• I am a registered user of FSDS V2.x. How can I upgrade to FSDS V3.5?
   
• Will I be able to use my FSDS V2.x projects with FSDS V3.5?
   
• Can I sell aircraft or scenery that I make with FSDS V3.5?
   
• How does Autosave work?
   
• After I install FSDS V3.5, I am unable to apply textures to any parts. What is the problem?
   
• How can I find the Software Development Kit (SDK) for FSX?
   
• I cannot find the Software Development Kits (SDKs) using the links in the File | Preferences menu in FSDS v3.5. How can I download the FS2004 SDKs?
   
• My animations are not working in FSX. Do you have any suggestions?
   
• Why are my animated parts being drawn at the center of my aircraft and not where they are supposed to be?
   
• Why are my animated parts invisible when viewed in FSX?
   
• Why can't I see through my FSDS v3.5 aircraft windows in FSX?
  
   

If you are a registered user of FSDS V2.x, you can upgrade to FSDS V3.5 for a special price of $29. You must have a duly registered copy of FSDS V2.x on your computer to complete the upgrade installation.
 
Installation of this upgrade requires that a registered version of FSDS V2 on your hard drive. To qualify for the special upgrade price, users must be duly registered users of FS Design Studio V2.x and have a valid FSDS V2 registration key.

To order your FSDS V3.5 upgrade click below:

Yes, with FSDS V2 you can Open an FSDS V2.x project.

The following items need to be addressed for your new FSDS V3.5 project:
 
_ Aircraft animator tags are removed - you'll use a different method to animate moving parts
_ Transformatons - these are no longer supported
_ SDL macros - the current version of SDL macros are incompatible with FSDS V2
_ Mirrored polygon - these are no longer supported
_ Duplicate part names - thesse are renamed to insure that the part names are unique

Yes. The license allows you to sell, barter or trade aircraft and scenery that you make with FSDS V3.5.

However, you must be sure that you have the right to produce the visual model for the aircraft or scenery.

You can specify the Autosave frequency from the File | Preferences dialog. By default this is 10 minutes. As you are working on your project, it you have not saved the project within the specified number of minutes, FSDS will make a copy of your project. The project is copied to a file named "autosave.dst" and is located in your main FSDS folder.
 
If you later have a computer problem that prevents you from using your original project (e.g. project.fsc), you can revert to the project as it was last saved. Make a copy of autosave.dst, called project-copy.fsc for example, and work with this copy.

Keep in mind that the autosave.dst file represents the state of your project at the time it was automatically saved and will not have all of the changes that you subsequently make to the project. We suggest that you save the project often using a filename other than autosave.dst.

How can I find the Software Development Kit (SDK) for FSX?

The FSX Software Development Kit is contained on the Flight Simulator X Deluxe Edition distribution DVDs.

You can install the FSX SDK by inserting FSX DVD #1 into your dvd drive, changing to the SDK\ folder and running setup.exe

I cannot find the Software Development Kits (SDKs) using the links in the File | Preferences menu in FSDS v3.5. How can I download the FS2004 SDKs?

Microsoft recently changed the location of the SDK download files. They can be downloaded from here

My animations are not working in FSX. Do you have any suggestions?

Animating sing FSDS v3.5 is different from previous version of FS Design Studio. FOr all animations, you will have to use the new FSX Keyframe Animation part names.

Open the Part Properties of the part you want to animate and click the Browse button. Select FSX Keyframe Animation from the Category drop down list. Next select the proper part name. Note that there are many similar part names. For example a flap will list:

l_flap_key
l_flap_percent_key
l_flap_neg_key
l_flap_neg_percent_key
r_flap_key
r_flap_percent_key
r_flap_neg_key
r_flap_neg_percent_key

We suggest that you use the animated part names that have the word “percent” in the part name. In this case, use l_flap_percent_key and r_flap_percent_key. The first letter specifies Left or Right.

My animations are not working in FSX. Do you have any suggestions?

All animated parts must have a parent part. To be more specific, all animated parts must have a parent part that has the same axis as the part being animated.

Please see the next topic for more details.

Why are my animated parts invisible when viewed in FSX?

In all likelihood, the animated parts are not invisible; they are just being drawn in the wrong place. All animated parts must have a parent part. To be more specific, all animated parts must have a parent part that has the same axis as the part being animated.

We'll explain in more detail.

We assume that you have already animated a part as per the HELP Advanced Exercises, for example Animating Landing Gear, Animating the Ailerons or Animating a Rudder.

Make a copy of the animated part (Edit | Copy, then Edit | Paste). Make the copied part, the current part. Select Part Properties and click the “Hierarchy Node (no geometry)” check box. This tells FSDS that this copy is not to be drawn and is being used only to reference its position and axis.

Now make the animated part current and select Part Properties. Use the Parent Part drop-down menu to select the name of the copy (the copied part name should be same as the animated part with a “.1” added to the end).

Once set, you may need to adjust the axis of the copied animated part. Click the Part | Reset Part Rotation to reset the animated parts rotation.

Note that you will need to re-animate the part. If you already have animation keyframes assigned to the part, you will want to remove them and re-animate.

Why can't I see through my FSDS v3.5 aircraft windows in FSX?

There are a few suggestions that you can use to make transparent glass in FSX:

1. The part must be textured
2. The texture must have an alpha channel
3. The part must have a material assigned
4. The Material name must be one of the following: 
   trans
   prop
   glass
   window

For example, you can use "glass_cockpit", or "trans_doorwindow". This technique works as long as the material name begins with one of the above.

Open Part Properties and click the Material button. Click Add to create a new material. Set the name of the material to one of the names listed above and click OK. The settings for the material do not matter – just the name.

To make your texture transparent, you will need to use a program like the ACES Image tool that ships with the FS SDKs or a freeware program called DXTBMP from Martin Wright.

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