Simviation Forum - Virtual Cockpits

Oct 3^rd, 2007 at 8:42pm

evanatorx Offline
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So you are all probably going to laugh at me when I ask you this.

Can I use Virtual cockpits from one plane...on another?

As you can tell by my beautiful...freshly made signature, I'm a Westjet fan, I'd like to use the default 738 VA and use it with the opensky 736 Westjet.

I'm probably guessing that the VAs are part of the model...right? So I just can't 'copy and paste'

Can someone clear this up for me?

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Reply #1 - Oct 3^rd, 2007 at 9:05pm

Brett_Henderson Offline
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One of the good things in FSX is that the exterior and interior models are seperate. If you look in the model folder, you'll see the two models... and then if you open the model.cfg file, you'll see how they're referenced.

The trouble lies in where the reference points lie. More times than not, you'll be OK using a VC from a different but similar plane. Two 737s should be OK, but you won't know until you try it.

To give you an idea of what can go wrong in an extreme... The pilot's reference for a Lear is much closer (in feet) to the model center than a 737.. so if you use a Lear VC in a 737, you'll have a vantage point that would be somewhere back in the passenger area. You'd still see the world from inside a Lear, but your frame of reference would be off.. as in when rotating, you'd not come up off the ground much (if at all) because your "view" is from nearer the wings. Now.. you'd not SEE the wings, because all that's visible from a VC, is what's included in the interior model.... Like, if you used a 172 interior model for a 737.. you'd see 172 wings out the side windows..

Make sense ?

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Reply #2 - Oct 3^rd, 2007 at 10:56pm

evanatorx Offline
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Totaly understand all of this...

Any place on the web where I can find out the process to load up the VC into the .cfg file?

And it is a 738 VC to a 736....so will my view be further foward?

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Reply #3 - Oct 4^th, 2007 at 5:23am

Daube Offline
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evanatorx wrote on Oct 3^rd, 2007 at 10:56pm:

Totaly understand all of this...

Any place on the web where I can find out the process to load up the VC into the .cfg file?

And it is a 738 VC to a 736....so will my view be further foward?

Just have a look in the cfg file of a default liner, like the 737 for example. The lines are REALLY explicit, I dont have them in my memory anymore but you won't need more than 30 secs to find them and understand how to use them Wink

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Reply #4 - Oct 4^th, 2007 at 8:41am

Brett_Henderson Offline
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This is the entire model.cfg file for the default 737... it's only three lines..

[models]
normal=B737_800
interior=B737_800_interior

Just make sure the name on the model file matches the name in the cfg file.. You can rename the model anything you like. It would probably be easiest to change the name of the original interior model to "B737_800_interior.bak" and keep it as a backup.. and then rename whatever model you use "B737_800_interior.mdl".. then you can leave the model.cfg file intact.

Quote:

And it is a 738 VC to a 736....so will my view be further foward?

Almost every model has a "center" that is 1/4th the wing chord behind the leading edge where the wings meet the fuselage... so yes... if the plane is longer from there to the cockpit, you'll have a reference that much further forward. It wouldn't seem different flying (wouldn't matter much at all).. but picture if you taxi up to a hold-short line.. If your reference is 15 feet different than the model.. well.. you get the idea..

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Reply #5 - Oct 4^th, 2007 at 6:35pm

Felix/FFDS Offline
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HOWEVER - if you find that your view point is "off", you can "move" it by adjusting the appropriate section in the aircraft.cfg file:

[Views]
eyepoint = 1.20, 0.00, -2.34

Felix/FFDS

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Reply #6 - Oct 4^th, 2007 at 8:44pm

Brett_Henderson Offline
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Quote:

HOWEVER - if you find that your view point is "off", you can "move" it by adjusting the appropriate section in the aircraft.cfg file:

[Views]
eyepoint = 1.20, 0.00, -2.34

I'm away from a computer to confirm this... I think that will indeed move the eyepoint.. but not the interior model with it. If you wanted to move it 15 feet forward, the VC would be behind you...

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Reply #7 - Oct 4^th, 2007 at 8:48pm

Brett_Henderson Offline
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Which brings up an important point.. you'll need to move the eyepoint, at least a little, for the new interior model..

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Reply #8 - Oct 4^th, 2007 at 10:40pm

Felix/FFDS Offline
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Brett_Henderson wrote on Oct 4^th, 2007 at 8:48pm:

Which brings up an important point.. you'll need to move the eyepoint, at least a little, for the new interior model..

If I understand it correctly, the eyepoint position entered in the aircraft.cfg corresponds to the pilot's view point of the VC. IF your replace the interior model *and do not adjust the eyepoint position in the aircraft.cfg* then teh eyepoint is relative to the original VC, which will probably be misaligned with the new VC.

For example... if for some reason I reaplce teh 747's interior model with the Cessna 182 interior, and do not change the eyepoint values, my VC "view" will be from the original 747 pilot's position... somewhere "up there" .... I would have to then copy over the Cessna's eyepoint values. (presuming that both reference datum positions are 0,0,0 ..... which they aren't..)

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Reply #9 - Oct 4^th, 2007 at 10:46pm

Brett_Henderson Offline
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Yeah.. that sounds right... I've experimented a little..

What I meant was, If you position yourself properly in the "new" VC, and it's not the correct position for the plane (i.e... you're right on the hold-short line from the VC's view, but if you got to spot view you'll see your nose out on the runway), changing the eyepoint won't fix that problem...

edit: which is redundant, as you had to move the eyepoint in the first place.. (I need a vacation)

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