my tds 737-700 project

[Delta Tango Nine Two]

hello, everyone...

I will try to go as to the point as possible... in this thread I will try to make the 737-700 tds as similar to reality (especially textures...) I will also try to be a kind of test "hamster"... .and according to my experience (VERY little) I will try to give help to the people who make airplane packages here in simviation....(especially advice) (I have failed so many times...so many...that I can give advice on how to avoid mistakes)

This is the order in which things will be presented:
-why the tds 737-700? (this explanation is the same for airbus a 319)
-external textures (how to be more "efficient" with textures, how to avoid texture errors)
-lights and external effects (and how to correct them)
-cameras (place better cameras)
-vc internal textures
-textures of internal systems (screens and similar things)
-sound (engines, ap, gpws..etc)
-I don't remember what goes here
-etc...



I start with the easiest part... why the tds 737-700?

I am and will be one of those who only fly freewares...(that rules out the 757 from justflight, and all the heavy paywares)... also my pc is very slow...

why not the 747, 777, or 787?.... realistically... they are very complex in real life, not even the whole fsx "environment" could handle them, and the existing freewares though nice, are (in my opinion) "pretentions"...thinking about the 787...it's so modern...it would be better to see it in prepar3d than in FSX (a 15 year old simulator) (like trying to get a modern car into an 8 bit game )

the 737, the NG version (from -600 to -900) has that MIDDLE TERM, it is neither so old (707, 727) nor so modern (737 max,787), referring to navigation... the max , or the 787 have HUDS, and more modern navigation technology ... and the 727, only used vor and 3rd crew
the NG version (-600, -700, -800, and -900) is VERY in the middle of two eras, it has screens (modern 90s design) but not the big ones of the MAX or 787 (the MAX has bigger screens, and it doesn't have eyebrows (something alrot's vc can't change at all),... it has winglets (modern). ....and the MOST IMPORTANT: it has EYEBROWS (old design from the 70s)...in addition to the fact that the airlines have already "worn out" the structures a lot

so i chose the 737 ng. now I wonder which of all the ng I choose? Why the 737-700 and not the -600, or the -900 (for example)?

My first choice (I didn't even think about it, I went straight) WAS the -600....but the TDS model -600 model DOES NOT COME WITH WINGLETS.
I wanted the smallest 737 NG possible, with eyebrows and winglets because A LOT of BBJ (private business) textures were on the -600 models. (in addition to the fact that they are the most worn models by airlines, on short flights and many a day)

so for obvious reasons... I chose the -700 model with winglets, and with eyebrows. the winglets give it the modern "touch", and the eyebrows give it the "old" touch (nineties)... but the most important thing is that the VC brings eyebrows....(something I hate is having a VC that is different from the external model....if the VC brings superior windows...the model SHOULD bring them)
...luckily there are many textures of bbj, and retro airlines that I could find (and modify)

I did not choose the -800 or -900 models because they were VERY "airline", very large (more modern, long range, few private)... I preferred the -700 because you have the feeling that the model "is yours" , has little range (you land more often)

(if you ask about the airbus... my first choice as I said above, was the 737-600... and in airbus a318 (which are also used as bbj, there are so few airline models of this model that it is rare to see now, they are disappearing...)...but when choosing the -700, at airbus I chose the A319 (same features as the boeing -700) and have that feeling that I fly MY plane and not that of an airline.
....you will understand when you see the textures

[Delta Tango Nine Two]

Continuing with the tds model...to be more specific...I chose the -770 model called:

TDSX737_CFM56-7B--EW2.MDL

(letter E stands for EYEBROW, and W2 stands for winglet model 2)
there are different models of tds of the -700 model (you can find them in the base package on the internet)

..and to be more specific... I chose (inside the arcraft.cfg file) this configuration:

_737_CFM56-7B--W2_+A3000_+D00_+B0_ER

according to the manual, A3000 means that it does NOT have the "dome" antennas or similar... and the others are in their basic configuration
(if you search the internet, there are several images of the tds model that explain how to modify those values)
That is the configuration that I use.




now yes, continue with...

