Modeldef.xml Custom Lever Animations

n4gix · 10 Apr 2017

I have a set of power levers that I have animated for thrust control (0 to 100). Because I need the lever(s) to stop at "Idle" I have the animation <Code> set as: 50 (L: Power_Lever:1,enum) + (I had to add a space after L: to stop the silly emojies)

In Max I have the full animation set for 0 to 150 frames, with idle position at frame 50.

I wish to use RightClick to allow the lever(s) to move from frame 50 to frame 0, representing reverse thrust from 0% to 100%.

The forward thrust works perfectly, but nothing I've tried will allow me to activate the reverse thrust animation. Anyone with ideas?

Code:

  <PartInfo>
    <Name>PED_lever_throttle0</Name>
    <AnimLength>100</AnimLength>
    <Animation>
      <Parameter>
        <Code>
          50 (L:Power_Lever:1,enum) +
        </Code>
      </Parameter>
    </Animation>
    <MouseRect>
      <Cursor>Hand</Cursor>
      <TooltipText>L Power %((L:Power_Lever:1,enum))%!d!</TooltipText>
      <MouseFlags>LeftSingle+LeftDrag+MoveRepeat+Wheel+RightDrag+RightRelease</MouseFlags>
      <CallbackCode>
        <!-- FORWARD THRUST -->
        (M:Event) 'LeftSingle' scmp 0 !=
        if{
        (L:PowerPosLeftX, position) s0 0 !=
        if{
        (L:Power_Lever:1,enum) (M:X) l0 &lt;
        if{ 2 + 100 min } els{ l0 (M:X) &lt; if{ 2 - 0 max } }
        (&gt;L:Power_Lever:1,enum)
        } quit
        }

        (M:Event) 'RightSingle' scmp 0 !=
        <!-- REVERSER SCRIPT HERE -->

        (M:X) (&gt;L:PowerPosLeftX, position)
      </CallbackCode>
    </MouseRect>
  </PartInfo>

Heretic · 11 Apr 2017

The mouse flag for "RightSingle" is missing.

n4gix · 11 Apr 2017

I tried changing it to RightSingle and just didn't bother taking a new screenshot. What is truly weird though is that even though no action is scripted for RightSingle, using RightSingle in the sim will activate the LeftSingle script!

I need to find the magic script to invert the direction of movement, and have it control the L:var from 0 to -50 frames.

spokes2112 · 12 Apr 2017

Bill,

Shouldn't your string compares equal zero?
Funny thing, just caught myself doing this the other day.

Code:

<!-- Not good-->
(M:Event) 'RightSingle' scmp 0 !=

<!-- Good -->
(M:Event) 'RightSingle' scmp 0 ==

n4gix · 12 Apr 2017

Roman, I've actually had them work properly both ways. Logically though, not-zero makes more sense, given that custom L:vars are FALSE when they equal zero, and only TRUE when they are not-zero...

To add to the confusion, even the default modeldef.xml from both FSX and P3D have examples using both == and !0... :yikes:

EDIT: Changing them from
(M:Event) 'LeftSingle' scmp 0 !=
to
(M:Event) 'LeftSingle' scmp 0 ==
actually caused the lever(s) to stop moving at all! :banghead:

spokes2112 · 13 Apr 2017

Just working with the M:Events not the L:Vars.

n4gix said:
To add to the confusion, even the default modeldef.xml from both FSX and P3D have examples using both == and !0..

Yeah, I guess it's how one wants to implement them.

A left click is performed -
(M:Event) 'LeftSingle' scmp 0 != the result is false
(M:Event) 'LeftSingle' scmp 0 == the result is true

Such as - do something when anything besides a left click is performed, one would use !=

n4gix · 13 Apr 2017

spokes2112 said:
A left click is performed -
(M:Event) 'LeftSingle' scmp 0 != the result is false
(M:Event) 'LeftSingle' scmp 0 == the result is true

Such as - do something when anything besides a left click is performed, one would use !=

Unfortunately, reality bites back hard with the above interpretation Roman, as the results I've observed are just the opposite...

