Editing a line

[jjbld]

Hi,

I need to edit a hold short line to get shorter dashes.

Please, look at the attached pictures to understand.

Pict1 shows the initial situation in FSX (before edting the line)

Pict2 shows the initial situation in the GP EDITOR.

Pict3 shows what I have done with points to get shorter dashes.

After compiling there is no change in FSX! (the dashes have the same dimensions)

Please tell me if I'm doing something wrong.

 

[gadgets]

You are using a dimensioned texture. The texture dimensions in the Textures_Def.txt entry specify how the texture is to be applied. The mix of line patterns suggests to me this texture should not be dimensioned.

If you want shorter dashes, change the Textures_Def entry to a length that gives you the desired number of dashes - which will apply to all uses of the texture, or remove the dimensioning altogether. and then you can control the application from the GP editor.

Don

 

[tgibson]

I don't understand. When I do this, it works fine.

Here is the dimensioned texture Def for the texture used below:

gp_PatternedLines_TRG|40F|80F|False


First I created a line, using the dotted red line:

It appears in FS9 as I expect:

Then I shorten the line using the horizontal Resize button:

and the lines are longer in FS9, just as I would expect:

I also did the same thing moving vertices instead, and I got the same behavior - on any line segment I shortened, the red lines got longer in FS. The untouched segments stayed the same.

It also worked the same for vertical lines.

I hope this is the expected behavior, because that is what I would expect.

Hope this helps,

 

[tgibson]

PS. I do agree that a fully dimensioned line texture is no longer needed, since the texture now always displays with its proper proportions (which is why I started using fully dimensioned textures). You can leave the dimension at 0 that is along the direction of the lines themselves (horizontal or vertical lines).

Thanks,

 

[jjbld]

You are using a dimensioned texture. The texture dimensions in the Textures_Def.txt entry specify how the texture is to be applied. The mix of line patterns suggests to me this texture should not be dimensioned.

If you want shorter dashes, change the Textures_Def entry to a length that gives you the desired number of dashes - which will apply to all uses of the texture, or remove the dimensioning altogether. and then you can control the application from the GP editor.

Don

Thanks Don, it'OK now. It wasn't clear for me in the manual. I must redraw the line to take the new definition in account, but it was easy to do.

 

[gadgets]

It appears that both of you did the same thing and got different results. I need to do further testing. In your screenshot, Tom, I notice that the texture size is unchanged even though you have effectively changed it.

You can leave the dimension at 0 that is along the direction of the lines themselves

Yes you can. But, the GP Editor display will differ. If the line texture is dimensioned along the axis of the lines, when you create a line, the texture will be applied in accordance with the geographic length of the line. If the texture is not dimensioned along the length, then the newly-created line will (should) use exactly one copy of the line texture. If the texture is not dimensioned at all, then you've got George's "undimensioned line" situation and what happens depends on the Lines_Def entry if there is one.

There is no point in dimensioning a texture such as gp_PatternedLines_40F across the breadth of the line patterns. The Lines_Def entry controls what portion of the texture gets used.

Jacques, when enquiring about a line situation, it is always helpful if you show the applicable Textures_Def and Lines_Def entries.

Don

 

[tgibson]

OK, I understand the difference now. For almost all of my uses they should be dimensioned, then. I want the same dashed line on the airport, no matter how short or long I initially make the line. Using an undimensioned texture will make long lines with short dashes and short lines with long dashes - undesirable to me.

And originally when I only dimensioned the line direction, the texture did not display with its proper proportions. I had to dimension the breadth direction too. I'll see if that is fixed.

Thanks,

 

[gadgets]

Nothing has changed in that regard since Day 1 Tom. If there's a Lines_Def entry, the dimension across the breadth of the lines in Textures_Def is (should be) ignored. Is that not your experience?

Don

 

[gadgets]

Pict1 shows the initial situation in FSX (before edting the line)

Pict2 shows the initial situation in the GP EDITOR.

Pict3 shows what I have done with points to get shorter dashes.

After compiling there is no change in FSX! (the dashes have the same dimensions)

Please tell me if I'm doing something wrong.

Jacques, I have now had an opportunity to investigate further. It seems I gave you bad advice before, resizing the line on the GP Editor display should accomplish what you want - whether or not the texture is dimensioned.

When I resize the line, whether with the resize functions or by dragging individual vetices, the effects of the resizing is apparent on the FSX display just as Tom described.

How did you adjust the length on the line?

Don

 

[jjbld]

Jacques, I have now had an opportunity to investigate further. It seems I gave you bad advice before, resizing the line on the GP Editor display should accomplish what you want - whether or not the texture is dimensioned.

When I resize the line, whether with the resize functions or by dragging individual vetices, the effects of the resizing is apparent on the FSX display just as Tom described.

How did you adjust the length on the line?

Don

By selecting upper vertices and entering a factor of 3 in the V box (as shown on the picture number 2) like I do with the unwrap UVW modifier of GMAX.

 

[gadgets]

By selecting upper vertices and entering a factor of 3 in the V box (as shown on the picture) like I do in gmax wih unwrap UVW

And that's the one way I forgot to rescale the texture after vertex movement. Easily fixed. For the time being, please use drag or resize.

Don