I have now moved everything around on the pcx, increased the size of most of the gauges and came up with this image:



Resizing and converting to a pcx left me with this image:



I am pretty satisified so far. The detail is still clear, and I still have room to add the ammo counters and possibly a few details.

The next step in creating a cockpit is to use 3DZ!Studio for Windows to put everything in it's proper place. It is available at Gurney's page here:

http://members.fortunecity.com/gurney/download.html

I won't go into general use of the program unless someone requests I do so. I moved all of the gauges around until I was satisfied with the position of everything, and I also nulled out most of the things that are not gauges. I left the edges of the panel in place as guides, but these will also be removed to the "Z" files:



The area with the red dot is for the ammo counters, and the area with the green dot should have a gauge as well, but I haven't determined what this gauge is exactly. It is called in German "druckmesser fur hohenatemanlage" and my translater gives me this: "pressure gauge fur high breath plant," (Fran, can you help me out here?) which leads me to assume this to be the chamber pressure for the rocket motor, something not modeled in EAW.

I save the new 3dz file and copy it into EAW and start a mission to view my new creation AND!!!! A huge disappointment. I only see the compass and a bit of what should be the ammo counter. However, this can be fixed. Back into 3DZStudio, I load the 3dz and use the center mover. This is a great little tool; it moves the ENTIRE 3dz file in all three axis. It takes some trial and error, moving the piece around and checking in EAW for final placement (Rotton50 made a version for me that shows the entire cockpit and this step is easier; but this is not a generally available mod so I did it the usual way.)

The result:



Compare this to the earlier version, before I trimmed away the excess detail:



Definition is definitely improved! Some adjustments are still required, and I need to add a few things like the landing skid indicator and the ammo counters. Then we will be ready for the new Pview file. By the way, these images were done in 1024x768 but my image host scales them down to 800x600.


Cheers!

CJ,

Please, if anyone wants that STUDIO mod, let 'em have it. The more people you interest in this process the better.

CJ, que necesita que yo haga?
Magnifico trabajo, me gusta mucho!
Usted deme una url para bajar sus nuevas creaciones en pcx, asi yo puedo continuar el cockpit, como escribi antes, usted digame que puedo hacer.
Saludos!

---------------------------------------

CJ that needs me to make?
I magnify work, like me a lot!
You give me an url to lower their new creations in pcx, I can continue this way the cockpit, like I wrote before, you tell me that I can make.
Greetings!

CJ-- What about luminous lights on the panel?
Do the red lights shine at night?

(Incredible work-- in the true meaning of unbelieveable )

Ray, thanks, will do for anyone that asks; should maybe send it off to Mike?

Wudy, thanks mate, I appreciate the kind words. As for luminous? They ARE sprites...haven't gotten to the Pview yet.

Sera, if you could send me the Z.3dz and TPC files I will move eveything I can to them....

Hi C.J.

I have always been interested in working approaches to sharpen up images once they have been rescaled.

Have you found a good way of doing this.
I tried to do it manually on only two of your gages (but not very good attempt)




This is a great tutorial that you are making

EDIT: yes..yes..I know, I am about as artistic as a Drop Wombat.(save some one else from having to mentioning it)
You happy now Jelly

CJ,

This is your baby so I think you should add the cockpit program on your pages. It will probably get more exposure there.

Syddy- a wombat or a drop wombat? We never told Ralf about those!

Just about to leave for the airport- see you next week!

Jel

Ray, gotcha, will drop a line to Mike. Thanks!

Sydbod, I guess that's one reason why Photoshop is so expensive; Paint Shop Pro is a great program, I use it for many things, but Photoshop is much better at file conversion and scaling. That is one part of it.

A long time ago, I read something that has always stuck with me. It was in some sort of tutorial, but it talked about using the BLUR tool to sharpen an image. I have messed around with it over the years, and though it seems wrong, using the blur tool first and then the sharpen tool sometimes clears things up. I think it's because it reduces pixelation by blending the image a bit, then use the sharpen tool to straighten it up. This must be done in very slight amounts, but I have managed to use it to clear up black and white images from WWII to help me read the text on cockpit features. It doesn't work too well on smaller images, because the effect is lost due to the much lower pixel count. I haven't gotten the technique to work very well at all on the smaller ones.

When I create images for the gauges, I always keep them in PSD form and very large, and I reduce them, merge the layers, then drag them onto a new PSD (not pcx) to get the sharpest image. Then I reduce the image to 256x256, and only then do I convert to a PCX.

There is one other thing that can affect the resolution of the gauges. When you are fixing the final position in 3DZ Studio, the closer they are to you (the closer to 0 on the X axis) the larger the gauge will be, and the clearer the image in game. This only works so far, though because if you move them too close, it feels like you are sitting in a very small cockpit indeed.

Well, I must go off and prepare the next lesson.

Cheers!

CJ:

http://www.ecv56condor.com.ar/modules/NS-Alas/eaw/files/163.zip

The files p109kw, p109ky and p109kv are not finished.
P109KW: They lack to locate erased elements of p109kx.
P109KV: It lacks to extend the protection glass toward the right, because p109kw.pcx doesn't have transparency.
P109KY: It lacks to finish the glass bubble.