AM 3.7 Beta Graphic discrepancies in displays in Create/mode and panel

[JackZ]

Hi Corjan

I am having weird issues with the graphics in AM for a gauge I'm currently working on.

This gauge has a lot of graphics ressources (.png with alpha channel) overlayed on top of each other in order to achieve a certain look (gradation of the LCD screen for example.

In the create/edit mode the gauge look is perfectly fine, but when I launch a test panel with exactly the same gauge in it, some graphics elements do not appear properly

Guess it's a problem wit AM, nothing I can do on my side about this.

Bottom the gauge in the Create/edit mode, top, the same gauge run in a panel. Really weird.

I tried to disable some settings such as image prescaling and anti aliasing, switched to OpenGL2.0 and DircetX modes, to no avail.

Any idea?

Thanks

Jacques

[SimPassion]

Hi Jacques @JackZ

Could be that the panel instrument is not updated to latest change if coming from a custom panel
Have you tried to delete and re add the instrument ?

Gilles

[JackZ]

Yes Gilles I have.
I'm on an investigation path, I and I think I probably found the "culprit" but i have to be sure before naming it haha...

[JackZ]

Found it after some research!
I'm exposing it here because it can happen to other developpers.

The fact is that the background of the gauge in Create/Edit preview mode is ALWAYS white.
On the other hand I created a test panel with this gauge in it with a BLACK background.

When I created the graphic elements in Skinman, i used a white background for the workspace (bad idea, should have used a pink one...)
The colors seemed right when creating the graphic assets, and they appeared so in the Create preview of the gauge since they had the same background color, but not on my test panel. Hence my questionning about a possible bug

BUT my .png file of the LCD screen is in fact semi-transparent, and obviously "shows" some of the color underneath. With a white background it's OK, but with a black one the constrast is way higer and the others elements eventually show up.
I solved the problem by creating a white rectangle below the transparent LCD ones and saved the new graphic resource as it, so whatever the backround color the panel is displayed in the graphic lement stays with its white background.

Phew!
Sorry to have put AM in doubt, just wished one could select the background display in Create/Edit to avoid this trap. Maybe in a future version Corjan?
So the Culprit was: Le colonel moutarde, dans la cuisine avec un fond toujours blanc...

Jacques

[SimPassion]

Nice to sorted out with investigations that make life better ...
Hope things going ahead with pro flying perspectives !?

Gilles