PlaneMaker Tutorial 1: Intro, Research, Preparation to model the EMBRAER ERJ 140

[sonic1365]

@danklaue what is the version of photoshop your using or what is the FULL name of the photoshop your using, I am finding more than one version of photoshop. Or what is the link that will take me to the exact same kind of photoshop your using. Thanks!

[danklaue]

@sonic1365 Since this video series I've moved on. I think it was Adobe Photoshop CS3. I went through CS4 and am now at CS5.1. But Adobe products are expensive. you can do many of the same things I'm doing in my vids simply by using GIMP, which is free and uncrippled/unlimited.

[MrMoorkey]

@DONclan1 For microsoft, you need either GMax and all the SDKs, or Abacus FSDS, and the SDKs

[danklaue]

@DONclan1 Nope, this won't work in FSX. This is a series on how to create planes for X-Plane, not FSX.

[algefrik98]

Can't find the spec sheet, for erj140. plz help.

[danklaue]

@algefrik98 Read through the comments. About 2 months ago, I posted how to get to the data files.

[Matthew9447]

@danklaue I already read through the comments, there isnt anything that tels you how to get the spec sheet, pls help

[danklaue]

@Matthew9447 I am copying-and-pasting exactly what I wrote two months ago:

Actually, I have the zip files posted on the X-Plane(dot)org forums, under "Tutorials>PlaneMaker Video Tutorials."  Video tutorial number 1 (the same one as depicted above) has a zip file of the 3-view right underneath the video.

[benry200]

subbed! THANK YOU SO MUTCH

[adamcook44]

Hi there

The embraer site has been updated and the spec sheet has been changed, the images of the plane itself are not very good quality + there is only 2 and they are impossible to use on plane maker so if you would be very kind enough to maybe make a download of the images themselves ,that you have used.

thankyou very much

ps: love your vids there so helpful

[mrpregant1]

how do u get them for free

[mrpregant1]

i cant find the websight i have the full verion tho but i cant find xplane9.org

[danklaue]

@mrpregant1

That's because you spelled it wrong: it should be X-Plane.org

[Abenohn]

dude, ur insane! can you make a download of the image files please? cuz they updated the specs and now the images arent as good and there isnt a good top view. plus, gimp is hard to use with those. Thanks!

[macintosh39]

how do you move the plane

[TheAviatorMan]

Dude! You are simply a LEGEND and a half! Thanks so much for making all these videos! I'm an aeronautical engineering student and recently bought XPlane because of the planemaker feature and your videos are such a great way to learn! I really can't thank you enough. Your hard work will continue to inspire everyone to create their own aircraft! :D

[danklaue]

@TheAviatorMan

Thank you very much! I really appreciate input like yours. I will probably get around to making more tutorials some time soon. Stay tuned.

[danklaue]

@TheAviatorMan

Actually, I have the zip files posted on the X-Plane(dot)org forums, under "Tutorials>PlaneMaker Video Tutorials." Video tutorial number 1 (the same one as depicted above) has a zip file of the 3-view right underneath the video.

[orangeyman8]

Hello!

I was using your technique to creat the aircraft and I am having difficulty. I am using gimp, and am using the 3 way plane view on embrare historical.(they took the ones from the emebrare site down) The lines are fuzzy the backround black. Thus making it impossible to edit the photos. Please help, I love your videos!!!!!!!

Also do you prefer x planes.org for communication? Thanks

[danklaue]

@orangeyman8

This is the most commonly asked question on my tutorial series.

If you enable the video's annotations, I have some written explanations there.

Basically, you want to CROP your images, so that the airplane's most extreme points are RIGHT ON THE EDGE of your image. This way, the image will load into PlaneMaker's background, automatically resizing itself to take up the entire width or height of the image, depending on which limit is reached first.

[franster99]

What if you can't find a 3-view image of your the plane your making

[pianomansas]

hey can you explain how to get the plane transparent in Photoshop

[paper8bit]

How do u get the picture of the plane only and remove the white background?

[paper8bit]

Umm whenever I try copying the image I somehow get the whit back ground with it to . How do u remove the white back ground like u did

[surflingo]

i can't figure out how to make the planes transparent in photoshop, so when i merge them you can see through each plane how?

thanks!

