Creating P3d Airport Scenery: A Step-By-Step Guide

There are many ways to create airport scenery for P3D. You can use 3DSMax, SBuilderX, ADE, or Instant Scenery, but some of these programs may not support the latest versions of P3D. It's important to be realistic about your abilities and not aim for professional-level quality on your first attempt. Start with something simple, like modelling a hangar, and use tutorials to guide you through the process.

Using SBuilderX and ADE to create an airport

When creating an airport using SBuilderX and ADE, there are a few things to keep in mind. Firstly, it's important to understand the purpose of each software. SBuilderX is primarily used for landclass and terrain development, which includes tasks such as elevation flattening, road creation, and landclass editing. On the other hand, ADE (Airport Design Editor) is specifically designed for creating AFCAD airports for FS.

To begin the process, you can start by using SBuilderX to prepare the terrain and surrounding area of your airport. This includes defining the elevation, creating roads leading to the airport, and setting the appropriate landclass. SBuilderX provides a range of tools and options to customise the terrain to your desired specifications.

Once the terrain is ready, you can switch to ADE to focus on the airport design itself. With ADE, you can create the layout of the airport, including the runways, taxiways, and parking areas. You can also add custom markings, signage, and lighting to your airport to make it unique and functional.

Additionally, ADE allows you to define the airport's functionality, such as approach paths, navigation aids, and traffic patterns. This ensures that your airport is not just visually appealing but also practical for aircraft operations. By utilising the features of ADE, you can create a fully functional airport that integrates seamlessly into the flight simulation environment.

While both SBuilderX and ADE are powerful tools, it's worth noting that there are alternative software options available for airport design, such as AFX, which some users may prefer. Ultimately, the choice of software depends on your personal preference and the specific requirements of your project. Experimenting with different software and tutorials will help you find a workflow that suits your needs and allows you to achieve the results you desire.

3D modelling with 3DSMax

To create airport scenery, you can use 3DSMax to model a hangar or other airport features. You can also use tutorials to export your model to a specific location and add details such as transparency to the glass.

There are many ways to approach airport design with 3DSMax. Some tutorials use SBuilderX and ADE to create an airport, but it is not clear why both are needed. ADE (Airport Design Editor) is primarily used to create AFCAD airports for FS, while SBX is used for landclass/terrain development, such as elevation flattens and roads.

Autodesk 3ds Max has a range of features that can be useful for airport scenery design, including shaders, dynamic simulation, particle systems, and rendering tools. It also has a flexible plugin architecture and its own scripting language.

Using SBX for landclass/terrain development

SBX is used mainly for landclass/terrain development, such as elevation flattens, roads, and landclass. It is different from ADE, which is used primarily to create AFCAD airports for FS.

There are many tutorials on building airports, but it can be hard to find one that is current and uses the latest versions of software. Established developers all seem to use a different workflow.

It is recommended to start with something simple, like modelling a hangar, and using tutorials to export it to a location you want.

Using ADE to create AFCAD airports

Airport Design Editor (ADE) is a graphical design tool used to create and enhance airports for Microsoft Flight Simulators 9 and X. It is inspired by AFCAD2, which was developed for FS9 by Lee Swordy. ADE is used to create AFCAD airports, and it adds support for new FSX features such as fences, jetways and terrain.

Users can remove, move, or edit existing buildings and objects as well as adding new ones. ADE also has a visual Approach Editor to add and enhance the approaches to your airports. It is important to note that ADE is designed to help users of all levels get things right from the start, with error checking and 'common sense' built in.

When designing an airport, it is important to consider both the visible and the invisible aspects. The CAD-style design of airports includes all the facilities such as runways, aprons, taxiways, fencing and so on. Navigation aids and flexible background images are also important to consider.

If you are using ADE to modify an existing airport, you can save your changes in the software. However, you may need to follow additional steps to make your changes appear in the game, as saving a mod in ADE does not automatically update it in the game like it does in AFCAD.

Modelling a hangar with transparency in the glass

Modelling a hangar with transparent glass is a great way to get started with airport design. To do this, you can use Blender and X-Plane. First, you need to give the open hangar a new name so that you don't overwrite the closed hangar. Choose File → Save As... and type in the name VAhangar_open. Press the Save As button.

The PNG file format that X-Plane uses for textures allows you to specify how transparent each pixel is, from fully transparent to fully opaque. This transparency information is called the "Alpha Channel". The BMP file format doesn't support transparency. However, X-Plane fakes it by rendering any magenta (#FF00FF) pixels that it finds in the texture as fully transparent.

To add transparency to the hangar, you can add extra faces and make them face inwards. This can be done by duplicating every existing face, but to keep the number of faces down and frame rates up, it's better to add a new cube for the inside of the hangar. First, set things up by selecting Face Select mode and putting Blender back in Object Mode. Then, choose Wireframe from the Shading menu in the 3D View window's menu bar. Press to bring up a context menu. Choose Add → Mesh → Cube to add a new Mesh consisting of a cube. Move the mouse cursor back over the origin and hold down and drag the mouse out until the cube is 25 times larger.

With the doors open, the front of the hangar is a complicated shape. Instead of constructing it out of rectangles, you can cheat and just make the gap made by the open doors transparent. Use a version of the texture file that has this area marked as fully transparent in the alpha channel.

Frequently asked questions