• 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.

SimDirector - objects autogen suppression

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It is probably obvious, but does anyone know how to tag an object when it is placed to not suppress autogen?
 
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I will answer my own question after hearing from Lochkeed. SimDirector does not currently have that feature. A real oversight in my opinion.
 
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Hello:

I would recommend installing FSX or a pre-P3Dv4.x version, and using Flight1's Instant Scenery (aka "IS3"). :idea:

BGLComp-XML scenery library object placement BGLs that IS3 outputs are compatible with P3Dv4.x (as is just about all FSX scenery). :pushpin:


Otherwise you 'could' decompile / manually edit / re-compile your BGLComp-XML scenery library object placement BGLs: ;)

https://www.google.com/search?source=hp&ei=c46OXKTEH4u4tQWEpJGYAQ&q=site:www.fsdeveloper.com+NoAutogenSuppression&btnK=Google+Search&oq=site:www.fsdeveloper.com+NoAutogenSuppression&gs_l=psy-ab.3...5374.22984..29153...1.0..1.289.3141.19j8j1......0....1j2..gws-wiz.....0..0i131j0j0i10.VMTBTTdZcfI

GaryGB
 
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Otherwise you 'could' decompile / manually edit / re-compile your BGLComp-XML scenery library object placement BGLs: ;)
I think this is simpler than it seems, really, if you have a good text editor. SimDirector will output XML code for you. I do this sort of thing now and then, even though I don't use SimDirector. I use Whisplacer, which allows me to set the flags, but if I want to set in bulk, then it is simple to do a search/replace in Notepad++.
Here's a quick idea of how it works. I've assumed that the tag belongs between the complexity setting, and the 'instanceID'. So I search for the end-of-line (/n), the two tabs (/t) and 'instanceID' which Whisplacer includes in the XML code, and replace it with the extra line inserted:
XML:
\n\t\tinstanceId=
\n\t\t<NoAutogenSuppression/>\n\t\tinstanceId=
Then Replace All takes a second for my 800 object file.

Of course this will tag every object which might not be what you want, but it is worth considering. And I'm not sure what the XML looks like from SimDirector.

My 'dream' placement tool -- based on Whisplacer, which is great as it is -- includes the ability to paint tags onto objects, using a 'brush'. Or you can use a brush to 'dab-a-tag':) So everything you touch with the brush gets your chosen tags. I do think that we are in dire need of a great placement tool, and I do keep hoping that someone will run with Whisplacer and turn it into a killer app one day.
 
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Thanks for the heads-up on that Whisplacer option (I have not used it since JAVA is now deprecated on my computers). :)


BTW: In appreciation for your humorously-worded, but well intended utility feature suggestion above, as well as for your prior mini-tutorial on use of 'Klingon' in FS Development syntax: ;)

https://www.fsdeveloper.com/forum/t...longer-transition-smoothly.441000/post-780831


...I'll offer a brief comedic quip of my own here: :laughing:

"Dab-A-Tag Ado" ...toprob

"Yab-A-Dab Ado" ...Fred Flintstone

GaryGB
 
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Cheers, Gary...
Just to clarify one point, after seeing a post which points here -- although I used the XML output from Whisplacer as an example of how to semi-automate the process of inserting tags such as NoAutogenSuppression, Whisplacer does allow you to add these to your object properties:
screenshot_424.jpg

….so you normally wouldn't need to do this with Whisplacer. In fact I don't output XML from Whisplacer, I go directly to the BGL file.
I have used this find/replace before, though, to change the image complexity. For example, if I was placing a thousand trees, and I wanted to range of IC settings, then I could either set them individually, which would be a pain, or I could semi-automate the process in the XML file. In this case, I wouldn't use 'replace all', but just choose yes or no during the replacement process. By applying a bit of thought, you could easily end up with 3 different IC settings from two passes through 'find/replace', so that users could adjust the tree density via the complexity setting.
 