With the script below, LeftSingle on the left lever will move 0 to 100 perfectly:

Code:

      <MouseFlags>LeftSingle+LeftDrag+MoveRepeat+Wheel+RightDrag+RightRelease</MouseFlags>
      <CallbackCode>
        (M:Event) 'LeftSingle' scmp 0 !=
        if{
        (L:PowerPosLeftX, position) s0 0 !=
        if{
        (L:Avt_Power_Lever:1,enum) (M:X) l0 &lt;
        if{ 2 + 100 min } els{ l0 (M:X) &lt; if{ 2 - 0 max } }
        (&gt;L:Avt_Power_Lever:1,enum)
        } quit
        }

Altering the script to the below, the lever is dead, dead, D E A D:

Code:

      <MouseFlags>LeftSingle+LeftDrag+MoveRepeat+Wheel+RightDrag+RightRelease</MouseFlags>
      <CallbackCode>
        (M:Event) 'LeftSingle' scmp 0 ==
        if{
        (L:PowerPosLeftX, position) s0 0 !=
        if{
        (L:Avt_Power_Lever:1,enum) (M:X) l0 &lt;
        if{ 2 + 100 min } els{ l0 (M:X) &lt; if{ 2 - 0 max } }
        (&gt;L:Avt_Power_Lever:1,enum)
        } quit
        }

All of this and I still haven't come up with a method to accomplish my actual goal of adding a "reverse action" with a RightSingle click! :banghead:

tgibson · 13 Apr 2017

Perhaps using Left Single for a drag function instead of a click function is confusing FS? One of my levers uses tests for both click and drag:

Code:

    (M:Event) 'LeftSingle' scmp 0 ==
    if{
      (M:Y) (&gt;L:MOUSEPOS, number)
      quit
    }
    (M:Event) 'LeftDrag' scmp 0 ==
    if{
      (M:Y) (L:MOUSEPOS,number) - -0.5 * (L:Prop1 Pitch Lever, number) + 0 max 100 min (&gt;L:Prop1 Pitch Lever, number)
      (M:Y) (&gt;L:MOUSEPOS,number)
    }

spokes2112 · 13 Apr 2017

Hi Bill,

More ideas is all - When using 'LeftSingle' scmp 0 != it is most likely working because it's not picking up the LeftClick but rather anything other than LeftClick. IE LeftDrag will make it work. When working with multiple <MouseFlags> I make sure I have code that covers each mouse flag explicitly.
The same as -

n4gix said:
What is truly weird though is that even though no action is scripted for RightSingle, using RightSingle in the sim will activate the LeftSingle script!

Also, not sure about the quit command. JMO, I would take that out because the only time the area is active is when the mouse is over the area and performing a "click/drag" operation. I would take it out until operation is proven, then maybe put it back in if wanted. I would also hold off, for now, the mouse wheel operation until the basics are proved. Another idea to prove operation, make it a 2D gauge and monitor everything just to get the code down pat.

Maybe will help, maybe not ???

Code:

      <MouseFlags>LeftSingle+LeftDrag+LeftRelease+RightSingle+RightDrag+RightRelease+MoveRepeat</MouseFlags>
      <CallbackCode>
        <!-- FORWARD THRUST -->
        (M:Event) 'LeftSingle' scmp 0 == (M:Event) 'LeftDrag' scmp 0 == ||
        if{
        (L:PowerPosLeftX, position) s0 0 !=
        if{
        (L:Power_Lever:1,enum) (M:X) l0 &lt;
        if{ 2 + 100 min } els{ l0 (M:X) &lt; if{ 2 - 0 max } }
        (&gt;L:Power_Lever:1,enum)
        }
        }

        (M:Event) 'RightSingle' scmp 0 == (M:Event) 'RightDrag' scmp 0 == ||
        if{
        
        <!-- REVERSER SCRIPT HERE -->
        
        }
        
        (M:X) (&gt;L:PowerPosLeftX, position)
      </CallbackCode>

taguilo · 14 Apr 2017

Bill,

I know Click Kind properties do not work exactly the same in 2D panels and VC. My questions are:

-Why are you using the X axis (M:X) for a lever that should travel on the Y axis, is that a requisite?

-You say you have full animation 0 to 150 frames, but I see in your code
<AnimLength>100</AnimLength>
Shouldn't that be 150?

