Phoenix Builder

Content creation tool for Phoenix R/C flight simulator

User Guide

Introduction

Phoenix Builder can be used for three main functions:

· Importing geometry and adding physics objects to create a fully flying model.

· Taking a Panoramic image and adding collision, weather and other objects to it to create a flying
site.

· Taking a Phoenix model and setting alternate textures to create an optional colour scheme.

Main menu

The main menu bar lies along the very top of the PhoenixBuilder window, and is used to perform
common tasks:

File Menu

New

This menu lets you create a new project.

Open

This menu lets you open an existing project.

Close

Close the currently opened project.

Save / Save As

Save the current project.

Test

Export the project to the My Documents > PhoenixBuilder > Test folder so that you can test it in
Phoenix. Once this is done, your model or scenery will appear under the "Test" category under
the Model > Change or Flying Site > Change menu.
 Publish

Export the project and package it ready for uploading to the online downloads service. Once you
have published your project, it will be saved into the My Documents > PhoenixBuilder > Publish
folder as a downloadable package (.pkg) file.

Import

Use this tool to import older projects from previous versions. Currently this only accepts version
3.0/4.0 flying site (.pxf) files.

Process

Use this tool to select a range of projects to open and re-save/export. If you have several
projects to open, save and/or export again, this automates the process.

Recent

Shows a list of recently saved projects.

Exit

Close Phoenix Builder.

View menu

Panels

Single

Selects a single, fullscreen panel.

Left and Right

Selects two panels, splitting the viewport in half vertically.

Top and Bottom

Selects two panels, splitting the viewport in half horizontally.

Three (large top)

Select three panels with a full-width panel at the top, and two underneath.

Three (large bottom)

Select three panels with a full-width panel at the bottom, and two above.

Four
 Split the viewport equally into four corners.

Settings menu

Set Phoenix folder

Set the current folder that Phoenix is installed in, where to search for resources, etc.

The Main Window

Toolsets

At the top-left of the window are the available toolsets which will change depending on the type
of project that is currently selected (if any). When you select a toolset, the available tools within
that toolset will appear immediately to its right.

View mode

In the far top-right of the main window are the view options:

· Wireframe: All geometry will be shown in wireframe mode.

· Smooth-shaded: All geometry will be shown solidly but untextured.

· Textured: All geometry will be shown solidly and textured.

Outliner

The Outliner shows every object and node currently in the project in a heirachical tree view.
Objects can be selected in this view and then edited using the Attribute Editor. You can
attach/parent objects to other objects int he Outliner by selecting and then dragging them onto
comaptible objects.

Above the outliner tree are buttons for changing objects:

· Un-parent: Unparents/detaches an object from its current parent.

· Disable/Enable: Disables/enabled an object so it can be edited.

· Show/Hide: Shows or hides an object so it appears/disappears from the view.

· Group: Groups the selected objects together so they can be moved/changed together.

· Copy: Duplicates the selected objects.

· Delete: Destroys the selected objects.

 Attribute Editor

Under the Outliner is the Attribute Editor which shows the attributes of the currently
selected object in the outliner tree. All objects have the same basic attributes:

· Name: The name of the object

· Type: The type of the object.

· Position: The absolute position of the object.

· Rotation: The rotation angles of the object.

· Scale: The current scale settings of the object.

Viewports

The main view is split into one or more viewports which show the current state of the project, and are
set by using the View > Panels menu on the main menu bar.

Each viewport shows a different view of the scene, with the current type of view displayed in the top-left
corner, an axis display in the bottom-right, and options for changing settings for the viewport in the top-
right. To show the viewport options, click the arrow icon in the top-right of the viewport:

· Grid: Show/Hide the viewport's grid.

· Axis: Show/Hide the small axis display in the bottom-right of the viewport.

· Reset: Reset the current viewport camera to its default orientation/zoom.

· Camera options: These options change the way the camera looks and controls:

· Perspective: Set the viewport camera to a 3D perpective type.

· Top: Set the viewport camera to a 2D orthographic type facing downwards.

· Side: Set the viewport camera to a 2D orthographic type facing from right-to-left.

· Front: Set the viewport camera to a 2D orthographic type facing from the front-to-back.

Viewport navigation

To navigate inside a viewport, first select the active viewport by left-clicking inside it. It will gain a lighter
border colour when it is the active viewport.
 · You can rotate the view (only available in a perspective mode) by clicking and dragging the right-
hand mouse button.

· You can pan the view by clicking and dragging the middle mouse button.

· You can also zoom in and out using the mouse-wheel.

Manipulators

When certain objects are selected in the Outliner, you will see a manipulator appear over it in the main
viewport. There are three types of manipulator:

· Position: Use this to reposition an object in the view by clicking and dragging on one of the
coloured arrows.

· Rotation: Holding the SHIFT key displays the rotation manipulator (if available). Use this to rotate
an object in the view by clicking and dragging on one of the coloured circles.

· Scale: Holding the CONTROL key displays the scale manipulator (if available). Use this to scale an
object in the view by clicking and dragging on one of the coloured boxes.

