KASH Boire Field Airport

[tgycgijoes]

Infinity Aviation and East Coast Aero Club

Had to do some work on these and redo the logos from images into textures but now there is no flickering whatsoever AND frame rates are still high 30's and low 40's in the default C172 FSX. Here are a couple of shots. If I get the chance to work tomorrow I am going to tackle buildings 111 CR Helicopters and 113 and 114 rental hangers behind CR Heli's. Got a lot of good shots of their helicopters so I may try some repaints on the R22 and R44. When this is all done I am going to create some R22 AI for sure along with a few GA aircraft. Here is Building 117:

 

[tgycgijoes]

C-R Helicopters Building

Well slowly I am adding buildings one at a time to Boire Field KASH. Here is The C-R Helicopters Office and Hanger building from a few photos and Google Earth. Again it was created from scratch in Sketchup 2016 and converted into a bgl in MDCx. Thanks Arno. I also added the perimeter fence from the architects drawing where it is located. I didn't do any gates but I have photos of them and where they go so if I feel "froggy" I may add them when everything else is done. I have a Sketchup gate that is very close to the photos I have from Google Earth. I am still getting great frame rates by using the "Cleanup App' in Sketchup before exporting them.

 

[tgycgijoes]

Haven't tabled this

I will post an update of a few more buildings today as this progresses I think nicely. With BOB! from ORBX my framerates are still in the high 30's to the 40's in FSX on my 5 year old laptop so I am sure that youse guys with better computers will do even better. "Cleanup" in Sketchup is fantastic! I just may revisit NAS Alameda when this is all through and run all of my buildings through it and get rid of the thousands of "poly's" which are the "frame-hogs". As I work on more and more scenery, I learn so much more which to me makes it a lot more enjoyable to work. The biggest advantage of working at Nashua is Gale Architecture Airport Property Information scale drawing which I converted from a PDF to a JPG and laid it under everything in ADEx. It is so much more accurate than Google Earth for that. It EVEN shows the exact location of the boundary fence and gates which I have all placed. Here is what it looks like in ADEx:



I wish I could find this kind of information every time I want to do an airport don't you? It is exact to scale 1:600. My runways and taxiways are ecactly placed (gray); aprons and ground polys green and finished building bgl's yellow. The numbers on each building is its address on Perimeter Road and can be exactly located in Google Earth for photographic details even a lot on the ground that can be panned. Such a joy to work in. I would like to reduce textures but when I try and do "drawcalls" in MDCx V1.6 I get all kinds of errors in compiling to a bgl but when I just convert the bmps to dds's there is no problems at all. Anyone else have this problem or a solution? I have also been converting buildings to 3ds for GMAX which I am using FSX version but some of the buildings are too big so I can't convert them to mdl's. It helps fps's too a lot. A lot of new things learned one scenery at a time. Looking for any comments on the drawcalls issue or GMAX hints.

 

[falcon409]

. . . . . .I would like to reduce textures but when I try and do "drawcalls" in MCX V1.6 I get all kinds of errors in compiling to a bgl but when I just convert the bmps to dds's there is no problems at all. Anyone else have this problem or a solution? I have also been converting buildings to 3ds for GMAX which I am using FSX version but some of the buildings are too big so I can't convert them to mdl's. It helps fps's too a lot. A lot of new things learned one scenery at a time. Looking for any comments on the drawcalls issue or GMAX hints.

I haven't done any scenery in ages, but I did use MCX for "Drawcalls". I never got errors (pop-ups stating there was a problem), however from time to time I would find that after running drawcalls there would be misaligned textures in the building. I would eventually have to do that building as individual textures. Ideally, what you're supposed to do (based on the payware things I've seen) is to build your own texture sheets and use those when texturing your buildings either in Sketchup or GMAX. It's time consuming, boring work and I don't have the patience for that, lol. Using the drawcall option in MCX has always worked for me and my scenery is always framerate friendly (at least on my system). I also use the "Cleanup" plugin.

