Post by mick on Nov 11, 2005 0:21:43 GMT -5
I'm trying to make a 2D panel bitmap for a Boeing P-26 Peashooter. The P-26 has a frameless windscreen. The front and side panels were butt joined together and apparently held in place with some kind of resin, glue, bubblegum, or whatever.
(Flying Tip: try to avoid birdstrikes when flying a P-26!)
So the panel bitmap shouldn't have frames, but the line between the glass panels should be visible. The join lines were vertical as seen from the front of the plane, but because the windscreen slopes backwards, from the pilot's viewpoint the lines must be angled outward as they rise from the top of the cockpit coaming to the top of the monitor screen.
A simple one pixel wide black line shows up jagged and looks like crap. A gray line looks just as jagged and only slightly less crappy.
An anti-aliased line looks a little better, but still not right. If the sky or scenery seen through the windshield is darker than the color the line was drawn against, the anti-aliasinng pixels look lighter than the main line against the outside view. If the sky or scenery is bright, then the anti-aliasing looks darker than the main line.
If I just leave off the panel join lines, it looks like there's no windshield.
I've looked through my aircraft folder to see if I could find a panel that anyone else has done and handled this issue well, but couldn't find one.
The model has no VC, so a decent 2D panel is a necessity.
Has anyone found a way to convincingly render the join line between the glass panels of a frameless windscreen?
(Flying Tip: try to avoid birdstrikes when flying a P-26!)
So the panel bitmap shouldn't have frames, but the line between the glass panels should be visible. The join lines were vertical as seen from the front of the plane, but because the windscreen slopes backwards, from the pilot's viewpoint the lines must be angled outward as they rise from the top of the cockpit coaming to the top of the monitor screen.
A simple one pixel wide black line shows up jagged and looks like crap. A gray line looks just as jagged and only slightly less crappy.
An anti-aliased line looks a little better, but still not right. If the sky or scenery seen through the windshield is darker than the color the line was drawn against, the anti-aliasinng pixels look lighter than the main line against the outside view. If the sky or scenery is bright, then the anti-aliasing looks darker than the main line.
If I just leave off the panel join lines, it looks like there's no windshield.
I've looked through my aircraft folder to see if I could find a panel that anyone else has done and handled this issue well, but couldn't find one.
The model has no VC, so a decent 2D panel is a necessity.
Has anyone found a way to convincingly render the join line between the glass panels of a frameless windscreen?