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Thanks for clarifying that important capability in Whisplacer as an alternative to (current ?) feature limitations of SimDirector.. :)

Thanks as well for further explaining the options one has when manually editing BGLComp XML, as we may all have had- and may again have in the future- a need to perform such modifications after having already placed objects. :coffee:



PS: I found an archive of the original Lamont Clark (aka "lc0277" ) web site for Whisplacer:

https://web.archive.org/web/20081118170650/http://lc0277.nerim.net/wiki/index.php?whisplacer

"
whisplacer



whisplacer.jpg


Whisplacer - an object placer with live preview features

email.jpg

.
fr.jpg

Version Française en cours d'édition


Go directly to the user manual


Introduction

Whisplacer is originally a tool I developped to show how the simconnect API can be used to insert live scenery objects in FSX. I decided to make it a full-featured object placer because I felt globally disatisfied with SDK's object placement tool and I wanted a tool that can be used remotely on a second computer.


Whisplacer is an XML object placer with the following features:


  • Top-Down map view
  • open/save XML files
  • open/save BGL files (experimental)
  • Live preview of inserted library objects in FSX
  • Insert/Edition of beacons, windsocks and effects
  • See a thumbnail of library objects
  • Use background images
  • Line/Polygon filling tools

You must have java JRE 5.0 installed. get it free at http://java.sun.com

Download / History

Since 0.8, Whisplacer comes in two packages, a thumbnails package containing images of library objects included in FSX libraries and a program package.

Thumbnails package :

Last thumbnail package : 23 December 2007 (Download). Includes images from FSX Acceleration XPack objects and generic buildings textures.


Previous releases:


Program package :

New: version 0.9 : 23 december 2007


Note: Old versions are not downloadable


  • Whisplacer version 0.9. 23 December 2007.
    • Fixed thumbnails search path algorithm (again!)
    • Generic buildings preview
    • rewrote MDL code (again!)
    • Make backup when overwriting files
    • Added startup tooltips
    • Rewrote library managment windows
    • Default windsock have non-zero length
    • Modified plane & screen center cursors
    • Added remove image button in background images manager
    • Changed pitch/bank/hdg edit widgets to sliders

  • Whisplacer version 0.8. Monday 05 November
    • Rewrite of library db I/O code
    • Library DB assistant on startup
    • Fixed trigger drawing
    • Added FSX Acceleration thumbnails
    • Memorize window size/placement
    • Objects compatibility report tool

  • Version 0.7 Thursday 11 October .
    • Added grid color chooser to configuration dialog
    • Workaround for pitch angle wrapping in live preview
    • Saving scenery.xml also save included .mdl files
    • Fixed menu items appearance bugs
    • Fixed "cancel" item behaviour in line/poly fill
    • Added "fencing" line filling mode
    • Easier simconnect configuration
    • Some code cleanups
    • LibraryExtract standalone tool

  • Version 0.6 Monday 24 September . This is mostly a bugfix release.
    • Fixed bugs with invalid colors when using updated/old config files
    • Fixed XML winsock & triggers read bug (length modifiers)
    • Added "extremely dense" scenery display setting
    • Fixed altitude spinner bug in scenery object dialog
    • Fixed some scaling issue with library objects
    • Fixed line/polygon French translation
    • Renice FS option

  • Version 0.5 Sunday 16 September .
    • Added line/poly fill tool
    • Fixed thumbnail search path bugs
    • Fixed duplicate items bug in last recently used files
    • Support for FSXPlanner-style backgrounds
    • Fixed some object insertion bugs and bizarre behaviours
    • Updating pitch, bank or heading in object properties dialog updates automatically object view

  • Version 0.4 Sunday 02 September.
    • Added a list of FSXRTM standard fx proposed while editing effects
    • Added triggers support (bgl+xml read/write, edit, add)
    • "close scenery" menu item
    • fixed bugs (library import, attached objects)
    • Read/Write of ModelData in the scenery (de)compiler
    • Auto-import objects contained in a mixed lib/placement bgl when editing it
    • display terrain quad tile number along terrain dir/file
    • can directly edit coordinates in edit dialogs
    • workaround for selecting objects with zero size
    • Search/Replace dialog
    • import library information files (rwy12, EZS)
    • manual compile with bglcomp

