Welcome!

Very Close....

Sat, 19 Jul 2008 01:38:38 GMT

Citation X FS9 2.0... finishing touches

Work work work. Here's a few shots as we continue polishing... wax on, wax off. I smell Beta just around the bend. Here's a post over at >>Eaglesoft.

CitX panel

Thu, 08 May 2008 01:43:08 GMT

Sneak a Peek... FS9 Citation X V2.0 VC Gauges

Okay, after hour upon hour of working on the VC gauge mapping with Ed Wilson, (see my 'friends' links), at the helm of some wonderful gauge programming delight, we finally have something to present for the Citation X 2.0 VC gauges in the cockpit. I simply can't explain the amazing skill Ed is showing here with the development of these gauges, they are really really something.

Mind you, I've been slaving away at getting the gauge bezel modeling and gauge face mapping done, and Ed has been keeping pace with providing constant updates....meanwhile, at least six electricians are remodeling my kitchen and keep shutting down the power, many times without warning. Okay,that happened only once. They won't do it again, not at least without proper warning.

These pics do the gauge work no justice, all text is crisp clean and clear. The fully functional FMS is tons 0 fun too.

Oh, I almost forgot to mention, I'm getting an average of 35-40 FPS with all the good stuff turned on, oh babe, Ed's reporting even better on his big rig. Hey, this is a real big budget show over here we're not playing around ya know.

A few close ups for now, more later...

Vcabin Teaser

Tue, 06 May 2008 00:24:50 GMT

Citation X v. 2.0 Cabin

Here's a little vid of some of the cabin interaction I'm working on for the Citation X v.2.0, This one is a dusk shot showing off the lighting variations.

Diane is still not animated so there's plenty of key frames to do yet.

CitX Update

Thu, 01 May 2008 17:40:47 GMT

FS9 Citation X 2.0 Update

Well I've been slaving away the past several weeks on the Citation X, in between renovating our kitchen, and I'm happy to report that I'm nearing that light at the end of the tunnel in regard to the work required by me on this project. Soon I'll be mapping gauges to the Virtual Cockpit, getting various parts to process display conditions with XML, insert animations, then general clean up. She has an updated fresh and clean look now with less polys, less texture files, yet greater overall detail and performance.

MVP Owen Hewitt

Thu, 24 Apr 2008 22:30:31 GMT

2008 MVP Global Summit

Microsoft MVP, and fellow Eaglesoft team member, Owen Hewitt has returned from the big house after attending the 2008 MVP Global Summit. As I expected, he's reported back at his blog page with some very interesting coverage with photos. So pop in and and check it out!

Summit

Sat, 19 Apr 2008 01:22:48 GMT

Owen's back at the big house.

Be sure to keep an eye on Owen's blog, he's just attended the 2008 MVP Global Summit in Redmond. I'm sure he'll have a fountain of information, photos, stories, and maybe even some inside scoop once he gets back!

Sun N Fun

Thu, 17 Apr 2008 15:52:19 GMT

Sun N Fun 08!

We have been pretty lucky over the last few years during the Sun N Fun Fly-in over in Lakeland. The weather has been just terrific. Last year was pretty dry, trails of dust behind cars out in the huge pasture parking lots.. but the temperature was good. This year the ground was still fairly moist after several days of steady rain, but the temperature was again wonderful, followed by gentle breezes.

I had gotten inside the gates about a half hour before Ron, (Eaglesoft Development Group) and Stasi, (Mindstar Aviation) spotted me over by the Liberty Aerospace display. They were walking up sporting bags, cameras, and big smiles on their faces obviously happy to be back in aviation toy land again.

All the big boys were there again this year and plenty of new guys on the block. The most prominent letters this year were VLJ and LSA, and the manufacturers brought their bright ideas with them and put them on display to show the weren't playing around. It seemed around every corner were Aspen Avionics with their oh-so-cool glass gauges. Virtually plug and play, they drop right into the existing panel holes that house the steam gauge six-pack, and are surprisingly affordable.

Ron and Stasi check out the Aspen PFD in the new Liberty. It's not a really really small plane, Stasi is just a big guy!

We had to drop by for a few pics of the FKA Columbia 400 which is now known as the Cessna 400 and 350. It was a little strange seeing the logo on the tail after spending so much time working on the FS Columbia 400 project.

Heading over to the Eclipse display you never know what they've brought with them. In case you missed it at Air Venture, Check out the 'Concept Jet' V-tail single VLJ. Aerodynamic design has been left to George Lucas.

Yes, it flies, and it looks like drag would not be an issue.

