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gauge alignment, help?

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160
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us-newyork
Hi, everyone!! I have managed to get the gauges on the overhead panel by clearing bmp's for buttons that aren't supposed to be there ( bmp's were making the buttons transparent), but the gauges show up like this, misaligned, how do i align this if cutting and pasting the xml gauges won't work (since it causes parsing issues), if the overhead is one gigantic switchboard? I tried using paint.net for the panel coordinates but these are misaligned & my gauge artwork is only 2048x2048:

1659850741258.png
 

tgibson

Resource contributor
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11,327
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us-california
How big is the overhead panel bitmap (the area covered by your gauge bitmaps)?

Are you creating the VC or are you re-working one that is already an MDL file?

If each button is a separate gauge "cutout" area (i.e. individual gauge polygons for each button in the model), then you can use separate gauges for each button and get much better resolution than trying to do it all in one large bitmap. You can still use 2048 x 2048 but make the buttons much larger and shove them right next to each other.

If instead the entire overhead panel is a single gauge polygon in the model then your approach is OK, you just have to figure out the relationship between the gauge polygon in the model vs your gauge bitmap.
 
Messages
160
Country
us-newyork
How big is the overhead panel bitmap (the area covered by your gauge bitmaps)?

Are you creating the VC or are you re-working one that is already an MDL file?

If each button is a separate gauge "cutout" area (i.e. individual gauge polygons for each button in the model), then you can use separate gauges for each button and get much better resolution than trying to do it all in one large bitmap. You can still use 2048 x 2048 but make the buttons much larger and shove them right next to each other.

If instead the entire overhead panel is a single gauge polygon in the model then your approach is OK, you just have to figure out the relationship between the gauge polygon in the model vs your gauge bitmap.
The overhead panel is 2048 x 2048. The overhead panel buttons are seperate in 3ds max. & no, it is from a 3DS model that I am working on. VC is created. The gauge is all in one & thought of using individual gauges for each poly but I do not know how to cut and paste the XML file into a few sections. Developer said I can cut and paste it but how should I cut and paste it? . If I do that, it will cause XML parse errors. So I should just make the gauge size much larger on the 2048 bitmap or the buttons in the 3D Model? Trying my best to fit this to the buttons in the 3D model , to see what the best option is
 

tgibson

Resource contributor
Messages
11,327
Country
us-california
So if I understand correctly, each button is a separate gauge polygon? If so, you need to use the image above with *visible buttons* in 3DS as the mapping bitmap and alter the mapping of each button polygon so it displays the desired button on top of that. You use the name of whatever you called the gauge polygon texture in the panel.cfg file (like $VC1) as the name for this special bitmap so it will be displayed in 3DS on the buttons. Since this texture is only mapping the buttons, you could make them much larger; since each button is mapped individually in 3DS the size and position of each button is not important.
 
Messages
160
Country
us-newyork
So if I understand correctly, each button is a separate gauge polygon? If so, you need to use the image above with *visible buttons* in 3DS as the mapping bitmap and alter the mapping of each button polygon so it displays the desired button on top of that. You use the name of whatever you called the gauge polygon texture in the panel.cfg file (like $VC1) as the name for this special bitmap so it will be displayed in 3DS on the buttons. Since this texture is only mapping the buttons, you could make them much larger; since each button is mapped individually in 3DS the size and position of each button is not important.
Yes they are & understandable. & yes I use the $overhead & yes. I am making them larger. Also I noticed button positions of the XML. Do I change that to match what's on the "$" file?
 

tgibson

Resource contributor
Messages
11,327
Country
us-california
1. Make your button bitmap as you desire. This can just be button after button, side by side. No need to include the "background" of the panel or place them in any order.
2. Use this bitmap as the $overhead file in 3DS to texture each button individually.
3. Specify the $overhead file as your gauge overlay image in the panel.cfg file.
4. Now you have two choices, I believe. You can use the large bitmap and select portions of it for each button element. But I've never done this before and thus do not know how to do this or even if it can be done.
5. My approach is to copy a given button from the large bitmap in step 1 and then paste as a new image to create a separate button bitmap. Repeat for each button, and specify those separate bitmaps in the XML gauge code. That bitmap will be the same size as the button in the bitmap from step 1. The Position line in the XML Element section for that button should be the upper left corner of that button in the button bitmap from step 1. Adjust as needed to center the button on the polygon.
 
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