• Which the release of FS2020 we see an explosition of activity on the forun and of course we are very happy to see this. But having all questions about FS2020 in one forum becomes a bit messy. So therefore we would like to ask you all to use the following guidelines when posting your questions:

    • Tag FS2020 specific questions with the MSFS2020 tag.
    • Questions about making 3D assets can be posted in the 3D asset design forum. Either post them in the subforum of the modelling tool you use or in the general forum if they are general.
    • Questions about aircraft design can be posted in the Aircraft design forum
    • Questions about airport design can be posted in the FS2020 airport design forum. Once airport development tools have been updated for FS2020 you can post tool speciifc questions in the subforums of those tools as well of course.
    • Questions about terrain design can be posted in the FS2020 terrain design forum.
    • Questions about SimConnect can be posted in the SimConnect forum.

    Any other question that is not specific to an aspect of development or tool can be posted in the General chat forum.

    By following these guidelines we make sure that the forums remain easy to read for everybody and also that the right people can find your post to answer it.

Applying textures from a texture sheet

falcon409

falcon409

Messages
687
Country
us-texas
I am new to Sketchup but have jumped in with both feet to do my local airport. I have about 10 buildings complete or close to it and all are currently textured with the original Hi-Res photo's I took. I am just now trying to adjust each texture (over a hundred at this point) to fit the required format and it has been suggested that I combine them on texture sheets to cut down on the number of textures. That's fine, but once on the texture sheet, how do you go back and attach those textures to the building faces? Is there a tutorial explaining this?
 
Hi Ed:

[EDITED]

Arno has implemented functions in ModelConverterX (aka "MCX") to semi-automatically:

* Re-size textures to "powers of 2" (make texture pixel row and column dimensions multiples of values which are divisible by 2)


"What is the power of two rule ^

In short, it's a simple set of criteria applicable to all game related images that makes sure they conform to a series of regular dimensions. Typically this means doubling up or dividing down by two. So texture sizes that have or are limited to "8", "16", "32", "64", "128", "256", "512", "1024", "2048" (or higher for more modern games) in one or more width/height direction are regarded as being valid and properly optimized for quick loading into a game and processing into memory."

http://www.katsbits.com/tutorials/textures/make-better-textures-correct-size-and-power-of-two.php


BTW: The above article alludes to the importance of pre-configuring ones scenery content to optimize rendering performance at run time; in this context, it addresses texture mapping on 3D models.


However, IMHO, the same considerations need to be applied to other FS objects when creating content so that it is aligned to the underlying FS terrain quad matrix grid system.

AFAIK, achieving optimal performance with the FS rendering engine and not burdening it un-necessarily at run time would also compel one to pre-align and/or triangulate poly-line / polygon content so that it essentially can "Snap-To-Grid" prior to resolution of terrain mesh vertices, enabling it to then more efficiently draw textures onto the mapped terrain grid "UVW" vertices ASAP ...during a flight.

Thus, IMO, both textured 3D objects such as custom ground polygons and/or airport Runways < yes, RWYs have a MDL inside ! >, and textured vector FS "terrain" scenery content such as airport Aprons / Taxiways < IMO, actually "terrain" vector objects not listed in Terrain.Cfg >, land class polygons and/or poly-lines ...may be subject to similar considerations when seeking to optimize FS rendering engine performance at run time during a flight.

http://www.fsdeveloper.com/forum/showthread.php?t=425495&highlight=TMVL&page=2



Oh, and while I'm up on my soap box: :duck:

IMHO, advocacy of optimizing FS run time performance via pre-optimizing (and accurate Geo-referencing ...to the Centimeter level if desired !) of scenery content during FS development should not be confused with "Rivet-Counting", nor should aspersions be cast upon such considerations by means of the context in which it is discussed here at FS Developer, where IIRC, we cooperatively explore and innovate options / methods / tools for FS content creation. :pushpin:


...Why ?

Because FSX is capable of "UVW mapping" accurately Geo-referenced texture pixels to terrain vertices at LOD / QMID levels via FS quad matrix grid Area Points (aka "mini-quads") that are not just Centimers, but Millimeters in size.


FS' texture resolution slider offers to map a single pixel onto a terrain span of ex: as little as 7cm (actually 7.5cm or 75 mm).

Other tests have demonstrated that FS can even map textures onto objects at up to a 2cm (20mm) ultra-high resolution ! :eek:


The trade-off is that one must create FS content properly in advance ...in order for the FS rendering engine to function efficiently. :rolleyes:

But perhaps the latter topic is best reserved as a specialized subject for other posts in a thread elsewhere ...at another time. :stirthepo :D





Some additional links on the subject of FS objects mapped with texture sheets sized with Pixel dimensions as powers of 2:

http://www.fsdeveloper.com/downloads/BuildYourHouseForFSUsingSketchup.pdf

http://www.fsdeveloper.com/forum/showpost.php?p=244029&postcount=7

http://www.fsdeveloper.com/forum/showpost.php?p=170332&postcount=6

http://www.fsdeveloper.com/forum/showpost.php?p=92736&postcount=4





Arno has also implemented these functions in ModelConverterX (aka "MCX"), offering options to semi-automatically:

* Convert textures to *.DDS for FSX

* Combine textures onto as few texture sheets as possible

* Minimize Draw Calls


IIUC, MCX can perform all the above functions while maintaining ones existing texture mapping (aka "UVW") coordinates for an imported 3D model regardless of the input file format (ex: *.DAE, *.KMZ, *.SKP, *.OBJ, *.3DS etc.) :wizard:

So, you do not need to re-texture 3D models if already "UVW mapped" in ex: Sketchup with *.PNG or *.JPG files ...when imported by MCX.

Likewise, you do not need to re-texture 3D models if already "UVW mapped" when such textures are 'transferred' by the MCX "Draw Call Minimizer" (as smaller image areas placed onto a lesser number of larger texture sheets) ...to minimize draw calls.

http://www.scenerydesign.org/modelconverterx/



CAVEAT: Save at least 1 backup of ones original Sketchup modeling project with its source textures in a separate folder from the one which contains a copy of the ex: *.KMZ file and source textures to be imported and converted by MCX. :alert:

This is important, since MCX can convert and over-write ones source textures to re-sized *.DDS files for use in FSX.



To get acquainted with these MCX features, here's some links to start with: :idea:

ModelConverterX wiki:

http://www.fsdeveloper.com/wiki/index.php?title=ModelConverterX#Mass_texture_editor


Note: Most of the above features are accessed via the MCX 'Icon bar' rather than via the 'Menu bar'




Learning resources for Arno's various recent FS scenery-related utilities: ;)


Introductory / tutorial videos:

http://www.youtube.com/user/fsdeveloper/videos


Earlier series of Blog posts:

http://msmvps.com/blogs/arnogerretsen/default.aspx


Current series of Blog posts:

http://www.scenerydesign.org/

[END_EDIT]


Hope this helps ! :)


PS: Many thanks to Arno for making ModelConverterX available to the FS Development Community ! :wizard:

GaryGB
 
Last edited:
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top