Model projects

Phoenix Builder can be used to import geometry from one or more sources, to move, scale or rotate
them to create the look of the model, and then set attributes, add various physical objects and collision
in order to make the model fly correctly.

Creating a new model project

To create a new model project, open the File menu and click New > Model. An empty project will be
created, and the default objects will be added to the Outliner window.

Building a model

Typically when creating a new model, you will first import the model's geometry into the project using
the Mesh > Import Mesh tool. Once you have done so, position, rotate or scale the geometry until you
have set the look of your model. You would then set the overall attributes for your model using the
Model Object (below). Once this has been accomplished, create physical objects such as wings, landing
gear, etc to form the physics part of your model, and match these to the geometry.
Model object

This node is created by default and lets you set overall attributes for the model.

When selected, you will see a position manipulator node which lets you place the Centre of Gravity for
the model.

Header

Name: The name of the model as displayed in the Model > Change menu. This should not
include the manufacturer.

Type: Set the type of the model.

Amphibious: Set whether this model is amphibious (floats) or not.

Manufacturer: Set the manufacturer of the model, if applicable.

Description: Enter a short description of the model which will be displayed under the Model >
Change menu.

Class: Choose the class of the model, which will set how the model is sorted under the Model >
Change menu.

Sub-Class: Choose a sub-class for the model, which will set how the model is sorted under the
Model > Change menu.

Style: Choose a style for the model, which will set how the model is sorted under the Model >
Change menu.

Power: Choose a power type for the model, which will set how the model is sorted under the
Model > Change menu.

Level: Choose a difficulty level for the model, which will set how the model is sorted under the
Model > Change menu.

Revision: Set the version (revision) of this model. This will typically start at 1.0 and iincrease each
time you release an updated version of the model.

Min program version: Sets the minimum version of Phoenix needed to select and fly this model.

Physical

Setup: The default difficulty setup of the model, which will be shown under the Simple view of
the Model > Edit menu.
Size: The physical size of the model which the geometry will be scaled by. Generally speaking,
this is the wing-span of an airplane model, or the rotor diameter of a helicopter model.

Weight: The total flying weight of the model.

Robustness: The general resistance of the model to impacts.

Inertia: Control the inertia of the model - this is usually left at 1,1,1.

Fuselage drag area: Set the drag-areas of the model fuselage in the form frontal, lateral, vertical.

Set: Select this to automatically set the above measurements.

Material: Set the physical material that the model is built from.

Cockpit: Set the cockpit that the user will see when flying in the "Cockpit" camera mode.

Supports training gear: Set whether the model will be equippable with training gear.

Has training gear: Set whether the model comes with training gear.

Fine tuning

Thrust: Control how much thrust the model has.

Lift: Control how much lift the model has.

Engine: Control how much engine power the model has.

Elevator: Control how much elevator power the model has.

Aileron: Control how much aileron power the model has.

Rudder: Control how much rudder power the model has.

Controls

For each of the controls displayed, set the following attributes:

Low-rate: Set the percentage of the normal amount of control throw when low-rates are
activated.

Expo (normal): Set the amount of expo on this control when not in low-rates.

Expo (low-rates): Set the amount of expo on this control when in low-rates.

Servo speed: Set the time the servo takes to move from one extreme to the other.

Servo dead-zone: Set the percentage threshold of the control travel under which the control will
show as central.
 Mix

This lets you select how this control is mixed with other controls.

Input: Set another control to influence (mix with) with control.

Amount: Set the amount of the other control to influence this one.

Geometry: Drag geometry nodes here to set the visual mesh for this model.

Collision: Drag collision nodes here to set the collidable objects for this model.

Mesh toolset

The mesh toolset contains tools for setting the visual look of the model.

Import mesh

Click this tool to open the Import Mesh browser. This lets you locate and import a supported mesh
format file into the project. Once you have located and selected a file, you can select which nodes inside
the file are imported into the scene. All imported mesh nodes will appear under the Geometry node,
and any materials will appear under the Materials node.

A geometry node contains a visible mesh which makes up part of the look of the model. Each node has
the following attributes:

Attributes

Rendering override 1 - 5: Each of these attributes lets you select an advanced rendering state
which can be overridden to create various effects such as back-face culling, transparency, etc.

Create material

This tool lets you create a new Material node, which will appear under the Materials node.

A material node contains attributes needed to colour/texture a mesh node, and contains the following
attributes:

Attributes

Diffuse (rgba): The diffuse colour of the material, in RGBA format and in the form "R,G,B,A". Each
component is in the range 0-255, so black would be "0,0,0,255", white would be
"255,255,255,255" and red would be "255,0,0,255". The last component is the opacity of the
material.
 Specular (rgba): The specular colour/intensity of the material in the same format as above. The
brighter the specular colour is set, the brighter the specular highlights on the material surfaces
will be.

Ambient (rgba): The ambient colour of the material, in the same format as the diffuse colour.
The ambient colour is the colour of the material even when there is no direct light hitting it.

Transparency (%): How transparent the material will be, with 0% being fully opaque/solid, and
100% being fully transparent/invisible.

Glow (%): How much the material glows when not in any light.

