Collimated HUDs in FSX and P3D Version 1.

TUTORIAL COLLIMATED HUDs IN FSX AND P3D

This tutorial will explain how to make a collimated heads up display in FSX and P3D. The notes for
P3D relate to version 2.x of P3D. It is presumed that the information for FSX is applicable for P3D
version 1.4 or earlier as I believe changes were made to P3D version 2.0 which altered the way
HUDs worked.
This work is based on the example provided by Chuck Jodry available from:
http://www.fsdeveloper.com/forum/threads/collimated-hud-maxfile.22967
As I model with FSDS the steps described lean towards that program. If the reader is reasonably
capable on another modeling program then they should be able to interpret the descriptions for
their own use.
The examples provided are for the AAF Type K-14A/ Navy Type Mark 23 gunsight. You can see
these examples in use in my free Trojan T-28A for FSX and P3D which is available from
www.antsairplanes.com.

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Collimated HUDs in FSX and P3D Version 1.0

If you load the T-28A Attack interior models into ModelConverterX for examination the textures
used are $PAN_GUNSIGHT and T28_ATT_COLLIMATED.

WHAT IS A COLLIMATED HUD?

Voodoo magic if you ask me. Collimating lenses straightens light beams from the gunsight so that
the sighting will not be affected by movement of the pilots head. Targetting reticles in a collimated
display are projected to infinity. If the reticle is centred on an enemy aircraft 1000' away and the
pilot moves their head left, right, up or down then the reticle will still magically remain centred on
the enemy aircraft.
In the cover image you can see the gunsight in the T-28A. I have moved the pilot head up a bit to
demonstrate how the reticle appears to be rendered onto the combining glass.

METHODS OF MAKING A COLLIMATED HUD

There are two ways I can think of. The first method involves reading the pilots head position and
then, using a bit of trigonometry, moving the reticle to take into account the head position. Only
problem with this method is reading the head position in FSX.
The second method is described in this tutorial and can be called the collimated tunnel method.

COLLIMATED TUNNEL METHOD

The basic principle of this involves creating a VC texture (hereafter called the HUD VC) some
distance ahead of the aircraft. The reticle is then drawn onto this VC texture using a gauge. If the
reticle is fixed then you may not need to use a VC texture and you could use a standard texture. In
reality, most HUD displays will involve some animation so a gauge will likely be necessary.
An open ended tunnel is then created between the HUD VC and the glass of the gunsight
(hereafter called the Combining Glass). A special combination of texture properties and assembly
of the parts in the correct order will make the sides of the tunnel hide the users view of the HUD
VC. The user will only be able to see the HUD VC when looking down the combining glass.
As the HUD VC is placed some way ahead of the aircraft it reduces the affect of the pilots head
movement and thus provides the illusion of being projected to infinity.
The following picture shows the T-28A in FSDS. The tunnel is the large pyramid shape that
extends 30m in front of the aircraft The HUD VC itself is about 6.5m across. In this case the tunnel
is a simple box shape as the Combining Glass of the gunsight is also rectangular. If your
Combining Glass is a different shape (eg circular) then you may need a more circular tunnel.
It should only be necessary to create the tunnel within the VC model as the HUD will usually only
be visible from the pilots position. Creating a tunnel in the exterior model may cause problems with
the crash box and the display of the model in the aircraft selection screen and so is not
recommended.

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Collimated HUDs in FSX and P3D Version 1.0

CREATING THE COLLIMATED HUD IN FSX

You will need to do the following things:
- Create the tunnel
- Create the HUD VC
- Texture the parts
- Assemble the parts in the correct order
- Create a gauge to display your reticle
I won't describe how to make the gauge in this tutorial.

CREATE THE TUNNEL

Create a box (or tube depending on how complex your combining glass is) and then delete the end
nearest the combining glass. Shrink the end to fit around the combining glass. The other end
should be expanded to make the HUD VC. This will involve a bit of trial and error to try to figure out
how large the HUD VC end should be. Make it too small and the pilot will notice the edges. Make it
too large and you are wasting resolution of your HUD VC.
Also note in the cover image how the frame of the canopy is rather close to the gunsight. Any sort
of obstruction between the HUD VC and combining glass will hide the HUD VC. This includes
propeller blades. in the picture the propeller is moving but if the aircraft is on the ground and one of
the blades happens to end up within the tunnel then it will be noticeable.

