Real Air's SF 260

[jmig 100]

>>I have it and like flying it in FSX. However, is there any>>way to change the very sterile instrument panel? You know,>put>>some skuff marks and scratches on it like a real plane>that's>>been flown for a few years. As it stands at the moment, it>>looks like what it is, a computer animation. It doesn't even>>look like a pristine just-out-of-the-factory panel. It's>just>>too plain and perfect.>>Believe it or not but that's the reason I did NOT buy this>plane... The gauges seem to float in a terrible dull grey.>There really should be some shadows here and there around the>edges of the gauges and the switches: that's what I am missing>most. The way it is now it looks awfull, really... Very>sterile and dull and computerized. It's as if there is no>background all and everything floats in a grey nothing. Yes, I>know everyone loves this plane but I'm (sort of) glad to see I>am not the only one who doesn't like the look of the panel.>>EDIT:>Now if it was possible to edit that 'grey nothing' a bit, put>some shadows on it, some scratches and life (like they did on>the wings!!!), than I might buy it. The gauges are awesome of>course...You are missing out on one of the most enjoyable airplanes available in MSFS for what I would have to consider a rather minor point. Believe me, once flying, you don't notice the above. To busy grinning.

[northtexas 51]

Is it possible to lock the GPS in the VC so it doesn't follow you when panning the view?

[robert young 2,897]

"The gauges seem to float in a terrible dull grey."Well, a lot of Real Siai-Marchetti Sf260 panels really are grey! But I understand your point....you want to see a panel that has the unmistakable "warn" quality.Generally speaking, developers go one of two ways: they design worn-looking "photo-realistic" panels or they make pristine ones that aim for clarity. We went for the latter option with the SF60 (but not our Spitfire) because the vast majority of our customers want an aircraft which has a huge view OUT of the cockpit, and the Sf260 is all about flying by looking where you are going, but if they happen to look within they generally see crystal clear gauges and a pleasing design. The atmosphere in our SF260 is all in the flying and functionality, and clarity, not about photo-realism, and that was quite deliberate. The day photo-realistic panels in future version of FS really can look realistic is the day we will start presenting panels in that way. I must admit a few have got close (the wonderful, and free, Dave Maltby panels on the BAC 1-11 and Trident are fantastic examples, as are the panels presented by my friend Jan Visser). But those aircraft are generally not aerobatic and have an inherently stable background which photo real panels suit.The great majority of our customers find the way we present our panels fits the flying they are doing day to day: VFR, some IFR, circuits, aerobatics and basic flying skills.All the Best,Rob Young - RealAir Simulations

[N400QW 205]

Here's a novel idea...take the bmps or textures and modify to suit:-)

[yellowjack 28]

Rob, I agree with your choice for me the SF260 is an aircraft I bought from the factory with fresh paint and that is the truth is it not. When I built my own RW a/c and no-one used it but me the cockpit never got that worn look. That look is more for aircraft that are flown by any Tom, Dick or Harry such as a club aircraft. If the paint were to be shown worn it would wear in places other than the cockpit first i.e. wing tanks and walkways. From the screenies on this forum it is interesting to speculate how many users fly the SF260 in other than the Air Combat camo colour scheme. It's a minor issue because it is for my money the SF260 is the premier aircraft, in its class, for FSX at this point in time.John C

[Guest weeniemcween]

I've actually been up to what Ron suggested, altering the textures myself to add some more interior color based on real marchetti cockpits. I do this with a lot of the payware aircraft I have because it makes them feel more personal. If Rob and Sean permit it, I will upload a few of the alterations I have made. Perhaps they will better suit the taste of some of those who have been holding off on this amazingly modeled plane.Here is one example:http://i162.photobucket.com/albums/t244/we...archettialt.jpg

[Guest]

If Rob and Sean permit it, could you tell me if this is easily done? I have zero experience with editing textures but I am a professional graphics designer and have been working with Photoshop daily (well, apart from the weekends) ever since 1990 or so. Is it a simple matter of opening a bmp, editing and saving it, presto, or do I have to install programs to extract and convert all kinds of files, edit them, and convert and past them back together again...? I'd love to give this a shot myself. Although I first have to buy the plane before I can do so, of course. ;)BTW I don't want the plane to look old and worn and scratched, but I just miss something... I have the idea that some shadows and bevel and emboss (or whatever the english terms are) around the gauges and switches would make things less floating. Even though that might not be quite realistic... (which I don't really know).

[Guest weeniemcween]

Well I can tell you how it's done anyway, since one can alter pretty much anything they choose without distributing. It's relatively simple. First, you get the nvidia dds plugin for photshop and install it, since that's the newer format which fsx and the sf260 use.I leave everything as is - default size and don't color manage (you'll see what I mean) - when I load up a texture. I use the pen tool a lot to define selections. In this case, as the model has sophisticated shadows going on, I stayed away from filters except some light rendering on the prop knob, and mostly just replaced colors and played with the color balance.For the textures I worked with, I saved in the following (common) format, resulting in a size that matched the originals: DXT3 ARGB (Explicit Alpha) No mips Often, finding out which colors are mapped to which part of the model is trial and error. I will tell you that the red of the stick button is the same red as that of the mixture and gear knobs, and one other switch. If not for this, I would have made the mixture knob brown too, like it is in many marchetti cockpits. So you might have to compromise as well. As to adding gauge shadows, that is a problem, since both the left seat and right seat cockpit versions use the same background in the main texture folder. You could, however, copy each invidual texture folder, e.g. texture.red copied to texture.red2, then direct the left seat cockpit models in their aircraft.cfg to one folder and the right seat ones to the other folder. Then you would have different fallbacks in each texture.cfg, respectively pointing to two main texture folders, one with shadows fitting the left seat cockpit layout, and the other with shadows fitting the right seat cockpit. Obviously that would be a lot of work. I'd imagine the easiest thing would be to take a straight-on screenshot of the cockpit while flying and then paste a cut out of the panel, resized and transparent over the panel background as you worked on that layer to add shadows matching the gauges. If you're a photoshop pro, though, you should be fine in doing what I have done and more (I'm no pro).

[Erv Moore 21]

Totally agree John C. I'm a sucker for new items but I always go back to flying the SF260 - one great program with FSX. erv

[robert young 2,897]

I must admit I like what you've done. I'll get Sean to have a look and see what his reaction is.Rob Young

[Guest weeniemcween]

Well thanks Rob. I actually think the overall sf260 aesthetic is great, so I've kept my changes to a minimum, attempting to imitate color schemes from real marchettis. I think one of the issues is that the screenshots don't do justice to the model, since they lack the dynamism of the shadows. A high quality aerobatic video would be cool. As far as the textures, what I would do is include instructions for having alternate fallbacks, that way people would be able to add my humble mod without being restricted one interior for every exterior.The version above is the only one I'm happy with at the moment, but I'm working on making at least one more that makes the cut.Even if you guys ultimately decide no, I do appreciate your direct involvement with your customers, and not being uber-protective of - hostile about - your creative decisions, as many are. Plus, I like how you rely a lot on internet word of mouth, being as confident as you should be.Really looking forward to the fsx scout package. That black interior looks awesome!