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10m terrain mesh for MSFS

crushnik

crushnik

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us-missouri
Forgive me if this has been asked before, but is it possible to create custom terrain mesh for MSFS yet? I would love to see what it would take to turn my 10-meter United States terrain for FSX and P3D into a product for MSFS users.
 
After the USA update, there is really no need for any US DEMs. The default resolution is already the same or greater.

USUpdateGraphic_DEM-scaled.jpg


However, for other areas, it can be done with the following tool: https://github.com/muumimorko/MSFS2020_CGLTools

Here's a link to an accompanying thread here on the forums: https://fsdeveloper.com/forum/threads/everything-about-cgl-generation-custom-dem-works.450379/

This method, as far as I know, is an unofficial method that comes with 2 main limiting factors. 1. Resolution is limited to around 20m (I believe this also depends on latitude). 2. It only works in offline mode.
 
Is there a way of finding out what the mesh LOD is for P3D v5? If there is I sure can't find it.
 
crushnik said:
Is there a way of finding out what the mesh LOD is for P3D v5? If there is I sure can't find it.
Click to expand...
I know for FSX and P3D v1-v4, DEM resolution varies between 608 meters (Ex. Antarctica) and 38m (USA). I'm not sure if DEM has changed any in v5, however if the files structure has stayed the same, one way to find the exact value would be to use TMFViewer in the PDK (SDK) and open up the core dem files:
  1. Start tmfviewer.exe, located in "[SDK]\World\Terrain"
  2. Navigate to "Prepar3D v5\Scenery\BASE\Scenery"
  3. Open dem4km.bgl in tmfviewer.
  4. On the top menu bar, click View, hover over QMID Grid and select Level 4.
  5. Hover your mouse within the QMID square that your target area is in. Towards the bottom-middle of your screen, you'll see something like: Dir# 0302. Take note of this number.
  6. Restart tmfviewer so that no files are loaded.
  7. Navigate to "Prepar3D v5\Scenery" and find the folder matching the number you just obtained. (Per my example, 0302, which covers East USA)
  8. Inside should be a file, dem####.bgl.
  9. Load this file into tmfviewer.
  10. Once again, click View and hover over Level of Detail. You will notice some values are black while higher values may be greyed out. Find the highest black value in the list. It should be no more than LOD10 (38m/px).
Compare this LOD value with the following chart and you will have the default resolution:
docs.microsoft.com

Terrain and Scenery

docs.microsoft.com

Edit: Also, take note that if you search "dem" while in the "Prepar3D v5\Scenery" folder, you will also find a few isolated areas of higher resolution DEM. Although, it looks like, if this should exist in your target area, you'll find it in the "####" folder with the base DEM you just loaded.
 
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Hello:

AFAIK, P3D is derived from ESP as a version of FSX SP2, and uses mostly default FSX DEM BGLs, which in the case of USA are LOD-10.

However, FSX Mt. St. Helen's was a proof of concept using a 5 Meter resolution DEM blended into the surrounding terrain mesh.

Also, LM in P3Dv2 or later, reportedly used higher resolution DEMs at 4 ( ICAO's ?) airports as a proof of concept.


BTW: The P3Dv5 vector data set also has areas of higher resolution in Meters between data points than in prior versions of MS-FS / LM-P3D.


As for MSFS-2020, we must determine whether resolution of DEM display (currently) has a LOD-11 run time rendering limit:

www.fsdeveloper.com

MSFS20 - Thoughts on modelling a large non-flat airport

Hello FS Developers! I am looking for recommendations or thoughts on my current project in MSFS. I am building a custom addon for a rather large airport. I have got a lot of reference material and commercial aerials so no shortage of detail. My question is around modelling things like large...
www.fsdeveloper.com www.fsdeveloper.com

[EDITED]

If high resolution source data is processed via MSFS-2020 SDK, do we know it is NOT "down-sampled" to a lower LOD-11 output resolution ?


If there IS an internal hard-coded limit, we must up-vote requests to unlock higher terrain resolution as we did with FS 9.0 (LOD-9) versus FS 9.1 (Lod-11).


