May 16, 201016 yr can someone in the know please point me to a reference so that I can learn how to adjust the strobe frequency on AI aircraft? - Thanks. Cheers, Scott Ball
May 16, 201016 yr Scott,I don't know of any reference...I just opened the effect in the special effects tool looked at the values, experimentally changed the rate till I had something I liked and resaved it.1. look at ai aircraft.cfg to see what effect is used on the aircraft.2. make sure effect is in effects folder... may need to edit a copy outside of FSX and replace original when not running. MAKE a backup!3. Insure SDK installed and Effects Tool enabled and available.4. Start tool and load desired effect.The strobeh has 4 emitter components; make 1 at a time active and "Do Effect" above the user aircraft [Offset y = 5(meters)] to see it.Turn it off with Edit > "Stop Animations"emitter1 is 2x size, emitter2 is 0.5 size, ( like the glow and the "point source" of the strobe )emitter3 is 2x size but delayed .2 sec, emitter4 is .5 size and also delayed .2sec. these give the second strobe of each setemitters 2 and 4 are also a slightly different color.all emitters have a 0.01 duration but this is obviously adjustable alsoThe RATE of .5 doesn't make it flash twice a second as you would think; rather it says there are .5 cycles per second so this is a 2 second repeat rate - lower numbers make it slower, higher make it faster.Yes, you could just edit the effect with notepad, too. But it's handy to see what you are getting with the tool.Hope this helpsLoyd Hooked since FS4... now flying: FSX Acceleration on Win7/64, Core Duo E8400; GA-EP45-DS3R; GTX 460-768MB; 4G RAM; Freezer 7 Pro
May 16, 201016 yr Yes, you could just edit the effect with notepad, too. But it's handy to see what you are getting with the tool.Hope this helpsLoydWow......That is something I had never experimented with before. The edititing tool is wonderful.But shame on you - I really did not need to have a new "toy" to play with.......... never will get the lawn mowed now. :(
May 17, 201016 yr I'm not understanding how you see the Tool's dialog box. I see No Tools box in FSX. Is that where it's supposed to be?I have the following two files located in the FSX root directory, D://FSX xml.dll and visualfxtool.dllIn the xml.dll file, I changed the Path to Path>D:\\FSX\visualfxtool.dll</Path>What am I doing wrong?Thanks.
May 18, 201016 yr I'm not understanding how you see the Tool's dialog box. I see No Tools box in FSX. Is that where it's supposed to be?I have the following two files located in the FSX root directory, D://FSX xml.dll and visualfxtool.dllIn the xml.dll file, I changed the Path to Path>D:\\FSX\visualfxtool.dll</Path>What am I doing wrong?Thanks.Easiest way is to get the Shockwave 3D lights package ;) you'll be glad you did :-) Dean MountfordUltimate VFR
May 18, 201016 yr I'm not understanding how you see the Tool's dialog box. I see No Tools box in FSX. Is that where it's supposed to be?I have the following two files located in the FSX root directory, D://FSX xml.dll and visualfxtool.dllIn the xml.dll file, I changed the Path to Path>D:\\FSX\visualfxtool.dll</Path>What am I doing wrong?Thanks.It is imperative to have the correct set of SDK files that match your FSX setup.This thread explains the problem and has a chart showing which SDK version must be used depending upon your setup. http://www.fsdeveloper.com/wiki/index.php?...ation_%28FSX%29Follow their instructions to the letter.Once you have the correct version installed properly, the FX Tool should show as an option under the Tools menu at the top of your screen - when in windowed mode.Hope that helps.
May 18, 201016 yr Hi David,Does it help? Well, not exactly. I did find that FSD link while searching the issue.I have FSX SP2 installed and SP2 SDK but still no Tools displayed. I thought it was humerous about the SDK installation process. Must be a corporate thing. The link you provide (and the one I used) states that all previous SDK's must be installed first before installing the newest. Well I took the time to download SP1 and SP2 SDKs. About 400MB total download. Ran SP1 SDK installer and get a message that RTM SDK must first be uninstalled. Ok! Strange! With that done I ran SP2 SDK installer. Once again I get the message that the previous SDK must be uninstalled. So I'm not sure why I needed to have RTM and SP1 SDKs installed if those would be uninstalled.I'll figure it out eventually. Thanks for the help.
May 18, 201016 yr Hi David,Does it help? Well, not exactly. I did find that FSD link while searching the issue.I have FSX SP2 installed and SP2 SDK but still no Tools displayed. I thought it was humerous about the SDK installation process. Must be a corporate thing. The link you provide (and the one I used) states that all previous SDK's must be installed first before installing the newest. Well I took the time to download SP1 and SP2 SDKs. About 400MB total download. Ran SP1 SDK installer and get a message that RTM SDK must first be uninstalled. Ok! Strange! With that done I ran SP2 SDK installer. Once again I get the message that the previous SDK must be uninstalled. So I'm not sure why I needed to have RTM and SP1 SDKs installed if those would be uninstalled.I'll figure it out eventually. Thanks for the help.That is strange - at least I do not remember having to uninstall anything as I stepped through the SDK update procedure on my system (FSX with SP 1 and 2 - no Acceleration).In any case, this is what a portion of my dll.xml file looks like:<Launch.Addon> <Name>Visual Effects Tool</Name> <Disabled>False</Disabled> <ManualLoad>False</ManualLoad> <Path>C:\Program Files\Microsoft Games\Microsoft Flight Simulator X SDK\SDK\Environment Kit\Special Effects SDK\visualfxtool.dll</Path> </Launch.Addon>Note that I had to put in the complete path to the visualfxtool.dll - rather than use the "relative path" approach.You might wish to compare this to what you have.Hope that helps.
May 19, 201016 yr I have it sorted out.First, I "added" the xml.dll file to the root FSX folder thinking it went there. After reading the SDK Troubleshooting page, I discovered that it is already in the ........ AppData/Roaming....... (location of fsx.cfg file) folder. Once I found it, I changed the one line entry to TRUE, and changed the Path to where I installed the SDK.Works perfectly now.Thanks for the needed push, David.
March 26, 201115 yr I have it sorted out.First, I "added" the xml.dll file to the root FSX folder thinking it went there. After reading the SDK Troubleshooting page, I discovered that it is already in the ........ AppData/Roaming....... (location of fsx.cfg file) folder. Once I found it, I changed the one line entry to TRUE, and changed the Path to where I installed the SDK.Works perfectly now.Thanks for the needed push, David.Hey Guys,I installed NickNs light kit for FS9 in FSX. I really like his light sets. ACCEPT the strobes on the aircraft I fly. I'm not there yet on the AI Aircraft. I just want the one I am in to work right.I am flying the Feelthere eJETS V2 Sp1. Love it. But with Nicks lights the strobes are not even close. Way too fast. SOOOoo.Would I do well to try to do the SDK download like you guys are doing? Never used it. IS there a tool that is easier to use than editing the code? I do like experimenting and testing and getting it right. I get the shockwave comment above. HOWEVER it is much more fun to do your own work, not have to pay for yet another add on, and then offer work arounds for others.For the Airports so far Nicks lights are really nice. He has the bloom and all the rest well done. It is nice to be able to adust the lights. The next add on they need is a slider add on that covers all of these things LOL! Heck we'd be spening hours on the panels instead of flying. I just cant even taxi with my lights looking like something awful out of some 70s sleeper Disco show. I have my pride. :( Respectfully, Jet
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