You know, we left dial phones and dial modems in pursuit of greater technology, but apparently a dial up throttle isn't necessarily a step back.

Right next door to Eclipse sat Cirrus, taking up a huge chunk of real estate alongside their trademark Cirrus semi truck. There were three nice things to enjoy there;

What? A Light sport? How did I miss that? Ron gets a shot of the panel there, and a nice panel it is.

Over the left wing of the sport I saw something perched on a pedestal that looked a lot like an Eclipse Concept Jet;

I like the placement and design around the engine area, and with a larger fuselage it gains an extra window.

Lastly lets pay our respects to the ever growing great one;

Cirrus Generation 3 turbo GTSX.... mommy.

Ron, Stasi and I stopping is to visit Russ over at Piper.

We dropped in over at Diamond which is my personal favorite, these folks make a nice airplane. We met some very interesting people in the pavilion as well as met with many of the representatives concerning our upcoming projects.

The DA-42 Twin Star. One has to simply appreciate the thought put into the use of space, ease of entry/exit, visibility and just darn good looking.

The Da-50.. be still my heart...moon lighting in the cabin ceiling.

Stasi and I got a kick out of this Superstar!

Time flies like everything else around here and it was time to head back to reality. A visit to the AOPA tent, FLYING Magazine store, and a smoking hot corn dog on the way out. Those beautiful planes continue to fly overhead as we say our goodbyes, until next year.

New 'puter

Thu, 17 Apr 2008 12:40:50 GMT

I love that new computer smell

I've always maintained a smaller second hard drive as a back up on my computer. When I would upgrade to a new computer, the old master drive became the slave in the new one. I had always thought it a good idea to store source data there since it's the C: drive that 'crashes'. But then there's those days you wake up and walk by the office and see lines of DOS on your computer screen and hear a strange whirring and clicking sound... oh great. It seems my secondary drive failed and somehow brought down the rest of the house with it...fine, I needed to upgrade anyway and now I have a good excuse.

This upgrade has been a good experience and everything has gone surprisingly well in the setup, installation, and customization needed to bring it back as the hub of research, design, development and communication for the biz. A nice ASUS M2N-SLI carries two 'SLI'd' Nvidia 8800 GT graphics cards like saddlebags on a Harley. At the helm, AMD provides the dual core 64 5000's alongside four, 'gig-a-piece', sticks of the good ram...oh the fun to be had. Vista looks great and is appropiately named. I'm surprised how much of the fairly new hardware/software doesn't have, or won't be, providing any Vista updates and suggest you rely on Vista's drivers without new software. I.E. the photo toolbox software disc for my HP photosmart printer is not compatible with Vista so it operates on the basic driver. A visit to HP downloads page finds a notice that there are no plans for them to update the software. Thanks god 3DS Max8 loaded up and seems to work fine though. I've still got alot to do and look forward to posting some nice screens soon.

Ah, FSX has never looked so good.

Sun N Fun

Fri, 21 Mar 2008 12:52:20 GMT

It's that time again, we're getting ready for the Sun N Fun fly-in 2007 over here in Lakeland Florida. I'll most likely spend at least two days out there wandering about mindlessly, overwhelmed by beautiful aircraft, aviation gadgetry, and corn dogs. Ron (Eaglesoft) and Stasi (Mindstar Aviation), look to be dropping in on the 10th of April. We'll be driving in because it seems until Florida gets it's tax ax sharpened up, flying in could bring on a hefty cost, READ THIS story and get involved.

Repaint

Wed, 13 Feb 2008 23:25:18 GMT

Paint repaint repeat

If you haven't had a look yet, head over to Owen's blog and check out what he's been doing with the newly remapped FSX Citation X 2.0. He's done some terrific repaints on the new 2048 wide template, and they are crisp and sweet! Folks are really going to appreciate how easy it will be to paint, even the most complex schemes, on his planar mapped template. No stretching, skewing, or distortion anywhere. If you like the external model, you're are certainly going to love the new VC cockpit and cabin.

FSX CX2

Sat, 02 Feb 2008 12:54:19 GMT

X-Treme Makeover FSX

Wow! Take a look at the Citation X 2.0 for FSX in this shot Owen sent out last night.

Owen's done a fine job with the planar mapped fuselage and nacelles. With the panel lines, rivets and other details in place it really just keeps getting better. I'll throw in a bit of shading then we should be about ready to move on to the VC's of each version.