-external textures (how to be more "efficient" with textures, how to avoid texture errors)


the first thing i did was to download many….LOTS of 737 ng models from tds…some models that claim to work in fsx (and p3d) actually have texture flaws….
that's why when downloading a lot of models, from different authors, (including the tds base package)...I make sure I have EACH AND EVERY ONE of the necessary textures....that saves a lot of problems of missing textures...

to give an idea of ​​how many textures there are for the tds 737... COMMON critical textures for all models.... they are close to or more than 90 TEXTURES (include the Virtual cockpit)....(not counting those of wings, engines, and skin... those are my own of the painting you want to take -airline-)

in a folder called "texture.VC" I put all the CRITICAL textures, VC, and all textures that each plane has in common..... that SAVES massively the size of each plane painting

...even textures like "TDS737_FUSEL_LIGHTSPLASH" and "TDS737_FUSER_LIGHTSPLASH" can be the default WHITE color...because it is only used as lighting...not as a texture to paint the plane...
...and only use 2 types of wings (the most used...in the "texture.vc" folder)..a "new wing" for modern planes, and a "worn wing" (for old -700 models )

think that each texture weighs 4MB, multiply it by each texture of a specific model and the plane will weigh gigabytes....if the wheels, the vc, the lighting, the ground support vehicles, etc are the same for each model... .you can save tons of files.
so in each "texture" folder where there is a specific model (example: a blue -700 bbj) there are only these textures:

TDS737_ENGINE.dds
TDS737_FUSEL_FRONT_T.dds
TDS737_FUSER_FRONT_T.dds
TDS737_FUSEL_REAR_T.dds
TDS737_FUSER_REAR_T.dds
texture.cfg (must be properly configured to call the folder "texture.vc")
thumbnail

everything else are common files, and are in the "texture.vc" folder (including the wings)


once I had all the necessary textures (ALL: skin, wings, vc, lighting, vehicles, parts...etc), I started to edit and improve the textures:

the -700 white


the first texture that I edited is the "tds737_parts_t"...the INTERNAL side of the wheel was almost very ugly (black color), easily, handle the contrasts better, and "by hand" and with a brush, draw the internal rim.



Another texture that I got "improved" from one of the many texture packs is:

"TDS737OPTION" (this texture is from the antennas).... the model had black antennas (small black domes)
simply paint white (or the color of the plane) and all the antennas and domes will be white (or the color of the plane)


...with this...you already have the complete external textures and an optimized use and 2 small improvements (although optional)

[Delta Tango Nine Two]

now comes MY custom textures

I never (never) liked airline paintings (liveries, logos, etc) on airplanes....I feel like they are a "flying advertisement"....

but something marked me deeply...when I was younger I played the FSX mission called "747 TEST FLIGHT" (in which you fly a 747 that was in the desert junkyard, as a test)...that painting... (in fsx it is named as 747-400 "decommissioned") even today I have affection for that painting....

why? means it is a veteran model of many flights, it passed through innumerable hands before ending up in the junkyard, only traces of the airline livery or paint remain... IT IS A RETRO LIVERY, but worn (not a modern retro livery... in actually it is a real livery that was worn a lot)
..and what's better...as they don't have an owner...they can be yours.

modern ("plastic" or carbon fiber) planes aren't as worn out as planes like the MD-83, a 737-200, a 747-400SP,

the planes that are in the junkyard, in the twilight of their lives, cry out to fly once again (their last trip).


I chose textures that are here in simviation...and in avsim...of airlines from the 90s and retro livery and I removed the names of the airlines....and in some cases I edited them deeply

This is the order in which the photos appear:

-WHITE and BOEING livery
-ex-LAPA and ex-STERLING
-ex-OZARK (green-white) and ex-OZARK (green-grey)
-ex-KLM retro and ex-NORDESTE/VASPEX (fusion of both)
-ex-KLM retro 70s and ex-TAROM classic (red)
-ex-TAROM classic (blue) and ex- COLOMBIAN AIR FORCE (now bbj)








as you can see they are the simviation and avsim paintings...but without logos or airline names...I added some red or blue tape to almost all of them, some of them I edited a lot like the KLM retro one,
my intention was for them to look like very old-fashioned planes.

[Delta Tango Nine Two]

and of course...the bbj paintings (from a private owner, a billionaire, tony stark, a fake airline that actually takes people to area 51...etc)

bbj is synonymous with millionaire friends, drinks, and "paid company"

the first livery I ever liked was the "JANET" one (you know why, although it's not bbj)

here I did not edit anything ... they are in avsim just like that:




Tomorrow I continue with "-lights and external effects (and how to correct them)"

Cheers

[Delta Tango Nine Two]

sorry, it's very late at night ... I forgot to mention this picture...

