In this video I show how to make adjustments/additions to your .png cockpit file in Gimp, Photo Editing software you can download for FREE, for a better looking Cockpit.
Hi johnhunter3011, The file is actually a png file. Files have an extension and for photos common extensions are .jpg, .RAW and.png there are other extension but you should get the idea. X Pane uses a png file for the instrument panel in older airplanes so you need to find the panel.png file. It should be located in the airplane folder where all your airplanes are located, look for the airplane you are trying to make a 3D cockpit for. Here is the path to locate the png file. X Plane xx>Aircraft>folder your airplane is in>your airplane folder>cockpit>-panels- If there is no file then you can NOT make a 3D cockpit. Newer airplanes do not use a .png file so this can't be done. In the panels directory you should see a file named panel.png this is the file you open in Gimp to modify as you like. You can click on the file and select "open with program" and select Gimp. Or you can start Gimp and select open and navigate to the panel.png file. However I suggest you try and follow the videos just using the original panel.png file and see how it goes. Watch the videos a couple time so you know exactly what to do. This is actually very simple but it MUST be done in the correct order with no step missed. If you have trouble watch the video on the area you are having trouble everything should work if you follow the video exactly. You do not need to do anything in Gimp if you don't want to. The idea of editing the .png file in Gimp is to make it look better or remove something you don't want. Once you get the 3D panel working in your airplane with the original panel you then can start to modify the panel.png file in Gimp and work on a copy so you always have the original. I usually create a copy of the original panel.png for backup purposes using a different name. Note for the panel to show up in your airplane it must be named "panel.png" IMPORTANT! Make a copy of the airplane folder the whole airplane and work with that panel.png file so if something goes wrong you still have your original airplane, always work on a copy! Hope this helps, let me know. Blessings, skip