CREATE THE HUD VC

Duplicate your tunnel. The go back to your original tunnel, rename it to HUD VC (it is important that
you use the original tunnel part as the HUD VC, this will become apparent later on). Delete all
points in the HUD VC except those that create the end polygon. Flip the end polygon so it is facing
towards the pilot. You should now have a HID VC part which consists of a single polygon pointing
towards the pilot.
Now go to your duplicated part and delete the end polygon.
You should end up with two parts, the HUD VC which consists of a polygon at the end of the tunnel
facing the pilot and the tunnel itself which has no ends.

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ASSEMBLE THE PARTS

Once all parts have been textured you must merge the HUD VC and tunnel into one new part.
IT IS IMPORTANT THAT THIS IS DONE CORRECTLY. Failure to do this correctly and the HUD
will not work.
It is also important that the draw order of the polygons is set correctly. The HUD VC must be the
first polygon drawn. If it is not then the HUD will not work. In FSDS you can ensure that the HUD
VC will be the first polygon by making the HUD VC part the first part and the tunnel the second
part. When you merge these two parts into a single part the HUD VC polygon will be the first
polygon. I assume that GMAX and 3DS work in similar ways.

TEXTURE THE PARTS

Texture the tunnel with the materials in the following pages. The tunnel texture can be a simple
16x16 pixel DXT5 texture. Alpha channel all white, Normal channel RGB of 21,37,41 (I just used
this colour as it was in the example Chuck provided). The tunnel texture must be a DXT5 texture, a
DXT1 texture will not work.
It would seem logical to use a full 1024x1024 texture for the HUD VC but I recommend against
this. When creating the HUD VC for P3D it is necessary to use a small piece of the VC material to
texture the tunnel. If you use a texture of 1024x1014 for the HUD VC you can save that bottom 10
pixels to texture the tunnel in P3D.
Important parameters of the VC texture are:
Framebuffer blend ONE/ONE draws any black parts of the VC texture as invisible.
Assume Vertical Normal = True helps with self illumination
Diffuse and Nightmap textures helps with self illumination
Emissive mode = Additive helps with self illumination

Important parameters of the tunnel texture are:

Final Alpha Multiply and Set Alpha at Render Time = True helps make the sides blank out the HUD
VC texture where they overlap

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Texture the tunnel with this material:

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Collimated HUDs in FSX and P3D Version 1.0

Texture the HUD VC with this material:

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Collimated HUDs in FSX and P3D Version 1.0

CREATING THE COLLIMATED HUD IN P3D

The principles for making the collimated HUD in P3D are much the same as in FSX. There are a
couple of differences. Firstly, the order of assembly is different and secondly the materials used are
also different.

ASSEMBLE THE PARTS

Again, the order of assembly is vitally important to get the HUD to work properly in P3D. In P3D
you DO NOT merge the tunnel and HUD VC parts together. Keep them separate. The tunnel
MUST be the first part drawn and the HUD VC part the second.
If you are modifying your FSX model you can do this by duplicating the combined tunnel and HUD
VC part. Then go back to the original part and delete the HUD VC polygon. Then go to the
duplicate part and delete the tunnel polygons.
You should now have two separate parts, the tunnel and the HUD VC.

MATERIALS IN P3D
Use the following material for both the tunnel and HUD VC. If you followed the advice in the FSX
version then your HUD VC would be 1024x1014 pixels in size so you can use those bottom 10
pixels to texture the tunnel. If you are modifying your FSX model and followed the steps above
then you should now only need to retexture the tunnel using a small patch of the VC texture. The
Final Alpha Blend and Framebuffer Blend properties are again the magic settings which get this
material to work.

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Texture the tunnel and HUD VC with this material in P3D

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