How to use Model Viewer to view liveries?

[Focha]

Hi guys,

 

Can anyone make a tutorial about using Model Viewer and how to load custom made textures?

 

Thank you in advance.

 

Regards.

[SkateZilla]

place textures in the aircraft's livery folder.

 

create a shortcut for DCS World/bin/modelviewer.exe

 

change start in to /DCSWorld/

 

use EXE to load,

 

load model

 

use livery dialog to load livery.

[komemiute]

Sorry for necroposting but... I can't find for the life of mine the Livery dialog.

Any idea?

[Ben.NZ]

Go into View --> Dialogs --> Show liveries dialog

[komemiute]

Thanks!

[311Gryphon]

I know this is old but I'm documenting the steps I'm taking to get this to work. I'll try to edit the post as I can. No offense to anyone who finds this kind of stuff simple, but it's not really simple and most of the "tutorials" I find on the internet (not just for this but for many things) are grossly inadequate to the user in most cases. Let me clarify, it is simple once you know where to look for things. It is simple if things load the way they should. However, in the case of many programs (especially those that aren't what I would call tier 1 programs with a well refined UI) it just isn't that simple. Again, I'm not trying to be overly critical I just want to try to help the person just getting into this who is getting tired of chasing file structure and getting partial guides to how to use this. Additionally to the new user, keep in mind that most tutorials no matter how well done are going to miss some things here and there or not account for some issues. You can usually dig in and figure out how to get by. Don't give up.

 

1. As Skate said, navigate to the proper folder for the Model Viewer application. Currently this is on the drive you installed DCS to \Program Files\Eagle Dynamics\DCS World Two Five\bin. Don't use Model Viewer 2 (at least for me it didn't work). If you don't know how to change the Start In right click your new shortcut, select "Properties", then find the "Start in:" field. However, this didn't seem to change anything for me. Make sure to just back out the \bin and leave the DCS version as is.

 

2. Run the application.

 

3. Be patient, it takes a moment to load. Once you see the blue screen and it is clear it is loaded you need to load your model. This is a part that can take you a while if you don't know where to look. Mine was pointed at a weird place that had no models in it. Go to File > Load Model or just hit CTL Oscar.

 

\Program Files\Eagle Dynamics\DCS World Two Five\Bazar\World\Shapes (current location) EDIT: The F/A-18C Lot 20 model is actually in CoreMods>aircraft>FA-18C>Shapes

 

4. Look for the proper .EDM file. Select it and click "Open"

 

5. Wait for it to load. Once you see your model there navigate to View > Dialogs > Liveries Dialog. You'll load the air frame on the left and your livery on the right, then click "Load Livery". You will then have to close the dialog. EDIT: Most of these are in alphabetical order but some are not. If you're looking for the F/A-18C Lot 20 scroll way down towards the bottom and there are some stragglers.

 

I wish there was another way to load a livery from a different location but I haven't found one yet.

 

6. Basic controls are as follows:

 

Left mouse click and drag to pan

Right mouse click and drag to zoom in and out

 

That's all I have time for at the moment. It's getting late. But I'll try to pop in and update this as I have time and as I discover the argument manipulations.

Edited October 19, 2018 by 311Gryphon

[Hunter Joker]

Thx for the easy to follow tutorial, where I can download latest version of the Model viewer?

I know, noob question but...i'm a noob :)

[Liger Zero]

What do i need to load a model correctly i keep getting shader errors. Im trying to load the Yak52 model from the main yak folder.

[Rudel_chw]

Thx for the easy to follow tutorial, where I can download latest version of the Model viewer?

I know, noob question but...i'm a noob :)

 

Its on the same folder as dcs.exe

[311Gryphon]

Ha! I just used my own tutorial to figure out how to load the livery!

 

I also edited the post to account for a few things I learned about the F/A-18C Lot 20 model and liveries.

[Devrim]

Model Viewer 2 works fine on my side but STILL no Re-Load model or Re-Load Textures. :\

So, MV1 or MV2... it doesn't make difference.

[Helles Belle]

I've been using the original Model Viewer (MV1)

 

But want to start playing around with Model Viewer 2 (MV2)

 

Using MV1, I can view my own skins in saved games OK by editing the autoexec file as described.