If there is NO internal hard-coded limit, we must find / test MSFS-2020 configuration parameter values that un-lock higher terrain resolution. ;)

[END_EDIT]


PS: Another practical consideration is, what resolution can realistically be visualized by FS at aircraft camera positions during flights:

www.fsdeveloper.com

FSX - Flattens

THE FSX RENDERING ENGINE WORKS WITH TRIANGLES... NOT RECTANGLES ! That was my initial thought, bit it is not true. It works with polygons. (The slope parameter is not used).
www.fsdeveloper.com www.fsdeveloper.com


GaryGB
 
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Does anyone know where payware developers are finding 10m terrain mesh for foreign countries?

MSFS doesn't seem to do Israel any justice and all I can find outside the US is 1 arc-second SRTM on Earth Explorer.
 
crushnik said:
Does anyone know where payware developers are finding 10m terrain mesh for foreign countries?
Click to expand...

It totally depends on individual countries in most cases. Some give away detailed data freely. Others don't offer anything at all.

This covers the entire Arctic but obviously there aren't many sites there - https://www.pgc.umn.edu/data/arcticdem/

This does most of the UK - https://environment.data.gov.uk/DefraDataDownload/

Elsewhere you'll need to google the country you're interested in.
 
superspud said:
It totally depends on individual countries in most cases. Some give away detailed data freely. Others don't offer anything at all.

This covers the entire Arctic but obviously there aren't many sites there - https://www.pgc.umn.edu/data/arcticdem/

This does most of the UK - https://environment.data.gov.uk/DefraDataDownload/

Elsewhere you'll need to google the country you're interested in.
Click to expand...
Hello, superspud, do you know how to update the terrain mesh? I've tried to make a hometown airport, but I found the terrain mesh was very different from reality where the airport locate. I've download the terrain data from https://earthexplorer.usgs.gov/, but I don't know what I need to do next.
 
shushengerdai said:
Hello, superspud, do you know how to update the terrain mesh? I've tried to make a hometown airport, but I found the terrain mesh was very different from reality where the airport locate. I've download the terrain data from https://earthexplorer.usgs.gov/, but I don't know what I need to do next.
Click to expand...

There's a guide on DEM creation in here - https://flightsim.to/file/17656/a-guide-to-msfs-scenery-creation

I describe the tools you need, ignore the bit about downloading the imagery, but for me at least the Nool Aerosystems tool won't work at the moment. I'm not sure why yet. Give it a try anyway.
 
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crushnik said:
Looks interesting... I tried using this site to check out that ALOS PALSAR data but it looks as if there is trouble communicating with the satellite or something. MSFS is incredibly beautiful, and the level of detail worldwide is really something. But plenty of countries like Israel seem to have disappointing FSX-era elevation resolution.
Click to expand...


I'm home for COVID-Positive ... let's use the moment.

This is the Dead Sea with ALOS PALSAR DEM at -419,25 meters below sea level. Pixel spacing Dimensione Pixel 0.0001231328205903992057,-0.0001231383066624403

Immagine 2022-01-24 184015.jpg
Immagine 2022-01-24 093931.jpg
 
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Bavarello said:
I'm home for COVID-Positive ... let's use the moment.

This is the Dead Sea with ALOS PALSAR DEM at -419,25 meters below sea level. Pixel spacing Dimensione Pixel 0.0001231328205903992057,-0.0001231383066624403
Click to expand...

I must be using the wrong files. When I download what I think are elevation files (still using Israel) I end up with hundreds of results of zip files that are over 1 GB. The zip file contains files like this:
Screenshot 2022-01-29 115916.jpg

The jpg shows up, but looks like there isn't any metadata. Where are you getting your files?
 
Before I go too crazy on this project, is there a reliable way to stitch this data together? I was spoiled by USGS data that I could download in one-degree tiles with no missing data or overlap..
Screenshot 2022-01-30 093521.jpg
 
That's right, unlike USGS that you have every 1 ° x1 ° tile here you have to build them all, one by one. Remember that they must be reprojected from EPSG: 32636 - WGS 84 / UTM zone 36N to EPSG: 4326 - WGS 84.
 
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