[danklaue]

@surflingo You don't merge them. You make the layers you don't want to export invisible (by clicking on the eye icon beside the layer icon), and then export the graphic as a .png file.

[Farron1970]

@danklaue Hey. first of all thanks for such good vids. with regards surflingo question can I ask the following: I want to make a cessna 150 say. The 3 views come with white background but I just need the siluete of the airplane views to make the layers of all 3. Using photoshop how do you do this. I have tried to copy and crop but still the white background is there. Any help would be most appreciated.

[divandria]

is this compatible with orbiter?

[NoFairYouCheated]

I created my own plane thats not based on anything following your steps but when i when i turn the throttle up the plane goes nowhere and if i air drop my plane and turn on the throttle, it just does flips

[danklaue]

@NoFairYouCheated

If you didn't base your plane on anything following my steps, how in the world should I know what's wrong with your plane? I recommend you keep watching this series. You may actually find the answer to your question. The problem your plane has could be any of thousands of issues, or combinations thereof. Sounds like your center of gravity is off, and your engines aren't powerful enough, though.

[Elios0000]

@NoFairYouCheated sounds like a CG/moment issue stop by the X-plane IRC chat and we can help you out

[NoFairYouCheated]

@danklaue How did you put the 3-view into Photoshop? I'm using GIMP but I can't figure out how to put the pictures into GIMP. Help ASAP, please.

[tobster911]

This series is ABSOLUTELY FANTASTIC!!! I really appreciate how much time you spent to teach us how to do this. It would be fantastic if you bought out more plane maker tutorials like this, say, for a 737 or something. Also, do you make your payware Verticopter using the same software?

[danklaue]

@tobster911

The 737 is quite a popular plane, and a very high quality freeware version exists for X-Plane already. What I am showcasing is not trying to be specific to one plane... it's supposed to familiarize people with the process and programs used to make aircraft, in general, for X-Plane. The ERJ was merely chosen as an object lesson, which is now also available as a payware aircraft.

The Verticopter was made using roughly the same process, yes.

[jonathan22711]

How are you moving the view around?

[leviterande]

plane maker is part of xplane, I meant plane maker ofcourse man, ....

[leviterande]

Is it possible to do this ""inside"" x-plane:

Export a wing or misc wing to fuselage editing ?

[danklaue]

@leviterande

Could you expand on your question? First of all, you cannot do ANY editing "inside" X-Plane. All editing is done in PlaneMaker. If I understand you correctly, you want to use a wing's geometry to edit a fuselage? That doesn't work.

[backwoodsbrewer]

Thank you SO MUCH for making this tutorial series! It has taught me a great deal about PlaneMaker. I just wanted to suggest, if you were to make another tutorial series I would love to see one on making a single engine prop such as a Beech Bonanza (that's what I'm wanting to make lol). Thanks again for sharing your wonderful series! God bless you.

[danklaue]

@backwoodsbrewer

I won't be making a separate tutorial for every plane that's out there. That would be ludicrous!  You will have to try to make the Bonanza yourself, following this tutorial series for tips on techniques and methods and datarefs and all that stuff... and just adapt what you learn to your particular project.

If you simply want to fly a Bonanza, you can probably find one at X-Plane.org for free. You can take it apart in PlaneMaker and take a look at how it was made, too.

[backwoodsbrewer]

@danklaue I didn't imply that you make a separate tutorial for every airplane, only show how to adapt these techniques for a prop.

[smileyman866]

what Photoshop do you have? I can't figure mine out.

[danklaue]

@smileyman866

I have CS4.  You'll have to learn Photoshop basics on your own. If you have bought Photoshop, you should have received extensive documentation. (Help menu). If you've spent the money on it, you should have the motivation to master it.

If you DON'T have a legal version of it, that you paid for, you shouldn't be using it... you should be using GIMP, which is free, and can do pretty much the same stuff Photoshop can do.

[smileyman866]

@danklaue yeah i have CS3, and yes i bought it

[danklaue]

Learning Photoshop can be a big time investment up front, but it's worthwhile long-term. Think of it like learning to type with all 10 fingers.

