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Howto:Make an aircraft: Difference between revisions
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http://forum.flightgear.org/viewtopic.php?f=4&t=21665&p=196977#p196977
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{{forum|4|aircraft development}} | {{forum|4|aircraft development}} | ||
There are many things required to '''develop an [[aircraft]] for [[FlightGear]]'''. We encourage new [[Portal:Developer/Aircraft|aircraft developers]] to start their 'career' by modifying and enhancing existing aircraft. It is much easier to do and gives you a giant advantage by the time you create an aircraft completely by yourself. | There are many things required to '''develop an [[aircraft]] for [[FlightGear]]'''. | ||
Some suggestions for those relatively new to modeling wanting to contribute models to Flightgear: | |||
* If fidelity is a factor, avoid anything where you cannot find clear high-resolution 3-views or engineering schematics. Don't rely on the cheesy little 3-views found all over the Internet-- the resolution is too low to be useful and they are often not accurate. | |||
* Avoid obscure aircraft where information is scarce. | |||
* Avoid anything with lots of external detail. | |||
* Avoid anything with lots of compound curves. | |||
* Do not start with cockpit modeling, at least not anything more elaborate than very simple GA aircraft. Cockpit modeling is complex and poses some of the most difficult and frustrating challenges in aircraft modeling. | |||
* Excessive 3D modeling is often unnecessary. Much can be done (and in my opinion should be done) through smart use of textures and normal maps. | |||
The advice to start with modeling ground objects like buildings is sound. It's a good way to learn and quickly benefit the community. Another alternative is to try modeling some cockpit instruments. Whatever you do, keep your initial project limited in scope and within your capabilities. | |||
We encourage new [[Portal:Developer/Aircraft|aircraft developers]] to start their 'career' by modifying and enhancing existing aircraft. It is much easier to do and gives you a giant advantage by the time you create an aircraft completely by yourself. | |||
This approach has a number of things going for it that benefit the FlightGear community as well as someone new trying to become an active member of the community. There are currently way too many aircraft in a very incomplete state that need tons of work. By working on these less complete aircraft you help move the ball forward on that aircraft. For someone new to one of the best places to start is doing cockpit work. Since the learning curve is fairly steep (you need to learn a 3D modeling tool plus a lot of other stuff that has been mentioned in this thread) it is best to start with something very simple. | This approach has a number of things going for it that benefit the FlightGear community as well as someone new trying to become an active member of the community. There are currently way too many aircraft in a very incomplete state that need tons of work. By working on these less complete aircraft you help move the ball forward on that aircraft. For someone new to one of the best places to start is doing cockpit work. Since the learning curve is fairly steep (you need to learn a 3D modeling tool plus a lot of other stuff that has been mentioned in this thread) it is best to start with something very simple. | ||