HawgTouch - Clickable MFCD frames for multi-monitor setup!

[MadTommy]

ClearDark i really need to understand how transparency is handled. And why i am getting fuschia (255,0,255) colouration on some images?

 

I'm getting it around my MFCD frame & certain buttons for the UFC.

 

Is selecting a colour for transparency needed? Can transparent not just be transparent?

 

Also can transparent parts of buttons be clicked through.. this would save loads of work regarding button alignment.

 

If so all images could be located at x=0, y=0, by using images as below, the same size as the panel but transparent.

 

Below are 2 examples of buttons..

 

These can just be placed over the background..

 

Thanks.

Edited March 17, 2011 by MadTommy

[ClearDark]

ClearDark i really need to understand how transparency is handled. And why i am getting fuschia (255,0,255) colouration on some images?

 

I'm getting it around my MFCD frame & certain buttons for the UFC.

 

Is selecting a colour for transparency needed? Can transparent not just be transparent?

 

Fuschia is the transparency key for the panels. To create a transparent slot you need to color it fuschia. Only panel background image uses the fuschia transparency key.

 

For buttons you can put any image with regular transparency and it will draw correctly.

 

Also can transparent parts of buttons be clicked through.. this would save loads of work regarding button alignment.

 

 

If so all images could be located at x=0, y=0, by using images as below, the same size as the panel but transparent.

Thanks.

 

This could be achieved but it would set me back quiet some time in development. Considering the types of controls and gauges I intend to implement in HawgTouch, I think that altering the current method would be quiet limited.

[MadTommy]

Fuschia is the transparency key for the panels. To create a transparent slot you need to color it fuschia. Only panel background image uses the fuschia transparency key.

 

Why would i get fuschia showing on my MFCD? seems odd. Also why do you need a colour for transparency? Why not just have it transparent.

 

Also when i tried to use fuschia as transparent it was not...

 

For buttons you can put any image with regular transparency and it will draw correctly.

 

I have not found this the case.. but i need to do some checking and testing. I'm getting fuschia around a rocker switch on the UFC. I'll look into it.

 

 

This could be achieved but it would set me back quiet some time in development. Considering the types of controls and gauges I intend to implement in HawgTouch, I think that altering the current method would be quiet limited.

 

Ok fair enough.. just an idea. Otherwise every alteration to the size of a panel requires all buttons to be realigned, pain in the ass. :)

[ClearDark]

Why would i get fuschia showing on my MFCD? seems odd. Also why do you need a colour for transparency? Why not just have it transparent.

 

Also when i tried to use fuschia as transparent it was not...

 

Ill have to check why you get fuschia on your MFCD's. I'll look that up this weekend.

 

I have not found this the case.. but i need to do some checking and testing. I'm getting fuschia around a rocker switch on the UFC. I'll look into it.

 

Rocker switches support full transparency. I'll look into it.

 

Ok fair enough.. just an idea. Otherwise every alteration to the size of a panel requires all buttons to be realigned, pain in the ass.

 

Panel sizes won't be a problem for the next version of HawgTouch. I have implemented a percentage based resizing mechanism for all panels. You can create a panel at any size you want, and in the profile definitions you can specify at which size percentage you want the panel to be rendered on screen.

 

 

The following clip demonstrates the "scaling" options in the new version, Using only the graphics created by jeffyd123 for a single size UFC, you can see how the UFC can be resized freely. Also showing the new support for tabs. The tabs are still being worked on :)

 

http://www.screencast.com/users/Aviad-Netcraft/folders/Jing/media/8c56e3f9-6a14-4c7d-be25-146007d92bbf

 

Hope this helps :)

[MadTommy]

Update looks good, good work.

__________________________

 

Here is one of the issues i'm having with 1.1

 

 

The same frame has no problems in 1.0

 

 

To be honest i'm find this transparency thing pretty frustrating. I wont continue working on these graphics presently as I don't understand what is going on.

 

What is the purpose of this fuschia being set as 'transparent'? And why can't transparency be transparent?

 

Thanks.

[ClearDark]

I'll try my best to explain the transparency rules in HawgTouch.

 

 

For the background image of any panel you create in HawgTouch, to create certain places transparent, you will need to color it in fuschia.

 

The reason behind this is C# limitations. To make a certain "form" transparent you need to define a TransparencyKey property and give it an RGB value. Knowing that no one really uses Fuschia for anything I decided that it would be a good TransparencyKey value. With that, The panel background color is also Fuschia. This results in showing the image correctly.

 

However, if there are "REAL" transparent pixels on the image, they would display as Fuschia because the form the picture is displayed on is colored Fuschia.

 

The reason you see fuschia in your MFCD's is because these are "transparent" pixels which are non visible, showing the actual panel behind it which as explained earlier is fuschia colored.

 

I took your MFCD frame and used photoshop to clear those real transparent pixels. Then I colored it fuschia in the background. If you try using the image I provided you will see that the MFCD main view area and the first OSB are drawn without any fuschia residue. While the rest gets it. Look at the image and try to see what I did there...

