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The concept is really simple once you get it. Use the AIRCRAFT.CFG to assign a TAXI or LANDING light, and use the PANEL.CFG to have them automatically turn off when things happen like gear retracting.

AIRCRAFT.CFG – Assigns either a TAXI or LANDING light
PANEL.CFG - Tells the system to turn off a light if an event happens, like a gear retracting or wing folding


EXAMPLE of Microsoft 747

AIRCRAFT.CFG
[LIGHTS]
//Types: 1=beacon, 2=strobe, 3=navigation, 4=cockpit, 5=landing
light.1 = 3, -223.85, 0.00, 8.85, fx_shockwave_navwhi_l ,
light.2 = 2, -228.97, 0.00, 44.62, fx_shockwave_strobe_l ,
light.3 = 1, -45.05, 0.00, 15.65, fx_shockwave_beaconh ,
light.4 = 1, -80.22, 0.00, -11.05, fx_shockwave_beaconb ,
light.5 = 4, -18.24, 0.00, 11.19, fx_shockwave_vclight_l,
light.6 = 6, -20.0, 0.0, -11.5, fx_Shockwave_landing_light_747_nose // Shockwave light
light.7 = 5, -71.0, 18.0, -4.7, fx_Shockwave_landing_light_747_rw // Shockwave light
light.8 = 5, -71.0, -18.0, -4.7, fx_Shockwave_landing_light_747_lw // Shockwave light
light.9 = 5, -40.0, 0, -20, fx_shockwave_landing_light_light_l,

Light 6 is a taxi light (#6 means TAXI) and lights 7 and 8 are LANDING lights (#5 means LANDING).


PANEL.CFG
[VCockpit01]
...........
gauge21=shockwave_lights!SW Lights_taxi_gear, 1,1,1,1 //shockwave light

If a light is mounted on a fixed surface, like the nose or wing, no reference is needed in the panel.cfg. In this case of the 747, by referencing the SW Lights_taxi_gear, we are saying, “place the TAXI light on the landing gear, and turn it off when the landing gear is raised.”



PANEL.CFG DEFINITIONS
SW Lights_foldwing – Turns off LANDING lights when placed on folding wings and wings are folded
SW_Lights_gear – Turns off LANDING lights when placed on retractable landing gear and gear is retracted
SW_Lights_taxi_gear - Turns off TAXI lights when placed on retractable landing gear and gear is retracted

SW Lights and SW_Lights_taxi are actually not needed since the lights will operate ON or OFF via the AIRCRAFT.CFG entry alone, so disregard these.

Scott.

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A2A Simulations Inc.

Hi , i've read you're tutorial but i'm Dutch ( and 13 yrs old ) , my Englisch is pretty good but somtimes I don't understand what your tut says
I really love Shockwave 3D lights so I would like to add it to my PMDG 737-800
Maybe if I copy and past my AIRCRAFT.CFG here maybe you can
Would be great!

Bye!

More then a year ago I wrote a tutorial about adding Taxi lights in FSX planes.
It's on AVSIM ( look in archive for:fsx-lights-tutorial.zip)
With appologies for spelling mistakes as I'm from Holland.

For our young Dutch friend on this page this:

En voor de Hollandse vriend op deze pagina, ik vrees dat je zelf de lichten moet installeren
Kijk goed hoe het zit bij andere vliegtuigen in de aircraft.cfg met hulp van kladblok.

Je ziet dan wel wat de strobes zijn bijvoorbeeld, de ene kant is + en de andere is -
maar de plus hoef je er niet bij te zetten.
light.0=3, -3.60, -43.00, 5.90, fx_shockwave_navred
light.1=3, -3.60, 43.00, 5.90, fx_shockwave_navgre
zo bijvoorbeeld.
Het eerste deel light.4 is het nummer dat het licht gekregen heeft.
Het tweede deel light.4=5 is het type licht (in dit geval landingslicht)
Daarna komt een komma en komen de plekken waar dat licht is.

Voor ieder vliegtuig is de afstand weer anders.
Het middelpunt van een vliegtuig is 0, 0, 0,
verder naar achteren is (bijvoorbeeld) -1, 0, 0,
vleugeltip links (=rood=red) is ook -
Rechts dus niet en er komt dus geen - voor.
meer naar voren gaat van 1 naar 2 naar 3 enz.
ten opzichte van het middelpunt dus.
naar boven is 0, 0, 1 (naar beneden 0, 0, -1,)
Het is een heel gepriegel.
Kijk ook naar de rest van je aircraft.cfg want daarin staan ook de afmetingen van het vliegtuig.
Bijvoorbeeld hier:
point.0 = 1, 29.0 , 0, -6.45,
Zie je wat waarschijnlijk het laagste punt is van het vliegtuig.
Een Taxilicht bij een wiel zal daar vlak boven zitten
Dus misschien zoiets als:
point.0 = 0.5, 0.0 , -4.45, en dan shockwave hupeldepup light.
Moet moet dat steeds een beetje aanpassen met het gekozen licht erbij.
Dan het CFG opslaan, het vliegtuig laden, kijken of het goed zit.
Als het niet goed zit een ander vliegtuig laden, FS minimaliseren, kladblok weer starten.
Weer gaan veranderen in het CFG en weer opslaan.
FS maximaliseren. Het vliegtuig waaraan je werkt weer selecteren en inladen etc etc.
Net zolang tot je tevreden bent (of erger nog tot ik tevreden ben
Denk er om dat een punt in een CFG voor ons een komma is!
een half is dus niet 0,5 maar 0.5
De PC denkt namelijk bij een komma dat hij naar de volgende afstand of hoogte moet gaan

