Removing Docks from Lakes and Bays

[rhumbaflappy]

CGL
Before:

After:

I cheated.:

I stole the QUAD level 17 from here, which is as detailed as it gets in the original tiles. I extracted/resized an 2048x2048 png of the tile from a screensave using paint.net to resize to level 20. I then cut and pasted, and blurred a bit, to eliminate the docks. I then used xnview to split the PNG 8x8 to get 64 level 20 PNGs at 256x256. I found just the ones that formerly showed the docks, named them as level 20 Quads, and made my CGL using the SimpleAerial sample from the SDK as a guide.

This had no blending color issues because I used what the sim uses as an aerial tile. The only hard part was finding the right QUAD naming for the few tiles I replaced. I only used 6 of the 64 split. I used no alpha blending, although that would be an option. Worked pretty good.

It might be easier to Copy the image, resize, split, rename, and then edit the tiles you want to replace...

 

[rhumbaflappy]

What the sim sees:

 

[Lagaffe]

Good tips in order to correct theses points.

 

[rhumbaflappy]

The image in the TileDebug is pre-shader, so it can be used as a basis for correcting the color of a Bing or Google earth image, if you don't want to use the sim's Azure image.

 

[rhumbaflappy]

I wrote an app to help with this process. Grab the actual tile as above. Quad level 17 needs to be resized from 256x256 to 2048x2048. Level 18 resize as 1024x1024. Level19 should become 512x512. They must be saved as the name of the QuadKey you grabbed... as above. Then edit in your favorite paint program. Save as PNG (32-bit preferred), with the correct Quadkey level name.

Follow the buttons... Load, then split, then save with the correct quadkey 20 name. Copy the needed tiles to the CGL folder and compile the project. Add the project to Community, and run the sim. You may not need all the tiles, just the ones that express the changes you want. They will blend seamlessly into the sim. Resized, edited, and saved as 03022220133133121.png:

The quad folder (64 PNGs from the original QuadKey:

But I only need a few QuadKey20's in my project:

And they blend seamlessly in the sim:
Before:

After:

 

[rhumbaflappy]

You should also be able to feather correction2 to alpha, if desired. Totally transparent tiles don't need to be included in the CGL folder. But seeing as the tiles blend in so well, the alpha transparency might not be needed.

 

[rhumbaflappy]

Here's another example. Near PLFA the pacific atoll has an odd appearance in one spot. There was a cloud over part of the isle, and it was replaced by synthesized aerial tiles. It looks bad:

You can fix this with the help of Tile Debug in the DevMode. We can get the most detailed level of aerial used in the sim and Snip it with the windows snipping tool (Winkey+Shift+S). Using a paint program, paste the snip from the clipboard to a new image, trim the image to 256x256, covering the whole tile. This has to be done for all the tiles covered by the synthesized imagery... 4 tiles in this case, getting 4 tiles in a paint program. The tiles can be manipulated in painting to get rid of the clouds. You could also get rid of docks, airplane images, shadows... Save the finished tiles with their appropriate Quadkey names you can copy from Tile debug, as PNG. I save as 32-bit (RGBA) but 24-bit may work.

From there you just make an aerial package, compile it, copy the package to Community, and the nasty synthesized imagery is gone:

The snip should contain the 256x256 tile, so no resizing of the tile itself is needed. No recoloring is needed, as the tile already has the pre-processing done by the tile provider (Azure, or BlackShark, or whoever).

The imagery comes from the sim itself, so I think there is no need to worry about getting permission to use the tiles. Just another re-use of an MSFS asset.

 

[jgarnold]

I can't find Tile Debug and where is MakeLevel20Images app?

[added later] found it (tile debug) under Options > Ground sneaky why wouldn't be under Debug I wonder.

Now to work out how to use it.

[added later] Completely lost what to do. For a start I don't see the aerial view in Tile Debug window, and where to crop the screen image in image editor at the + marks? And how to get the image rotation at 0 degrees?
I need a video tutorial.

 

[rhumbaflappy]

The TopDown view is under the Camera menu. Also, you probably don't need the MakeLevel20Images app.

What you need is to find the highest level Bing tile. Use the Tile Debug panel.
CRTL-click will freeze the tile area. On the panel, click open the AerialOnlyDependencies and click on the Aerial, zoom in and out to find the highest level Available and it's image. That image is 256x256. in the panel. Replacing that highest level tile will will force the change in MSFS. You usually don't need to make a level 20 tile.

In the image above, marked in red is that tile. In this case it is at level 17. Note the 'Aerial' is Available. Under that, marked in yellow is the actual 256x256 tile. you can take a screenshot snip of that tile with a little excess, and paste it to a paint program. The Quadkey name is near the top of the panel. Save your pasted image as 32-bit PNG with that name+'orig' to a folder (or the desktop). That's your backup copy.

You can use the paint program to trim to the exact 256x256 size in the paint program and save that as the working Quadkey number. Now you have the exact MSFS top-level tile. You can edit this tile to remove anomalies. This PNG, and others you edit can be placed in an aerial CGL folder and compiled with your project. When editing, don't worry about the overall tile color or quality. Use a copy and paste routine to stamp the corrections. The sim will apply needed water masking and shaders to that tile, just like the original, so there is no worrying about matching colors in the sim.