Reflectivity (%): How much the material reflects the surroundings, with 0% being completely
unreflective, and 100% being completely reflective (i.e. chome).

Roll-off: The specular roll-off of the material in the range 0 - 1.

Eccentricity: The specular eccentricity of the material in the range 0 - 1.

Texture: The diffuse texture applied to this material.

Shader: The shader applied to this material (should normally be left at "Default").

Physics toolset

The physics toolset contains tools for creating physical objects to add to the model.

Create collision

This tool create a collision object, which makes the model respond to impacts correctly. Without collision
objects covering the main portions of the model, it would pass through objects such as the environment
and other models.

When selected, you will be able to position, scale or (in some cases) rotate the collision object to match
the model's geometry better using the onscreen manipulator.

A collision node contains the following attributes:

Attributes

Collision: Chooses whether the object will collide with other objects.

Type: Sets the type of collision object:

Sphere: The collision object is spherical in shape. Use the normal manipulators to
move/rotate/scale the sphere to the correct size.
 Box: The collision object is box-like in shape. Use the normal manipulators to
move/rotate/scale the box to the correct size.

Mesh: The collision object is a triangular mesh. Use the Mesh attribute to set the
geometry node that this node gets its shape from.

Material: The material surface that this collision shape uses. "Inherit" uses whatever surface its
parent is set to.

Mesh: See "Mesh" collision type above.

Create Airfoil

An airfoil node simulates a physical wing/airfoil which provides lift to the model, and contains optional
control surfaces. Airfoils can also be set to be breakable when impacts occur.

When selected, the onscreen position manipulator lets you set the position of the root leading edge of
the airfoil node.

An airfoil node contains the following attributes:

Attributes

Mirrored: Set the airfoil to be mirrored. This lets you quickly and easily create both sides of a
wing without needing to duplicate attributes.

Length: Set the length of the airfoil from root to tip.

Airfoil: Set the actual shape of the airfoil from a list.

Root chord: Set the width/chord of the airfoil at its root.

Tip chord: Set the width/chord of the airfoil at its tip.

Incidence: Set the angle (incidence) of the airfoil at its root.

Dihedral: Set the dihedral angle of the airfoil. For a fin you would set this to 90 degrees.

Sweep: Set the backwards sweep angle of the airfoil.

Breakable: Set whether this airfoil can be broken by impacts with the environment/other
models.

Robustness: Set how breakable the airfoil node is.

Wash: Set how much influence propellers have on this airfoil and any control surfaces attached
to it.
 Left/Right: Contains the Geometry and Collision nodes for the airfoil's left and right sides. Drag a
collision node into the Collision section on the left or right side to add collision to the airfoil, or a
Geometry node into the Geometry section on the left or right side to set the visual look of the
airfoil.

Create Control Surface

A control surface node simulates a model's moveable surfaces such as elevators, ailerons, rudders, etc. If
you create a new control surface node, it should be dragged onto the correct parent Airfoil node for it to
function correctly.

When selected, two position manipulators will appear - one for the root and tip position of the control
surface's hinges. These will form the axis where the control surface rotates around.

A control surface node contains the following attributes:

Attributes

Enabled: Enable or disable the surface.

Input: Set the control input (from the radio) which activates this control surface.

Length: The length of the control surface from root to tip.

Tip distance: The distance between the tip of the airfoil and the tip of the control surface.

Root chord: Set the width/chord of the control surface at its root.

Tip chord: Set the width/chord of the control surface at its tip.

Min travel: The angle of the control surface at its lowest deflection.

Max travel: The angle of the control surface at its highest deflection.

Left/Right: The geometry of the control surface on the left and right side. Drag a geometry node
into the left or right side node in order to set the geometry nodes which move with the surface.

Create Flap

A flap node simulates a flap on the airfoil. If you create a new flap node, it should be dragged onto the
correct parent Airfoil node for it to function correctly.

When selected, two position manipulators will appear - one for the root and tip position of the flap's
hinges. These will form the axis where the flap rotates around.

A flap node contains the following attributes:

Attributes
 Enabled: Enable or disable the flap.

Length: The length of the flap from root to tip.

Tip distance: The distance between the tip of the airfoil and the tip of the flap.

Root chord: Set the width/chord of the flap at its root.

Tip chord: Set the width/chord of the flap at its tip.

Travel: The maximum deflection of the flap.

Lift increase: The increase in lift that the parent airfoil experiences when the flap is fully
deflected.

Drag increase: The increase in drag that the parent airfoil experiences when the flap is fully
deflected.

Is leading edge: Sets whether the flap is on the trailing or leading edge of the airfoil.

Left/Right: The geometry of the flap on the left and right side. Drag a geometry node into the left
or right side node in order to set the geometry nodes which move with the flap.

Create Airbrake

An airbrake node simulates an airbrake on the airfoil. If you create a new airbrake node, it should be
dragged onto the correct parent Airfoil node for it to function correctly.

When selected, two position manipulators will appear - one for the root and tip position of the airbrake's
hinges. These will form the axis where the airbrake rotates around (if applicable).

