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Apron edge lights.

F

Flamer584

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unitedkingdom
Hi Folks.

I wish to create some edge lights. I am doing what it says in the manual. The vector shows up as a solid blue line between the vector points. The manual says that they should show as blue dots, however in my scenery, the edge lights do not show up at all. Is there a certain way I should be placing the vectors?

Regards...Ken
 
ADE and the manual may differ slightly in later versions of ADE. This is what edge lights look like drawn in the daylight display:

ScreenShot00063.png


This is what they look like in the night display (press the L key to toggle night and day):

ScreenShot00064.png



This is what they look like Compiled:

ScreenShot00065.png


They are not very easy to see. Also be aware that the spacing on these lights is such that a small run may only actually give one or two lights. You can change the lights spacing in ADE but it will apply to all apron lights at that airport.
 
Ken,

There is no certain way or direction needed to place the taxiway lights. What is important is the spacing between the vertex points that you are using. Starting with the first vertex point that you place the next vertex point needs to be farther than the spacing that is set for the airport that you are working on. Whatever the spacing is, a light will be placed along the line at that spacing. A line of taxiway lights that is 401' long with spacing of 200' will have two lights. The first at 200' from the starting vertex and the next 200' farther which would be 400' from the starting vertex. Any succeeding lines and vertex points are treated the same way. The measurement to the next light starts over at each vertex. Any leftover distance between two vertex points is ignored. In Jon's example above there are three vertices where FS begins measuring and adds lights according to the spacing that is set. In your case you might not be seeing any lights because you don't have any two vertex points far enough apart. I believe that the default spacing is 200'. So in order to see at least one light you would need your vertex points to be at least that distance. Hopefully this will help you get the lighting you desire.

Ed
 
Hello Jon and Ed.

Thanks for the prompt replies, I appreciate them. I'll go and have a tinker. I did adjust the default spacing but maybe the apron sides are not long enough for the lights to show. I am adding a small apron to LDVA for a club vfr flight. I am using Google Earth to give me a background. It is only a small aerodrome.

I'll post back with any results...Ken
 
As an aside, you could make a AFLT 3d light library and use actual 3D lights with your project instead of relying on an automated placement process. Use the light strip as a template, like a helper object, turn on night lighting mode (L) and place the taxiway lights you create on the blue balls of light in the design screen. You can do this for taxiway edge lighting as well, but as soon as the background images are up to the task, I use the light post spots on the google/mapquest images to place the taxiway lights in their actual locations.

Be careful with the AFLT lights, though. Once you start down the slippery slope of 3D lights instead of the floating globes we've been accustomed to, you'll want to fix EVERY airport you go to with 3D lights.
 
Hi Guys.

The lights are good. Thanks for the help. Aaron, 3D lights are new to me. Could you give me some more pointers and advice please? I'm assuming that AFLT is a website for lighting etc. What's the story with the gogle/mapquest images? Is that like using a google earth image as a screenshot for a background image? I have one for LDVA that I'm using now.

Regards...Ken.
Aaron, I've found and installed AFLT. Thanks for the heads up. Still need some pointers on the google/mapquest thing though.
 
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If you look at the top of the forums, you'll find a "breadcrumb" listing the Initial forum, then all sub forums you'd need to select to find the one you're in. If you go to the "Scenery - Airport Design" forum you'll find the ADE sub forum and the AFLT sub forum.

3 tools used well will give a very easy development of your airport. The first is obviously ADE. The second is SBuilderX 3.14. The only thing I use it for is getting the all-important backgrounds to develop from. The third is AFLT, which creates the light library used in ADE.

You can find the AFLT site at http://stuff4fs.com/newpage.asp?Folder=AFLT and the download link on the left is the latest stable release, the development release link will take you to the latest development build where any features being added can be tested, but some features may not be functional or may cause issues in FS. The one I am using now is dev build 1.1.00(h), which can use either BGL_LIGHT enabled lighting in the 3D models or can embed effect files in the same 3D models. The difference is the BGL_LIGHTs may not be bright or controllable enough for things like runway lights or approach lights (things that can be seen from a long distance).

Since I am working on a project that will involve several airports for my virtual airline, I have created a library of light objects for any contingency in AFLT. The 3D lights created by AFLT in some cases are directional lights (centerline lights that change from White to Red at the end - one direction will appear white, the other will be red) and you have to input the direction at which the aircraft/camera is pointed to see the front light and +91/-91 from that angle will switch to the other color.

Step 1. Use SBuilderX to get a series of images that completely cover the airport.
Step 2. Convert the tiles from the .TIF format SBuilder exports.
Step 3. Import those images into ADE and position them based on the text files geographic locations.
Step 4. Import the AFLT BGL library into the library using the Library Object Manager and save.
Step 5. Rename the lights from their default AFLT_LIGHT.001 to the actual name used in AFLT.

For step 5, I have created a few Visual Basic Scripts (VBS) to automate a few tasks and enable some things that would be difficult and time consuming to do without.

I'm working on a video tutorial series to help show others how I have things set up just to get started. I have just learned some things and, in making my tasks easier, others may benefit from the my stumbling along the way.

I'm no expert with scenery design and there may be other ways to do things, but it works for me.
 
Hello John.

Any idea when the edge lights will work for P3Dv2.4?
I can't make them show but works fine in FSX.

I used the P3Dv2 version of ADE.
I have read there is or has been an issue with ADE when it comes to P3Dv2.4 edge lights.

Thanks for your time.
 
Azurafiles said:
Hello John.

Any idea when the edge lights will work for P3Dv2.4?
I can't make them show but works fine in FSX.

I used the P3Dv2 version of ADE.
I have read there is or has been an issue with ADE when it comes to P3Dv2.4 edge lights.

Thanks for your time.
Click to expand...

I am not aware of any issues with edge lights and P3D v2.4 - at least it has not been reported to me that I recall. So if there is a problem then what is it?
 
It could be a display driver problem. Neither edge-lights nor runway lights display with the 347.25 drivers.
 
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All apron lights I add work fine. I even changed the seperation to 50 ft., brightness 1.2 and color to red and all showed.
 
Hello John.

I have added edge lights and they do not show in P3Dv2.4 and neither do the rails.
I have a seperate user testing the scenery and he has the same issue.
Not saying it is something wrong with the software because ''AFX'' seems to have the same issue.

It is beyond me why this would happen.
It is the same with default airports I now see.
 

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Then George may have the answer in display drivers.
 
I added Apron lights, taxiway lights, runway lights and all show correctly in P3D V2.4

fsscr000.jpg
 
Nvidia 344 series drivers have no lights problems, and I stick to 344.48 for P3D 2.4. Other drivers confirmed to be OK is 344.65 and 344.75. Many drivers above the 344 series do not show lights.
 
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