 

[tgycgijoes]

Both Versions

I haven't done any scenery in ages, but I did use MCX for "Drawcalls". I never got errors (pop-ups stating there was a problem), however from time to time I would find that after running drawcalls there would be misaligned textures in the building. I would eventually have to do that building as individual textures. Ideally, what you're supposed to do (based on the payware things I've seen) is to build your own texture sheets and use those when texturing your buildings either in Sketchup or GMAX. It's time consuming, boring work and I don't have the patience for that, lol. Using the drawcall option in MCX has always worked for me and my scenery is always framerate friendly (at least on my system). I also use the "Cleanup" plugin.

Just "for giggles" ( I have both versions of MDCx on my system V1.3 and V1.6) I tried and I found out that I CAN use drawcalls in V1.3 successfully and also that sometimes it compiles bgl's when V1.6 will give me an error who knows why. Even Arno has scratched his head when I have something glitch. It could well be just my ACER laptop's funny way. Anyway, I got another building done WITH drawcalls for some of the bmps and then the rest of them as dds and it works. Onto the next one next week. I take Sunday's off for church and for a day of rest. Thank you for your insight.

 

[falcon409]

Just "for giggles" (I have both versions of MDCx on my system V1.3 and V1.6) I tried and I found out that I CAN use drawcalls in V1.3 successfully and also that sometimes it compiles bgl's when V1.6 will give me an error who knows why. Even Arno has scratched his head when I have something glitch. It could well be just my ACER laptop's funny way. Anyway, I got another building done WITH drawcalls for some of the bmps and then the rest of them as dds and it works. Onto the next one next week. I take Sunday's off for church and for a day of rest. Thank you for your insight.

Are you using a beta version of MCX? I have the latest version (Version 1.5.0.0 e8e1ec0 DEV 7/14/2021). Also, when I import a Sketchup 3D object for conversion the textures are jpg's, bmp's, even some png's. The Drawcall accepts all of those and once the texture sheets are compiled via the "minimize drawcalls" command I then save all textures as dds and compile the bgl. That has always worked quite well.

- - - Updated - - -

 

[tgycgijoes]

Thanks

thank you I'll check it out this week

 

[tgycgijoes]

Building 81

Here is another building "in the can" just finished, checked, tweaked and shot since its ok. This was the first time in over a year that I had a Sketchup Download that gave me an issue with MDCx. It was so long that I didn't bother to check the compiler creating a bgl from the DAE. I remembered that something I installed would be the issue so I removed the three items I had used one at a time. I had gas meters and an electric meter on the side of the building but even though they were low poly, they still slowed down so I just created some boxes of my own for them. BUT!!!...the culprit was the chain link fence component. When I removed them it compiled so quickly and perfectly I was so glad. Then I went back in and added rectangles between the posts and used the Materials chain link fence and it works perfectly AND is so quick it's great. Here are the shots in FSX and the frame rates are still good on my computer, high 20s with the Cessna 172 and 35-40 with BOB. 22 done and 16 to go. With only an exception or two none of them are complex like this or the tower were.

 

[tgycgijoes]

