General Question Off parameter in Multistage 2015 ???

[CurlSnout]

I've been working on some simple rocket models, using Blender to construct meshes and Multistage 2015 to fly them in Orbiter. Seems like I am constantly wrestling with the 'Off' [Off=(xx,yy,zz)] parameter in MS2015 and wonder if someone can help explain what this is all about. This is a mandatory parameter for much of what needs to be included in a MS2015 *.ini file (boosters, stages, interstages, fairings, payloads, etc.). While some parameters are easy to determine - for example things like Height, Diameter, Mass, etc. - this one remains a mystery to me. Vinka's original (2005?) release document explains that this is a "vector position of mesh offset in launcher" and the document provided by Fred18 (2017) says that it is "offset of the mesh". So, I understand that these xx,yy,zz values specify a position in space, but with respect to WHAT exactly? So far I have been trying to get hints from where things sit inside Blender and determining what actually works in Orbiter empirically - that is, by trial-and-error (lots of error). Usually I can get things to work eventually. But it seems like there should be an objective way to determine these values or at least start out with values that are close to what they really need to be.

Can anyone offer insight?

Finally, this is in no way intended as negative commentary directed at either Vinka or Fred18. I am immensely grateful for all the work they did and the generosity they demonstrated sharing it with the rest of us.

Peace,

cs

 

[gattispilot]

On the newglenn this is what I have. The off is how much to offset/move the mesh. In the 2nd image I move the off by 1 meter and you can see the 2nd stage is 1 meter higher.
For me it is what looks good. in meshwizard is shows the z length of the 1st stage to be 56.38705 and maybe -4.7 offset and then factor into this
[MISC]
cog=22.5

 

[CurlSnout]

Thanks. It seems like trial-and-error and what looks good will prevail.

Probably I've been making this more complex than it needs to be - I have recently discovered through experimenting that although the 'Off' parameter IS mandatory and must be included in the MS *.ini file, values of 0.000 for all three coordinate axes (x.y,z) are perfectly valid. I was getting hung up on thinking that some non-zero value had to be entered to define mesh offset with respect to the z axis. Perhaps this was obvious to everyone else all along. For me it is a revelation.

Hi-Ho,

cs