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As for which seasons, I have bitmaps for spring, summer, fall, winter, and hard winter. I haven't elected to use a nighmap since there's nothing illuminated on the peak.
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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.
Mount St. Helens pre-1980 terrain - issues with display after compiling
- Thread starter Steve Rosenow
- Start date
Hi Steve:
I'm on the road today with only an I-Pad, but I found this online article which you might find interesting until pre-1980 Topos and DEMs for the areas of interest can be located as digital data via a "real computer":
http://www.geo.utexas.edu/courses/371c/project/2011/Eljuri_GIS Project.pdf
[EDITED]
Once Geo-referenced as 'warped' images or ESRI *.SHP files in Geographic Coordinate Reference System (aka "CRS") / WGS84, you may wish to 'Append' and use them in a SBuilderX project via:
[END_EDIT]
SBuilderX Menu > File:
* Append > ESRI Shape
...or:
* Add > Map > From Disk
If you look at the SBuilderX Geo-referencing *.TXT files always created with a *.BMP output to:
SBuilderX\Tools\Work sub folder
...from downloaded "Background" imagery tiles that have been "Selected" in the SBuilderX work-space, you will see how the coordinates are structured; then just place it in the same folder with the imagery using a matching file name, but with a *.TXT file extension. you can ignore the prompt to "Calibrate" (aka "Geo-'Reference") the imported data.
SBuilderX Menu > File > Append
Hope this helps with the production process.
GaryGB
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So, IIUC, you already have the prototype seasonal imagery done, and you are just wanting to identify how best to list them in the *.INF file ?
GaryGB
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So, IIUC, you already have the prototype seasonal imagery done, and you are just wanting to identify how best to list them in the *.INF file ?
GaryGB
Yes, that is correct.
I've read the tutorials (including the one supplied by the FSX SDKs) but none of them have provided an exact sample of the *.INF file, that shows me exactly how it's done. All that is explained are the mechanics behind it.
Hi Steve:
I'm still on the road, but just starting to look at some of the threads with seasonal *.INFs; try adapting this info:
https://www.fsdeveloper.com/forum/threads/resample-question.436493/
...and the info in this thread:
https://www.fsdeveloper.com/forum/threads/seasonal-photoreal.3783/#post-23624
NOTE: Dick's worked example:
MySeasons.ZIP
...is probably somewhere on his linked OneDrive download page(s) now.
(See his signature area at the bottom of his post.)
GaryGB
I'm still on the road, but just starting to look at some of the threads with seasonal *.INFs; try adapting this info:
https://www.fsdeveloper.com/forum/threads/resample-question.436493/
...and the info in this thread:
https://www.fsdeveloper.com/forum/threads/seasonal-photoreal.3783/#post-23624
NOTE: Dick's worked example:
MySeasons.ZIP
...is probably somewhere on his linked OneDrive download page(s) now.
(See his signature area at the bottom of his post.)
GaryGB
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I'll have to give that a try! I am in the process of testing some excludes right now to see if I can get the new Spirit Lake coastline to work. Unfortunately in SBuilderX even the smallest Exclude rectangle takes out scenery for a huge area, which is something I am trying to avoid. I learned that the hard way in my other MSH-related scenery package I'm working on. I set an exclusion rectangle just to take out some roads in a .25 sq. mi area and instead it took out the entire area. :/
As of the latest photoreal ground texture test, things are looking mighty fantastic.
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AND WE HAVE SUCCESS!!
Thank you so much Gary for that last link (with the MySeasons.ZIP post!)!! That did the trick!
Now to get the pesky excludes all figured out and the shoreline of Spirit Lake reworked!
Thank you so much Gary for that last link (with the MySeasons.ZIP post!)!! That did the trick!
Now to get the pesky excludes all figured out and the shoreline of Spirit Lake reworked!
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EVEN MORE SUCCESS!!!
After fighting SBuilderX to load a GeoTIFF of a 1980 topo map (pre-eruption) with coordinates I decided to try a workaround - load the map as a JPG and calibrate it using the GeoTIFF coordinates.
After that, it was off to about an hour's worth of trial and error getting Spirit Lake reworked to its pre-1980 shoreline. I've also added the pre-1980 alignment of Highway 504.
Things are progressing smoothly. I hope to begin object modeling and placement this week.
(Now if only I had DEM data for the entire area. )
After fighting SBuilderX to load a GeoTIFF of a 1980 topo map (pre-eruption) with coordinates I decided to try a workaround - load the map as a JPG and calibrate it using the GeoTIFF coordinates.
After that, it was off to about an hour's worth of trial and error getting Spirit Lake reworked to its pre-1980 shoreline. I've also added the pre-1980 alignment of Highway 504.
Things are progressing smoothly. I hope to begin object modeling and placement this week.
(Now if only I had DEM data for the entire area.
)https://www.fsdeveloper.com/forum/t...th-display-after-compiling.444927/post-818342
AND WE HAVE SUCCESS!!
Thank you so much Gary for that last link (with the MySeasons.ZIP post!)!! That did the trick!
Now to get the pesky excludes all figured out and the shoreline of Spirit Lake reworked!
Many thanks are also due to Dick and Holger for their helpful input and learning resource contributions here and elsewhere over the years.
GaryGB
This is by design in the FSX SDK; any contact by an exclude polygon (ex: an intersection or overlap by a tiny triangle or a polygon that covers the object within a LOD-9 / QMID-11 quad area, will exclude the the entire targeted CVX vector polygon (or poly-line segment of contiguous vertex points) ...within the area contained by that local LOD-9 / QMID-11 quad area.
In FS9 and earlier, that exclude and replace process involved a 16x larger sized area: LOD-5 / QMID-7.