CX 2.0

Wed, 23 Jan 2008 22:45:40 GMT

X-treme makeover

This is a good day, I'm almost finished with the external model master template. I've been hitting the Citation X so hard I seem to have developed carpal/tennis elbow or something. Owen says, "Take more breaks!" I try but I'm on a roll! So now I fly my little RC helo every few hours to get away from my office but it's not helping the elbow...oh well... I'm taking tomorrow off, but I have to work the mean streets of Orlando all weekend. I keep reminding myself, two more years... two!

Here's a shot of how things are shaping up... may I present:

As my dear friend Emeril would say, "Oh yeah babe". These are temp 'testing' textures mind you, those heavy shadows are not in the final product. You already saw the naked master template before, so.. take a peek at a portion of the master template now...

Yes, that's ALL the layers involved here. Every bit of shading here is on the single 'shadow' layer, one quick slider tweak adjusts everything in loving harmony. Take it away and all you will see is lines and rivets. No white paint needed for the 'highlights' either, simply the absence of shadow does the job nicely, so repaints are as easy as wax on-wax off! There's plenty of room for improvement though, with many of the large textures I find myself asking me myself and I,...what was I thinking?!

Oh, and one other peek, dont tell...

Yeah... that's a Rolls Royce. :)

At last count: Our model is 4 megs lighter, and 6 less texture templates than the original.

Extreme Makeover

Sat, 19 Jan 2008 14:44:53 GMT

X-TREME MAKEOVER

Okay, I admit it. It's alot more work than I originally anticipated. Along with what I already knew I wanted to do to bring the Citation X 2.0 model and textures up to the ready line, human nature kicked in. Suddenly, one can find the scope of their original plan expanding. You could relate it to scrubbing a smaller, dirty mark on your car then, lookie here... now I got a clean spot! Unable to break the hypnotic fixation, you soon find yourself washing the entire car, waxing, vacuuming.....

Well I suppose it's a good thing and since I have the time I might as well dig in a bit deeper and trim more of the fat on this Citation X-treme makeover while I have a few days off from the 'other job'. Oh, and Diane's acting all silly and happy because our old washer just went 'toes up' forcing me to spend all of my Lowe's gift cards on something other than what I had hope to spend them on. So, as it goes, we're getting a new fancy schmancy one Sunday, at least that makes me golden for a while.

The Citation X, although loved by everyone and very successful, was overweight. Paying attention to what's being said in forums, having friends like Owen, and through trial and error, good things are learned. Originally, my plan was to make the transition to 2.0 quite painless with a quick conversion to the new model, change some colors here and there, and revamp the VC for the new gauges. Unable to break the trance which had me locked into the vastness of the aircraft's texture folder, I finally gave in and started stripping the thing down to the studs. Popping rivets, pulling seats, rearranging and moving everything I could to take better advantage of precious pixel space. Animations stripped, parts relocated and retextured at their new home, animations reinserted. My backs killing me but the 2048x1024 master template is looking tight babe, and I've still got room.

I rolled her out this morning and she's back to looking like her old self again but much lighter in polygons, vertices, and texture calls. There's still always some room for a slight nip-tuck here or there.. but hey, I'm on a schedule over here. Some nice additions so far include a baggage door now.

I've actually cut the windows out on this model, (instead of having them 'painted' out while using the magic of the ole customized draw order trick), so now they look thick and happy. The model is mapped across two 1024x1024 .bmp's to insure those sharp textures everyone wants. Increased performance because of the lighter model. Everything is clickable or obtainable through the preflight gauge. Click to close the cockpit doors and the cabin vanishes to free up more performance if desired, and so on.

I'm anxious to start on the VC, there's alot of love already there but what's in store is really going kick. I've got to get started on the dreaded panel lines and rivets next and get those to Owen, so back to work we go.

PC Pilot

Tue, 15 Jan 2008 00:19:27 GMT

PC Pilot Magazine Interviews Eaglesoft

I finally had the opportunity to review a file Ron sent to me of an interview by PC Pilot Magazine of him regarding the Eaglesoft Development Group , it's team members, and our products. It's their 51st issue, appropriately sporting a P-51 on the cover, and should be hitting the shelves now. They also showcased our Twin Comanche aircraft, and if you've been keeping up with my recent posts, you've seen plenty of coverage of that beautiful twin along with my spotlighting of Owen Hewitt and Roy Wilbanks.

We certainly appreciate this opportunity PC Pilot has given us to say a few things about the team members, our present course, and our future goals as we move forward in providing high quality, unique aircraft for the flightsim community. Be sure to pick up your copy to check out the interview and the Twin Comanche review which received a 90 out of 100!