Photoshop has built-in help, and there are tons of online Photoshop tutorials out there. Learning Photoshop is outside of the scope of my tutorial series. I would be taking several times longer if I had to cover everything Photoshop-related. For the purposes of creating planes, you don't have to tap into nearly all of PS's capabilities anyway.

[smileyman866]

@danklaue yeah i'll work on it

[darkhalo116]

do the aplications open up in windows including the flight sime? i dont want to scew up my computer

[danklaue]

@darkhalo116

You can set it. When you're in the sim, in the Graphics options you can click a check-box that says, "Run full-screen." If things get screwed up, you can always trash the preferences file to reset everything related to X-Plane.

[darkhalo116]

@danklaue its safe to down load then?



[danklaue]

@darkhalo116 Of course it's safe to download.



[zorrolizhi]

I am making an ARJ-21, I wonder how to put the 3 view picture as background,?Thank You!

[danklaue]

@zorrolizhi

Do you have "annotations" enabled in YouTube? There's some additional instructions on putting 3 view pictures in the background in the annotations.

[JosepH13316]

THANK YOU SOOO MUCH

[wilddogowner26]

Will it work with Microsoft flight simulator x please help

[danklaue]

@wilddogowner26

No, this is for X-Plane only.

[Airsofter137]

can anyone help me my images have backgrounds that are preventing me from properly aligning and cropping the photos

[SpartanZane2100]

Can we use paint or some other software besides gimp or photoshop

[danklaue]

@SpartanZane2100

Not really. To paint a plane, you need to use layers. Paint is a very rudimentary program, and you'll run into its limitations after a very short time. I recommend just taking a look at the first 14 tutorials in this series, which should give you a pretty good idea of what you'll need in order to paint a plane. I think after watching them, you'll agree that Paint would not be ideal.

[SpartanZane2100]

@danklaue

Ok thanks

[SpartanZane2100]

@danklaue

what about Open office draw?

[danklaue]

@SpartanZane2100

Really, Photoshop/GIMP is the easier part of making a plane. If you can't handle Photoshop or Gimp, then this may not be your cup of tea.

As I mentioned, you need a program that can handle layers. Open Office Draw is very inadequate for painting planes.

Just keep watching the tutorials, and decide for yourself if you'll want to use those rudimentary tools to paint a plane. For me, it'd be like using a hammer to screw in a screw.

[SpartanZane2100]

@danklaue

ok i was just wondering.

[tamagotchi78]

theres a problem the spec sheet only gives 2 pictures of the embraer140 what do i do

[Ridhwanpilot747]

how do you get a psd file onto plane maker? nice video btw

[danklaue]

@Ridhwanpilot747

You don't. You have to convert a PSD file to a .png file for use as a background image. PSD files are incompatible with PlaneMaker.

[Tome4kkkk]

Wow, such a complete tutorial in HD!!! I will definitely save it in my X-Plane playlist!

[juanlmesl]

how did you manage to just have the plane image by it self and not hte entire background am using gimp please help! :(

[danklaue]

@juanlmesl

You can remove the background in programs like GIMP or Photoshop, but it's not necessary. This PDF file happened to have no background, so I didn't have to do anything in Photoshop... it showed up just like you see it in the video.

Again, if your reference picture has a background, it's no big deal. You can still use it.

[JMaiden666]

how do a make that 3d view and move the plane around? it wont let me do that..

[danklaue]

@JMaiden666

A S D W turn the plane around. Arrow keys move the plane.

[HawxKid]

20bucks fro a palne which aint real! :[

[danklaue]

@HawxKid

You can try building this plane for free... no need to spend money. But it WILL cost you more than a 6 months of your time... guaranteed. Money vs. time. Whatever is worth more to you.

[johnproductions99]

I found the specs sheet. Just search "ERJ-140" in Google. It should be on the 2nd page.

[donat100]

erm can u please send me a website were i can get pictures of planes like u did

because your website changed it has a different picture

[FatCheesyMan34]

Thanx for making these vids!! i hav a lot of trouble with plane maker and now i got it!

[quadsnipable]

can you send me the verticopter for free?

[danklaue]

@quadsnipable

I think I came across your YouTube channel, and it states that one of your hobbies is annoying people and making them angry. Nice hobby. Yes, that'll probably earn you lots of points with people. You might even get free stuff from them, if you pester people enough. If you get REALLY good at that, you might even manage to get yourself on some spam filter. So keep at it!

