SchneiH2

Hi Jim Thank you for your reply. No, I am running XP10 (32-bit, just about to upgrade to 64-bit based on the hints out of previous topic regarding Gizmo). I use also the drag_axis_pix-manipulator (one of your recent advices) which works only from XP10 on. Is the basic approach regarding cockpit lighting as shown in my topic correct? Best regards SHJ

Hi everybody I have started to work on some cockpit lighting based on the tuotrial under http://developer.x-plane.com/?article=airplane-parameterized-light-guide.Settingsof the light as well as for the switch are shown in attached pic. However, it does not work, Perhaps I have some basic misunderstanding on this subject. Although, I assume that it does not play any role I would like to add that as everything is still under construction I did not create so far a LIT-texture for the cockpit. Thank you very much up-front for posible help. Best regards SHJ

Thank you very much for your comments. Indeed, it seems that it is (Christmas) time for an upgrade to the 64-bit version. Best regards SHJ

Hi airfighter Is there anything similar 'simple' like Gizmo+LUA for a 32-bit version? Thanks and regards SHJ

????? You wrote Gizmo is NOT running in 64 bit but I have XP10 32-bit. So it should work!? Best regards SHJ

Hi Cameron I have running 32-bit (see attached pic) Best regards SHJ

Hi airfighter Perhaps you (or any other kind forum member) can give me now a hint on how to get the Gizmo-plugin running. I have installed (extracted + copied) it in the XP10 plugin folder (see attached pic) but it does not appear in the plugin-box of XP10 to enable it (I guess I have to do it, see attached pic). By the way I use the 32-bit version of XP10. I mentioning this because of the 64 in the Gizmo folder!? Thank you up-front for a possible reply/help. Best regards SHJ

Wow, this I call a fast response! Thank you very much. The sky gets a bit clearer now. Best regards SHJ

Hi airfighter Thank you very much for your very comprehensive response. I am really grateful! Seems that I am going to face the same fate, i.e. sooner or later I will start dealing with plugin programming. The example code looks comprehensible to me the more that I am not a complete newbie in programming (mainly VBA, a bit Delphi some years ago). I also had a look to your recommendation 'lua'. For the moment I am still a bit puzzled since I have to admit that so far I rather took a user perspective, i.e. dealing with 'complex' installation procedures (all what exceeds an xyz.exe-installer which puts all necessary program files in the right pace) was always scaring me a bit. Perhaps I might have here for the moment a complete wrong understanding. If I got you correctly (I couldnt try it out so far) it is enough to put the above script in the right place in XPlane and it works. So no other installation, dlls etc. are being required? Another question that immediately came up is where to find the syntax description/object model for the language (e.g. dref.getDataref("sim/flightmodel/position/indicated_airspeed" etc.). Please don't feel too much bothered with my above response. I understand that I cannot expect under this topic a beginners tutorial on this subject and I fully agree that the bulk of the problems/questions must be solved by myself just having enough persistence. Again, many thanks and best regards SHJ

Hi airfighter Thank you for your response. One reason why I was asking was to be sure that no dataraf/command will have this functionality. Due to the huge number of datarefs/commands and their sometimes quite brief description I just wanted to be sure not to have missed such one. Regarding plugins I have to admit that so far I did not have the time and courage to start with this surely interesting matter. Is there any good beginners tutorial available to get started with this subject? Another reason why being hesitant with plugins is that I have noticed that in some cases they can cause problems with the simulator itself if not thoroughly programmed. Whatsowever, I feel that sooner or later I will have to start dealing with plugin programming. Thank you again and best regards SHJ

Hi Jim Thanks for the quick response. I will try to find a workaround without a plugin. Best regards SHJ

Hi everybody I came accross a problem for the engine start-up procedure which I would like to configure similar to Airbus family, i.e. for the ignition/igniter is obviously used one switch on the pedestal which activates ignition simultaneously for both engines (all other start-up procedure steps have dedicated switches/buttons per engine). Having looked through the available datarefs + command I could not fine one for this type of 'combined' ignition. On the other hand, to my understanding manipulators allow only one dataref to be linked to (or is their any way to combine multiple ones?) so with such switch I only can activate the ignition for one engine only. Thank you up-front for possible replies/help. Best regards SHJ

Hi Jim Thank you very much for your response.Indeed, with named manipulator it works much better. Best regards SHJ

Hi everybody Although, its not a real issue (as it works and is fully functional) I am wondering why if using the 'drag-axis'-manipulator (e.g. to set the AP HDG) the cursor can be moved in x AND y direction (and consequentionally the knob rotates as well, no matter how I move the cursor). Moreover, the dataref behaves in a quite spontaneous/unpredictable way, i.e. sometimes the rotation direction is correct (i.e. dragging the cursor to the right (x-axis) rotates the HDG indicator clockwise) sometimes not. I assume that I have here a basic lack of knowledge about this functionality. Thank you up-front for possible comments/help. Best regards SHJ

Hi Jim, hi broberts Thank you for your replies. The problem with the manipulators I could solve thanks to Jim's advice. However, broberts advice seem to be an eligible alternative. The issue with the rose mode I will check. Not sure, but if Jim is right the problem would be solved. Again many thanks for your repleis and help. Best regards SHJ

