FSXA Animations/XML help

euroastar350 · 28 Jul 2011

Guys,

I am on home stretch with my Bell 206 project, but I have 2 issues with 2 animated 3D knobs. I have the XML set in the modeldef doc and I can get a hand symbol im sim, but they will not animate. Here are the 2 part codes I am using:

Code:

<PartInfo>
<Name>ADF_Card</Name>
<AnimLength>100</AnimLength>
	<Animation>
	<Rotation>Z</Rotation>
		<Parameter>
			<Sim>
				<Variable>ADF CARD</Variable>
				<Units>Grads</Units>
				<Bias>50</Bias>
				<Scale>1</Scale>
			</Sim>
		</Parameter>
	</Animation>
	<MouseRect>
		<Cursor>Hand</Cursor>
		<HelpID>HELPID_GAUGE_ADF</HelpID>
		<MouseFlags>LeftSingle+RightSingle+WheelUp+WheelDown+DownRepeat</MouseFlags>
		<CallbackJumpDragging>
                  <YMovement>
		    <Delta>-3</Delta>
		    <EventIDInc>ADF_CARD_INC</EventIDInc>
		    <EventIDDec>ADF_CARD_DEC</EventIDDec>
		  </YMovement>
		</CallbackJumpDragging>
	</MouseRect>
</PartInfo>

Code:

<PartInfo>
<Name>OBS2_key</Name>
<AnimLength>100</AnimLength>
	<Animation>
	<Rotation>Z</Rotation>
		<Parameter>
			<Sim>
				<Variable>NAV OBS</Variable>
				<Units>Grads</Units>
				<Bias>50</Bias>
				<Scale>1</Scale>
			</Sim>
		</Parameter>
	</Animation>
	<MouseRect>
		<Cursor>Hand</Cursor>
		<HelpID>HELPID_GAUGE_VOR2_OBS2</HelpID>
		<MouseFlags>LeftSingle+RightSingle+WheelUp+WheelDown+DownRepeat</MouseFlags>
		<CallbackJumpDragging>
                  <YMovement>
		    <Delta>-3</Delta>
		    <EventIDInc>VOR2_OBI_INC</EventIDInc>
		    <EventIDDec>VOR2_OBI_DEC</EventIDDec>
		  </YMovement>
		</CallbackJumpDragging>
	</MouseRect>
</PartInfo>

Once I have these 2 parts animated and fully working in sim, I can relax and get the Bell 206 finished and ready for release. Any help is appreciated.

delivery guy · 28 Jul 2011

re write both so they use M:Events....This Vor works here:

Code:

  <PartInfo>
    <Name>switch_course_select</Name>
    <AnimLength>50</AnimLength>
    <Animation>
      <Parameter>
        <Code>
          (L:switch_course_select) 25 * 25 +
        </Code>
      </Parameter>
    </Animation>
    <MouseRect>
      <Cursor>Hand</Cursor>
      <HelpID>HELPID_GAUGE_VOR1_OBS</HelpID>
      <TooltipID>TOOLTIPTEXT_COURSE_SELECT</TooltipID>
      <MouseFlags>WheelUp+WheelDown+LeftDrag+LeftSingle+MoveRepeat+LeftRelease</MouseFlags>
      <CallbackCode>
        (M:Event) 'LeftSingle'  scmi 0 == if{ (>K:VOR1_OBI_DEC) }
        (M:Event) 'RightSingle'  scmi 0 == if{ (>K:VOR1_OBI_INC) }
        (M:Event) 'WheelUp'     scmi 0 == if{ (>K:VOR1_OBI_INC) }
        (M:Event) 'WheelDown'   scmi 0 == if{ (>K:VOR1_OBI_DEC) }
      </CallbackCode>
    </MouseRect>
  </PartInfo>

DG

lionheart · 28 Jul 2011

Also,

On the first one you have Z rotation and in the mouse section Y movement. But it could just be the controls differences you require, just thought it might be a typo.

Roy Holmes · 28 Jul 2011

If you search modeldef for <rotation> you get no hits, at least I do not.

Not sure what it would do anyway.

Roy

N2056 · 29 Jul 2011

Rotation tags aren't supported in FSX...
Delete "<Rotation>Z</Rotation>" and try it out.

euroastar350 · 29 Jul 2011

Okay, I get a movement on the gauge and not on the 3D part itself. How many keyframes are used when animating the part itself and in which direction? Sorry for all the questions, still pulling my hair while figuring out this XML stuff

Roy Holmes · 29 Jul 2011

The ADF CARD variable units are degrees and (whatever it is) it will rotate through 360 degrees so the best way to animate it is with 360 frames at say 90 degree intervals. The rotation direction should be obvious, but try one and if it is wrong, do the same with reversed sign. No need to use grads. Use the same for the knob. ADF CARD is not included in modeldef so you need to make a custom entry.

The NAV OBS variable also uses degrees. It can be controlled by the standard modeldef "knob_nav_obs" and I would recommend using that for simplicity, since it works.

In neither case do you need bias.

