Hi all, anyone overcome the problem yet with the gauge planer showing up black with the lightmap applied (I'm using FSDS)?I know of the ways to work round this, but overcoming this problem will make things a lot easier.Nick.

>Hi all, anyone overcome the problem yet with the gauge planer>showing up black with the lightmap applied (I'm using FSDS)?>I know of the ways to work round this, but overcoming this>problem will make things a lot easier.>>Nick.Nick, that problem was "solved" almost a year ago and reported in my VC Gauge Lighting tutorial.There are at least four ways to eliminate the 'black poly effect.'1) Hide it by using a bitmap in the panel.cfg entry://--------------------------------------------------------[Vcockpit01]file=vc_main_left.bmp :)3) Same as #1 above, except no bitmap to hide 'black effect.' Instead, cut "gauge shaped holes" in the textured panel, place the projection polygons BEHIND the swiss-cheesed panel... :)4) Same as you are doing now, except "fold" the edges of the polygon so they can't be seen (frankly, I don't see too much benefit here, but it IS a way...) )

Many thanks for the reply Bill. Yes I am familiar with these methods. I was hoping to use a small number of rectangular planars to place my gauges on, even if the planar polygons were overhanging the panel edges. These would be easy to work with and make the co-ordinates a doddle. If the unwanted colours (say black) in the lightmap could be made to be transparent, then this would solve the problem. At present, I am overcoming the problem using individual polygon planers for each gauge. Saves trying to match planer bitmaps to the main panel bitmap. I was concerned about framerates using lots of individual polygons, but this does not seem to be a problem.Thanks again,Nick.

Here is how I'm doing the CJ1's panel. All of the gauges except the "glass PFD & MFD" displays, and the radio are in one, single texture group. All the polys are "Attached" to form one object.The first pic shows the polys as they are laid out on the vc, the second picture is how the gauges are "mapped" to the $vc_main.bmp texture.This technique is drop-dead easy, and completely eliminates the "black background" when the gauges are lighted... :)Even better though, is that all gauges that are "duplicated," such as the Audio Panel, the Master Warning & Master Caution, and the PFD control use only ONE INSTANCE OF THE GAUGE. Since the second instance is simply a copy of the original (they are overlaid during mapping!)... :)One of the two "sealed beam lights" is used four times in the cockpit, and the other is used EIGHT times in the cabin... THAT is efficient! BTW, the background showing is the "lightmask" overlaid on a temporary image used only for layout purposes.http://forums.avsim.net/user_files/93538.jpghttp://forums.avsim.net/user_files/93539.jpg