Can I convert a virtual cockpit (3D) panel to a 2D panel in FSX aircraft?

VC to 2D in FSX – what’s actually possible

Rudy, you’re remembering the topic correctly, but the wording trips a lot of people up. In FSX there isn’t a true “conversion” process that turns a VC into a classic 2D panel.

Why:

• The VC is part of the aircraft’s 3D model (clickspots/animations/textures, etc).
• A 2D panel is a separate set of 2D windows defined in panel.cfg (background bitmaps + gauge placements).

If the developer didn’t build and ship 2D windows (and the gauges/bitmaps to support them), there’s nothing complete to “extract” from the VC.

What you can do instead (in order of practicality)

1) First check if a 2D panel is already included (sometimes it’s just not obvious)

1. Go here:
   ...\SimObjects\Airplanes\<AircraftName>\panel\panel.cfg

2. Look in that aircraft folder for alternate panel folders, for example:
   panel.2d
panel.VC
panel_2D
   (or anything similar)

3. Open the panel.cfg and see what sections exist:
   • If you see a normal set of windows like [Window00], [Window01], etc. (especially with a background bitmap), you may already have what you want.
   • If it’s basically only [Vcockpit01], [Vcockpit02] plus maybe a couple of popups, then it’s a VC-only cockpit.

2) Use pop-up panels as your “2D workflow” (this is what most VC-only aircraft are designed for)
Even when there’s no full 2D main panel, many add-ons provide popups for the FMC, radios, overhead, etc.

1. In panel.cfg, look for sections like:
   [Window Titles]
...
[Window01]
[Window02]

2. In FSX they’re typically called with SHIFT+1, SHIFT+2, etc. (based on the order in the file).
3. If you want your most-used popup to be SHIFT+1, you can re-order the [WindowXX] sections (and their matching entries in [Window Titles]) so the numbering works in your favor.

That setup usually gets you very close to what you’re describing (no constant VC panning, less “losing the outside view”).

3) Build a custom 2D panel (possible, but it’s a real project)
You can create your own 2D windows, but it’s not a one-click job:

1. You need suitable panel background bitmaps (or you fly “popup-only” with no background).
2. You need the aircraft’s instruments available as usable 2D gauges.
3. You then place/size everything in panel.cfg and test, adjust, repeat.

The big catch with most modern 767/777/787 packages: a lot of them drive displays/controls through custom-coded VC logic and don’t expose everything as traditional 2D gauges. So you can end up with a “2D panel” that’s missing key systems, or you’re stuck using popups for the important bits anyway.

A couple questions so I can point you the right direction

1. Which exact aircraft are you looking at (developer/product name) and are you on FSX boxed or FSX:SE?
2. In that aircraft’s panel.cfg, do you see any [Window Titles] and multiple [Window00]/ [Window01] sections, or is it mostly [VcockpitXX]?
3. Are you OK with a “popups + outside view” workflow, or do you specifically need a full traditional 2D main panel background window?

If you paste just the top of the panel.cfg (the [Window Titles] section and the first few [WindowXX] entries), I can tell you immediately whether you’ve already got a hidden 2D option, or whether popups are the best (and cleanest) way to get what you want.