Is there a better way to simulate instrument lights?

Help and techniques for creating Air Manager Instrument Graphics

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wohnlich
Posts: 47
Joined: Tue Sep 07, 2021 10:11 pm

Is there a better way to simulate instrument lights?

#1 Post by wohnlich »

Hello,

during implementation of the night lighting for my instrument (the engine cluster for the Caproni C22J), I learned that the most frequently used method is to overlay a light "halo" image and make it transparent using opacity(). However I feel that it doesn't look great because the "brighter" the light is set, the less transparent the overlay image becomes, hence covering more and more of the original instrument, actually reducing the readability instead of improving it. Here's an example:

Fully lit (opacity of 0.75)
lit 100 percent.png
Lit 70% (opacity of 53%)
lit 70 percent.png
I think it doesn't look too good. It gives a rather "milky" appearance. I'm not exactly an artist. Anyone have any better idea how to implement night lighting for instruments?

Thanks

JackZ
Posts: 2262
Joined: Mon Feb 22, 2016 1:02 pm

Re: Is there a better way to simulate instrument lights?

#2 Post by JackZ »

Just create rectangular holes onto your light mask where the leds are?
My YouTube Chanel on the A320 (Real SOPs by an Airline Pilot IRL):
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=P ... 0Q6SBASRqJ

wohnlich
Posts: 47
Joined: Tue Sep 07, 2021 10:11 pm

Re: Is there a better way to simulate instrument lights?

#3 Post by wohnlich »

I think the milky effect also comes from the letter being covered, but at least that would let the LEDs stand out more.
Thanks for the tip.

(Not sure I'm going to do that because I dread adding transparent background to graphics - it's a mess in Inkscape.)

astroseus
Posts: 46
Joined: Sun Jul 18, 2021 9:02 am
Location: Belgium

Re: Is there a better way to simulate instrument lights?

#4 Post by astroseus »

Do you have a reference image of how this looks in real life? I might be able to help if I could find an image from the real plane lighting system.

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