Cockpit Window Reflections

[Guest DALTech_Ops]

Does anyone know of a universal way to remove the cockpit window reflections in FS9?A file that can be deleted, altered, removed???More specifically, I would like to remove it from the Captain Sim 757 as well as the Level-D 767.Many thanks,Mitch

[Mike... 7]

If I'm not mistaken, it's part of the model and thus can't be removed.

[John_Cillis 2,406]

If you change the properties of the underlying material so that it is clear, you can eliminate the reflections. There's two ways you can do this. Sometimes it requires an edit of the mdl file. Martin Wright has written a utility to handle this called mdlmat. This is a rare instance where you wouldn't need the model's source thanks to Martin's tool, which I've used on a number of models to not only remove reflections, but also to increase reflectivity on glass or add specular hilighting. Another way a developer can add reflections is by using an alpha channel in the bitmap assigned to the interior glass. Martin has another tool, DXTBMP, which allows you to remove the alpha channel. A good example of models that use this method are Carenado's set of aircraft. Of the two methods I've seen this one used the most--the exception being models where the glass is "shiny" and the reflection changes based on the angle of the sun. In those instances, mdlmat is your answer.Here's a link to Martin's sitehttp://www.mnwright.btinternet.co.ukRegards,John

[Mike... 7]

Interesting program. I've loaded a CS 757 model file and there are a lot of values, I wouldn't know where to begin. Same goes for the textures, a lot of them and their names don't give anything away. Good luck with that. :DBy the way, is there a way/program to enable (or disable) the precipitation effect on VC windows?

[FLEX1978 373]

LDS 767 has a option to turn of reflections in the configuration manager.Rob

[John_Cillis 2,406]

"I've loaded a CS 757 model file and there are a lot of values, I wouldn't know where to begin"I hope the attached screenshot helps.Each entry is prefaced by LOD. For virtual cockpits, we're interested in the entries that start with "02".Some of this is trial and error. You are looking for entries lower than "FF" (Column A, the last column) but higher than 00.Pick the first value and note the old value in notepad. Change it to "00".Reload the model by switching to a different aircraft, then reloading the model. Are the reflections gone? If not, restore the old value and move to the next line until you find the line that handles cockpit window opacity. 99 times out of 100, only one line will handle opacity for the cabin or cockpit windows.As for textures, nothing could be worse than trying to recognize (if the developer used this method) which one has the alpha channel for the cabin windows. Some textures are shared among many parts, to make it even more challenging. I usually hope for the best and look for something such as "interior glass". But again it's often trial and error and one needs to remember what's helped me advance my IT career over the past few decades: Back up, Back up and before you make any changes "Did you do a Backup?" :)Regards,Johnhttp://forums.avsim.net/user_files/188302.jpg

[Guest DALTech_Ops]

John,thank you kindly for going to this amount of trouble. Appreciated and will put the advice to good use.Mitch

[Mike... 7]

I thought I'd give it a try, changed one value, the VC cockpit windows are now black. There's some reflection, but I'm not sure if that's a mirror of the inside (if that's even possible) or a texture.

[John_Cillis 2,406]

When you changed the value and the windows turned black, did you change it to zero? Or FF? Try using 16 or 32.Regards,John

[Mike... 7]

Changed it to zero. 32 is better, no black, less reflection than original, but still some visible. Gonna try 16 now. And I need to take a closer look at the original, because sometimes I think I'm just seeing things. ;-)

[Guest jesse_skyunlimited]

Most of the time dynamic reflections are achieved by using an alpha channel, so it is just a simple matter of removing the channel, or changing the intensity of the relection using shades of gray, however if it is reflecting the inside of the cockpit, and the reflection is static, they probably used a bitmap image of the cockpit and made it transparent, this would probably require the model work that has already been mentioned. It doesn't seem like an impossible task, but it may be a lot of trouble.

[DaryllB25840 1]

Along the same lines of this thread, has anyone tried to work with the Aeroworx B200 passenger windows? Every time I take a seat in the cabin as a passenger I have to look out windows that don't seem to have been cleaned in months. The real B200 uses polarizer