>Well, actually there are 6 panels there on 4 different planes>or levels. The left and rights fill up a 1024 each, otherwise>why use 1024's? :-) The center fills a 1024 (on a different>plane), and the left and right halves of the upper panel(on>another plane) share a bitmap with the ECU. The overhead is>the last one. I tried to keep pixels per inch close on all of>them and had to deal with 4 depths/planes here.You are missing the forest for the trees, Milton! :)I'm embarrased to admit it, but I didn't originate this idea, but one of our fellow model builders who doesn't know "panel design" from a "tea service."I've taken the liberty of showing how you can combine the left half of the main panel with the two parts of the glareshield on ONE, single 1024x1024 bitmap. Similarly, the right half of the main panel could be combined with two halves of the overhead, etc.We need to "think outside the box" to recognize how this can work. As you know, you can map multiple parts to a single texture file, and there's absolutely no reason why you can't map multiple "gauge polys" onto the same $texture.bmp as well!Note that in my example, the left half of the main panel still benefits from the full width of the 1024 bitmap. I've simply used the formerly "empty space" on the same $texture file! :)Check out the pics I posted in the thread titled "Have I taken the 'Minimalist Approach' Too Far?" for another example. I did that one simply as an experiment. The finished 'product' uses only two 1024x1024 $texture & texture files instead of the 7 I used originally, without sacrificing one bit of clarity.I'm simply utilizing otherwise wasted space!http://forums.avsim.net/user_files/61727.jpg

Bill, maybe I've confused you. The example I posted as a planning document was the 2D version of the panel which is a vertically "scrunched" VC. The left and right halves are almost square in the VC which wouldn't allow room for the upper halves you speak about.The upper panel halves which also have more vertical height are also sharing a 1024 with the ECU bitmap so space is not wasted.

>Bill, maybe I've confused you. The example I posted as a>planning document was the 2D version of the panel which is a>vertically "scrunched" VC. The left and right halves are>almost square in the VC which wouldn't allow room for the>upper halves you speak about.>>The upper panel halves which also have more vertical height>are also sharing a 1024 with the ECU bitmap so space is not>wasted.As long as you are happy... :)I'm simply passing along a new idea which might prove useful for someone!There seems to be this misconception (which admittedly, I once shared) that you can only map "panel polys" on the same plane and the same vertical plane.The fact is that you could place a 'projection poly' in the pax cabin and map it to the same $texture.bmp as the main_left panel. FS doesn't care where they are physically located; it will happily put a gauge wherever you tell it to...Also, I read in another thread where someone wanted to have a hemi-spherical projection screen and he was told that "it can't be done..."It most certainly can be done! There's nothing that says a "projection poly" has to be a flat surface... :)

LOL ahh yes. I have also mapped a panel with a non-panel texture only to say whoops when it came time for nite lighting, inverting one and not the other. lolI appreciate all you've contributed Bill.

Hi.>Although maybe not all the panel is used in vc, strategic areas should be mapped with a gauge texture, active or not. Don't use a globally sized texture, but map logically areas with several textures.