Groet Jostytosty

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anything that moves, moves me

point.0 = 0.5, 0.0 , -4.45, en dan shockwave hupeldepup light.
dat moet natuurlijk zijn: light.24=6, 0.5, 0.0 , -4.45, shockwave hupeldepup light.
24 kan ook 10 zijn of zo, het is gewoon het eerst volgende getal van het rijtje lichtjes.

_________________
anything that moves, moves me

Heel erg bedankt voor je uitleg JostyTosty!
Zal vanmiddag eens proberen!

gr
'de Hollandse vriend'

backuppen he!

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anything that moves, moves me

Jazeker, maar op dit forum in een andere thread staat een lijst met 3rd party add-ons van bijv. PMDG ( gelukkig ) en als je wat naar beneden scrolled dan staan daar de LIGHTS gedeeltes van een gebruikers van 3D Lights Redux en die kun je gwn kopieren. Ik wou dat ik het eerder had gezien, dan had ik niet zo moeilijk hoeven doen... maar ik ga nu proberen of het stuk lights dat ik had gekopieerd ook werkt!

gr,
CaptainHolland1994

Scott,

After a PC crash and a re-install, I have managed to get the Taxi light on the default B747 to go off when the gear goes up but I am having problems getting the sametowork on the B737. Could you please post what the [Lights] entry should be in the aircraft.cfg for the default B737.

George

Here you are sir,
Don't forget, you will now have switchable taxi lights (!)
Turn off ( by marking out // ) the schockwave switch gauge in the panel CFG.
Don't forget to turn off the taxi lights before taking off (landinglights on, taxi lights off)
because it will look very silly when there is a light hanging in the air underneath your plane.
Default 737-800 [color=#FF0000]FSX

[LIGHTS]
//Types: 1=beacon, 2=strobe, 3=navigation, 4=cockpit, 5=landing 6=Taxi
light.0 = 3, -25.00, -58.20, 3.90, fx_shockwave_navred ,
light.1 = 3, -25.00, 58.20, 3.90, fx_shockwave_navgre ,
light.2 = 2, -71.52, 0.00, 5.92, fx_shockwave_strobe_l_nl ,
light.3 = 2, -25.20, -58.20, 4.20, fx_shockwave_strobe_l_2 ,
light.4 = 2, -25.20, 58.20, 4.20, fx_shockwave_strobe_l_3 ,
light.5 = 2, -7.55, 0.00, -5.50, fx_shockwave_beaconb ,
light.6 = 1, 2.00, 0.00, 8.70, fx_shockwave_beaconh ,
light.7 = 4, 47.60, 0.00, 3.00, fx_shockwave_vclight_l ,
light.8 = 3, -29.50, -56.60, 3.70, fx_shockwave_navwhi_l_nl ,
light.9 = 3, -29.50, 56.60, 3.70, fx_shockwave_navwhi_l_nl ,
light.10 = 5, 5.6, 7.28, -1.47, fx_Shockwave_landing_light_narrow // Shockwave light
light.11 = 5, 5.6, -7.28, -1.47, fx_Shockwave_landing_light_narrow // Shockwave light
light.12 = 6, 41.85, 0.0, -6.8, fx_Shockwave_landing_light // Shockwave light
light.13 = 6, 36, 0, -18, fx_shockwave_landing_light_light,

Happy landings!
JV

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anything that moves, moves me

sorry I misunderstood your post.
You want to automatically having the lights switch off when the gear goes up.
no need to change the aircraft cfg then.
You will need this entry in the panel. cfg:


[VCockpit01]
size_mm=1024,1024
pixel_size=1024,1024
texture=$737_1
background_color=23,17,52

