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View Full Version : Help with Gauge Back Ground I'm to dense to figure it out



MN C5
October 21st, 2005, 04:15 PM
Ok, I'm very busy at work and frustrated because I've seen those really cool setups...Just don't have time to play as much as I'd like but how the heck to I do that... Please give an idiot a step by step instructional :oops:

Black02SS
October 21st, 2005, 06:00 PM
I might be able to help you. What are you having trouble with?

Black02SS
October 21st, 2005, 06:03 PM
Have you read this doc?

http://www.efilive.com/doc/Tutorials/Dashboard%20Customization%20Tutorial.pdf

Tordne
October 21st, 2005, 06:07 PM
I might be able to help you. What are you having trouble with?

You ought to be able to, afterall you won a license for your dashboard(s) :wink:

GMPX
October 21st, 2005, 06:12 PM
When it comes to dashes........

Chad is >> here.
Everyone esle is
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>> here.

Cheers,
Ross

Tordne
October 21st, 2005, 07:02 PM
Hey, I have actually made a pretty nice one. I forgive you though cause you haven't seen it :D

All I can say is it is lucky for Chad that I didn't do it before that competition :wink:

Black02SS
October 21st, 2005, 07:06 PM
:lol: You guys kill me... Thanks for the kind words.. Much appreciated.

Black02SS
October 21st, 2005, 07:07 PM
Hey, I have actually made a pretty nice one. I forgive you though cause you haven't seen it :D

All I can say is it is lucky for Chad that I didn't do it before that competition :wink:

Lets see it Andrew.. ;)

Tordne
October 21st, 2005, 07:13 PM
Ok buddy, here it is (you have already seen this)...

http://www.holdencrazy.com/Tordne/Dash.jpg

Black02SS
October 21st, 2005, 07:14 PM
See man, I totally forgot about that dash. That is pimp. I really like that.

Tordne
October 21st, 2005, 07:21 PM
See man, I totally forgot about that dash. That is pimp. I really like that.

Thanks mate.

johnv
October 21st, 2005, 08:28 PM
Nice job ! 8) but wheres my copy ? :D

Cheers
John

joecar
October 21st, 2005, 09:10 PM
Andrew, very nice work mate, "Holden Crazy" thumbnails nice touch.
8) 8) 8)

Tordne
October 21st, 2005, 10:38 PM
John, Joe,

Thanks very much for your comments!

I have packed (zipped) up the dash pages and the associated PID file. This can be downloaded from HERE (http://www.holdencrazy.com/Tordne/Tordne-Dash.zip).

Only thing is my laptop is a really high resolution widescreen, so this may look kinda out of proportion on a non widescreen. :wink:

Even if you use this as perhaps an example... I actually found once I got started it didn't take as long as I imagined it might.

Would be interested to see other peoples "examples" if there anr any out there.

Cheers,

Black02SS
October 22nd, 2005, 12:14 AM
Maybe sometime in the future after things settle down and after SEMA, they could add a small section for user based Dashes (Skins). People could display their skins and make them available for download. :idea:

GMPX
October 22nd, 2005, 01:11 AM
That's a nice one Andrew, very functional and easy to quickly get info from.

Yes, a dash section would be nice.

Cheers,
Ross

MN C5
October 22nd, 2005, 02:08 AM
Have you read this doc?

http://www.efilive.com/doc/Tutorials/Dashboard%20Customization%20Tutorial.pdf

I've read http://www.efilive.com/doc/Tutorials/Dashboard%20Customization%20Tutorial.pdf

I have no trouble moving guages and creating new ones ect.. But some of the gauge styles and the back ground graphics I'm lost on. If its in the pdf I'm probably reading it but not understanding it.

I would like to use this guage background http://www.autometer.com/img_products/1787_d.jpg

Duplicating this layout

http://home.insightbb.com/~black02ss/Dash.jpg

Black02SS
October 22nd, 2005, 02:12 AM
Doing that won't be in any tutorial. You have to be firmilar with Photoshop or other software that will allow you to crop/smooth/modify the existing image. When you get the image you like, you will have that as the desktop and place your gauges in there.

Black02SS
October 22nd, 2005, 02:28 AM
Here is a quick idea. Take the gauge you have now, remove the needle and numbers. Set that as your background for either the gauge, or make a entire dash from them, the choice is yours. Then add the needle and font for the values.

Tordne
October 22nd, 2005, 08:06 AM
MN C5,

Where were you when the dash competition was on, that blue dash is actually mine as well 8) 8) 8). I did that blue "functional" dash before EFILive added the functionality to produce these way more awesome ones.

With your vote I might have beaten Chad :D :D :D

Cheers,

MN C5
October 22nd, 2005, 08:45 AM
Photoshop........arrgg.... I'll give it a whirl, right now my skills are limited to resizing, liquifiying and cropping in photoshop.

What size do I make the standard guage? Does EFI take care of resizing the image for different guages. ..

MN C5
October 22nd, 2005, 09:25 AM
How do I get rid of the white boarder around the guage in photoshop... Otherwise I think I've got the idea.

Blacky
October 22nd, 2005, 09:31 AM
How do I get rid of the white boarder around the guage in photoshop... Otherwise I think I've got the idea.

Use the "Magic Eraser" - seriously that's what its called.
Paul

MN C5
October 22nd, 2005, 09:54 AM
I'll try that, painting it with the brush didn't turn out very well.

MN C5
October 22nd, 2005, 06:15 PM
How do I capture the dashpage I made to post it?

Blacky
October 22nd, 2005, 06:25 PM
How do I capture the dashpage I made to post it?

To capture a screen shot of your dashboard:
Goto www.irfanview.com and download their free graphic program.
It has a screen capture option.
Save screen captures as *.png (Portable Network Graphic) files, not as *.jpg. Unless your background image is very "photographic" in which case *.jpg may be better. Save it as both and see which one comes out as a smaller file.

If you want to distribute the dashboard so others can actually install and use it...

Package all theses files (from the VDash folder) into a zip file, maintaining the directory structure:

1. The background image file.
2. The *.vdb and *.vdp files (maybe 1, 2 or 3 *.vdp files)
3. The new folder (and its contents) in which you created all your new dash gauges. (If you have not already, then please make sure you created new gauges in a new folder and did not simply overwrite the existing default gauges).

Regards
Paul

MN C5
October 22nd, 2005, 07:10 PM
PhotoShop experiance would help.. I want to make my background image more transparent but haven't figured that on out yet..