I thumbnailed and reordered the model in:
GENERICS (white and boeing),
RETRO BBJ (they have straight stripes),
BBJ (they have wavy stripes),
RETRO AIRLINE (all the "worn out" former airlines)




saludos amiguitos

[Delta Tango Nine Two]

continue with:

-lights and external effects (and how to correct them)

here I will correct errors of textures and lighting effects (lights)


you see...if you look for the tds model (the base package model) it has pictures, some of them show
the model with the lights on, ALL OF THEM:

landing,
taxi,
NAV,
BEACON,
strobe,
engine light,
cabin light (passenger windows)
fuselage light (or wings, I don't know if they are the same)
and vertical fin light (the one that would illuminate the fin logo)

It happened that the model I had could only activate the landing, taxi, NAV and STROBE lights....
the others there was no way to activate them (beacon, engine, cabin, vertical fin)
and I confirmed that I had ALL the lighting textures... and also in the "aircraft.cfg" I had the lights and effects well configured....

(YOU MUST MAKE SURE YOU HAVE THE FOLLOWING TEXTURES:

b737_800_1_LM
decals
FUSEL_LIGHTSPLASH
TDS737_ENGINE_L
TDS737_FUSEL_LIGHTSPLASH
TDS737_FUSER_LIGHTSPLASH
TDS737_FUSEL_REAR_L
TDS737_FUSER_REAR_L
TDS737_WINGLET3_L
TDS738_FUSEL_REAR_L
TDS738_FUSER_REAR_L
TDS738_SELFILLUMINATION

...according to what I understood...the TDS 737 model (any version), controls part of the lights FROM THE "PANEL.CFG" FILE

if you have all the correct textures...in the "aircraft.cfg" you should HAVE this:

[lights]
light.0 = 8, 19.00, -15.500, 6.5000, TDSB3_wing_light
light.1 = 8, 19.00, 15.500, 6.5000, TDSB3_wing_light
light.2 = 6, 44.85, 0, -1.96, tdsnose_gearwell


ALSO MAKE SURE YOU HAVE THE FOLLOWING FOLDERS INSIDE THE "PANEL" FOLDER

EXT_TEXTURE_ANIM
Tds_util
Tds737ADVCONTROL

CHECK IF YOU HAVE THE FOLLOWING COMMAND ENTRIES IN THE "PANEL.CFG" FILE
...if you DON'T have them... ENTER THEM
(where it says "windowx" or "VCockpitXX" change the number according to the order)

[WindowX]
VISIBLE=0
position=2
size_mm=298,104
child_3d=0
background_color=0,0,0
ident=Utility
gauge00=Tds_util!Tds_Init, 0, 0
gauge01=Tds_util!Tds_Timer, 0, 0
gauge02=Tds_util!Tds_Util, 0, 0

Add Vcockpit entries to panel.cfg to initialize TDS stuff:

[VCockpitXX]
size_mm=512,512
pixel_size=512,512
texture=$Posky_ACU
background_color=0,0,0

gauge00=Tds737ADVCONTROL!Tds_AdvInit, 140,80,140,80
gauge01=Tds737ADVCONTROL!TdsAUX, 140,80,140,80
gauge02=Tds737ADVCONTROL!TdsRudder_Elev, 140,80,140,80
gauge03=Tds737ADVCONTROL!TdsEngRev, 140,80,140,80
gauge04=Tds737ADVCONTROL!TdsWingflex, 140,80,140,80
gauge05=Tds737ADVCONTROL!TdsNosegearsteerling, 140,80,140,80
gauge06=Tds737ADVCONTROL!Tds_Spoiler, 140,80,140,80
gauge07=Tds737ADVCONTROL!Tdsflasher, 140,80,140,80
gauge08=Tds737ADVCONTROL!TdsSEA, 140,80,140,80
gauge09=Tds737ADVCONTROL!Tdsgearheight, 140,80,140,80


[VCockpitXXI]
size_mm=512,512
pixel_size=512,512
texture=$EXTANIMBASE
background_color=0,0,0

gauge00=EXT_TEXTURE_ANIM!EXTTEST, 0, 0, 512, 512


(Specifically, without "Tds737ADVCONTROL!Tdsflasher" the flashing lights won't work.).

So, I was finally able to have all the activated textures working..


