posted 04-15- 11:43 AM               

I'm new to OPS, I have my registered copy of AC3D, the open plane software, Hippies extractor tool and the AC3D plugins.

I would like to try my hand at tinkering with existing FS aircraft in AC3D and need some advice on where to start.

posted 04-15- 05:06 PM               

1. If you are wanting to edit a plane that shipped with SDOE then you first need to "Unbig" the par files from the Plane Pack. Then you can extract the SM file for the plane you want to edit. The Par Tools can be found at www.openplane.com.

1a. If you are wanting to edit a user made craft from the contest, then you simply need to extract the Sm of your choice using Hippies Tools.

2. Extract the Sm of your choice using Hippies Tools.

This will give you a bunch of files. Namely the ASC file, a Html reference to the SM and lastly a bunch of LOD files.

3. Now you are ready to work in AC3D. Using the Html reference, you will see object names with a corresponding LOD number.

Say you want to edit a wing. The Html says the wing is LOD number 4. Great, now fire up AC3D and select "import" and then select the directory that you extracted too and finally select the LOD named "YourPlane004.LOD" Hit enter. Now you will have a model to work with in AC3D.

After you have made your changes simply "export" the new lod.

Now you have two choices. You can either replace the exsisting LOD and re build the SM using Hippies Tools or you can replace the Lod using OPS. Each has it advantages and each will work better in certain situations.

Also, dont waste your time trying to edit the ASC in Ac3d. It wont work.

Hope that helps.

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Zoycite 33rd~GS

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