An airbrake node contains the following attributes:

Attributes

Mirrored: Sets whether this airbrake is mirrored onto the other side of the model.

Drag increase: The increase in drag that the parent airfoil experiences when the airbrake is fully
extended.

Lift reduction: The decrease in lift that the parent airfoil experiences when the airbrake is fully
extended.

State: The current state that the onscreen airbrake is set to when editing. Each airbrake has two
states: Idle and Full. To see the effects of the parameters set below, set this attribute to the state
you wish to see.

Idle angle: the angle of the airbrake when in its idle state.
 Idle position: the change in position of the airbrake in its idle state.

Full angle: the angle of the airbrake when in its full (extended) state.

Full position: the change in position of the airbrake in its full (extended) state.

Left/Right: The geometry of the airbrake on the left and right side. Drag a geometry node into
the left or right side node in order to set the geometry nodes which move with the airbrake.

Create Propeller

This node simulates a rotating propeller which provides thrust to the model.

When selected, a position manipulator will appear which will let you place where the propeller's thrust
position is. Use the scale mode (hold CTRL) to set the radius of the propeller's visual blur effect when it is
spinning.

A propeller node contains the following attributes:

Attributes

Diameter: The distance between the tips of the propeller's blades.

Pitch: The pitch of the propeller.

Blade count: Use this to set the number of blades the propeller has.

Idle RPM: The RPM of the propeller when at idle throttle.

Max RPM: The RPM of the propeller when at full throttle.

Down thrust: The offset angle of the propeller downwards.

Right thrust: The offset angle of the propeller rightwards.

Torque: This controls the amount of torque that the propeller exerts.

Spin direction: Set the rotation direction of the propeller.

Pusher: Set whether this is a pusher or puller propeller.

Response: Controls the speed of response of the propeller when spooling up/winding down.

Blur texture: If the propeller has a custom texture when its rotating, set it here.

Reset: Reset the texture to default.

Engine: Set the engine sound of the propeller.

 Spin geometry: Add geometry nodes here if they should spin with the propeller (but not blur or
go transparent as the propeller spins faster).

Blur geometry: Add geometry nodes here if they should spin with the propeller and also blur and
go transparent as the propeller spins faster.

Exhaust: Add exhaust nodes here which should react to this propeller's state.

Create Turbine

This node simulates a turbine or ducted-fan node which provides thrust to the model.

When selected, a position manipulator will appear which will let you place where the turbine's thrust
position is.

A turbine node contains the following attributes:

Attributes

Idle RPM: The RPM of the turbine/ducted-fan when at idle-throttle.

Max RPM: The RPM of the turbine/ducted-fan when at full throttle.

Idle thrust: The amount of thrust provided by the node when at idle throttle.

Max thrust: The amount of thrust provided by the node when at full throttle.

Spool time: How quickly the turbine/ducted-fan reacts to changes in throttle.

Engine: Sets the engine sound of this node.

Exhaust: Add exhaust nodes here which should react to this turbine's state.

Create Main Rotor

This node simulates a helicopter's main rotor head, blades and engine.

When selected, you will see several manipulators onscreen depending on the options chosen:

Upper rotor: Use this manipulator to position where the rotor head is for the upper rotors. Use
the scale mode (hold CTRL) to set the radius of the visual blur effect seen when this set of rotors
are spinning.

Lower rotor: Use this manipulator to position where the rotor head is for the lower set of rotors
(i.e. on a Coaxial setup). Use the scale mode (hold CTRL) to set the radius of the visual blur effect
seen when this set of rotors are spinning.

Flybar: Use this manipulator to position the centre of the flybar (if enabled). Use the scale mode
(hold CTRL) to set the radius of the visual blur effect seen when the flybar is spinning.
This node contains the following attributes:

Attributes

Diameter: The distance from one tip to the other of the main rotor's blades.

Chord: The width of the main blades.

Blade count: The number of blades.

Inertia: How quickly the blades will spin up/slow down.

Min pitch: The pitch the blades will be at when the collective control is at minimum.

Mid pitch: The pitch the blades will be at when the collective control is at its central position.

Max pitch: The pitch the blades will be at when the collective control is at maximum.

Frontal cyclic: The response of the model to frontal cyclic input (elevator/pitch).

Lateral cyclic: The response of the model to lateral cyclic input (aileron/roll).

Damping: The resistance of the model to pitch/roll motion.

Direction: The direction of rotation of the rotor blades.

Airfoil: The shape of the blades.

Blur texture: If this model has a custom texture for its rotor-blades blur, set it here.

Reset: Select this to reset the above paramater to default.

Engine

Engine: The sound of the engine.

Power: The amount of power that the engine has.

Idle RPM: The RPM of the engine when at idle throttle.

Max RPM: The RPM of the engine when at full power.

Gear ratio: The ratio between the engine and the rotors.

Flybar

Type: The flybar setup that this node is equipped with:

Standard: This is a normal flybar setup with a single rotor.

 Passive Flybarless: A flybarless setup with passive (non-self-righting) control.

Active Flybarless: A flybarless setup with active (self-righting) control.

Coaxial: Coaxial rotor setup with dual coaxial rotors.