You will find more help here:
https://www.flightsim.com/vbfs/showthre ... obe-lights

[Delta Tango Nine Two]

-CAMERAS

It's very simple... the original cameras of the tds model (or at least of the ones you download here... from a package) have very few cameras, and they are poorly configured.
(uses the vc cameras as external cameras...so the fuselage looks transparent)

I download the model:
FSX/P3D Boeing 737-7K2 Transavia published by Philippe Marion (thank you very much philippe )

although the model is from POSKY... (and mine is TDS) the cameras worked REALLY WELL....(really very well)

It was not necessary to post photos in this section

[Delta Tango Nine Two]

making a summary... up to here... it took me 2 whole weeks to leave the TDS model WELL,

from getting the model right, getting all the textures needed, turning on the right lights and effects, adding cameras...and downloading, choosing and deep editing "retro" textures, adding thumbnails, and rearranging the aicraft cfg to get the thumbnails right .



...now comes the HARDEST part which took me 2 more weeks...the effort here was really titanic...there were times when I almost gave up...

THE VIRTUAL CABIN (VC) TEXTURES of DAY and NIGHT.
(and some lessons and tips)

This point is VERY important, in the afternoon or tomorrow I will publish this section.

Greetings.

[Delta Tango Nine Two]

continue with:
THE VIRTUAL CABIN (VC) TEXTURES OF DAY AND NIGHT.
(Here I learned several lessons, and some advice)

the virtual cockpit of the tds 737...is the one that belongs to "ALROT" (which is actually the vc of the 737 default)...and the textures are the same....

I started with the NIGHT textures....
see the following photos...they all have textures that draw "FALSE SHADOWS"...and PLUS those VERY horrible squares appear (this is something...that the 737 default itself also has)





detail of the textures



here you can see part of the textures ... look at the small squares (red boxes)

and here comes the worst... some "modified" textures to make the VC look darker, THEY SIMPLY RUN THE CONTRAST SLIDE of the image editor to make the texture darker... and this happens:


the texture turns VERY RED (with red squares or "boxes")


[b]LESSON: if the original texture is wrong... the modifications will be even worse... no matter how much you darken the image, the color...etc.... you will always see red squares in the dark of night in FSX... (on the 737, from tds, from posky, from anyone who uses the vc default)[/b]

so before making MY own textures...I made a titanic effort to "FLATTEN" ALL THE NIGHT TEXTURES (well...not all...but the ugliest ones)

[Delta Tango Nine Two]

I used the "paint.net" program... and it was a hand job of 1 week... pixel by pixel in the ugliest areas of the vc textures....
This was the hardest job I've ever done...(1 week, from morning to night)

the result is FLAT textures, WITHOUT SHADOWS (very few), and without the horrible red boxes or squares...
the texture of the photos is NOT the final work... it is only the BASE for a later work...






so....why this job? as I said above..."if the BASE is bad, the modifications will be worse"....
now that the base is flat...I can make the texture DARKEN AS MUCH AS I WANT...without fear of ugly red squares appearing..

[Delta Tango Nine Two]

I have to add something else...
I even added details, which in combination with the day textures, makes it exactly the same...besides I redrew some parts so that they are only ONE COLOR (or the least amount of tones possible)
...so when you darken them...they stay dark...but no squares..
especially the screens, the floor, the ceiling, the windows, and other parts are now flat, and they don't have those ugly squares anymore.
also, the panel that has the red "master alarm" button (the "cap" of the autopilot) turned it gray (totally gray)

also, some textures, (certain parts of some panels) had MORE light than others...so I gave it a correct balance of lighting...(as you get further away there should be less light)

up to this point the textures are still UGLY (too lit)... but (as I said) they are the basis for better ones.
then proceeded to make 3 types of night textures...

[Delta Tango Nine Two]

I made 3 types of darkness levels...
(the flat original is NOT, because it is too light)

the former is "slightly" dark, medium, and totally dark.

(if you ask why the FMS is brilliant, I'll fix it (or try) in the systems section)


notice that it now has almost no squares.






my original intention was to make 3 types of darkness... with the following lighting colors:
yellow (or gold... that is the original)
white (white lighting)
and "slightly" blue
...but as well as the indicators I would have to repaint them (especially the backup indicators that are to the right of the MDF (MAP))....I decided to cancel the project of repainting the night light in other colors.

this is the final work for the night.....

now the day textures continue....

