anyone made their own gauges?

[Xzibit A]

hey guys i know alot of you have the white faced gauges, i was wondering if anyone has made their own, there is a tutorial on RPS in the interior tec section, it looks cool but i wanna know if any one has done it, if so how did it turn out, im not good whith PS this is why im asking

 

[TTG]

Tried it, didn't really like it so I never installed it. Was a big thing before the glow gauges came out for the explorers.

 

[410Fortune]

Yes

One of the finishing touches of my 5.0L conversion, Right here:

The thread (the gages start on page 10)
http://www.explorerforum.com/forums/showthread.php?t=124626&page=1&pp=20

 

[410Fortune]

FYI TOOK ALOT of time to make these in AutoCAD.

 

[Xzibit A]

well i made them just need to put them in and ill take some pictures when we get done

 

[Brian_B]

How did you make them in AutoCAD? Did you scan the real ones, paste into CAD, and draw over them? I have not tried that with guages. I have done maps and things. LOL

I am registered for a photoshop class starting monday, if they don't screw up my teaching schedule to overlap it.

 

[410Fortune]

Yes. I had the orginal 88 tach and speedo gages in electronic format previously (poor quality bitmap)

I then scaled them to size and drew over them
The tricky part is the increments are not a perfect array, meaning the distance from 0-10 mph is way different from the 30-45, etc.
THis is what took a long time.

You could scan your stock gages and do a similar project using CAD or photo shop, etc. I prefer CAD for stuff like this

 

[Brian_B]

Ahh...Ok. I don't know if I will ever attempt it, but I know how you did it. Sounds easy other than taking some time. I keep updated on the newest AutoDESK software. We are updating to 2006 everything now.

I hope they work out my schedule so I don't have to drop photoshop. I want to learn that program (at least the basics).

Thanks 410.

 

[410Fortune]

Photoshop is allright, I have always preffered Corel Draw/Photo however

I have run Autocad as part of my job since release 12.

 

[Brian_B]

I started with AutoCAD 10 (DOS-yuck!). I teach classes at two local colleges. I also teach Architectural Desktop and Inventor (soon adding more software). I am upgrading to 2006 in everything as we speak. Inventor 10 too.

 

[410Fortune]

every year Autodesk releases a new version, I personally think they are a waste of $$$$$$$, until they actually re-vamp them. I picked up 04 for $400 instead of the 05 for $1800 or whatever. I work from home so the cost is important....

 

[Brian_B]

I agree...sort of. For personal use its ridiculous (no doubts there). A good tech program has to teach the latest software though. Out updates are much cheaper than a company or individual would pay. They are free to me. I don't worry about costs.

I am amazed at the difference between 2005 and 2006 in 3D this time. 2D looks the same so far. I am waiting on my Inventor and Arch books.

On a side note: I went to a company thats is still using 2000 and a digitizer the other day to run off some prints. I had to re-save as the old file type first. I couldn't even remember how to move/modify junk over there (thats just me).

It would not accept or print my graphics and it had no linewidths. The prints looked absolutely horrible. I ended up going to the school and printing them on our new 42" plotter instead.