Has flybar: Set this to enable/disable the flybar on this rotor.

Diameter: The distance between the tips of the flybar.

Hover stability: How stable the model is in a hover. Values above 100% means that the model
will self-right.

Interaction: The cyclic interaction experienced between elevator and aileron inputs during
manoeuvres such as loops and rolls.

Agility: This parameter controls the agility of the flybarless system. A higher agility setting will
give higher control throws.

Response: Use this parameter to control the response of the flybarless system. A higher
response setting will make the model respond faster to control inputs.

Gain: When a flybarless head is selected from the 'Flybar type' attribute, use this parameter to
control the gain of the flybarless system. A lower gain will reduce the flybarless heading-hold
effect, while higher gains will improve model stability but may introduce unwanted effects such
as cyclic bounce/wag and dead-band.

Active response: When Active mode is selected, this slider controls how aggresively the model
will self-right when no cyclic input is applied.

Active delay: When Active mode is selected, this slider controls how long the model will delay
self-righting when no cyclic input is applied.

Active inverted: When this attribute is disabled, the model will always self-right to a normal
upright hover when no cylic input is applied. When enabled, the model will self-right to either
upright or inverted, depending on the current orientation of the model.

Auto trim: Enable this attribute to enable Auto Trim on the flybarless system. When this is
enabled, some low-gain effects such as bobbing are corrected by the flybarless system.

Governor

Enabled: Enable or disable the rotor governor for these main rotors.

RPM: Set the RPM that the rotor governor will try to maintain.

Sensitivity: Set how quickly the governor will try to maintain the set RPM.
 Advanced

Collective crispness: This advanced control sets how aggressively the model will react to
collective inputs.

Collective response: This advanced control sets how aggressively the model will react to
collective inputs.

Ground effect: This attribute controls how much additional lift the model will gain when near the
ground.

Induced cyclic power-loss: This attribute controls how much loss of cyclic-power the model will
experience when high load is placed on the rotor head.

Vortex state lift loss: This attribute controls how much loss of lift the model will experience when
in a vortex-ring state (i.e. when settling under power).

Parasitic drag: Extra drag applied to the model.

Upper: This set of nodes sets up the geometry for the upper set of rotors:

Blades:

Drag geometry onto here to set the meshes used for the rotor blades.

Spin Geometry:

Drag geometry here to set which meshes should rotate with the rotors.

Blue geometry:

Drag geometry here to set meshes which will rotate and blur with the
rotors.

Lower: This set of nodes sets up the geometry for the lower set of rotors (if applicable).

Stabiliser: This set of nodes sets up the geometry for the stabilisers (if applicable).

Exhaust: Add exhaust nodes here which should react to this rotor's state.

Create Tail Rotor

Creates a tail-rotor node.

When selected, use the position manipulator to set the position of the centre of the tail rotor hub. Use
the scale mode (hold CTRL) to set the radius of the visual blur effect seen when the tail rotor is spinning.

This node contains the following attributes:

Attributes

Diameter: The distance between the tail-rotor blades' tips.

Chord: The chord/width of the tail rotor blades.

Blade count: The number of blades in the tail-rotor.

Direction: The direction that the tail rotor spins.

Drive type: Set the method that the tail rotor is driven:

Head driven: The tail is driven by the speed of the main rotors.

Engine driven: The tail is driven by the speed of the engine.

Seperate motor: The tail is driven by its own motor.

Min pitch: The minimum pitch that the tail blades will achieve.

Max pitch: The maximum pitch that the tail blades will achieve.

Max RPM: The maximum speed that the tail will achieve.

Blur texture: If this model has a custom texture for its tail-rotor-blades blur, set it here.

Reset: Select this to reset the above paramater to default.

Gyro

Type: Sets the type of gyro attached to the tail-rotors:

None: No gyro is attached to the tail rotor.

Rate: A rate gyro is attached.

Heading-hold: A heading-hold gyro is attached.

Sensitivity: How sensitive the gyro (if attached) is to changes in motion.

Rate: The rotational yaw (rudder) speed that the model will try to achieve when a heading-hold
gyro is attached.

Advanced

Wash: Set the amount of tail-rotor-wash generated by the tail rotor. Tail rotor wash is the effect
of the tail rotor on the position of the model.

Servo delay: Set how quickly the gyro will react to changes in the model's rotation.
 Blades: Drag geometry onto here to set the meshes used for the rotor blades.

Spin Geometry: Drag geometry here to set which meshes should rotate with the rotors.

Blue geometry: Drag geometry here to set meshes which will rotate and blur with the rotors.

Create Gear

Creates a landing-gear node.

When selected, two manipulators will appear which let you form the hinge axis which the gear will
bend/flex along. Position the root and tip manipulators so that these lies along the line that the gear
should bend around when impacting the ground or objects.

This node has the following attributes:

Attributes

Mirrored: Sets whether the node is mirrored from left to right.

Is guide: Sets if this gear is a guide-wheel that controls the model's direction on the ground.

Direction: Sets the direction of the guide wheel.

Travel: Sets the maximum travel of the guide wheel when the control is at its maximum.