(by inserting the mount_vfs_liveries_path)

 

However, MV2 doesn't seem to recognise this change.

 

Is there another file I must modify to allow MV2 to recognise my saved games folder & skins?

 

I've read all I can find & it's confusing to understand if people are referring to MV1 or MV2.

[Wrench]

Bump, Modelviewer 1 was removed, I really need MV2 to load textures from saved games/

[Captain Orso]

Skate's Liveries Import plugin (Creating a Single Universal Liveries Folder for All Installs) was working with MV1 and DCS in general. The alternative to Liveries Import was to create a Directory Link named '..\Saved Games\DCS{.openbeta}\Liveries' --example below--

 

cd "..\Saved Games\DCS{.openbeta}"
mklink /D Liveries "..\DCS.Liveries"

 

Both methods still work with DCS in general, but neither work with MV2 :(

Edited December 22, 2018 by Captain Orso

[Coug4r]

Modelviewer2 is pretty buggy (for me at least), i've seen my livery already get mixed up with other liveries (didn't happen in MV1), you should be able to save your session and auto load it the next time you fire up MV2 but that doesn't work. Loading a livery like you could do from the autoexec for MV1 doesn't work. I'd stick with MV1 if you have that opion.

[Wrench]

Yeah, it's funny, I tried mklink too.

Coug4r, the trouble is the MV1 was removed with the 2.5.4 update.

[Leadnap]

I would kill for a reload feature to work - Windows thinks the viewer is the most used application by me based on the number of times I open it vs other applications.

[Helles Belle]

And now MV1 has gone completely.

 

Thanks DCS. :mad:

[Lobo LXII]

Not understanding all of this completely(noob to skinning in DCS) I'm not sure if this will help anyone.

In the deep ,dark recesses of my external hard drive,I have a virgin copy of DCS world 2.5.3.

So I have copied and zipped up the ModelViewer folder from the Config folder. Perhaps someone can use it.

 

 

Back to reading the previous posts so that I can setup a copy for myself!

 

 

Change 1: Added ModelView.exe and ModelView2.exe to the Zip file.:doh:

ModelViewer v2.5.3 Plus.zip

Edited December 24, 2018 by Lobo LXII
Attach updated zip file

[Helles Belle]

Hey Lobo,

 

Thanks for posting that up.

 

I think it's missing the all important modelviewer.exe file (someone else might be able to confirm this)

 

I can't believe that they would remove an application (MV1) BEFORE the next one (MV2) is fully capable :dunno:

 

I'm sure they're working on it & we will one day have the ability to view our saved games liveries again.

 

In the meantime, when I need to work on a skin, I copy it from the saved games folder to the DCS World location & use MV2.

I then move it back to the saved games folder afterwards when I am happy with the result.

 

It's a bit more fiddly but it works for now.

[Ramses]

All of a sudden I can't get the Liveries tool window to show... (Ctrl+L)

 

Anyone know a fix?

[CHSubZero]

After every use of the Model Viewer you have to delete ...\Saved Games\edModelViewer2\Config\ModelViewer2.json. This is the only way the liveries tool and the file system browser tool are working here on my computer every time.

[Santus]

After every use of the Model Viewer you have to delete ...\Saved Games\edModelViewer2\Config\ModelViewer2.json. This is the only way the liveries tool and the file system browser tool are working here on my computer every time.

 

This is an educated guess but it seems to me that the windows you are referring to most likely open up into a "spot" you are unable to see!

Do you have multiple monitors?

Did you perhaps recently changed their positioning in the windows Display settings?

 

Try docking these windows in the main model viewer window then shut it down and re-open it.

If the windows show up docked, undock them again and place them in the positions you wish and try restarting the model viewer again.

 

This will most likely force the model viewer to reset their desired position. Again this is just my 2 cents.

[Akatsuki]

I have the same issue as CHSubZero...

[Croniat]

Hi, please, is there a post on How to use Model Viewer to know the cockpit arguments (VHF radio channel 1, etc.)? Thank you for your tutorial on liveries.