-Which is the entire lenght in pixels, controlled by (L

owerPosLeftX, position) ?

Tom

n4gix · 14 Apr 2017

taguilo said:
I know Click Kind properties do not work exactly the same in 2D panels and VC. My questions are:

-Why are you using the X axis (M:X) for a lever that should travel on the Y axis, is that a requisite?

-You say you have full animation 0 to 150 frames, but I see in your code
<AnimLength>100</AnimLength>
Shouldn't that be 150?

-Which is the entire lenght in pixels, controlled by (LowerPosLeftX, position) ?

Tom

Tom, the levers are animated on the X axis and work properly with the script used. This is the same basic script used in the KA350i (I'm big on recycling scripts!). Using Y would simply change the direction of the drag from fore/aft to side-to-side, which I'm sure you'll agree would not be very intuitive!

I've already modified <AnimLength> to 150 as well as the <Animation...> entry.

As for pixel length, that's difficult to determine with any 3d object in the VC since it is darn near infinitely variable based on eye point position and zoom factor. What I aim for is movement of the mouse cursor equivalent to the stroke length of the lever.

n4gix · 14 Apr 2017

mjahn said:
Errr ... and it should surely be "... scmp 0 ==", not ".... scmp 0 !="

See the previous discussion in this thread for the reasons why I've used "scmp 0 !="

n4gix · 14 Apr 2017

mjahn said:
All's okay as far as I can see until you get to the RightSingle mouse event where the curly braces are somehow missing after the 0 != and the assignment to the L: var seems to be dangling (it will never get caught on a left click because of the "quit". In other words putting it like so just for testing)...

The curly braces are missing because that call is void. IOW, the only content is the . The final statement is not part of the 'RightSingle' event. It is related to the 'LeftSingle' event and simply keeps track of the final mouse position.

n4gix · 14 Apr 2017

SOLVED!!!

Thanks to some very helpful suggestions in this thread, and what seemed like 623,280 attempts, I've finally found a working solution for my described task. Here are some notes on my findings, before I present the finalized scripts.

1. LeftSingle and RightSingle are useless here. Only LeftDrag and RightDrag work.
2. With LeftDrag and RightDrag, only scmp 0 == will work properly.
3. I had to move the last assignment of (M:X) (>L: PowerPosLeftX, position) to encapsulate it within each (M:Event)'s scope in order to keep this command isolated from the two mouse events.

Here is a quick video taken on my camera phone showing how the "Both" script works. Each lever may also be controlled separately of course, but I should think most users will wish to control both simultaneously. I've got an invisible polygon in between the two levers for this purpose

Here then is the compete script for the power levers:

Code:

  <PartInfo>
    <Name>PED_lever_throttle_both</Name>
    <AnimLength>150</AnimLength>
    <Animation>
      <Parameter>
        <Code>
          50 (L:Avt_Power_Lever:1,enum) +
        </Code>
      </Parameter>
    </Animation>
    <MouseRect>
      <Cursor>Hand</Cursor>
      <TooltipText>Both Power %((L:Avt_Power_Lever:1,enum))%!d!</TooltipText>
      <MouseFlags>LeftSingle+LeftDrag+MoveRepeat+Wheel+RightDrag+RightRelease</MouseFlags>
      <CallbackCode>
        (M:Event) 'LeftDrag' scmp 0 ==
        if{
        (L:PowerPosLeftX, position) s0 0 !=
        if{
        (L:Avt_Power_Lever:1,enum) (M:X) l0 &lt;
        if{ 2 + 100 min } els{ l0 (M:X) &lt; if{ 2 - 0 max } }
        d (&gt;L:Avt_Power_Lever:1,enum)
        d (&gt;L:Avt_Power_Lever:2,enum)
        } (M:X) (&gt;L:PowerPosLeftX, position)
        }

        (M:Event) 'RightDrag' scmp 0 ==
        if{
        (L:PowerPosLeftX, position) s0 0 !=
        if{
        (L:Avt_Power_Lever:1,enum) (M:X) l0 &lt;
        if{ 2 + 0 min } els{ l0 (M:X) &lt; if{ 2 - -50 max } }
        d (&gt;L:Avt_Power_Lever:1,enum)
        d (&gt;L:Avt_Power_Lever:2,enum)
        } (M:X) (&gt;L:PowerPosLeftX, position)
        }
      </CallbackCode>
    </MouseRect>
  </PartInfo>

