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FSX Edit fx-file and use textures

J

José Bourgoignie

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belgium
Hi,

I downloaded FXEditor in order to be able changing scale and color in a fx-file.
Not very clear and hard to find a topic about how to change a color with an exemple.
Have a question: see that is refered to a .bmp (such as TR2 and FX_2 (Ramp-light-FX from Horst... I could contact him personally, but this is really very important for every designer... :rolleyes:). When I opened these bitmaps I do see four and even more images. If there was only one image, I could understand that... but four and even more images ? So, how to use it and point to the wanted bitmap to display in FSX ? There must be a whole setup in order to succeed in realizing a good effect.


Greetz. José.
 
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Hi,

Yes, I just red this topic... and very interesting is your question and remark at the end of the thread... although without a reply ! :D

I rather like to pick one image and set it in a new bitmap.

Greetz. José.
 
Hi Jose,

If you look in the FX file you will probably see the UV texture coordinates that are used. Most likely only part of the texture is used on the particle.
 
Hi Arno,

Yes of course and if there is only one image, no UV settings is needed in the fx-file.

I still want an exemple of the setting for a color, such as blue or red. Maybe the edited text point to an image with the wanted color ?
And further: if I like a bigger effect, what shall I change ?

Greetz. José.
 
Yes I nknow what you mean, if it's only one image in on texture file, what would be his uv1, uv2 coordinates, like the four efects that appear in the bottom right corner of the texture, don't know what could be the coordinates.
About the colors
""Color Start=000, 000, 000, 000

The initial color of a particle. The first three numbers define the red, green, and blue (RGB) values and the fourth number specifies the amount of alpha transparency (R, G, B, [00-255])."


6.) FSX SDK Doc "Creating Special Effects.html" > "ParticleAttributes.0" > "Color End="

file:///[FSX SDK install path]/Environment%20Kit/Special%20Effects%20SDK/Creating%20Special%20Effects.html#Color End=


"Color End=000, 000, 000, 000

The final color of a particle. The first three numbers specify the red, green, and blue (RGB) values, and the fourth number specifies the amount of alpha transparency (R, G, B, [00-255])."

Look in any image editor and choose a color in the color palette, and see his Rgb values.
All this is theory I not really know how all this work.
"Effects pixel coordinates are referenced as starting at the Lower Left, and ending at the Upper Right corner of a mapped texture bitmap." Could be ( 0,100) ?
Ragarding your last question look for "scale"
 
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If your effect uses a texture then you need to decide whether you are using additive or alpha blending.

From the SDK:

"Two texture types can be used in special effects: alpha and additive. Alpha textures are full color and include a transparency mask (alpha channel). Additive textures, on the other hand, have no alpha channel. The transparency of an additive texture is based off of color values within the texture. Color values in the texture are added to the background color. If an additive texture is triggered against pure white, nothing happens because the values are already maximized at 255, 255, 255, which represents the RGB value for white. Any part of the texture that you want to be invisible must be pure black (or else you’ll just get expanding squares). Additive textures are best used when the effect is simulating something bright—like fire or a light. "

To specify this you have a Blend Mode= line: 1 = alpha, 2 = additive

Color is listed in RGBAlpha order, so something like:

Blend Mode=2
Color Start=80,20,35,175
Color End=0, 0, 0, 0

This is a semi transparent light that has a dark reddish color added to the texture color, which fades to black and totally transparent.

The SDK states for Color Start:

"The initial color of a particle. The first three numbers define the red, green, and blue (RGB) values and the fourth number specifies the amount of alpha transparency (R, G, B, [00-255])."

Hope this helps,
 
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