing with the normals?

 

[legoman]

Fixed the rudder and steering gear. I didn't mess with the normals directly, instead I selected the entire model and right-click menu smoothed it. Left the 2 wheels unsmoothed so they did not appear like shallow cones. Looks better but the texture still looks awful.. like the plane is made from glass or obsidian something like that.

View attachment 139079

Meant to also ask, I've imported my FBX as a PT-40 for physics. In blender the wingspan of my model is under 2m, just wondering how it got scaled up to 4.66m. Did I screw up somewhere?

Had to shrink the model to 32.5% to make it match up with the 1.51m width of the PT-40 physics model.

Also, I've noted the model is actually sinking into the grass like so.

View attachment 139081

SHould the pivot for the gear be at the very lowest part of the wheel to jack it up a little?

I am not sure why it got bigger on export. you can try setting the scale 0.42 on export.

I model in wings 3d in inches then transfer to blender. blender interprets the units as meters so my foot wing span plane has a 60 meter

everything sinks a bit into the grass. so I would not worry. if it is sinking into blacktop/concete then you might want to worry.


you will want the pivot for the gears like this

Ok, I see, the first example is messing with the normals?

first has no edge split
second has the edge split modifier applied

 

[spykez]

Thanks so much. Learning quite a bit here. Must visit your discord too.

I also figured out why I needed a servo reverser, the plane I made is a taildrager, the pt-40 is tricycle

I wonder is there a way to *not* inherit physics from a prior known model and just roll your own?

 

[legoman]

Thanks so much. Learning quite a bit here. Must visit your discord too.

I also figured out why I needed a servo reverser, the plane I made is a taildrager, the pt-40 is tricycle

I wonder is there a way to *not* inherit physics from a prior known model and just roll your own?

delete all the componets and start fresh.

 

[Kaizarmerchantt]

these are the file types that blender can import, I dont remember 3dsmax's file types. If Onshape can export any of these file formats then blender can import them.
View attachment 139077

I have got the files in blender. the CAD is there but it is in mesh format right now. My struggle is the name convention since my model has a Vtail confiig. Any Idea on how to name the Vtails? apart from that any reference video for making mesh into object in blender is also needed.

 

[spykez]

I have got the files in blender. the CAD is there but it is in mesh format right now. My struggle is the name convention since my model has a Vtail confiig. Any Idea on how to name the Vtails? apart from that any reference video for making mesh into object in blender is also needed.

This is a glider that comes with RF



Not sure if this is the optimal way to do it


Have to rush to work so I can't test the tail movements, maybe the model mixes the elevator and rudders find from what I see here, I don't know and doubt it.

 

[spykez]

This is a glider that comes with RF

View attachment 139094

Not sure if this is the optimal way to do it
View attachment 139095

Have to rush to work so I can't test the tail movements, maybe the model mixes the elevator and rudders find from what I see here, I don't know and doubt it.

At work, and just had an idea. If there's no gyro mixing it on board, logically then the mixing, if any, must be done on the radio. Duh, that just came to me!