That is why we may benefit from use of CvxExtractor to decompile default CVX vector BGLs to *.SHP files which can then be 'Appended' to SBuilderX as ready-to-use 'primitives' to be modified to match the real world or other desired configurations.
NOTE: SBuilderX has extra features to modify "Appended' vector objects available only in the Line or Polygon tool 'modes'
See: SBuilderX Menu > Help > {Search} Tab > query string: Polygon > click [List Topics] button > click:
"Working with Points, Lines and Polygons"
Regarding ex: HWY-504:
Freeway Traffic 'clips' to LOD-13 / QMID-15 quad extents when created / excluded.
Roads will still 'clip' to LOD-9 / QMID-11 quad extents when created / excluded.
BTW: To help minimize complications and 'gotchas' which one might encounter in SBuilderX, when trying to implement FSX vector terrain flattens and excludes as well as "Polygon Holes" which otherwise compels going back to a more drastic quad-tile segment based polygon "Exclude All" and total 're-drawing' work-flow, the following info may also prove quite useful:
http://www.ptsim.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=22&t=1062&start=0&hilit=clip
http://www.ptsim.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=22&t=1629
FYI: The following "Shockwave Flash" legacy format video can be played by first downloading it, then double-clicking it).
http://www.ptsim.com/sbuilderx/videos/normans.swf
NOTE: Although the recent trend in web browsers is away from Adobe (Shockwave) Flash for videos, AFAIK all popular web browsers should be able to still play a downloaded stand-alone (non-embedded) Shockwave) Flash *.SWF video via a plugin extension.
I keep an older version of Internet Explorer on my computers for playing such files and for printing the occasional web page that will not print properly in my primary use Mozilla FireFox browser.
Looks like your "historical reconstruction" project is shaping up rather nicely !
GaryGB
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That certainly might get the JPEG loaded "in the general vicinity" ...if it is already in a non-warped GIS projection.
You may wish to try fine-tuning the JPEG coordinates used in SBuilderX > Append > Calibrate dialog box for position / shape when super-imposed (with a 'transparent' display attribute) over another already-loaded, properly Geo-referenced map.
https://www.fsdeveloper.com/forum/t...th-display-after-compiling.444927/post-818353
(Now if only I had DEM data for the entire area.
It is possible that there may be other pre-eruption digital format DEMs out there at USGS which cover more of the surrounding region for that era.
If not, digital versions of paper Topographical contour maps may be processed via GIS software to vectorize the raster contour line images, which can then be converted into DEMs.
GaryGB
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That certainly might get the JPEG loaded "in the general vicinity" ...if it is already in a non-warped GIS projection.
You may wish to try fine-tuning the JPEG coordinates used in SBuilderX > Append > Calibrate dialog box for position / shape when super-imposed (with a 'transparent' display attribute) over another already-loaded, properly Geo-referenced map.
It is possible that there may be other pre-eruption digital format DEMs out there at USGS which cover more of the surrounding region for that era.
If not, digital versions of paper Topographical contour maps may be processed via GIS software to vectorize the raster contour line images, which can then be converted into DEMs.
GaryGB
As far as fine tuning the coordinates for calibration in SBuilder, that was already done.
I had to "warp" the projection in QGis since it was NAD27 projection to "unprojected / EPSG 4326 WGS" to make it work. Once I loaded the map, it automatically calibrated in SBuilder X. I was rather pleasantly surprised to find that the roads and terrain vectors had aligned up rather perfectly before I even began the work, especially for the former Forest Service road that joined 504 at Timberline and the far western reaches of 504 in the scenery area I'm working on.
As far as compiling terrain data out of existing TOPO map data, that is something I'll have to read up on. I would be over the moon with this project, if I could actually have correct DEM data with which to work from.
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It has been a while so I thought I would provide an update.
Things have progressed quite smoothly and I have to say I am getting the hang of importing CVX/ESRI SHP file data to work in SBuilderX.
For the last two days I have painstakingly made sure the contour of pre-1980 Spirit Lake matches both pre-1980 topo map data as well as 1975 quadrangle aerial photographs at 1:78,000 scale.
I also spent a good portion of one of those days, wracking my brain trying to figure out how to widen the appearance of Highway 504, as it looked like a thin thread, too thin to be a major state highway. So I decided to increase its width in SBuilder by telling it to be an 8-lane undivided asphalt roadway. That seemed to do the trick and brought out a more natural-looking appearance based on pre-1980 aerial photos and 1980 news footage.
Now, it's time to begin fleshing this package out with 3D scenery objects. I've already finished Harry Truman's Mount St. Helens Lodge. Next up are his 11 cabins, boat house, as well as the USFS Spirit Lake Ranger Station, a YMCA and a Boy Scouts camp.
Things have progressed quite smoothly and I have to say I am getting the hang of importing CVX/ESRI SHP file data to work in SBuilderX.
For the last two days I have painstakingly made sure the contour of pre-1980 Spirit Lake matches both pre-1980 topo map data as well as 1975 quadrangle aerial photographs at 1:78,000 scale.
I also spent a good portion of one of those days, wracking my brain trying to figure out how to widen the appearance of Highway 504, as it looked like a thin thread, too thin to be a major state highway. So I decided to increase its width in SBuilder by telling it to be an 8-lane undivided asphalt roadway. That seemed to do the trick and brought out a more natural-looking appearance based on pre-1980 aerial photos and 1980 news footage.
Now, it's time to begin fleshing this package out with 3D scenery objects. I've already finished Harry Truman's Mount St. Helens Lodge. Next up are his 11 cabins, boat house, as well as the USFS Spirit Lake Ranger Station, a YMCA and a Boy Scouts camp.
