Hi John:
AFAIK, all aerial imagery available from various online sources all has licensing terms for use, which may range from totally unrestricted, free to use but requesting written credit as to source, fee-based etc..
The ArcGISImagery (originally called ESRI World Imagery) aerial imagery available via their web map viewer portal, their proprietary licensed ArcGIS software communications protocols, and via the SBuilderX tile down-loader plugin may also be subject to licensing terms.
However, you may recall from our communications here at FSDeveloper by thread in the forums, and by private message on September 5, 2017, I had provided you with links to the GIS data made
freely available for your area of interest by a local local government entity.
It is always prudent to read and understand all information applicable to a license for use of GIS data (if necessary, with the involvement of an appropriately licensed member of the legal profession).
However, you will find that if you follow the links in the private message I sent you on September 5, 2017, you should read that the aerial imagery for your project area has a Open Data License Agreement "
based on Version 2 of the Open Government License - British Columbia", and which states:
"TERMS AND CONDITIONS OF USE
OPEN GOVERNMENT LICENSE
YOU ARE FREE TO:
Copy, modify, publish, translate, adapt, distribute or otherwise use the Information in any medium, mode or format for any lawful purpose."
The aerial imagery source data licensed by that local government entity and made freely available to the public via that web portal appears to be essentially
identical to what you have already used for your project to date.
While I am doubtful anyone would object to your use of the *.PNG-format aerial imagery tiles downloaded by SBuilderX directly from the ArcGISImagery tile servers, versus having otherwise used the Mr.Sid (JPEG2000-format) aerial imagery tiles downloaded from the local government entity GIS web portal for your project area, you are at liberty to inquire further to be certain that ESRI would have no objections.
It is not impossible that ESRI regards the aerial image degradation associated with Mr.Sid (JPEG2000) format as a part of the terms under which they made the imagery available, as distribution of "reduced resolution" imagery is sometimes a basis for "reduced licensing fees".
However, the Metadata for the source data cited above shows nearly identical "resolution":
PIXEL WIDTH=0.15 meters
PIXEL HEIGHT=0.15 meters
...versus
PIXEL WIDTH=0.1493 meters
PIXEL HEIGHT=0.1493 meters
I'm not certain image "visual quality" versus "Resolution" was a basis for Licensing terms / fees here.
On a practical basis, the above cited Mr.Sid (JPEG2000-format) aerial imagery tiles downloaded from the local government entity GIS web portal for your project area is among the best I've seen in that JPEG2000 file format (compressed, but
not visibly degraded !), and is essentially indistinguishable from the ArcGISImagery aerial imagery available via their web map viewer portal.
So, apparently there is nothing to lose by using this imagery instead of imagery download via SBuilderX.
Thus, alternatively, you can just download and substitute the Mr.Sid (JPEG2000-format) aerial imagery tiles downloaded from the local government entity GIS web portal for your project.
After conversion to properly re-projected GeoTIFF files, they may be easily loaded into SBuilderX via:
SBuilderX Menu > File > Add Map > From Disk
The perceived image quality for the two sources cited above may effectively be no different when viewed in FSX at run time, as resolution and image metadata is essentially identical.
I also suspect you would
not need to create / use different versions of your Blend and Water Masks.
So, IMHO, no need to be concerned about the option to distribute your scenery package when it is finished.
http://www.fsdeveloper.com/forum/threads/bmp-header-is-corrupt.441662/page-3#post-787930
Well adding NULLVALUE=,,,,0 to each [source ] section of the INF file made a HUGE difference (to my large photo realistic scenery BGL file) and I mean HUGE.
BGL was 844Mb now 356Mb. What a saving.
And another decreased in size from 93.4Mb to 24.4Mb.
Makes me wonder why this information was not made available to me before OR is there a downside doing this?
The SDK doc shows the NullValue=,,,,0 parameter value used with
Blend (
not Water) Mask sources.
That parameter value may- or may
not- otherwise provide a net benefit when used with "Layer=Imagery" sources.
https://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc707118.aspx
; This treats all pixels with a zero (data value) in the blend mask as if it were missing. (aka "MissingData")
; This can result in better compression ratios (i.e. smaller .BGL files) if much of the image
; is fully transparent.
NullValue = ,,,,0
NullValue=,,,,0 removes all pure Black (RGB 0,0,0) areas from the compiled BGL.
So if you use that parameter with Water Mask sources, you may have no water attribute areas in FS at run time ...when the extents of your aerial imagery BGL is displayed.
And if you use that parameter with "Layer=Imagery" sources, you may have white (or Red ?) 'void' areas within otherwise 'visible' water texture areas of your aerial imagery BGL.
IIUC, if you pre-process your aerial imagery in a graphics application and 'substitute' another color (
ex: RGB 1,1,1) for all pure Black (RGB 0,0,0) areas, your resulting compiled BGL 'may'
still have the same size ...so no net benefit when that "NullValue=,,,,0" parameter value is used for "Layer=Imagery" sources in the INF.
BTW: SDK docs are included with the SDK, and should be the
first thing anyone reads before starting any FS development.
So that info was "made available" to you- just as it was to everyone else- when FSX was released in October of 2006.
PS: If you are adamant about reducing the compiled BGL size for your scenery package, you may wish to convert your source aerial imagery into GeoTIFFs with (non-lossy) LZW compression applied.
This will result in longer SDK Resample compile times, but should not cause a perceptible delay in loading for display in FS at run time when FSX.Cfg parameter values are set to allow the FS rendering engine caching, Windows pre-fetch / super-fetch, and terrain data loader sub-system ...to all work optimally.
GaryGB