[5firestars]

i figured it out now

[5firestars]

this didn't work for me when i had used the istant alpha cropping tool to get rid of all the white background on the pdf. and then used a regular croppng tool to copy into photoshop it still came up with the plane in a white rectangle.

why is this ?

[danklaue]

You don't HAVE to get rid of the white BG. The way you save that file has an impact on whether it's got transparency or not. PNG files support transparency, but they can be set to have a solid background as well. JPeg files don't support transparency. Check your file export settings in Photoshop or GIMP.

What you're looking for is "Alpha channel." That's the transparency. If it's disabled, you'll get white backgrounds.

[5firestars]

ok thanks but if that doesn't work is there a way of being able to see wat ur doing through the whit BG cause then i can'e lin it up but any way thnx

[5firestars]

this also may be a bit complicated for me cause imm 11 but i think i can handle it

[5firestars]

it still doesn't work and where is the the alpha channel i can't find it i've been looking for it for 2 days now

[danklaue]

I don't know what it is you're getting stuck on... You don't need to eliminate the background. The picture doesn't need to be transparent. All that's important is, that the size is correct, and that you have cropped it right down to where the plane's length, height and width reach.

[5firestars]

i'm fine now thnx

[elvispresleylover123]

how do you make wheels go up and down?

[danklaue]

You know, there ARE 35 videos in this series so far... posting questions in the first video tutorial that pertain to the fifth tutorial makes me wonder if you're even watching the series, where I go through and answer some of the questions people may have.

[elvispresleylover123]

HEEELP i cant make the images on photoshop because there is a white rectangle around my copyed picture please help me!

[danklaue]

You need to familiarize yourself with Photoshop. There's plenty of tutorials, tips, tricks, videos, help files, forums, etc. on Photoshop on the internet. Just use Google to help you out.

[elvispresleylover123]

dude the website is made different (the embraer website) can you show how to get it now?

[danklaue]

@elvispresleylover123

At this time I"m sorry I cannot provide 3-view images of the Embraer, since their website has changed. I'd recommend typing "ERJ-140 3-View" into Google's image search. You'll find some useful stuff like that.

[toadelevator]

Thanks for these videos, Danklaue! They're a great resource! One question...can I use .gif images the same way you used .png in this tutorial, or do I have to get another program besides GIMP to convert the .gif files to another format? I've uploaded 5 planes to x-plane, but I'm trying to be more accurate than just "freehanding" the plane.

[danklaue]

No, .gif images are not the right format to use with PlaneMaker. You can use MS Paint (on the PC) or Preview (on the Mac) to convert .gif to .png.

Once you get into texturing the plane, you really need to familiarize yourself with a program that has serious EDITING power, like GIMP or Photoshop.

Good background images are essential to get the geometry accurate... but you also need spec sheets, to enter accurate performance data for the plane.

[toadelevator]

@danklaue Thanks again. I didn't know MS Paint could do that conversion. My Pilatus PC-21 should greatly benefit from more accurate shaping now! - chockalot See you on the x-plane sites!

[SaberTanker22]

WOW Xplane seems awesome how you can mod planes easier then FSX . =P i wish there was a way to convert the scenery form Xplane to FSX with out having to pay more money out my butt.

[danklaue]

There are tools to convert FSX scenery to X-Plane. There are also some extremely gifted people creating scenery for X-Plane.

X-Plane is at least as capable as FSX in terms of graphics, but what X-Plane needs more of is... DEVELOPERS. Hence, these tutorials. The silly debate over which sim is better rests, for the most part, on the key issue of available scenery and planes, and their quality. More developers equals better "graphics."

Moreover, FSX has been discontinued, and XP hasn't.

[daveproductions63]

when you copied the plane views in photoshop to the new image, you already had a transparent background (in the brochure) so did you really just hand crop all the images before hand?

[danklaue]

True, the transparent background was carried over from the pdf file... You don't necessarily need it to be a transparent background, though. you can live with a white or grey background, as long as you can see the outline of the plane clearly.