  <PartInfo>
    <Name>PED_lever_throttle1</Name>
    <AnimLength>150</AnimLength>
    <Animation>
      <Parameter>
        <Code>
          50 (L:Avt_Power_Lever:2,enum) +
        </Code>
      </Parameter>
    </Animation>
    <MouseRect>
      <Cursor>Hand</Cursor>
      <TooltipText>R Power %((L:Avt_Power_Lever:2,enum))%!d!</TooltipText>
      <MouseFlags>LeftSingle+LeftDrag+MoveRepeat+Wheel+RightDrag+RightRelease</MouseFlags>
      <CallbackCode>
        (M:Event) 'LeftDrag' scmp 0 ==
        if{
        (L:PowerPosLeftX, position) s0 0 !=
        if{
        (L:Avt_Power_Lever:2,enum) (M:X) l0 &lt;
        if{ 2 + 100 min } els{ l0 (M:X) &lt; if{ 2 - 0 max } }
        (&gt;L:Avt_Power_Lever:2,enum)
        } (M:X) (&gt;L:PowerPosLeftX, position)
        }

        (M:Event) 'RightDrag' scmp 0 ==
        if{
        (L:PowerPosLeftX, position) s0 0 !=
        if{
        (L:Avt_Power_Lever:2,enum) (M:X) l0 &lt;
        if{ 2 + 0 min } els{ l0 (M:X) &lt; if{ 2 - -50 max } }
        (&gt;L:Avt_Power_Lever:2,enum)
        } (M:X) (&gt;L:PowerPosLeftX, position)
        }
      </CallbackCode>
    </MouseRect>
  </PartInfo>

  <PartInfo>
    <Name>PED_lever_throttle0</Name>
    <AnimLength>150</AnimLength>
    <Animation>
      <Parameter>
        <Code>
          50 (L:Avt_Power_Lever:1,enum) +
        </Code>
      </Parameter>
    </Animation>
    <MouseRect>
      <Cursor>Hand</Cursor>
      <TooltipText>L Power %((L:Avt_Power_Lever:1,enum))%!d!</TooltipText>
      <MouseFlags>LeftSingle+LeftDrag+MoveRepeat+Wheel+RightDrag+RightRelease</MouseFlags>
      <CallbackCode>
        (M:Event) 'LeftDrag' scmp 0 ==
        if{
        (L:PowerPosLeftX, position) s0 0 !=
        if{
        (L:Avt_Power_Lever:1,enum) (M:X) l0 &lt;
        if{ 2 + 100 min } els{ l0 (M:X) &lt; if{ 2 - 0 max } }
        (&gt;L:Avt_Power_Lever:1,enum)
        } (M:X) (&gt;L:PowerPosLeftX, position)
        }

        (M:Event) 'RightDrag' scmp 0 ==
        if{
        (L:PowerPosLeftX, position) s0 0 !=
        if{
        (L:Avt_Power_Lever:1,enum) (M:X) l0 &lt;
        if{ 2 + 0 min } els{ l0 (M:X) &lt; if{ 2 - -50 max } }
        (&gt;L:Avt_Power_Lever:1,enum)
        } (M:X) (&gt;L:PowerPosLeftX, position)
        }
      </CallbackCode>
    </MouseRect>
  </PartInfo>

Lagaffe · 15 Apr 2017

Thank you very much Bill for sharing the solution.
I note this code for my next creation ;-)

spokes2112 · 15 Apr 2017

+

=

Glad you got it working Bill!

n4gix · 15 Apr 2017

Thanks Roman. I like your emojie-math! :laughing:

taguilo · 16 Apr 2017

Hi Bill,

n4gix said:
Tom, the levers are animated on the X axis and work properly with the script used. This is the same basic script used in the KA350i (I'm big on recycling scripts!). Using Y would simply change the direction of the drag from fore/aft to side-to-side, which I'm sure you'll agree would not be very intuitive!

Yes, I know is the same script of the KA350 and I forgot to tell this before.