Hi Jim Many thanks for your great help! Indeed, this is the answer to the question/the solution of the problem. Although, this is not my first attempt to design a plane + cockpit for XPlane there is still a lot which I have to learn. But this makes it also interesting. May I use this occasion to ask for another hint/advice: To my understanding there are 2 basic datarefs for the MFD in terms of the indication mode: one for the functional modes, i.e. ILS, VOR, map, plan and one for rose/arc mode. I have noticed that 'map mode' is always displayed as arc no matter if rose mode is selected (which is fine for my purpose). In fact I am searching for a solution to set the rose mode as default for the plane I am designing. I would like to display only VOR, map and plan mode on the MFD, whereby VOR should always been displayed only in rose mode. Thank you up-front for possible help. Best regards SHJ

Hi everybody I came across another issue with manupulators. Currently I am configuring the AP for the plane and noted that I cannot get work some manipulators. The irritating thing is that some of them seem to work and some not. Here is one example: the switch for HDG does not work with sim/cockpit2/autopilot/heading_mode used for the manipulator. Interesting is that the switch reacts normally to the dataref itself, i.e. when testing with the default gauge switch from XPlane10 it changes the positions accordingly. Moreover, assigning another dataref (e.g. sim/cockpit2/autopilot/flight_director_mode) to the object + manipulator works.well. Attached a capture of the settings in Blender. Thank you up-front for possible help/comments. Best regards SHJ

Hi JGregory Thank you for your reply. Basically, I could solve the issue already taking into account your first reply (use of other manipulators). Indeed, it works with the 'drag-axis' manipulator. I was just a bit confused with the description in the XPlane-Wiki regarding the 'delta' and 'wrap' manipulaors as to my understanding they refer to a switch-functionality. However, I am fine with this solution. Again, many thanks for your replies and help. Best regards SHJ

Hi JGregory Sorry for the unclear description of the problem. Attached you will find a screenshot showing the settings of frame 1. As already explained the switch has 3 positions with 3 keyframes. Best regards SHJ

Hi JGregory Thank you for your reply. You can find information about the 'Wrapping'-manipulator here: http://wiki.x-plane.com/Manipulators Best regards SHJ

Hi everybody I have some trouble with programming of a 3-position switch for the EFIS. As DataRef I use sim/cockpit2/radios/actuators/HSI_source_select_pilot. (NAV1 = 0, NAV2 = 1,GPS = 2). In Blender (2.76) I use for the switch 3 keyframes and a 'wrap'-manipulator.(with a 'button'-cursor) However, in XPlane10 the switch just works once and switches only between two positions 1 and 2. To position 0 it does not switch at all. After one switching cycle it stops to work. Would be great to get some help/advice. Best regards SHJ P.S. Does anybody know how to realize the functionality seen on the QPAC A320 V1.0/V1.1 (freware versions) for the OBS-setting for the ILS, i.e the ILS course is automatically been set when setting the NAV1 frequency. The point is that no additonal OBS-setting with any knob is necessary once the right ILS frequency is set.

Hi airfighter Many thanks for the additonal response on armatures/bones. Best regards SHJ

Hi airfighter Thank you very much for this simple but perfectly working hint! You made my day as I have been struggeling with this problem already for a while. Just to be sure - is there any good reason when modelling planes/cockpits for XPlane to use armatures/bones? Thanks again and best regards SHJ

Hi again So far I have been animating objects (knobs, levers etc.) directly, i.e. I did not use armatures as described in the great YouTube-tutorial for Blender/PlaneMaker (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zpe17E9zSuA). As this worked quite well so far frankly speaking I did not see the necessity/sense of using armatures. However, with my current project I run into a problem which might be related to that. For the design of the AP panel of the plane I need to slightly incline the knobs (HDG, SPEED setting etc.) against the horitontal axis. After having rotated them into the final position I use Ctrl + A to apply Object Transformation. Once this was done, I applied a Custom Transformation Orientation to the center of the bottom face of the knob and animated (rotated around central axis) the knob with two keyframes. To my absolut confusion this worked still well with the first knob, however, when doing the same procedure with the next knob by no means I could get this working properly, i.e. the rotation in XPlane is chaotic as if no Object Transformation had been applied. Finally, I started to follow exactly the steps as described in the mentioned YouTube tutorial. So firstly I parented to knob to the armature in Pose Mode. Then I used the armature to rotate the knob into the desired (inclined) position. Once this was done I used the armature for the animation, i.e. created two keyframes for the rotation around the central axis. So far so good. But at his point I obviously do not understand correctly how to proceed further. If I apply the DataRef and its corresponding values to the armature keyframes nothing happens in XPlane, i.e. no animation. Having checked the mentioned tutorial again I noticed that the DatRefs are being applied to the Object (not to the parent armature). Since I use Blender 2.73 I cannot understand the procedure as shown in the tutorial (there an old Blender version 2.49? is being used). There the DataRef values are being assigned to the object, however, to my understanding it does not have keyframes. Trying this in Blender 2.73 creates an error message that keyframes are needed to assign a DataRef-value. Would be great if somebody could help to sort out his mess. Although, this should perhaps not have any influence I have to add that for reasons of convenience I model these knobs on a different layer and move them then to the panel layer to animate them. Thank you up-front for possible help. Best regards

Just to close the topic - this was exactly the solution. Thanks again and best regards SHJ