Breakable: Sets whether this gear is breakable when impacting against the ground.

Robustness: Controls how breakable the gear node is.

Retracts

Retractable: This sets whether the gear is retractable or fixed.

Time: Set the time that the gear takes to fully retract/extend.

State: Change the current state shown on the model. Retractable gear has three states which lets
you set a range of animation.

Idle angle/position: Set the angle and position offset of the gear when in the idle state.

Mid angle/position: Set the angle and position offset of the gear when in the mid state.

Full angle/position: Set the angle and position offset of the gear when in the full state.

Left/Right: Sets geometry/collision for the left and right sides of the gear node.

Geometry:

Drag geometry onto here to set the meshes used on this gear node.
 Collision:

Drag Collision nodes onto here to set the collision on this gear node.

Wheels: Create and drag wheels onto here to attach them to this gear node.

Create Wheel

Creates a wheel node which should be attached to a Gear node by dragging the node onto the "Wheels"
section of the appropriate Gear node.

When selected, use the position manipulator to set the centre of rotation of this wheel. Use the scale
mode (hold CTRL) to scale the radius and thickness of the wheel.

This node has the following attributes:

Left/Right: Sets geometry for the left and right sides of the wheel node.

Create Exhaust

Creates an exhaust node which emits engine or display. This node should be attached to an appropriate
parent node by dragging it onto the "Exhaust" section of a Propeller, Main Rotor or Turbine node.

This has the following attributes:

Attributes

Engine smoke: Sets whether this node will emit smoke with throttle.

Intensity: Controls the amout of smoke emitted by the node.

Display smoke: Sets whether the node will emit display smoke when activated.

Colour (rgba): Sets the colour of the display smoke when activated in the format R,G,B,A.
"255,255,255,255" will be white smoke, "255,0,0,255" will be red smoke.

Create Widget

Creates a widget node which lets you simulate an animated cover or other object controllable from a
control input.

When selected, two position manipulators will appear which let you set the hinge axis for the widget
node to rotate around.

This has the following attributes:

Attributes

Mirrored: Sets whether the widget is mirrored from left to right.

 Time: Sets the time for the widget to animate fully from one state to the other.

State: Change the current state shown on the model. Widgets have three states which lets you
set a range of animation.

Idle angle/position: Set the angle and position offset of the widget when in the idle state.

Mid angle/position: Set the angle and position offset of the widget when in the mid state.

Full angle/position: Set the angle and position offset of the widget when in the full state.

Input: Set the control input which controls what state the widget is in.

Create Pilot

Create a pilot which can be set to several styles.

When selected, use the position manipulator to set the position of the base of the pilot's geometry. Use
the scale mode (hold CTRL) to set the size of the pilot.

This node has the following attributes:

Attributes

Mesh: Set the style of pilot.

Create Streamer

Create a streamer node which can be configured by the user to attach a streamer to.

When selected, use the position manipulator to set the root point that the streamer is connected to.

Misc Toolset

This toolset contains various other tools for setting up a model.

Set Preview Image

Click this tool to enter/leave Preview Mode. While in Preview Mode you can rotate, move and scale the
model to fit inside a frame. When you export the model this will be exported as the model's preview
image.

Creating a new site project

To create a new flying site project, open the File menu and click New > Site. An empty project will be
created, and the default objects will be added to the Outliner window.

Site projects

When creating a new site project, you will most likely start by creating a new panoramic image
(Panorama > Create Cubic Pano). Once this is done, set the cube faces to your panoramic images. You
may then wish to create a new ground collision plane (Collision > Create Plane). Once done, select the
panorama node you first created, and use the position and rotation manipulators to align the images to
the collision plane, so that the horizons match. You can then go on to create more collision objects to
define the scene.

Site object

The Site object is created by default when you create a new Site Project, and lets you set main attributes
for the flying site.

When this node is selected, an orange arrow will appear which can be rotated to set the global wind
direction for the site using the rotate manipulator (hold SHIFT).

If water has been enabled, a painting circle will also appear onscreen which lets you set the
trasnparent/opaque sections of water.

This node has the following attributes:

Header

Name: Set the name of the flying site which will be shown under the Flying Site > Change menu.

Description: Enter a short description for the site which will be shown under the Flying Site >
Change menu.

Author: Enter your name here.

Interior: Set whether this site is an interior location (i.e. a Sports Hall).

Weather

Enabled: Set whether site weather is enabled.

Wind-speed: If the above is enabled, set the wind-speed for the entire flying site.

Turbulence: Set the site-wide turbulence here.

 Thermals: Set the thermal strength here for the entire flying site.

Sound

Reverb: Enable or disable echo/reverb for the site. This is useful when flying on interior locations
such as Sports Halls.

Ambient sound: Set an ambient (background) sound effect which will be looped when flying on
this site.

Water

This object lets you setup water on this flying site. When water is enabled, it will appear as a
blue plane in the scene. You can then paint how transparent the water is over the flying site
using the brush tools.

Attributes

Enabled: Set whether this site has water or not.

Fill: Lets you clear (or fill) the entire water plane transparent or solid/opaque.

