Celestia Forums

Krisci,if you copy the 3ds files into the same folder as the textures and then import to 3ds Max it should then load the texture links into Max.To get them to show on the model,you need to use the Material editor to instance all the materials (in the editor) and then click the button for each textur...

OK,mate here's a shot from close to the rings


I think the ring particles may only be included in the hires version as it runs pretty slow on my PC.Jestr

Hi Andrew,as part of my Stargate-Bane addon on the Motherlode,I have made a gas giant planet called Repsilon,which has a ring system which has thousands of little ice rocks making up the rings,it wouldnt match exactly with Saturn though as the rings are a little different to Saturn's.You can downloa...

I have been trying this shape model out in Celestia,but I can't get it oriented correctly for the impact,because I think we need more accurate orbit data-specifically RotationPeriod and RotationOffset-any ideas (Grant?)
Cheers,Jestr

Great news Chris,How does it work in practise.looking at the bsp files for Cassini,for example.Do we need all of the bsp files for each time period (and specify a start and end time,for each, for Cassini in the ssc file),or can they be stitched together into one file?Jestr

Hi Zepol,first find the star HD 143761,by pressing 'Enter',type in HD 143761,press 'Enter' again,then g to goto the star,then use the navigation/Solar System browser menu to find the planets etc.Cheers,Jestr

Will do,Jestr

If you were to make 3ds versions out of these models,they would need to be chopped up into many pieces.As far as I know the limit for a 3ds object is 65535 faces,whereas the 1440 mesh has over 2000000 faces and the 720 mesh has nearly 517000 faces.Splitting them up will mean many nasty seams unless ...

PS. Jestr, I just followed Huygens trajectory down to Titan in your new addon, and I really enjoyed it. Excellent attention to detail with all the transitions, deployment of parachutes etc!! You should consider writing a script to best show it off to newbies who may not know how to track it, etc. C...

Actually,I tend to agree with bdm,the problem is a rendering one,the positions of Cassini,Mimas and Saturn all look reasonably accurate to me (though of course,I'm no expert).I just think there isn't enough light reflected off Mimas,but we've had this discussion many times on the forum,and our monit...

Hi Chuft,only eight of the nine planets use VSOP87 (not Pluto),most of the moons have their own hard coded Customorbits,but I dont know how these are worked out.Jestr

The xyz file I made for the addon linked to above is called jestr_cassinigrandtour0505.xyz If I remember correctly,Runar updated this file for me on the Motherlode. If you have this file already and Cassini still flies through Titan,let me know when this happens and I will correct it,I'm pretty sure...

Hello again Chuft.The position of Cassini looks to be about right though,dont forget that the position of the moons themselves may be slightly out,Mimas has a customorbit definition,but I remember when I was compiling the Cassini xyz orbits and checking it against the planned flybys,several times I ...

Hi Chuft,I don't know of any recent changes in the orbit of Cassini.I have just looked on the JPL Horizons computer and the latest ephemeris they have are from March 23rd 2005,I updated the xyz orbit for Cassini using these ephemeris in May 2005,and this is available on the Motherlode in this addon ...

Hi Selden,this isnt the case when opened in Photoshop.In Photoshop it only shows the sea parts in layer0,and has no alpha channel.Obviously it opens OK in other image software.Jestr

Hi Dale,actually there is no alpha channel in the earth default texture,at least when opened in Photoshop.I dont know of any way to view the land mass image in Photoshop.When you open the texture in Irfanview (free download) it shows all of the Earth though.It is an odd file,I think if I remember co...

Thanks for sharing this Echo,it's as if you were orbiting the Earth and tuning in to the worlds radio stations-nicely done,Jestr

hi stargate,there used to be a lot of star trek models,on a site called startrekaustralia,but I cant seem to find it now,there is scifi3d also,and another site called http://www.trekmeshes.ch which have a daedalus class model,but it looks quite simple,hope this helps,Jestr

Hi Chris,this work looks a great improvement,can't wait to test it out on some models.Will the ability to use spec,emissive and normal maps be useable for 3ds models also,or only on cmod models?In 3ds Max I can add all sorts of maps to the models-specular,glossiness,self-illumination (emissive?),opa...

OK Hungry,I think the answer lies in adapting the XYZ Builder.celx file (you can open it with notepad or wordpad) and change the line gHELIOFRAME = celestia:newframe("Planetographic", celestia:find("Sol"), 2451545.0) entering the name of your fictional star "Kalad...