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Apron lighting using effects and GMax

Advantages of this method?

Perhaps the tutorial could have some information on what advantages the Gmax/Effects approach has over the probably more simple expedient of creating the effect of on-ground lighting by having a flat textured polygon that has no daytime texture, and a night texture that consists of a uniform colour plus an alpha channel that determines the pattern of the light on the ground? Set at a different drawing priority to the ground textures, the lighting won't create flickering textures due to the 2 objects occupying the same plane.

When night arrives (at least in FS9, which I use) the lighting texture becomes blended with the apron textures and provides a fairly good representation of a lit apron on which the markings are still visible (albeit in the glare, because the contrast is reduced - which is fairly realistic).
 
Night time lighting textures

Hi,

I have tried to reproduce the effect you describe but I do not know how to apply an apha channel to a uniform colour. I thought alpha channels affect only black or green.

In addition, how do you set a different drawing priority?

a night texture that consists of a uniform colour plus an alpha channel that determines the pattern of the light on the ground? Set at a different drawing priority to the ground textures
 
apron lighting

How exactly does one set a different drawing priority to the ground textures?
 
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