i have a float of 0 to 512 and i need to convert that into 0 to 1, so 0.5 would equal 256 and so on
You just need to normalize it!
The max amount of value divided by itself is 1
512/512 = 1
Half of the value divided by the total is 0.5
256 / 512 - 0.5
To get your original value again just multiply by the max amount
0,5 * 512