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FS2004 Sunshade

tgycgijoes

tgycgijoes

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us-northcarolina
Is it possible to make a dark transparent window in front of the main panel to simulate having on sunglasses? I know that pure black 0-0-0 is totally transparent but when I use anything less it puts an opaque square in front of the panel. I searched on line but all I can find is about alpha channels for reflections not transparency. Any ideas?
 
Transparency is an overlay on a gauge or lamp. I can create these in Xara no problem but want a complete transparent rectangle in front of the entire main panel window and just got an idea......!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I'll post if it works
 
I opened up the panel bitmap in Xara and put a transparent green over the bitmap and it looks good in Fs panel studio but...It doesn't work because you turn the pure black that makes the airport visible into something other than pure black and it is no longer an FS transparency.
 
Did you read the SDK? Or those links that discuss use of Transparency, one of which was in one of your own topics?

Do this:
Code: 
<Element Name="Transparent Green Overlay">
    <Position X="0" Y="0"/>
    <Rectangle Width="700" Height="900" FillColor="green" Transparency="0.5" />
</Element>
An overlay like this should be the last Element in your script.

Once you see how the Rectangle Object above looks, you will know how to finish your sunshade effect.
 
Thank you. I have never seen this or forgot I did. I will go back to find the section in the panel SDK. I have always created all my bmps in Xara Xtreme from the FS2K XML tutorial which is where I learned what little I know about coding and creating gauges.
 
OK, I read both the FS2004 Panel and Gauge SDK which has nothing in it about transparency and clicked the Online SDK and found transparency but just a one liner in the SDK. No help. I am an artist and flight simmer/former naval aviator. I ran computers in aircraft when they weighed hundreds of pounds and ran in basic to make orange screens, so please don't lose patience with an old man.

I am not trying to create a transparent window over a gauge. I teach flight simulation in junior high. One of my students last week who got a glaring sun through the cockpit and had trouble seeing the field when turning on final, asked why we didn't have sunglasses in the cockpit.

I am trying to create a semi-transparent gray or green window that will be a click on/off window filter in front of the entire aircraft main panel on whatever aircraft I want to add it to; like putting on a pair of sunglasses when the sun is too bright and glaring as you look outside of the cockpit. Here is the code for this icon I created
hx3w73b2wxt4xkw6g.jpg


Code: 
<Gauge Name="Sunglasses_toggle" Version="1.0">
   <Image Name="Aviator_sunglasses.bmp"/>
   <Mouse>
      <Cursor Type="Hand"/>
      <Click>700 (&gt;K:PANEL_ID_TOGGLE)</Click>
         <Tooltip ID="">Display/Hide Panel</Tooltip>
         <Help ID=""/>
   </Mouse>
</Gauge>

Here is that Gauge I put in the window but all I get still is a green opaque rectangle.
Code: 
<Gauge Name="sunglasses" Version="1.0">
<Image Name="shades_on.bmp"/>
<Element Name="Transparent Green Overlay">
<Rectangle Width="1024" Height="768" FillColor="green" Transparency="0.5" />
</Element>
</Gauge>

I know what I want to accomplish and try to follow your help and advice. The Navy taught by example and learning when I was young and that is how I have to learn here. I really DO appreciate all of your help and advice. Thank you again.

Richard
USN LCDR(R)
1966-1992
 
I think that transparency in FS2004 is possible only over the 2D panels, while the 3D window (the outside world) allows only fully opaque or invisible elements.
 
Thanks, I made an eyeshade for My DC10 last year which was only a bmp (opaque) shade just over a portion of the outside and it looked fine since you didn't really need to see thru it. I guess this one is not possible. Maybe in p3D in the future.
 
btw,

i use this only in the hud (must see in full resolution, 1280x960!)
 

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Has this topic been posted in the scenery forums I wonder? Any chance that those gurus have a solution to shading of the outside view?
 
thank you. How did you create the screen? I thought of a coarse screen this AM over a black background. Also a good idea about scenery. I had another thought...is there an XML code that would diminish the intensity of the display with a click on/off? That might accomplish the same thing as "sunglasses".
 
I figured, but how did you apply the green dots...surely not by 1 pixel at a time (no sarcasm). Did you have a green dot bmp to overlay? I looked on google for clipart but did not find anything. I have Xara Xtreme and Corel Photoshop programs to use.
 
Good grief!!! I just made a solid green block 1024x768 and halftone screened in Corel Photopaint. In Photopaint it really looked like a great dot pattern but when I installed it in the C172 FS9 it looked terrible though it DID accomplish the effect. Will have to keep working on it until I get frustrated LOL. Thank you again for all your help with all the gauges. The BT-13 Valiant is great. I am currently working on repainting and updating a Fairchild P-19 Cornell
 
Photoshop has a nifty variation on their paint brush. You can define a brush that essentially paints a series of pixel "dots"...
 
Hi.

I tried to make a sunshade for my B737 cockpit.

This is the pic when the sun was 'blinding' - not quite so easily seen in the jpg

Sun.jpg


This is when the sunshade was lowered. Not quite what I had in mind though!

Shade.jpg


The sunshade was all black - with the requisite dots in green all over it. I don't know what happened to the texture in the middle - it all looks the same in Paint.

It is see-through - here it is lowered while on the ground.

Ground.jpg


Is this how it was supposed to turn out?

Walter
 
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