[Delta Tango Nine Two]

continued with part B of:

-vc internal textures

now the textures of the day of the VC...
Well, here I must be very clear...
first, (and remembering that "if the base texture is bad, the modifications will be worse), I completely discard the original 737 default texture (the one used by all 737 freewares)

and I chose one with higher resolution and greater detail in the image (it is twice the resolution of the original)...
these textures are from "ENRIQUE CORNEJO" (enrique...thank you , .....I owe everything to you, you did all the work by yourself. ...I only gave him "my vision")

you can find their textures here on simviation as:
FSX/P3D Boeing 737-800 Cockpit Textures Upgraded V2

http://flightsimworkshop.blogspot.com/2 ... t-you.html
and...
http://flightsimworkshop.blogspot.com/2 ... s-day.html

now, as my project is to make the plane as similar as possible to the real one...modify the textures....

Here comes a lesson that I learned (this lesson does not apply to Enrique... he did the job well), it is the following:
NEVER darken a texture just like that...(never) besides "if the base is bad the modification will be worse"...besides that, if a light object is IN THE SAME TEXTURE as another dark object... .moving the contrast slider (or shadows or whatever) will make the darkest object completely black....
I saw many modifications that did 3 things:
-they darkened the image of the vc panels (.......but the things that were already dark...they made them totally black)
-others when darkening the image... made the ugly squares of low resolution appear (the default vc has 1024x1024)
-and others darkened the image and then turned it GRAY (no colors)...and unintentionally made things with colors gray (like switches, alarms, red, yellow and green lights...)

I am going to put an example of the 737 vc (from the default, tds, posky, alrot):
the flight controls (yoke), and the pedals...they are ALREADY dark...(they have little details)....if you want to darken the radio panel...you will darken the yoke too...until you turn it into a black spot...
..and if you want to turn the main panel gray... you will turn ALL switches gray...

what is the solution?... be VERY patient (it took me 10 days to get a "base" from which to start)
in the editor you use...you must select ONLY the texture section you want to modify....in my case...select EVERYTHING (yes, EVERYTHING) that is different (a light, a switch, a fire extinguisher, any color thing..etc) and then exclude that from any edits you make....
in my case selecting ALL the switches, lights, and things to color took me days,... and then with the editor..."I inverted" the selection (paint.net can do this, what you achieve is to invert the selection, and now everything is selected except what you chose) and only then...modify the color or lighting of the texture...

[Delta Tango Nine Two]

....going back to the textures...I chose the ones by Enrique Cornejo, (which are 2048x2048), which are an excellent base to start with.
....use "paint.net" software and this is what I did (and everyone can do)

first...I realized that the real cabin of the 737 NG (especially the "older" ones) are NOT gray...(forget PMDG, and similar things)....
the actual REAL cockpit of an old NG is: ALMOST, ALMOST ALMOST GRAY...has a tiny speck of blue
it also doesn't have that ugly violet color (like the vc default)


So I made the following BASE modifications to Enrique's texture (remember, it's not the final product, just the base for other "improvements" -my vision-)

-in enrique's textures (and the default ones too) there were some very light sectors and others dark... by trial and error I managed to bring some sectors of the walls and panels closer (it took several days of trial and error)
-select every switch and exclude it from being modified (so as not to damage anything that is in color)
-flatten some textures that had the ugly low res squares
-and most importantly...divide the textures into 2 TONES...AND 6 TYPES OF LIGHTING:

(as I said above...the real 737 ng is almost almost gray, with a tiny drop of light blue)

2 shades: SOFT BLUE (almost grey)...and GRAY
and 6 types of lighting from light to dark (3 for soft blue and 3 for gray)

2 more point of modification:
-as I made the textures darker (the panels, just the panels), I made the things that were ALREADY dark stay the same...thereby making the cockpit darker...but what was already dark. .stays very sharp and easy to see

-and of course, I combined some of the things from the day texture and put them in the night textures, so they can all look the same.

here the photos of the cabin in its 6 different types (3 very soft blue, and 3 gray)








note the floor of the cockpit, and the pedals (and yoke...flight control)...as the texture gets darker...it stays sharp and keeps its pitch dark
Something to have in mind...
those photos are from 3 days ago... even today I'm still trying to modify the fine details (in total, I started the textures of the day 6 days ago) so I've still modified the textures a little more

[Delta Tango Nine Two]

...and here I am today... right now I'm about to start the next point:

-textures of internal systems (screens and similar things)
this section includes, colors and realism of screens, radios, and more realistic systems....
I haven't started yet, only tomorrow I will start the modifications...
As a preview... I have only made some "visions" of how the completely modified vc would look like (they are just edited photos, nothing real, just images so you can see how it would be)

If you want to comment or advise... now is the time.

Cheers