how to make/ import markings for gates and runways that stay on top of the taxiways.

Question

(It's my first time using WED).

I am adding gate and runway markings (to the excellent EGCC Manchester v4 that has working autogate and safedock created pre WED1.6 ). I have managed to get the taxiways done for airplanes and vehicles and all the road markings done. ATC works as do the service vehicles so I am nearly there but for having trouble getting markings to stay on top of the concrete and even when I do (which seems to be very hit and miss) they don't show up in Xplane11 itself. (They will stay on top of the grass and then show in XP11 but not on taxiways).

I can create the necessary markings e.g. white text on red 23L- 05R or Gate numbers  as gifs, tiffs or jpgs using Adobe photoshop but have no luck or consistency getting them into the scenery. I have tried importing jpgs as orthophotos but this doesn't work. Suggestions please- what programs to use, how to get them in and on top of the taxiways and then show up in XP11.

Comments

forgot to say it doesn't appear to matter where in the hierarchy the jpg is listed (top right box section of WED.--

Answer 1

Custom markings is a bit more advanced than I've ever gotten with WED. If you haven't checked it out, you might find Jan Vogel's WED tutorials helpful--this one on polygons might be related to your issue. You may also find more advanced help in the X-Plane.org scenery forum.

I believe you will need a custom draped polygon and then need to use the texture mapping box to place parts of it where you want it. Here is the only information on this in the manual:

The Texture tab is for texture mapping a custom draped polygon file. Select your file in the library pane, then select Use Texture Map in the tool defaults pane. After drawing your shape with the polygon tool, use the bounding box in the texture tab to select what part of the original image is displayed in the shape. Use the Snap to Vertices options for the most precision. Note that this tab only works with custom draped polygons that have been drawn with the Texture Map box checked—orthophotos and standard Laminar Research .pol files are not applicable. Custom scenery that uses these texture mapped files are not eligible to upload to the Airport Scenery Gateway.