While you can use <sim></Sim> inside the <Parameter></Parameter> section, you should probably use <Code></Code> like the "knob_nav_obs" example.

Best thing to do in my opinion is to find a modeldef section that looks like what you want to achieve and take it from there, always remembering that any new section also needs a declaration statement with a new GUID, similar to:

Code:

<Animation name="knob_nav_obs" guid="75187b85-3b38-49b9-943b-d04471d7c31a" length="360" type="Sim" typeParam2="knob_nav_obs" typeParam="AutoPlay"/>

Put another way, it is a lot easier to copy and modify something in modeldef that works in FSX or FSXA than try to convert something from FS9.

Roy

euroastar350 · 29 Jul 2011

Okay, this is the code I have now....problem is that the part will not move in sim, even though it is animated from 0-100. Any ideas

Code:

<PartInfo>
<Name>OBS2_Key</Name>
<AnimLength>100</AnimLength>
	<Animation>
	<Parameter>
	    <Code>(A:NAV1 OBS, degrees) 10 * dnor</Code>
        </Parameter>
	</Animation>
	<MouseRect>
		<Cursor>Hand</Cursor>
		<HelpID>HELPID_GAUGE_VOR2_OBS2</HelpID>
	<MouseFlags>WheelUp+WheelDown+LeftDrag+LeftSingle+MoveRepeat+LeftRelease</MouseFlags>
      <CallbackCode>
        (M:Event) 'LeftSingle'  scmi 0 == if{ (>K:VOR1_OBS_DEC) }
        (M:Event) 'RightSingle'  scmi 0 == if{ (>K:VOR1_OBS_INC) }
        (M:Event) 'WheelUp'     scmi 0 == if{ (>K:VOR1_OBS_INC) }
        (M:Event) 'WheelDown'   scmi 0 == if{ (>K:VOR1_OBS_DEC) }
      </CallbackCode>
    </MouseRect>
</PartInfo>

n4gix · 29 Jul 2011

<AnimLength>360</AnimLength>

keyframes: 0 - 90 - 180 - 270 - 360

Roy Holmes · 29 Jul 2011

If this is for NAV2, then the code needs to be

Code:

<Code>(A:NAV2 OBS, degrees) 10 * dnor</Code>

or

Code:

<Code>(A:NAV OBS:2, degrees) 10 * dnor</Code>

Roy

delivery guy · 29 Jul 2011

Try this:

Code:

<Animation name="OBS2_Key" guid="75187b85-3b38-49b9-943b-d04471d7c31a" length="360" type="Sim" typeParam2="OBS2_Key" typeParam="AutoPlay"/>

Code:

<PartInfo>
<Name>OBS2_Key</Name>
<AnimLength>360</AnimLength>
	<Animation>
	<Parameter>
	    <Code>(A:NAV OBS:2, degrees) 36 * 180 /</Code>
        </Parameter>
	</Animation>
	<MouseRect>
		<Cursor>Hand</Cursor>
		<HelpID>HELPID_GAUGE_VOR2_OBS2</HelpID>
	<MouseFlags>WheelUp+WheelDown+LeftDrag+LeftSingle+MoveRepeat+LeftRelease</MouseFlags>
      <CallbackCode>
        (M:Event) 'LeftSingle'  scmi 0 == if{ (>K:VOR2_[COLOR="Red"]OBI[/COLOR]_DEC) }
        (M:Event) 'RightSingle'  scmi 0 == if{ (>K:VOR2_[COLOR="Red"]OBI[/COLOR]_INC) }
        (M:Event) 'WheelUp'     scmi 0 == if{ (>K:VOR2_[COLOR="Red"]OBI[/COLOR]_INC) }
        (M:Event) 'WheelDown'   scmi 0 == if{ (>K:VOR2_[COLOR="Red"]OBI[/COLOR]_DEC) }
      </CallbackCode>
    </MouseRect>
</PartInfo></Code>

They set up fsx OBS with OBI for the DEC and INC

DG

Flying Officer Jevans · 29 Jul 2011

Yep. Spelling mistake in FSX... That one always gets me.

n4gix · 29 Jul 2011

Flying Officer Jevans said:
Yep. Spelling mistake in FSX... That one always gets me.

The same commands were used in FS8 and FS9.

OBI = Omni-bearing Indicator
OBS = Omni-bearing Selector

Technically, OBI is the device itself, and the OBS is the knob which "selects" the desired radial!

See:
http://www.pilotfriend.com/training/flight_training/nav/vor.htm

and
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/VHF_omnidirectional_range

In essence, FS simply has the two acronyms reversed. The A:var should have been OBI and the K:event should have been OBS...

Flying Officer Jevans · 29 Jul 2011

Ah, of course - hadn't thought of the difference between the two, actually... It just looks like a mistake because one variable does it one way and one variable does it another.

euroastar350 · 30 Jul 2011

I will try out the updated codes to see if they make a difference. Thanks gents.

euroastar350 · 2 Aug 2011

Last code works like a charm, time to finish the Bell 206