 

I hope this explanation is good...This fuschia "trick" is only needed for the panel background images. All the actual clickable controls feature full regular transparency.

 

[MadTommy]

Thanks mate,

 

I figured out what the problem is prior to reading your post.. The problem i'm seeing is that semi-transparent parts show as fuschia.

 

So even with the background all fuschia any parts that are semi-transparent show fuschia.

 

This is what i'm seeing around my rocker switch for example. When i create shadows for buttons etc the shadow become fuschia as they are semi-transparent.

 

Sorry to be a pain.. i hope this makes sense.

[ClearDark]

Thanks mate,

 

I figured out what the problem is prior to reading your post.. The problem i'm seeing is that semi-transparent parts show as fuschia.

 

So even with the background all fuschia any parts that are semi-transparent show fuschia.

 

This is what i'm seeing around my rocker switch for example. When i create shadows for buttons etc the shadow become fuschia as they are semi-transparent.

 

Sorry to be a pain.. i hope this makes sense.

 

You are not a pain :) The way it works is kind of tricky so I try my best to explain how it is using my limited explaining abilities :P

 

Rocker Switches have full transparency enabled. So your shadows should work. If they don't as of now be sure that in version 1.2 this issue is rectified.

 

I can't wait for your UFC and an updated MFCD panel with no shadows :) I'm probably going to ship version 1.2 with an AHCP panel defined and a sample tabular profile :)

[ClearDark]

Version 1.2 is out.

 

Check out the main post for download link :)

[rld1]

Hi ClearDark, didn't find on a search, but can this be done in full screen mode? Thanks,

[ClearDark]

Hi ClearDark, didn't find on a search, but can this be done in full screen mode? Thanks,

 

Full screen support is slated for future releases.

[MadTommy]

Hi ClearDark, didn't find on a search, but can this be done in full screen mode? Thanks,

 

Full screen support is slated for future releases.

 

Remember you can't use 'full screen' and export MFCDs to a 2nd/3rd monitors. TH2G users might have use for for this feature though.

[Druid_]

Remember you can't use 'full screen' and export MFCDs to a 2nd/3rd monitors. ....

Do you mean the HawgTouch MFDs or the actual MFD displays?

 

I have used fullscreen on my 5970 and exported the MFCD Displays to my second monitor. I cannot however get HT to display the bezels when in fullscreen, I currently have to run in wondowed mode.

 

ClearDark. Great job on 1.2, only found 1 slight problem and that is when I close some of the windows (e.g. 3 of the 4 UFPs) and then reselect it on the UFC Scale Test button. I get a MS .Net Framework Unhandled exception

 

By the way where are the graphics for the Test Switches? I would like to modify the .xml file so that MFD, UFP & Test Panel are seperate.

Edited March 19, 2011 by Druid_

[ClearDark]

Do you mean the HawgTouch MFDs or the actual MFD displays?

ClearDark. Great job on 1.2, only found 1 slight problem and that is when I close some of the windows (e.g. 3 of the 4 UFPs) and then reselect it on the UFC Scale Test button. I get a MS .Net Framework Unhandled exception

 

Thanks! I'll be fixing that issue in the next release :)

 

 

By the way where are the graphics for the Test Switches? I would like to modify the .xml file so that MFD, UFP & Test Panel are seperate.

 

In HawgTouch dir\Images\TestPanel

[MadTommy]

Do you mean the HawgTouch MFDs or the actual MFD displays?

 

I have used fullscreen on my 5970 and exported the MFCD Displays to my second monitor.

 

Really?. what hardware setup do you have? As previously, with BS and certainly during the Betas of Hog you had to select 'windowed' mode to span across multiple monitors.. so i'm very curious to your setup. Cheers.

[Druid_]

Thanks! I'll be fixing that issue in the next release

No probs, great job so far!

 

In HawgTouch dir\Images\TestPanel

Sorry, no I meant the 3 toggle buttons and the OFF button that you setup for switching the various xml tab configs on/off

 

Really?. what hardware setup do you have? As previously, with BS and certainly during the Betas of Hog you had to select 'windowed' mode to span across multiple monitors.. so i'm very curious to your setup. Cheers.

 

I have an ATI 5970 with 2x Dell 24 inch 1920x1200 displays. I am running in eyefinity group which makes any connected software think I have a 3840x1200 display. If anyone has an eyefinity card then don't just extend your other monitors, setup a group like in this saphire

(jump to 2:20). I have also setup 2 sets of Hotkeys in the profile manager that allows me to switch between 2 1920x1200 to one 3840x1200. At the moment however, I am unable to run HAwgTouch in the foreground, so have to run DCS in windowed mode.

[MadTommy]

Ok.. thanks Druid, that makes sense. Anything that makes windows think you have one big monitor rather than several monitors and DCS can run in full screen mode.

 

I was referring to 'regular' multi monitor setups.. where windows knows you have separate monitors.

