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What do these numbers mean?

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light.5 = 10, 7.5, 0.0, 3.5, fx_vclightThis is from Dino's T45C lights sectionI want to know if its possible to tone down the night VC lighting by changing any of these numbers?


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This means that light number 5 uses the fx_vclight effect which I think you'll find in the Effects folder.The first number (10) specifies the light type - you should find a key in the Lights section of the aircraft.cfg file.The next three numbers (7.5, 0.0, 3.5) specify where the light appears on the model relative to a fixed reference point. I can't remember which way around they are, but between them they specify the distance forward (or behind), above (or below) and left (or right)of the reference.So the answer is "No" you can't alter the brightness here, as far as I know.


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Hello, In FSX (it is different in FS9) the first number in this case 7.5 is the horizontal distance in front or behing the CG or central graphity , 0.0 is left or right of the cg and 3.5 the vertical above or below distance of the cg;Hope it helps


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Guest SkullxBones

First thing I would do is comment out the line and see if it's bright enough. Use // in front of the line.The other trick I do is to change the VC light to a nav light so you can see its position and can make changes to it and see where its new position is. You can do this by changing the 'fx_vclight' in the line 'light.5 = 10, 7.5, 0.0, 3.5, fx_vclight' to 'fx_navred', then restart FSX and go to spot mode and zoom in on the cockpit, you should see a glowing red light inside somewhere. Now that you know where the VClight is normally located, you can change it's position.Try changing the 7.5 number to 6.5, it should move the light back towards the tail about a foot which will make it a little less bright.The 0.0 should be the left to right. So 0.0 is the centerline. Positive numbers going toward one wingtip, negative number would move it towards the other.The last one 3.5, which should be the height.By changing these numbers you should be able to reduce the vclight to the level you like.

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>light.5 = 10, 7.5, 0.0, 3.5, fx_vclight>>This is from Dino's T45C lights section>>I want to know if its possible to tone down the night VC>lighting by changing any of these numbers?Okay, you've gotten most of what you asked for (in bits-and-pieces). Type #10 is "Cabin Light" switch, just for the record... ;)The complete list is://Types: 1=beacon, 2=strobe, 3=navigation, 4=cockpit, 5=landing 6=taxi, 7=recognition, 8=wing, 9=logo 10=cabinThe fx_vclight.fx file is a stock FSX effects file. The other way of "dimming" the light would be to make a copy of the file, and give it your own name, such as My_fx_vclight.fx and modify the aircraft.cfg entry to use the new filename.Then, open "My_fx_vclight.fx" in Notepad and edit the start and end colors for each of the Particle Attributes sections:Color Start=100, 100, 100, 1Color End=180, 140, 100, 0The default entries are shown above. The Start color is a medium gray, and End(s) with that hideous "reddish glow" :(I use the following for my own preference:Color Start=100, 100, 100, 1Color End=140, 140, 140, 0


Fr. Bill    

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Thanks I will try that!


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>Thanks I will try that!Be warned though that you will need to close then relaunch FSX to see the fx file name change take effect.After loading the a/c again, you can then make changes in the .fx file, Save and then reload the a/c without quiting the sim... ;)


Fr. Bill    

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There's one more option for precision placement of FS effects files, namely the Visual effects toolbox. You need to have the FSX deluxe with the SDK part to use this. If you have then:Open the DLL.xml with Notepad (found at the same location as the FSX.cfg)Change True to False: Visual Effects ToolTrue <------------FALSE False..Microsoft Flight Simulator X SDKSDKEnvironment KitSpecial Effects SDKvisualfxtool.dllYou will now have the Visualfxtool in the FSX menu available.You can open the effect file you wish to add/change. I find this tool very handy for precision placement of lights (like shockwave LL) or adjust light intensity/color without the need to restart the sim. The top left sliders in the tool will let you find a position reference x,y,z. You'll have to convert these from mtrs to feet and add them manually to the light section of the aircraft.cfg z,x,y.Regards, Gerrit Kranenbarg

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Guest George M

>There's one more option for precision placement of FS effects>files, namely the Visual effects toolbox. Nice tip, thanks!

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Ok what was happening with his cfg is that he used the fx 3 times, once for the left side of the VC and once for the right. The other fx file was to illuminate the radio background. So all I did was comment out the right side light because the left side I felt was still bright enough to light up the right side of the cockpit. And I changed the color as well.What would be really nice would be to have the VC lights just like the Acceleration F18 has - I like the dark red lighting. But I'm not sure how I would add that, maybe the COLOR section of the panel.cfg in the main VC entry?


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| Windows 11 | MSI Z690 Tomahawk | 12700K 4.7GHz | MSI RTX 4080 | 32GB 5600 MHz DDR5 | 500GB Samsung 860 Evo SSD | 2x 2TB Samsung 970 Evo M.2 | EVGA 850W Gold | Corsair 5000X | HP G2 (VR) / LG 27" 1440p |

 

 

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>What would be really nice would be to have the VC lights just>like the Acceleration F18 has - I like the dark red lighting. >But I'm not sure how I would add that, maybe the COLOR section>of the panel.cfg in the main VC entry?Possibly. Try altering the luminous= entry in the panel.cfg file.Otherwise the color of the gauge's lighting is a function of what it programmed into the actual gauge, which is not "changeable" by any external means (unless the gauge coder provided a means that is)...


Fr. Bill    

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Bill, is there a way to alter the FSX default gauge brown lighting color? It sure is ugly.

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>Bill, is there a way to alter the FSX default gauge brown>lighting color? It sure is ugly.That depends on how comfortable you are working with XML gauge script editing, and how proficient you are using Photoshop or Paintshop Pro to create or edit bitmaps.Most of the FSX gauges are XML scripts that're compressed into a .CAB (cabinet) file. All of the XML gauges now use two sets of bitmaps; one for daytime and an alternate set for nighttime.It is the latter set (designated with a _night suffix) that are "lighted," and those that would need to be revised.BTW, that's not really "brown" but rather an incandescent "yellow"... ;)


Fr. Bill    

AOPA Member: 07141481 AARP Member: 3209010556


     Avsim Board of Directors | Avsim Forums Moderator

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>>Bill, is there a way to alter the FSX default gauge brown>>lighting color? It sure is ugly.>>That depends on how comfortable you are working with XML gauge>script editing, and how proficient you are using Photoshop or>Paintshop Pro to create or edit bitmaps.>>Most of the FSX gauges are XML scripts that're compressed into>a .CAB (cabinet) file. All of the XML gauges now use two sets>of bitmaps; one for daytime and an alternate set for>nighttime.>>It is the latter set (designated with a _night suffix) that>are "lighted," and those that would need to be revised.>>BTW, that's not really "brown" but rather an incandescent>"yellow"... ;)I see what you mean. Here is one of the ugly bmps within a gauge.

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