You might make a separate aerial project and place it in Community. Then you'll have the correct ground imagery on which to place objects when working on your airport. Also, a separate aerial project might be better because Asobo might get new imagery for your area, and then your new tiles will be wrong. If they are in your package with the airport, then your whole project will need to be recompiled and re-published. Also, your tile edits won't be visible in the sim until they are compiled and placed in the Community folder.

Removing Docks is easy. I use an eye-dropper in the paint program to get an 'average' color of the water, and just select the dock area and fill with that color. MSFS will use a watermask over the tile, and will color it anyways, so no need to carefully match the water colors. On land, you do need to be careful to approximate the coloring in the tile, which is why I use a lasso selection to copy appropriate coloring and stamp that over the anomaly. Anomalies are things like cars, trees, shadows or building images that are distractive in the sim.

 

[jgarnold]

Thanks Dick
Wow even at level 19 the image is very 'fuzzy' (probably no more than what I see in MSFS - I have copied the trimmed 'window' (256X256) to the screen image where I worked from (below marked with a white arrow below - FYI ) AND saved it as 0212033313311310100orig.PNG BUT my image editor only allowed me to save it as a 24 bit (not 23 bit). Will that be an issue or should I save it w2ith say GIMP as a 32 bit PNG? I have had a quick look at GIMP and could not find the color depth it saves PNG files as.

I hope I am on the right 'track'

 

[rhumbaflappy]

I think the 32-bit allows for an 8-bit alpha channel.

 

[jgarnold]

I could not work out how to save from GIMP as a 32-bit. My knowledge of this is scant to say the least and assume that the 8 bit alpha channel is added either automatically or at some other time. I think the alpha channel is for transparency but I saw no reference to the alpha channel when saving with in Gimp or Paint Shop Pro.
I will carry on and hope for the best.

 

[rhumbaflappy]

To get 32-bit PNG in Paint Shop Pro:

Choose File ? Export ? PNG Optimizer.
The PNG Optimizer dialog box appears. The preview areas show the current image on the left and the resulting PNG file on the right.

Click the Colors tab, and choose the following image type options:
16.7 million color (24-bit)

Click the Transparency tab, and choose the following transparency types:
Alpha channel transparency — uses the current selection or alpha channel transparency of the image. You can choose which part of the image will be transparent by choosing Existing image or layer transparency, Existing alpha channel transparency, Inside the current selection, or Outside the current selection option.

For MSFS aerial, 24-bit will work, but you lose the alpha transparency. In PSP you get 32-bit PNG when you click the Alpha channel transparency. (4 8-bit channels RGBA). Each tile is 256x256, no matter the level. With 24-bit you need to replace the whole tile. With 32-bit, you still need 256x256, but you can make areas transparent, so only a part of the tile is replaced. That's like the Simple Aerial in the SDK.

 

[rhumbaflappy]

Just for fun, I used an online AI tool to erase a dock from a 256x256 tile. It actually worked well, and saved some time. The export is JPG, so it needs to be converted to PNG (32-bit preferred).

The one I used was: imagewith.ai Another decent one is Pixlr Express , but it has more complicated steps to get to the Ai eraser. Another is PixelCut Magic Eraser which seems ok. Maybe Photopea. I haven't yet found a free PC app.
(I had to use an ad blocker to make the site usable...) There's probably lots of sites that can act as a magic eraser. It is OK for dock and boat removal, and offers a bit of time saving when working with quad images.

 

[rhumbaflappy]

I have found a plugin for Paint.net that works OK. Content Aware for Paint,Net Works pretty good.
The newer versions of PhotoShop have a built-in feature that is similar.
Gimp has Resynthesizer which should work. Haven't tried it.

 

[jgarnold]

My apologies and also thanks Dick.

I did 'click' on a few 'options' during save as but didn't see where 32bit could be selected YET (after reading tour response) I remembered having used the 'tick box' for transparency before (which I think 'sticks' ie becomes the default once set). Who knows what my aging brain was doing at the time.
All sorts of 'issues' happened to me yesterday including one which resulted in me uninstalling and reinstalling MSFS. Briefly all of a sudden the drop down 'menus' in MSFS stopped working eg departure airport select. I tried restarting my PC also tried 'repair' via the XBox app and nothing would fix it. Grrr!
This happened after I started MSFS, got the 'cannot connect to internet' and at the same time I thought I saw a mandatory update available so I closed down MSFS and retried.

Thanks for your update on the tile. I had also created one maybe not as good as yours (using the clone brush) - how diplomatic was that!

Thanks too for 'educating' me via information on plugins etc although I am a Paint Shop Pro 'tragic' having been using it since well before Corel took if over from Ulead.

 

[rhumbaflappy]

Newer version of Paint Shop Pro have Magic Fill, that does the same.

 

[jgarnold]

Thanks again. Maybe time to purchaser the latest version of PSP although $A100 is a bit much just to get a 32bit PNG.

I note your comments on use of PSP and I have those settings already which you suggested but thanks anyway. I also note your comment "In PSP you get 32-bit PNG when you click the Alpha channel transparency. " which I suspected.

BTW here is my 'feeble' attempt at painting out the ghost dock. I much prefer yours.

 

[jgarnold]

Dick
It worked 'a treat'. Actually I used your heaps better image mod and hope I can use it in freeware. Please let me know otherwise I will use my 'feeble' attempt.

 

[rhumbaflappy]

Glad it worked for you. Once you have the process figured out, it becomes easier. Of course you can use it any way you like.