Edited March 20, 2011 by MadTommy

[ClearDark]

Sorry, no I meant the 3 toggle buttons and the OFF button that you setup for switching the various xml tab configs on/off

 

The "Tab" buttons are generated automatically depending how many tabs you have in your profile XML. The "name" of the tab is specified in the XML aswell,

 

Here is how the ShowcaseProfile.xml looks like (bolded the important parts and removed controls code)

 

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8" ?>
<Tabs>
 <MonitorID>2</MonitorID>
 <LatchTo>MiddleRight</LatchTo>
 <Tab>
   <ID>1</ID>
   [b]<Name>UFC Scale Test</Name>[/b]
</Tab>
 <Tab>
   <ID>2</ID>
   [b]<Name>MFCD + UFC</Name>[/b]
</Tab>
<Tab>
   <ID>3</ID>
   [b]<Name>Test Panel</Name>[/b]
 </Tab>
</Tabs>

 

The "OFF" image is embedded in the executable and not modifiable :)

[jireland607]

Moving Windows

 

Just a small problem that I am having that I would like to see fixed is the dragging of the panels. I don't know how many of you actually use a touch screen but they are not everso precise, especially when you're trying to whack some co-ords in. Problem is, if I slightly miss a button, it starts moving the MFCD around on the screen which could be a right chore.

 

Could you limit the DRAG/DROP element to a small square next to the YIX boxes in the top right? Or a switch in the XML file to turn static on...

 

Really brilliant software though, I'm now moving off Touchbuddy to use HawgTouch, its much slicker... Keep up the good work and thanks.

[ClearDark]

Thanks for the feedback jireland!

 

That's a good suggestion. I will implement a limited draggable area in the top of the window for 1.3!

[cesthree]

Thank you for this wonderful application!

 

I was able to configure both of my MFCD's without a problem. I increased there size to 150%, repositioned them and used a 600x600 display of my MFCD's on my Secondary monitor.

 

The MFCD's work perfectly.

 

I have a problem with the UFC. I assigned keys to the UFC buttons in DCS:A-10C, but the UFC will not activate them.

 

I used the list of {KEYPRESSES} that you listed, but they won't work right.

 

To test I opened a notepad and opened the ShowcaseProfile.xml and operated the UFC from my desktop. The output was not what I entered in my custom .xml at all. The only keypresses that worked were those that were assigned a value of "1".

 

I will upload the notepad output and my custom .xml; please let me know if there is something that I did wrong.

 

Thanks again!

HT_ERROR.rar

[dooom]

would this work on my 10" USB MiMo monitor?

[ClearDark]

Thank you for this wonderful application!

 

I was able to configure both of my MFCD's without a problem. I increased there size to 150%, repositioned them and used a 600x600 display of my MFCD's on my Secondary monitor.

 

The MFCD's work perfectly.

 

I have a problem with the UFC. I assigned keys to the UFC buttons in DCS:A-10C, but the UFC will not activate them.

 

I used the list of {KEYPRESSES} that you listed, but they won't work right.

 

To test I opened a notepad and opened the ShowcaseProfile.xml and operated the UFC from my desktop. The output was not what I entered in my custom .xml at all. The only keypresses that worked were those that were assigned a value of "1".

 

I will upload the notepad output and my custom .xml; please let me know if there is something that I did wrong.

 

Thanks again!

 

Thanks for reporting this issue. I dove in the code and saw the problem. Since this is a major "show-stopper" ill release a new version later today addressing that issue among with some other bugs and optimizations.

 

would this work on my 10" USB MiMo monitor?

 

I don't see why not :)

[PeterP]

Hi, ClearDark

Really appreciate your work!

Do you plan to add a DirectX-Overlay function?

So that I'm able to use it in Fullcreen modus?

I got It already on top of the DX render - but when I interact with them my Screen freezes until I click in DCS-screen again.

What do you think ?! - I would happily pay for that !!! -no joke.

 

But to have run it now in windowed mode takes away all the fun because of half the frames I get in fullscreen. And there are other difficulties I will have to face with windowed Mode.:

 

To give you a better picture: I have now three Same screens at the top hooked up to a TH2Go and three Loosely arranged Screens at the botom.

This lower screens are different aspect and size.

But I successfully managed to get them with the TH2GO in a SofTH fullscreen set-up That runs in max 3840x2048 without problems.

Let me picture this for you:

 

[][][] -TH2GO

[][][] -SoftTH with Touchscreen

 

right now It's not so important(I do it manly to run tests) but when I have the money together for a Pair of 3D-ready FULLHD 120Hz projectors I will move to this : Spherical Projection.

And under the Projection surface I will attach three tuouchscreens.

And I will have to run DCS in fullscreen to get the Warping of the Image maintained.

Edited March 21, 2011 by PeterP

[cesthree]

Thanks for reporting this issue. I dove in the code and saw the problem. Since this is a major "show-stopper" ill release a new version later today addressing that issue among with some other bugs and optimizations.

 

 

 

I don't see why not :)

 

 

Thank you!