What you DO need, is to crop the image to exactly the dimensions of the plane. Any excess space left on the edges will diminish the size of the plane in the background of PlaneMaker.

[RCFlyingBoy2009]

sorry, but when i try to import a bitmap for the fuse, i get a warning saying it needs to be 24-bit color and is the wrong bitmap color depth. what does this mean? should i use some sort of program to formalize it in some way?

[danklaue]

You need to use Photoshop or GIMP to create a bitmap... actually a .png file would be better, as it is more compressed and supports transparency.

A good way to start is to take a look at what other planes use. Start with one of their bitmaps, and alter it, just to practice.

You'll probably benefit from some more research on basic graphics. You can find many of these answers on Google or Wikipedia.

[JohnyE007]

how do you know that resolution of Embraer spec sheet image will be1280 px?

[danklaue]

I don't. I have to re-size as necessary.

[JohnyE007]

ok, do you think it is possible to sell your product as an commercial?

[danklaue]

@JohnyE007

Yes, that's the plan. I'm working on it right now. This is why I'm not doing much in terms of tutorials right now.

I want to finish the plane, publish it, and then continue on with my tutorials.

[RCFlyingBoy2009]

now im getting a level 3 usb warning!!!!!!!!!! ggggrrrrrr!!!! im so frustrated.

[danklaue]

Just to let you know, I don't appreciate being spammed by you. It's OK to ask a question here and there about the topics I'm addressing in the videos, but it's NOT OK to treat me like your one-stop-shop for every computer question you have. Please be considerate!

[RCFlyingBoy2009]

i was assigning some new key functions and suddenly, my space bar (tow hook, winch, air drop) doesnt respond along with the "a" buttons. the keys work but not in the sim anymore.... how can i reset them to default?  thanks

[RCFlyingBoy2009]

btw. which program do you use for screen capturing on your macbook for these tutorials?

[danklaue]

I use ScreenFlow. At the beginning, I used Snapz Pro X, but I didn't like it as much, since it took forever to do the post-recording processing, and in total, it took twice as long to process the video.

Also, ScreenFlow has an included editor, which is a lot more flexible than either iMovie or QuickTime, and a lot easier and quicker than FinalCut Pro.

[RCFlyingBoy2009]

thanks, i just downloaded screenflow demo, and it is AMAZING!!!!!!! i will now soon have a video posted of me flying your amazing AMV-211 in xplane!!! yahoo

[RCFlyingBoy2009]

How can I make screenflow NOT LAG? its a pretty choppy recording when i look over my xplane recordings.......

speaking of performance..... how can i get xplane to run at its full potential without lagging on an iMac 21.5" Intel 2 duo and 4 gigs of ram? Thanks!!!!

[danklaue]

You need lots of video memory.  Older iMacs may not have the necessary graphics card performance needed to handle X-Plane's performance requirements at full potential. Same goes for ScreenFlow.

[RCFlyingBoy2009]

I bought my iMac 4 weeks ago because my hp laptop was just too slow to run xplane 9. I bought my imac and xplane ran great until i updated to 9.41. thats when i noticed the beautiful graphics and the lag in speed sometimes. I guess when ill save up enough money to buy my extended warranty, ill buy a better video card with it. Which one do you recommend?

[danklaue]

You bought a NEW iMac 4 weeks ago? OK, first off, if you have a NEW iMac, it should have 512 MB of VRAM, which is plenty for XPv9.41. Second, you won't be able to upgrade the video card on any iMac. iMacs come with on-board video memory, so if you need more juice, you'll have to get a new computer.

ScreenFlow should work fine on your iMac as well. If not, then maybe there's something wrong with your system. I'd try searching Google for some of the symptoms you're experiencing.

[RCFlyingBoy2009]

i tried putting all of the rending options to settings closer to default and i guess that was the case....... i guess there was to much being processes at a time that it was needing time for a breather. Soryy... But screenflow still is choppy :( would there be a way to make a bitmap in gimp? i keep trying and cant crop and save the area i need...... :'(

[dkbaseball5]

When i put my background in Plane maker it came out really small. How do i fix this

[danklaue]

Crop the background image, so that it's exactly as large as the airplane. The plane's nose and tail have to "touch" the edge of the background image. The image needs to be tight vertically as well. PlaneMaker will scale the image to span the entire background.