Radius: Set the radius of the brush you are painting water transparency with.

Power: Set the brush opacity of the brush you are painting water transparency with.

Panorama toolset

This toolset contains tools for importing and setting up the panoramic background image for your flying
site.

Create Cubic Panorama

This tool creates a new cubic panorama in the scene. A cubic panorama is made from six panoramic
images - one for each side of a cube that you are inside, so covering the entire view in every direction.

When selected, use the position manipulator to adjust the height of the panorama against the horizon-
line of any 3D objects (i.e. a ground plane) in the scene. Use the rotation mode (hold SHIFT) to adjust the
orientation of the panorama so that it is level.

This node has the following attributes:

Panels

+X: Sets the panoramic image to be shown in the +X (right) cube-face direction.
 +Z: Sets the panoramic image to be shown in the +Z (front) cube-face direction.

-X: Sets the panoramic image to be shown in the -X (left) cube-face direction.

-Z: Sets the panoramic image to be shown in the -Z (back) cube-face direction.

+Y: Sets the panoramic image to be shown in the +Y (top) cube-face direction.

-Y: Sets the panoramic image to be shown in the -Y (bottom) cube-face direction.

Collision toolset

This toolset contains tools for creating and editing collision objects in your scene. Without these, flying
models will simply fall through/fly through the scenery.

Create Plane/Sphere/Box/Cylinder

Click one of these tools to create one of the available collision primitives in the scene.

Use the manipulator onscreen when selected to position, rotate (hold SHIFT) or scale (hold CTRL) the
collision object to match the panoramic photograph as accurately as possible.

Each primitive has the same attributes as below:

Attributes

Visible: Sets whether this object will obscure the flying models when they fly behind it.

Collidable: Sets whether this object will collide with a flying model when an impact should occur.
With this set to No, models will fly through this object.

Type: Set this to any one of the available collision primitives:

Plane: The primitive is an infinite plane.

Box: The primitive is a 3D box object which can be sized and rotated.

Sphere: The primitive is a 3D sphere object which can be resized.

Cylinder: The primitive is a 3D cylinder shape which can be sized and rotated.

Material: The physical surface material of this object, which controls how colliding models will
react when they impact this object.
Create Extrusion/Material area

Click either of these tools to create an area object in the scene. An area object lets you set a series of
points which define a filled area. You can then either "extrude" the area upwards to create plinths, lips or
other types of raised areas, or set the area to a specific material so that when a model collides with
another object beneath it, it will take on the material set for the area. This is useful for setting different
areas on a plane with different materials (such as a tarmac area on a runway next to grass areas):

Attributes

Visible: Sets whether this object will obscure the flying models when they fly behind it.

Collidable: Sets whether this object will collide with a flying model when an impact should occur.
With this set to No, models will fly through this object.

Type: Set this to any one of the available area types:

Extrusion: The area can be extruded upwards to create a raised object using the
onscreen manipulator.

Material: The area will change any object below it to the material that is set.

Weather: The area will change the weather conditions inside it to those set.

Material: The physical surface material of this object, which controls how colliding models will
react when they impact this object.

You can also use the onscreen manipulator to set the height of the area above the ground, and the scale
manipulator (hold CONTROL) to set the width of the area.

Adding to/editing the area: With this object selected, you will see each of the area points highlighted in
yellow, and you can see where a new point will be added (and which previous points it will connect to):

· Left-click to add the new point and update the object's fill area.

· If you place the cursor over a previously created point, that point will show as red, and middle-
clicking the mouse will remove that point.

· Left-dragging the mouse over a point will move that point.

Create skyline

A skyline object lets you quickly and easily define a collidable shape on the horizon to create effects such
as skyscrapers, trees, etc which would be difficult to build up using many 3D primitives. A skyline object
is made up of two or more sets of 2 points - one point on the ground plane, and one directly above it
which sets the height of the skyline at that position:

Attributes

Visible: Sets whether this object will obscure the flying models when they fly behind it.

Collidable: Sets whether this object will collide with a flying model when an impact should occur.
With this set to No, models will fly through this object.

Material: The physical surface material of this object, which controls how colliding models will
react when they impact this object.

Adding to/editing the skyline: With this object selected, you can add new points in sequence onto the
ground plane of the scene, and set the height of each point to create the shape of the skyline:

· Left-click to add a new point which will be connected to the previous point in the sequence.
Editable points will be automatically created at set intervals between the new point and the last
point.

· Middle-click to delete a previously created point when your mouse is over it.

· Left-drag over a point to re-position it. If you drag the bottom (ground) point then it will be
positioned on the ground plane. If you drag the top point then it can be set to a new height
above the corresponding ground point.

Create height-map

A height-map object defines an editable/sculptable plane surface which can be "painted" on to change
the height at any point. With this you can simulate complex areas such as hills and other irregular
shapes. This is also useful for creating a beach which gradually drops into the surrounding sea. You
should use the position manipulator to centre the heightmap, and the scale manipulator (hold
CONTROL) to set the width and length of the heightmap.

Attributes

Visible: Sets whether this object will obscure the flying models when they fly behind it.

