Questions about gauges & animations

[g1235813]

Hi all，
I'm currently working on creating a aircraft（from simple Airplane), but get kinda stuck on
gauges part( I’m using XML). Would appreciate any help on these questions, thanks!
1. I can get basic XML gauges to work and make use of A: L: K: variable/events to connect the gauge with my simpleAirplane code. However, it seems better for some gauges/switches to be created in 3D model. The problem is, I know absolutely NOTHING about 3D modeling and animations and I’m not planning to learn about them(I’m super not talented in this aspect). My plan is to find someone to do the modeling part in 3dmax, then I import the model to p3d and make connections between the model&animations with my code. But how? From Learning center I get a basic idea that animations can be somehow registered, and somehow I can link variables with animations in modeldef.xml. With my little knowledge in 3D modeling and lack of model/animation to test, I can’t get a clear idea on how this whole flow( from someone making models in 3dmax to a working gauge appear in my cockpit) exactly works. Can someone dumb it down for me? Like how should I request a model from model maker, what exact steps should I do after getting the model to import the model, link the variable/events and make a fully functional 3d gauge?
2. there are some effects I want to implement but can’t find a way yet. Please enlighten me how( on BOTH 2D xml gauges and 3D gauges) :
2.1 trigger some fuction after a button has been pressed longer than X seconds;
2.2 make some lights blink;
2.3 trigger failure performance( I know there are certain failure events can be triggered in simdirector, but can I custom my own ones to make certain systems/gauges fail?)
2.4 display custom text when mouseover, works like helpID and tooltips, but with whatever text I write;
2.5 play some voice message when click/mouseover (haven’t tried but maybe using sound related scripts in lua can do the trick?)

[navymustang]

There are some situations where you may want to explore purchasing something like Air Manager to build your gauges. ALong with the ability to download a huge variety of pre-built gauges that can then be customized.

[g1235813]

There are some situations where you may want to explore purchasing something like Air Manager to build your gauges. ALong with the ability to download a huge variety of pre-built gauges that can then be customized.

Thanks for the info! I took a look at Air Manager, seems powerful but mainly for existing gauges I think? The gauges I need are mostly custom gauges for a custom airplane coded by myself from simpleAirplane, so all the gauges AM provides can't be directly used. If I modify one of them, feels like the same as what I do now - digging into .cab files to find gauges that is similar to what I want and then editing the .xml. In this case, I think maybe AM won't save me to much time? Besides learning the AM API would require some effort too... If the functions I asked above can be implemented in p3d(I believe they can), I kinda prefer that way.

[navymustang]

Sorry, but you have it completely backwards. Yes, there are many pre-built gauges, but almost everyone I know uses it to build custom displays and gauges.

Take a look at the forum and you will see how much has been done by the user community. My entire full-scale helicopter sim has both PFDs and the MFD along with three supporting gauges done with custom design work in Air Manager. Its ability to integrate with hardware is excellent. For example, I have three Arduino Mega 2560s running under Air Manager that handle all the I/O. I have three Arduino Leonardos running with Air Manager to handle button presses on my custom displays that mimic 15" Garmin displays.
Jim

[g1235813]

Sorry, but you have it completely backwards. Yes, there are many pre-built gauges, but almost everyone I know uses it to build custom displays and gauges.

Take a look at the forum and you will see how much has been done by the user community. My entire full-scale helicopter sim has both PFDs and the MFD along with three supporting gauges done with custom design work in Air Manager. Its ability to integrate with hardware is excellent. For example, I have three Arduino Mega 2560s running under Air Manager that handle all the I/O. I have three Arduino Leonardos running with Air Manager to handle button presses on my custom displays that mimic 15" Garmin displays.
Jim

Thanks for the reply. I see your point, and the ability to intergrate with hardware is actually quite needed. My only concern is:
1 Is AM have some limits compared to xml/c++ gauge? For example, I will need the gauge to have access to A: L: K: C:variables/events, and those are registered by myself in code, not already defined in p3d. Since I gonna implement quite a lot of functions, I'd like to make sure that scenarios like "leran AM and its API - make a lot of gauges - find certain function can't be done - learn xml and c++ gauges " won't happen, that would be time consuming. I saw some related discussion in the thread(though it is old):https://www.avsim.com/forums/topic/5187 ... in-p3d-v4/

2 Still, my questions remain even if I use AM. I still don't know how to implement those functions, especially for 3D gauges. I'll give AM a try but for now I'm eager to get answers to those questions...

[navymustang]

You are still safe with using AM. I have several LVARs that I have defined in Lua scripts that can then be read by AM in my custom scripts for the panels or gauges. Good luck. Lots of folks on the forum that can give you a hand when needed.

[g1235813]

I figured out some of the answers. However for question 1, 2.3, 2.5 any help would still be appreciated. Thanks!