CitX 2.0

Mon, 14 Jan 2008 18:08:22 GMT

A legend reborn for FS9 and FSX

I'm very happy to say that our extremely popular Citation X for FS9 is back in the shop for a much needed makeover. An early product put together a few years ago by the original core team at Eaglesoft including myself, Ron Hamilton, Bill Leaming, Lonny Payne, and assistance of Rob Young 'Real Air Simulations'. It wasn't long after it's successful release that we soon considered it to be the flagship of ESDG.

To me, the Citation X was very special not just because I modeled my wife in the cabin, but also because of what I learned from it. Being quite green, not just in the world of modeling at the time, but also inexperienced in how to model and texture a project with respect to the techniques that would result in the most efficient use of polygons and textures. Over a year of every minute of my free time everyday I chained myself to my desktop and chiseled feverishly and banged the thing into shape based on research photos collected from several Citation X jets over at MCO's Cessna Service Center.

Near completion, I went on to incorporate imaginative ideas into the project that would make it stand out from other 3rd party aircraft, to be unique and more fun. Such as the animated passenger posed for various configurations. She became an international favorite figure and brought 'life' to the cabin for many many owners who always feature her in their reviews, screenshots, and even YouTube videos. The maintenance girl working in the avionics bay of the nose, pitot and engine cover flags swaying in the wind, a visually rich and warm cockpit and cabin with custom night lighting that would inevitably turn many 2D flyboys into VC pilots. Small touches like the cabin plaque that would display whatever livery you would be flying and, of course, the passenger's laptop computer and wine to add the final touch of Business + Money= luxury. It was released with four different model options to further insure it would please those owners with low, or high end machines.

So what is left to improve on? Plenty. The Citation X 2.0 will feature many improvements based on customer feedback and changes in technology. A fully functional FMS and full gauge rework will most likely be one of the greatest anticipated enhancements. Other improvements include a completely remapped exterior over two 1024x1024 bitmaps to insure higher resolution textures. Optimized model to improve performance and reduce the number of overall polygons and texture calls, a preflight gauge to allow the owner to display, (or not display), various extras such as the passenger, maintenance crew or even cabin. There's plenty more on the table and even a few surprises that I'm not going to mention at this date.

My friend, MS MVP, and fellow team member Owen Hewitt has taken the model under his own wing and is currently working his Max mastery of magic to bring the Citation X 2.0 to FSX! Those who have seen what he can do already know that the FSX Citation X will undoubtably be something to behold. Those who don't, take a gander at the Twin Comache he designed in my photo album. The image above is an actual render from his FSX work and you can see more here. The experience he has unselfishly passed on to me has been invaluable in my work to make a better product.

So, stay tuned over at Eaglesoft, the excitement is building!

Back in the USA

Mon, 03 Dec 2007 23:59:09 GMT

Back in the USA

Hi friends, I've been completely covered up the last month, and then some, so I haven't updated the blog space at all. I've just returned from an incredible trip to Italy and have been getting things organized and caught up around here but hope to continue updates over the next few days so stay tuned! Meanwhile enjoy this amazing Citation X video by Andre. Arrivederci! Here's the link should the embedded vid not work for you.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SsULXYIW3RY

Piper Twin Comanche Goes Gold

Sun, 14 Oct 2007 16:57:24 GMT

PIPER TWIN COMANCHE GOES GOLD!

The Eaglesoft Development Group has announced the release of their Piper Twin Comanche for FS9! Check out the screen shots here if you haven't seen them, then run over to Eaglesoft to download yours today!

Congratulations to Team Eaglesoft for their hard work and commitment in the development and release of this quality FlightSim product!

TC Beta

Tue, 02 Oct 2007 20:25:33 GMT

Twin Comanche goes Beta!

The Eaglesoft Piper Twin Comanche is now in Beta testing over at our quality control labs. She's being given a thorough going over by the design team and many other highly qualified testers. Testing is actually going quite well as we move forward squashing bugs, tweaking textures, and buff, paint and polish. The high note of the project is the smooth performance offered by the FS9 model, much effort has gone into the entire aircraft to insure pleasing frame rates which allows more room to crank up some sliders and have some fun.

Here's a link to some amazing photos of Nick doing just that! Check them out here!

Twin Comanche Dev

Thu, 20 Sep 2007 14:50:46 GMT

FS9 Piper Twin Comanche, Final Developments

The Eaglesoft Piper Twin Comanche, based on Roy Wilbanks' real world aircraft, rolled out of Bob's paint and body shop today. Over the past month I gave it a good going over to refine and detail Owen's base texture sets. As promised, I have some photos below but the real beauts are in the photo album above....be sure to check 'em out full screen.

