WIP PMDG 737-700 for MSFS2020

Working on a instrument project or just finished a project? Show it to others!

Moderators: russ, Ralph

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

Re: WIP PMDG 737-700 for MSFS2020

#21 Post by JackZ »

Quick answer: there is no symbol (read virtual copies) in Skinman. Hard copy is the way to go.

Granted Skinman is no longer supported and its age shows somewhat, but it still is very powerful and has some very nice features I have not found elsewhere, such as quick settings for very nice 3D effects in false 3D.

One can do very neat objects in skinman.
75C152CB-2E89-47D0-8C67-44AE71D7ED08.jpeg
preview.png
preview.png
preview.png
preview.PNG
My YouTube Chanel on the A320 (Real SOPs by an Airline Pilot IRL):
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=P ... 0Q6SBASRqJ

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

Re: WIP PMDG 737-700 for MSFS2020

#22 Post by JackZ »

I just tested the trial version of Affinity designer and am very pleased so far from what I see. I can achieve pretty much the same results as in Skinman so far (boolean operations and 3D effects are present), albeit some settings are well hidden in various menus.
Worth a try nonetheless.
My YouTube Chanel on the A320 (Real SOPs by an Airline Pilot IRL):
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=P ... 0Q6SBASRqJ

User avatar
jph
Posts: 2846
Joined: Fri Apr 10, 2020 12:50 pm
Location: Somewhere over the rainbow..

Re: WIP PMDG 737-700 for MSFS2020

#23 Post by jph »

JackZ wrote: Sun May 22, 2022 1:55 pm I just tested the trial version of Affinity designer and am very pleased so far from what I see. I can achieve pretty much the same results as in Skinman so far (boolean operations and 3D effects are present), albeit some settings are well hidden in various menus.
Worth a try nonetheless.
High praise indeed. I will take a look. The price seems reasonable too. Thanks.
Joe. CISSP, MSc.

User avatar
jph
Posts: 2846
Joined: Fri Apr 10, 2020 12:50 pm
Location: Somewhere over the rainbow..

Re: WIP PMDG 737-700 for MSFS2020

#24 Post by jph »

Wow, 5 minutes with the demo and I am sold already. Just bought it. The ellipse tool sold it on it's own with the pre-sets, radius, start, finish and total angle creating instant main arcs in seconds with coloured section / segments etc. Just need tick marks ;) . The effects options are also superb. Nice replacement for PSP. Well laid out too. Very impressed.
Joe
Joe. CISSP, MSc.

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

Re: WIP PMDG 737-700 for MSFS2020

#25 Post by astroseus »

Wow that was fast :mrgreen:

I personally rolled into the software because I needed a somewhat Adobe-like capable tool that didn't cost me the full Adobe price.
The price Affinity is asking was still reasonable to me, and it keeps improving so.
Sure there will be some hiccups here and there or some lack in pro features, but hey...Adobe Suite wasn't built in 5 years either.
But again, I'm not here to advocate for any tool in specific. Whatever fits to your budget will do just fine. As long as you understand the idea behind the effects panel, multi layer, boolean tools and that kinda stuff, you'll be fine for sure.

User avatar
jph
Posts: 2846
Joined: Fri Apr 10, 2020 12:50 pm
Location: Somewhere over the rainbow..

Re: WIP PMDG 737-700 for MSFS2020

#26 Post by jph »

Hi, all those features are stock in PSP. These are just far more up to date and flexible. I am fully conversant with layers / effect / arithmetic etc so no worries on that side. I use them all the time. I have simply resisted updating to others in the past simply because they are full of stuff I would never use or they are 'open source' - which always tends to be a horse designed by a committee ;) ,,, ie - a camel. Gimp for example - amazing, but simply illogical to use. This is just the job. :D
Joe. CISSP, MSc.

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

Re: WIP PMDG 737-700 for MSFS2020

#27 Post by JackZ »

Hmmm. Maybe I'm biased, but I found quite difficult to create a simple set of tick marks in Affinity Designer.
image.png
I used the Cog tool with a bit of tweaking to achieve the desired result, PLUS had to add an extra pie to limit the tick marks sectors to be displayed.
I definitely miss here the ease of use of Skinman, which has start/finish sector angles built in the star tool

Or is there an easier way?

Jacques
My YouTube Chanel on the A320 (Real SOPs by an Airline Pilot IRL):
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=P ... 0Q6SBASRqJ

User avatar
jph
Posts: 2846
Joined: Fri Apr 10, 2020 12:50 pm
Location: Somewhere over the rainbow..

Re: WIP PMDG 737-700 for MSFS2020

#28 Post by jph »

This is something I want to investigate on the Forums (the affinity forums) Jacques. I only used the arc and found it incredibly easy. In the past I have always done the arc and ticks in skinman and then changed to PSP and that is the Jasc PSP - the original - V8.1 - not when it morphed to Corel. This is the first I have found that is better for my use overall. If it could do ticks in an easy way it would be gold. In PSP you can write scripts to create new 'tools'. I don't know if such a thing would be easily done here for ticks ?
Joe
Joe. CISSP, MSc.

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

Re: WIP PMDG 737-700 for MSFS2020

#29 Post by astroseus »

Hey guys, sorry for late response. I'm probably not gonna be online/responsive for a while.
My father had a cardiac emergency today (after they discovered a big aneurism combined with several side problems in his main heart artery 2 weeks ago).
As you understand, I need to route my focus toward my father and family for a while.

As for AD, they have a great forum indeed as Joe mentions, with pretty rapid response.
They surely know if there is a faster way to create those.
I'm normally not geared toward speed in my design process so it never really bugged me personally. I make to many buttons compared to radials.


Thanks, I appreciate it.
Regards,
P.

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

Re: WIP PMDG 737-700 for MSFS2020

#30 Post by astroseus »

Here is a quick example how I would made a radial (in this case) while keeping everything editable in a pretty fast way.
AD_example.jpg
AD_example.zip
(30.74 KiB) Downloaded 96 times

Post Reply