(M:X) refers to side to side axis, like the cartesian X axis.
(M:Y) refers to top to botton axis, like the cartesian Y axis.

Fore/aft, as you define, is indeed a movement that involves X and Y changes, pretty evident as power levers are moved mostly diagonally.
That's the reason the X axis works in your example. Try dragging left to right only and you'll see the levers move up and down, always.
Try dragging up-down exclusively and you'll see that sometimes, if you really keep it straight up/down, levers won't move when X axis doesn't change.

No problem to monitor (M:X) but as you know I prefer to explain how this kind of stuff works so everyone has a proper idea.

Now, regarding the code you posted, I'd like to add some comments that hope will be helpful.

<MouseFlags>LeftDrag+RightDrag</MouseFlags> would be enough when controlling any kind of levers. "Weel" could be used as well. But LeftSingle,RightSingle,Move,Release,etc,etc, are not needed at all unless cursor gets stuck when part loses its focus -I know this can happen in VC then testing is mandatory.

Code:

  <CallbackCode>
    SCRIPT
  </CallbackCode>

SCRIPT within <CallbackCode/> will execute ALL and ONLY when ANY of <MouseFlags> is triggered, and only the name of the flag involved is saved to (M:Event) variable.

Then, writing

Code:

  <MouseFlags>LeftDrag+RightDrag</MouseFlags>
  <CallbackCode>
     (M:Event) 'LeftDrag' scmp 0 ==
     if{ script }
     (M:Event) 'RightDrag' scmp 0 ==
     if{ script }
  </CallbackCode>

is the same as writing

Code:

  <MouseFlags>LeftDrag+RightDrag</MouseFlags>
  <CallbackCode>
     (M:Event) 'LeftDrag' scmp 0 ==
     if{ script }
     els{ script }
  </CallbackCode>

because if Event is not 'LeftDrag', it must be 'RightDrag' as those are the only two flags defined.

In your code for both levers movement, it won't work smoothly if levers are split in different positions.
For example, with Lever1 at position 2 and lever2 at position 10, moving both levers (which is controlled by lever1 value) will make lever2 come down to 0 abruptly. Indeed something similar to moving a single joystick lever mapped to both levers.

I'd like to ask you if would be possible that you test the following snippet and let me know if it works.
It is for both levers movement.

Code:

      <MouseFlags>LeftDrag+RightDrag</MouseFlags>
      <CallbackCode>
        (L:PowerPosLeftY, position) sp0
        (L:Avt_Power_Lever:1,enum) sp1
        (L:Avt_Power_Lever:2,enum) sp2
        (M:Y) l0 > if{ 2 } els{ -2 } sp3       
        (M:Event) 'LeftDrag' scmp 0 == l1 0 >= and l2 0 >= and
        if{          
            l1 l3 + 100 min 0 max (>L:Avt_Power_Lever:1,enum)
            l2 l3 + 100 min 0 max (>L:Avt_Power_Lever:2,enum)
          }
        (M:Event) 'RightDrag' scmp 0 == l1 0 &lt;= and l2 0 &lt;= and
        if{
            l1 l3 + 0 min -50 max (>L:Avt_Power_Lever:1,enum)
            l2 l3 + 0 min -50 max (>L:Avt_Power_Lever:2,enum)
          }
        (M:Y) (>L:PowerPosLeftY, position)
    </CallbackCode>

Commom code for both flags is placed first.
Both levers operating with one flag should hit top/bottom values smoothly before enabling the other flag to work.

Many thanks!

Tom

n4gix · 16 Apr 2017

Thanks for the detailed explanation. Now that I've gotten it through my head that I'm dealing with mouse drag direction rather than the axis of rotation, things are perfectly clear now.

Your script revision is working just fine, Tom. I did have to reverse the direction of drag however by swapping these entries around:

(M:Y) l0 > if{ -2 } els{ 2 } sp3

taguilo · 17 Apr 2017

n4gix said:
Your script revision is working just fine, Tom. I did have to reverse the direction of drag however by swapping these entries around:

(M:Y) l0 > if{ -2 } els{ 2 } sp3

Good to know Bill, thank you.

I thought Y=0 was at part's bottom but actually was at the top, so your need to make the reversion.

Tom