[dkbaseball5]

Sweet thanks

[Fabian566]

I saved the 3 views from Gimp. Then I put it in an ERJ195 folder I have in the X-Plane 9 folder. But when I go to plane maker it doesn't show the Gimp documents, which has all three views.

[danklaue]

You have to export the 3 views as .png files. PlaneMaker won't recognize "gimp" files.

Then you have to LOAD them into the background, which is something I cover in the next tutorial.

[crazybika13]

alright so i find a 3-view that i wanna make a plane out of. But like the erj its not on the grayscale background so how do i cut out the images? becuase if i dount it has the white background that will cover up the view thats under it with white?

[danklaue]

It doesn't HAVE to be transparent. All you need is separate png files for front, side, and top.

In Photoshop, you can use the color select tool to select everything that's white... make sure, though, that the "Contiguous" button is not checked. Then hit delete, once all the white is selected.

It may not automatically go to transparent, so click-hold on the eraser tool, and select "Background" and then hit delete.

[EBookCo]

does plane maker work with flight simulator

[danklaue]

No, it does not. The reason: in X-Plane, the plane's geometry is actually intrinsically related to its flight model. (I.e. if you make something that looks like a hamburger, it'll fly like a hamburger. If you make something that looks like a Cessna, it'll fly like one.)

Most other sims (including MSFS) don't follow this philosophy. The flight model is something punched in from available data... it is not calculated from the parts that make up the plane. Hence, the formats aren't compatible.

[alergionoloco]

ill tell u what i did and u say if its wrong or right ok?

i opened the plane same as yours..with photoshop i did the square thing u did made a new file i put 12 80 and 1024 like u did i copy the picture with ctrl+c then went to the other pade the new layer and put ctrl+v and nothing showed up

[danklaue]

The square thing is done with the select tool in Photoshop. Make sure you did that part right.

Not all Photoshop versions have tabs. Some will simply open new windows.

If you're on a Mac, use cmd+C and cmd+V instead of ctrl.

Besides that, I wouldn't know why it's not working for you.

[alergionoloco]

yea i had a new layer but when i pasted the picture wouldnt showup and its another page the opens not another bar u just click like u did but does that still work ill try it again..

[alergionoloco]

how do u copy and put it ont the other page like you did in 5:34

[danklaue]

Use copy-and-paste. I used the keyboard short cut. Select the area you want, hit Ctrl+C, go to the new, empty picture, and hit Ctrl+V, and you should have the copied picture on a new layer.

[alergionoloco]

i opened the picture with the trial of photoshop and it worked now to keep going to see if i can make a plane!

[alergionoloco]

also how did u copy the photo of the plane to photoshop everytime i try it photoshop goes away and i have to open it or somthing and its not a page??

[danklaue]

I opened the PDF file in Photoshop. (Either you right-click on the file and say "Open with... Photoshop" or you open Photoshop first and go to "File-Open" and select the PDF file from there.)

Maybe it's a demo version limitation you're experiencing.

[alergionoloco]

i donwloaded a trial of photoshop well that work?

[danklaue]

Probably not. I'd go with GIMP then.

[SEINORTACO]

i see that the moving parts are animated in plane maker for you but while im in plane maker they dont move so please direct me if you will to the appropriate setting, if there is one, to animate the parts..... i hvave a pc btw if that has any bearing at all

[feedtessie]

under 'special' there's an option that says "show with still/moving parts"

[emf85athotmail]

This is brilliant mate. Thankyou. Trying to make WIG effect craft's.

[JIMMY325JR]

Cool videos man!

[buildgreennow1112]

Awesome video. Thanks!

[tomcat8492]

I'm really mad cause i finally found out how to make a plane (thank you by the way) and then when i tryed to open plane maker but it wouldn't open for some reason.

[ToppervisionEnt]

You are the man! I'm saving all of these tutorials and I will definately give it a try.

[djmaster1995]

Dude, Can you tell me how to add a 3d cockpit?

[danklaue]

That'll hopefully be covered in future tutorials. I'm going in order here. (Hence the numbering).

[djmaster1995]

Ok, Because I enjoy making videos VIA passenger View(Used 3d cockpit and go in back)