Collidable: Sets whether this object will collide with a flying model when an impact should occur.
With this set to No, models will fly through this object.

Material: The physical surface material of this object, which controls how colliding models will
react when they impact this object.

Density: Set the density of points in the height-map. This is the number of editable points in
both directions, and lets you create more or less complex height-maps.
 Brush

Radius: When painting on the heightmap, use this to set the size of the painting brush to edit a
larger or smaller area. You can also hold down the CONTROL key and use the mouse-wheel to
adjust the brush radius.

Power: When painting on the heightmap, use this to set how drastic the changes are, and how
quickly the changes occur when holding down the left button. You can also hold down the SHIFT
key and use the mouse-wheel to adjust the brush power.

Sculpting the height-map: When this object is selected, you will see the height-map grid onscreen, and
when your cursor is over it, you will also see the current brush size circle.

· When you hold down the left mouse button, the height-map points within the brush radius will
raise up at a speed depending on the brush power you have set.

· If you have the CONTROL key held down, the points in this area will lower instead of raise.

· If you hold CONTROL and use the mouse wheel, the brush radius can be changed.

· If you hold SHIFT and use the mouse wheel, the brush power can be changed.

Environment toolset

This toolset contains tools for setting up the environment of your site - including weather, sun position
and other tools.

Create light

Creates a light object in the scene. This is a directional light source which can be set to any colour and
position to simulate the sun, interior lighting, etc.

Use the onscreen manipulator to position where the source of the light is coming from, so it matches the
perceived light source in the panoramic image.

This node has the following attributes:

Attributes

Ambient: Set the ambient colour of this light source in the form R,G,B. Ambient light is the
surface colour even when the light is not directly hitting it (i.e. in shadow). Values are from 0 -
255, so for example a white light would be "255,255,255", and a red light would be "255,0,0".

Diffuse: Set the diffuse colour of this light source in the form R,G,B. Diffuse light is the surface
 colour when the light is hitting it (not in shadow). Values are from 0 - 255, so for example a white
light would be "255,255,255", and a red light would be "255,0,0".

Specular: Set the specular (highlight) intensity of the light.

Create weather node

A weather node lets you create an area where the weather conditions are different from the globally set
weather parameters. With this node, you define an area on the ground plane by creating points, then set
the wind/weather settings for any model which flies within this area's boundary:

Attributes:

Visible: Not used for this type of object.

Collidable: Not used for this type of object.

Type: Set the area type (see other area types under the Collision Toolset category above).

Material: Not used for this type of object.

Wind speed: Set the wind-speed when model is inside this area.

Thermal stringth: Set how strong thermals are inside this area.

Turbulence: Set the amount of turbulence for models inside this area.

When this object is selected, you will be able to add points in order to define the area's boundary. You
can also see the direction of the wind speed that is set (if any) by the large orange arrow, and by rotating
it using the rotation manipulator (hold SHIFT). For more information, see Areas above under the Collision
Toolset.

Create position

Positions tell Phoenix where to place various types of model on your flying site when they are created.

Attributes:

Class: Set the type of model that will start at this position.

Every flying site should contain at least one start position for airplane models called "default 1". If
another model type is not set, it will default back to this starting position.

The main starting positions should be named "default" with a number between 1 - 4 after it to denote
which model index should start there. The first position therefore should be named "default 1". You can
also add as many other positions as you wish which can be selected from the Model > Position > Change
menu.

You can also use the rotational manipulator (hold SHIFT) to set the starting angle for a model starting at
this position.

Special positions

You can also create special positions for the Windsock and Spot Landing. This is set by changing
the "Class" attribute to either "Spot" or "Windsock".

Misc Toolset

This toolset contains tools for settings previews and other attributes.

Preview tool

Enable/disable Preview mode. In this mode you can rotate the view until you find the viewpoint you
wish to have shown on the preview under the Flying Site > Change menu.

Set Masking

Enable/disable Masking Mode. This is not currently implemented.

Creating a new scheme project

To create a new scheme project, open the File menu and click New > Scheme. An empty project will be
created, and the default objects will be added to the Outliner window.

Scheme projects

When creating a new scheme project, be sure to set the model that the scheme applies to first using the
Scheme Object. Once accomplished, you will probably wish to export any textures you want to change so
that they can be edited in an external editor (i.e. Adobe Photoshop). Once you have done so, use the
"New" attribute under every changed texture to set your new versions.

Scheme object
This is the main default node created when you create a Scheme Project. Use this to set overall
attributes.

Attributes

Name: Set the name of your new colour scheme.

Model: Click here to open the Model Browser, where you should locate the model-file for the
model you wish to create a new scheme for. You should set this before making any other
changes to the scheme. When you do this, all changeable textures will be loaded and can be
found and changed under the Textures node, and the model preview will appear in the viewport.

Textures

This node contains all of the textures that can be altered in the selected model to create your
new alternate scheme.

Attributes

Original: The original texture-file if the model's default scheme is selected.

New: Click this to set a replacement file for this texture.

Export: Click this to export the texture so that you can edit it in an external painting
package. A seperate file is also created with the texure's UV coordinates.