Learned more

Yesterday I worked on buildings 3 and 5 which are small hangers at the runway 32 end of the airport. I matched the green exactly from a Google photo in Photoshop and then created a custom material of vertical siding for it. Then after creating a basic hanger with no textures and ref'ing photos in Google earth, using Sketchup Engineering Plugin I added extruded metal rectangular tubing to the ends. The toughest part I find is rotating and moving them. I haven't gotten the hang of it yet (if there actually is one LOL) so it took me longer to align them than to do the whole basic hanger shape. Both Hangers are identical with slight exceptions. I also learned how to create a simple folded hanger door from a Youtube video and they didn't come out too bad. Nothing like "One-click hanger" but they serve the purpose. Finally, I added the gas meter and electric meter on each where they belong. Final icing was adding 2 inch stainless steel tube to each electric meter which was really fun. You can see in the photo that the gas meter is in the same location BUT the electric meters (???) are in different ones. I didn't put the 200 Amp Circuit breakers inside the hangers at the location of the meter. LOL! There is a limit to detail. Of course these are not supposed to be architectural renderings but FSX scenery and even after "Cleanup" is run there is still a lot of poly's for FSX or P3D. Ground is composed of 2 photoreal bgl's created with SBuilderX compiler of runway 14 end and runway 32 end that beautifully match together. I did one to start but it was "mush" from any closer that 5,000 AGL in FSX so I deleted that...went back into SbuilderX and created two of them. I tried 4 or 6 shots but each time they shifted slightly in FSX when it was opened though they DID look better I didn't like how the runway and taxiways kept getting misaligned. 2 shots works about 98% which I am happy with. And for those Sketchup artists who are thinking that I forgot to delete her, I wanted Lisanne to be in the hanger door of hanger 3 to give it a little perspective.



Here are the fronts:

 

[tgycgijoes]

Not Much Done Today

I didn't get much time to work today. Started Bldg 83 which is one of the NJA (Nashua Jet Aviation) buildings which also is combined with the Midfield Cafe. I am trying to learn more with each building so since Midfield is on the second level of the building and I could get quite a few pics from their website I am "building" their deck with the Engineering Plugin with 2x6 lumber. Interesting, a later photo montage made my life much simpler. The deck is covered over with a non-skid surface instead of the 2x6 lumber planks I saw originally, which are probably underneath plywood. I wonder if it was too slippery in the rains and sleet of spring or winter. Doing a lot of photo study and having fun. When it is completed as usual I'll post shots here. When I created one of my two local airports, at the end of one runway is a bar and grill with outside dining tables which I'll add to Midfield Cafe where they are in the photos. With "Cleanup" it is possible to add "cool" details like these with little or no frame rate impact like the gas meters where they are very obviously visible.

BTW, I hate using SOH to post all the photos, I used to use Photobox and Imgur but both of them got greedy and want paid space. I tried a couple others but keep getting told that its the wrong format when I try posting a URL. Any advice for a free site that works is most welcome.

 

[Mike71]

Looking great - your patience and ability are impressive -

 

[p14u2nv]

I second the above post. This is really looking great so far. I can only imagine the work load which is way beyond my pay grade!

Really looking forward to your release of Boire Field...thank you.

 

[tgycgijoes]

Well Today I Learned

Thank you, I give all the credit for my talent to my Maker. Today I learned that Maj Railmaker is really fun to use but MDCx doesn't like it and won't compile the bgl. That happens with Sketchup Extensions. A few hours that didn't produce the result I wanted. My stairmaker DOES work beautifully though I don't know why I got no risers so I had to make those myself with rectangles and triangles no problem. Last thing for the day was Engineering Plugin for lumber to make the railings from scratch. Considerably more work but I won't be wasting time. I am taking a Sketchup shot to show progress so far.

That's enough for today. Dinner time and then Sherlock Holmes episode(s) I found on Youtube.

 

[mrogers]

Great work you're doing there. After checking out the airport on Google Map, I appreciate the scale of your project considering the size of the airport and the many buildings to recreate. Thanks for the updates every now and then. Looks great.

 

[tgycgijoes]

Thanks For The Encouragement

With each building I try and learn some new aspect of Sketchup (2016). Its the latest free version I can run on my laptop which is limited by the graphics card. Its a great little laptop and I get really good fps and run full sliders in FSX. I don't have a problem with that because I have an app that allows me to open newer version downloads and then retro-save them as 2016 or 2015 having both versions. My Pastor's teenage son asked me after Church Sunday if I could teach him how to use it and I am looking forward to sharing my knowledge with him. My last two flight sim students are fine young men now. One is in the Air Force learning to be a crew chief on cargo aircraft and the other is in the Army learning to be a heavy equipment operator in the Corps of Engineers. I am very proud of them both. Its really rewarding to share my knowledge both on here and at our Christian school. I'll keep plugging along with KASH.