gauge01=B737_800!overhead_popup, 4,4,581,529
gauge02=B737_800!pfd, 6,536,260,260
gauge03=B737_800!trim_popup, 6,801,194,154
gauge04=B737_800!annunciator_speed_brake_armed, 6,961,51,28
gauge05=B737_800!annunciator_below_glideslope, 6,994,52,27
gauge06=B737_800!annunciator_panel_1, 64,961,132,40
gauge07=B737_800!mfd, 347,536,260,260
gauge08=B737_800!autopilot, 205,801,463,90
gauge09=B737_800!annunciator_panel_gear, 205,895,66,71
gauge10=B737_800!annunciator_le_flaps, 204,974,100,28
gauge11=B737_800!annunciator_auto_brake_disarm, 275,895,47,27
gauge12=B737_800!annunciator_anti_skid_inop, 275,925,37,27
gauge13=B737_800!flap_indicator, 308,960,59,59
gauge14=B737_800!compass, 325,895,91,62
gauge15=B737_800!compass, 370,960,50,50
gauge16=B737_800!clock, 424,896,105,105
gauge17=737-400!Transponder, 589,4,190,78
gauge18=737-400!Nav 2, 589,87,190,78
gauge19=737-400!Nav 1, 589,169,190,77
gauge20=737-400!Comm 2, 589,249,190,78
gauge21=737-400!Comm 1, 589,330,190,78
gauge22=737-400!Audio, 589,411,190,40
gauge23=737-400!ADF, 589,454,190,80
gauge24=B737_800!eicas, 704,541,260,260
gauge25=B737_800!adf_vor_backup, 757,908,104,105
gauge26=B737_800!attitude_backup, 533,896,104,105
gauge27=B737_800!alti_and_asi_backup, 641,909,103,103
gauge28=B737_800!efis_control_panel, 672,815,143,76
gauge29=shockwave_lights!SW Lights_gear, 1,1,1,1 //shockwave light

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anything that moves, moves me

Thanks JV,

I have done as per your reply both for the aircfraft and panel cfg's, however the bad news is that it didn't work for me. What I get now when on the ground is the wing landing lights going on/off with the landing light switch (I have it on one of my yoke buttons) plus a nosewheel light which is duller than the wing lights. The shockwave nose light comes on with the Taxi Light switch on the Overhead. After take-off, The wing lights go off when the landing gear is raised with the shockwave nose light remaining on until switched off from the overhead Taxi switch. As I said in my original post, the default B747 works fine with the Taxi Light switch on the Overhead going off when you raise the gear not on the B737. Any further ideas?

George

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George

Hello George,
The default 737 doesn't have separate taxi lights.
If you have my aircraft.cfg installed I guess the shockwave lights don't switch with the switch in the panel cfg. because the taxi lights are an extra.
So you'll have to remove the taxi-lights that I added to be able to revert to the shockwave redux setup again.
Try this one:
[LIGHTS]
//Types: 1=beacon, 2=strobe, 3=navigation, 4=cockpit, 5=landing
light.0 = 3, -25.00, -58.20, 3.90, fx_shockwave_navred ,
light.1 = 3, -25.00, 58.20, 3.90, fx_shockwave_navgre ,
light.2 = 2, -71.52, 0.00, 5.92, fx_shockwave_strobe_l_nl ,
light.3 = 2, -25.20, -58.20, 4.20, fx_shockwave_strobe_l_2 ,
light.4 = 2, -25.20, 58.20, 4.20, fx_shockwave_strobe_l_3 ,
light.5 = 2, -7.55, 0.00, -5.50, fx_shockwave_beaconb ,
light.6 = 1, 2.00, 0.00, 8.70, fx_shockwave_beaconh ,
light.7 = 4, 47.60, 0.00, 3.00, fx_shockwave_vclight_l ,
light.8 = 3, -29.50, -56.60, 3.70, fx_shockwave_navwhi_l_nl ,
light.9 = 3, -29.50, 56.60, 3.70, fx_shockwave_navwhi_l_nl ,
light.10 = 5, 3.94, 7.54, -1.47, fx_Shockwave_landing_light // Shockwave light
light.11 = 5, 3.94, -7.54, -1.47, fx_Shockwave_landing_light // Shockwave light
light.12 = 5, 40.85, 0.0, -7.32, fx_Shockwave_landing_light // Shockwave light

You will have shockwave lights on the gear plus landing lights and they should go out with the automatic switch in the panel.

However I myself like switchable taxi lights better because planes don't taxi with their landing lights on (as real as it get's) they even turn the taxi lights off ( =no lights) when close to the marshaller so that the groundcrew won't get blinded by them and will be able to hookup the plane with the external power.

But have anyway you like.

Joost

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anything that moves, moves me

Thanks again Joost,

I think I will stick with what I have. It seems to be that it has something to do with an active/inactive Taxi Light switch. I have discovered that the Shockwave nose light goes off automatically when the gear retracts on models where the Taxi Light switch on the overhead panel actually works like the default B747.

Perhaps Scott might be able to explain?

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George

Hi there,
I want to turn the landing lights on and of with my landing gear retracted. How can i do that?
Tx for your help

run fsx and vista, wth update1,2

Hi FS friend,
Edit the SW switch in the panel config like this:
gauge21=shockwave_lights!SW Lights_taxi_gear, 1,1,1,1 //shockwave light
Now the gear lights will go off but the landing lights won't when retracting the gear.
Iff this would not be the case then alter the aircraft config by finding out what lights are landing lights (5) and what lights could be taxi-lights.
For instance the nose wheel is in the middle so it has to be something like:
light.12=6, 29.95, 0.0, -3.93, fx_Shockwave whatever light you want
the 0.0 is the figure that places the lights in the middle seen from the front.
6 is the type of light (5= landing 6= taxi)

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anything that moves, moves me