The plane was a joy to work on and who could complain with the excellent R&D material Owen provided. Roy and Owen are great friends, so Owen frequently tags along with Roy on some of his many flights. Given more time one can always find more areas of the texture work to improve upon, and by the effecient layout of texture sheets, more time became available to go back and tweak things further.

These shots have been resized so they wont look as good as the ones in the photo album, either way it's all still very much work in progress....which is why I left the gauges covered and omitted other areas as well.

It's a great looking aircraft and certainly one of a kind. I'm sure once she is made available those who own her will be more than happy with the quality of the project as well as the fun of flying it!

Twinkie Tweaks

Thu, 06 Sep 2007 13:57:55 GMT

Piper Twin Comanche

in Final Development

The Eaglesoft Piper Twin Comanche featuring Pilot Roy Wilbanks and the aircraft's distinguished design is now in its final stages of development before being blessed for beta.

I received it a few weeks ago to begin final texture tweaks. Owen has done a fine job on the modeling of the aircraft as well as insuring a completely efficient layout of parts and textures. Users will appreciate the fluid FPS this package will provide.

Panel and gauge work is looking top notch as Ed, Bill, and Ron continue striving for nothing less than top quality in function and appeal consumers have come to expect.

Read more about Roy Wilbanks and his 'dream come true' here.

I'll post some updated photos before I send everything back up to Owen.

Stay tuned over at the Eaglesoft forums for all the latest developments on our first twin!

Photo Album: Piper Twin Comanche

Thu, 20 Sep 2007 15:10:06 GMT

Piper Twin Comanche

TC1

TC2

TC3

TC3a

TC4

TC5

TC6

TC7

TC7a

TC8

More Photos...

Photo Album: Tileproxy Scenery

Fri, 01 Jun 2007 12:15:38 GMT

Tileproxy Scenery

Vegas 1

Vegas 2

Vegas 3

Vegas 4

Hoover

Mammoth Yosemite

Yosemite 1

Yosemite 2

TP_9

TP_91

More Photos...

Photo Album: Sun N Fun 07

Thu, 19 Apr 2007 23:41:29 GMT

Sun N Fun 07

Good Morning! Let the stress begin!

Ron shoots a Diamond

The Best!

Diamond Jet

D-Jet

Piper Jet

Piper Jet Int

Piper Jet Cabin

Piper Jet Flight Deck

More Photos...

Photo Album: Fielding FS

Thu, 05 Apr 2007 14:11:28 GMT

Fielding FS

Hal, Ron and Katy

Bill, Ron, and Susan

Ron and Owen

FSX booth Owen

Bob and Burt

Patty and Ron

Mother and Child

Eclipse Brian with Owen

Glass Eclipse

Eclipse

More Photos...

Photo Album: Columbia 400 Real?

Sun, 01 Apr 2007 00:40:45 GMT

Columbia 400 Real?

Every detail

Plugging in data

Columbia Rep visit

Completed computer simulation

C400_side

External view

In flight

C400_int

2D panel

Real

More Photos...

Custom List: Flightsim Stuff

Thu, 17 Apr 2008 22:08:29 GMT

Flightsim Stuff

Custom List: World Aviation

Thu, 17 Apr 2008 22:07:47 GMT

World Aviation

Plane and Pilot Magazine
Our Cirrus mention
Museum of Flight
EagleSoft Cirrus in Seattle's Museum of Flight
Liberty Aerospace
Thanks for the help in designing!
Avidyne
Eaglesoft partnership
AOPA
Experimental Aircraft Assoc
AirNav
ANN-Aviation News

Custom List: Who's Eaglesoft?

Thu, 17 Apr 2008 22:01:20 GMT

Who's Eaglesoft?

Learn more about us, our awesome aircraft, and FlightSim!

Custom List: FlightSim News

Thu, 17 May 2007 12:30:32 GMT

FlightSim News

Custom List: Amazing People

Sun, 08 Apr 2007 23:22:43 GMT

Amazing People

Music List: Classic Rock!

Wed, 04 Apr 2007 12:21:42 GMT

Classic Rock!

Rolling Stones: Beast of Burden
Let It Bleed [DSD]
Lynyrd Skynyrd!: FreeBird
The Rockin' '70s
One of the most requested back in my rock band days.
38 special: Hold on Loosly
Anthology
I played this is a hotel room with them years ago
ZZ top: She's got Legs
ZZ Top - Greatest Hits
These guys play guitar with quarters to get that special sound.

Custom List: FlightSim Sites

Sat, 31 Mar 2007 20:17:46 GMT

FlightSim Sites