Aircraft Panel Designers: Pilatus Front Window Fix Help

[dkohl 0]

I downloaded Rob Vigetti's "Default Aircraft Fixes" POD that includes center posts for all the aircraft. In general, they really increase the "feel". But on the Pilatus, the sun visor's, I think, take up too much room on the front windows, reducing overall visibility.I am a "newby" on using Photoshop Elements - its the only graphics package I have. But I've never attempted to edit a panel, or anything so complex. My goal is to keep the centerposts and overhead portions of the panel Rob has created, but to remove (or drastically diminish the size of) the sun visors. I could use some help (or alternatively, if someone wants to take on this project, it'll be great.Here is Rob's download.... http://ftp.avsim.com/library/sendfile.php?DLID=23053-DK----David KohlFly! II v2.5.240Dell 8200 P4/1.8G, 1024MB RAM, Nvidia GF4 Ti4600 v41.09, WinXP Home Edition SP1.CH Pro Pedals and Yoke USB.

[Guest]

Hi David,If you'd like to try out Panel Maker, I could send it to you. It currently supports virtually all of the gauges used in the pilatus, but this wouldn't particularly matter if you were only editing the artwork of one gauge anyway. You'd beable to 'extract the artwork' (convert it to a bitmap using Panel Maker) and then edit it, convert it back to a pbm (using Panel Maker) and reimport it into panel.Let me know if you want to try it out.Cheers,Matthew.

[dkohl 0]

No guages are involved here - only editing the image to eliminate the sun visors. Take a look at Rob's work (in the download) and let me know if Panel Maker will do the trick.-DK----David KohlFly! II v2.5.240Dell 8200 P4/1.8G, 1024MB RAM, Nvidia GF4 Ti4600 v41.09, WinXP Home Edition SP1.CH Pro Pedals and Yoke USB.

[Guest]

Actually, I think you'll find that centre posts are implemented as bitmap gauges.Matthew.

[Guest pilotsim7828]

Matthew,Let me give it a go , Please thanks Jeff Akinsjaakins@charter.net

[Guest]

Hello David,I have been away for a while ... and have not visited theforums regularly ... so my apologies for not seeing yourpost a bit sooner.I am the author of the various centerposts ... and I willbriefly list the process that I followed to generate thegraphics ( and files ) which comprise said centerposts.I make reference to the files contained in the Fly II AircraftLibrary "Cockpit Centerpost Add-on Graphics" downloads.1. You will need to download the "Fly ! Graphics v1.0" viewer( flygraphics10.zip )by Elrond Elvish.2. You will also need to download the "Cockpit Centerpost Add-on Graphics" ( cockpitpostu1.zip )3. Place the "Pilpost.pbm" file ( from cockpitpostu1.zip ) ina temporary directory.4. Start the "Fly ! Graphics v1.0" viewer ... and open the"Pilpost.pbm" file.5. Select the "Convert To Type:" option in the viewer to "BMP"and this will generate a bitmap file "Pilpost.bmp" which you can edit using "Paint" ... the basic Windows graphics utility.I realize that there are more robust graphics editors that maybe used ... but I do not have them ... and although it took a lot of work on my part ... "Paint" was good enough for the job.6. After editing the "Pilpost.bmp" ... make sure that you saveit as a "256 Color Bitmap" file !7. Rename the "Pilpost.pbm" file to something else ..."PilpostOriginal.pbm" for example. NOTE: This needs to be donedue to the fact that we will generate a new file with the samename "Pilpost.pbm" to remain consistent with the overall process.8. Start the "Fly ! Graphics v1.0" viewer ... and open the"Pilpost.bmp" bitmap file.9. Select the "Convert To Type:" option in the viewer to "PBM"and this will generate two files: "Pilpost.act" and "Pilpost.pbm" which you can use to replace the original onesin the cockpitpostu1.zip download ( which contain your unwated or enlarged sun visors ! ).I hope this will help you edit the graphics that you want ...it may be a bit of work ... but this is how I was able to createthe centerpost additions to the aircraft. The reason I added thesun visor to the Pilatus was to remain consistent with the otherviews as you pan around the cockpit. My limited graphical capabilitiesresulted in what you see ... and I encourage others to generateadditional centerposts which may be an improvement over mine.Variety ... ( as they say ) is the spice of life !I apologize for not having any plans at the momemt to edit theoriginal centerpost graphics ... I just don't have the time ...but I hope the process I have outlined will help you (and others)accomplish what you want.Enjoy !Spellbinder

[dkohl 0]

Wow. That doesn't sound so hard. I will follow your directions and see if I can re-edit the Pilatus sun-visors. Other than that, I really enjoy flying with your centerposts - you did a terrific job.After I complete my edits, would you mind if I uploaded my work to AVSIM as an option for Centerpost users? I'd give you credit for the original artwork.Let me know.-DK----David KohlFly! II v2.5.240Dell 8200 P4/1.8G, 1024MB RAM, Nvidia GF4 Ti4600 v41.09, WinXP Home Edition SP1.CH Pro Pedals and Yoke USB.

[Guest]

Hello David,No problem ... by all means ..please upload your work for the rest of us to enjoy ! Like I said .. variety is the spice of life...and in this case ... Fly !-ing !I wish that I had more experience with a graphics package so that I could generate some photographicquality work ( instead of my bitmap attempts ). I'm gladyou enjoy the centerposts ... I was inspired by the work done on the PMDG757 and 777 as well as the TBM700 ... Iwanted a cockpit feel that would go along with the rest of the other cockpit views ...and I was reasonably happy withthe results... so I uploaded it to the library ... my smallcotribution to the Fly ! community and the other talentedprogrammers/designers for all the add-ons they have shared with the rest of us !If someone could take digital pictures of the interior of these aircraft ... and then generate some "true" centerposts ... that would be fantastic ! Enjoy !Spellbinder

[dkohl 0]

I will upload a POD with several fixes and these files, but for now, I don't have time. So feel free to try these out on your own PC. Put them in the ART folder.Tell me if it works for you.-DK