 

[tgycgijoes]

Another Building Done

Well, here are a few shots of Building 83 which is Nashua Jet Aviation and Midfield Cafe. I had it all done just before dinner but when I tried to create a bgl, Model Converter X decided it didn't like some Sketchup Addons so one at a time I had to remove them. Finally, the three beautiful overhead hanger doors with all the hardware went into the trash and then it compiled. When I created building 91 "next door" I had Sketchup cyclone fence sections but MDCx didn't like them so I had to remove them and use Sketchup's own wire fence. It disappears virtually in FSX unless you are right on top of it so I am going to hunt tomorrow for a different Sketchup wire fence and try and see if MDCx will "play nice" with it and make BGLs for 91 and 83 before I do any more buildings with wire fence. MDCx likes the Gate fence just fine and I may see if I can isolate the fence portion away from the posts and use it.





You can see the piece of fence in the lower right corner but then it all disappears into small dashed lines. Gonna try hard and fix that and pass it on here. The windows were all made with Ruby Window which is a paid Sketchup Addon. I have a 10 day trial for it and I really like it a lot. It is an architects tool and very accurate and for a personal copy its not too expensive. Made life really simple. The Doormaker is free and that is cool too. Time for Sherlock Holmes so enjoy the pictures. One step closer to completion.

 

[tgycgijoes]

Blessed this morning

The first Sketchup chainlink fence I searched for and downloaded works perfectly! Thank you Lord! I had a lot to do today with the radio show for next week so I just got to test it before dinner and it created the bgl. Woohoo!!! I will fix all the fences in 83 and then upload 81 and change out those disappearing fences. The best is its 2D not 3D and is no impact on frames whatsoever. I am also able to use a few of the eye candy like cafe tables that I deleted in my quest to find the culprit yesterday. It will look even better than above when I am done. I should be able to get all this done tomorrow after breakfast and post here. Closer to completion than yesterday.

 

[tgycgijoes]

Finally

After much prayer and I am very serious, and much experimentation, my last hope was to download and reinstall Model Converter X V1.40. That did the trick after days of black fences without explanation. I also decided to connect Buildings 81, 83 and 85 on a Google Earth image for exact placement of the buildings and the respective gates and fences and here is the result. Saturday evening I completed Building 85 learning more and more about Sketchup and some plugins I have installed. The columns are from the Engineering Plugin which is really cool as are the piping on the electric and gas meters. I used Maj Walls; Ruby Windows and Door Maker. Maj Walls and Door Maker are free. I am going to purchase the personal version of Ruby Window Maker which made all of the windows for Building 85. The front and windows on Building 81 are imported jpg textures. Google Earth makes it difficult to get perfectly straight on shots to use to do this but I try to when I can. The next building 87 will have some of these used because I could get right in front of it. When I did my Capre Fear Jetport airport 5 miles from home, my Nikon and I took many shots I used to do this but New Hampshire is a bit too far from North Carolina to take a ride just to shoot some shots of the airport if they let me.

BTW: None of the links on ImgBB are valid when I try and use the URL for photos so I have to use SOH space to post. I used to use Photobucket successfully but they are messed up and don't host free anymore.

 

[tgycgijoes]

Alright, Need Help Please

I can get imgbox to put a thumbnail here I guess and then you have to click it to go see it. This is the only way I have been able to upload without using SOH bandwidth. So click away, there are two images. One is Building 87 only and then Building 87 and 85 next door yesterday's post. I used all jpg textures for Building 87 except for the hanger doors and the sidelight window. I built the whole thing in about 4 hours start to finish. I don't know if that is a record or not. LOL!

 

[tgycgijoes]

Finnished Building 89

This is the last building in this row from 81-89. I used virtually all jpg textures for this also so it was completed in just a few hours. Textures match Building 87 as they do in real life. Here are three shots:



I figured out how to post these. Enjoy!