DXTBmp is working for me, once I figured out that I have to edit both the opaque AND the Alpha Channel copies of the image file. But I had to import MSPaint from a WinXP PC. Windows 7x64 Home Premium's version of Paint apparently has no tool bar!!?? How useless!The A post of the Blackhawk now looks better than it did to start out. The obvious issue is one of resolution. I am wondering if I could use a higher resolution bitmap to replace the one that was included for that section of the helicopter, or is that not a good idea? It comes down to not being able to draw a "straight" (no jaggies) line on an angle up the screen when having to use pixels the size of clay bricks. :) If I could go higher in resolution, the pixels would be smaller and then I could smooth out the line better. Is that doable? Or would it create problems integrating with the other images being used for the overall helicopter?I took a guess at which format to save the file after editing. I noticed before I made any changes that DXTBmp showed in its header bar of the window that the image is an DXT3 bitmap 512x512 and 16 bit. So I am saving the edited file as Extended Bitmap DXT3 and that seems to be working.

For FS9 you can double the bitmap's size to 1024x1024 DXT3 .bmp format.For FSX, you could go as high as 4096x4096 DDS/DXT5 .dds format.

For FS9 you can double the bitmap's size to 1024x1024 DXT3 .bmp format. For FSX, you could go as high as 4096x4096 DDS/DXT5 .dds format.

That's interesting! 8X the resolution of the files I am working with. So would I make the resolution changes to the file I am editing with DXTBmp after I edit it, when I am saving the file back into the texture folder in the FSX aircraft? Or would I want to change the resolution first, and THEN edit the file and save it? The 2nd option seems like it would give me the finer editing capability I was hoping to achieve. Thanks!

If you resize the bitmap image, you will likely have to repaint the entire bitmap, as all you'd accomplish otherwise is to increase the size of the original pixels... In any case, increase size first, repaint/edit, then save...

I found out a few things by rote experimentation. All I had wanted to achieve is to smooth out the frame of the windshield in a Blackhawk helicopter I had downloaded. The original imagery had that A post looking like the teeth on Paul Bunyan's saw. :) I did try using some of the higher resolution formats like .dds but I ran into issues with the bitmap then being rendered at the wrong size to match the rest of the fuselage. So in the end I stuck with extended BMP but did increase from DXT3 to DXT5, which seems to smooth out the still unavoidable rough edges on the angled lines. Since I have other aircraft which are finely rendered, I presume it would be possible to do so here, but as you say I would likely have to completely overhaul the bitmaps being used, and I don't want to get into that. The improvement I made will be sufficient. I started to describe the issue in text, and realized I can post the Alpha channel image I had saved which shows the issue along the left end of the windshield, and on the right is where I "fixed" it. Not perfect, but much better than before anyway, thanks to your help in figuring it all out. :)

this was quite helpfull! thanks!

it works in 2d cockpit only adding

 

gaugeXX=mygauges!AutoOpen, 0,0,1,1

 

 in the [Window00] entry.

 

But if i add 

 

gaugeXX=mygauges!AutoOpen, 0,0,1,1

 

in the [VCockpit01] entry, nothing happens :(