  • Version 0.3 Sunday 26 August .
    • rendering of library objects with images on map
    • open and save of XML mission files (limited to objects)
    • some bugfixes

  • Version 0.2 Thursday 23 August.
    • added exclusion rectangles (rendering,edit,add)
    • display layer menu
    • fixed grid autosizing bug
    • global coordinates format configuration
    • french translation
    • added "go to" dialog
    • show effect name on map
    • fixed texture display in preview with user imported libraries
    • update library thumbnail by taking a screenshot in FS

  • Version 0.1 Sunday 19 August :
    • Initial release
Importing libraries

See the separated documentation here. Also in available as PDF. Here are some extra thumbnails for popular third-party libraries :


https://library.avsim.net/esearch.php?CatID=fs2004scen&DLID=85952

https://library.avsim.net/search.ph...eev+kahn&Sort=Added&ScanMode=1&Go=Change+View


Interface

whisplacer-capture4.jpg

Thumbnail preview on map introduced in 0.3.
whisplacer-capture1.jpg

whisplacer-capture2.jpg



The mouse operation is:


  • right click + drag : move view point
  • wheel : zoom in/out
  • ctrl + wheel : rotate screen by 10 degrees
  • shift +wheel: rotate screen by 1 degree
  • left click + drag : select objects into a rectangle, or move object (if already selected)
  • left double click : edit object properties
  • shift + left click + drag :rotate selected objects
  • ctrl + left click : add/remove an object from selection

To add new objects, you must create a new document and select one of the add button in the toolbar. press esc or select the "mouse" button to revert back to editing mode.

Using the live preview:

whisplacer-capture3.jpg

NB: although you could add windsock, beacons and effects in editor, only library objects can be seen in live preview You must export the contents of the library to SimObjects container. Select the Live Preview->Library maintenance menu item. Select the root of FSX libraries and changethe export mode to "Automatic" then apply changes. Restart FS.


Exporting is only needed the first time you run whisplacer or when you import libraries. At any time you can check the status of library exports by doing a refresh


When connected, the keyboard shortcut "o" will insert an object at the user position in flight simulator.

License:

This software and its source code are in the public domain. Permission to use, copy, modify, and distribute this program for any purpose is hereby granted, without any conditions or restrictions. This software is provided "as is" without express or implied warranty.


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GaryGB
 
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I found the Whisplacer Manual in HTML and PDF format with images (missing on gratisim.fr) via "Wayback Machine":

https://web.archive.org/web/2008021...rim.net/wiki/index.php?Whisplacer user manual

"
Whisplacer user manual



Whisplacer documentation

For version 0.9 (23 December 2007)


whisp1.jpg
This document is currently under construction. Feel free to expand the manual yourself by using the wiki edit link at bottom of each page.

Table of contents





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5 best incoming links: FrontPage (16), whisplacer (16), Basic features (10), Installation and requirements (9), Introduction (7)
5 best outgoing links: Adding third-party models and libraries (11)Using the live preview and FS communication (11), Basic features (10)Advanced editing features (9)Best scenery editing practices (9)"


https://web.archive.org/web/20080212040556/http://lc0277.nerim.net/wiki/index.php?Introduction

"
Introduction



Let's begin with a short sentence : Whisplacer is an object placer for FSX.


The expression “Object placer” is not something new in Flight Simulator scenery design, and if you a little experience with previous FS versions you may have already heard it. Therefore, it is related to a whole range of design softwares like Rwy12, FSSE, OBPlacer XML, OPT, EZ-Scenery, etc. “For FSX” means that Whisplacer was intended for use only with Flight Simulator X. Previous flight sim versions are not supported and you should probably not waste your time tweaking Whisplacer to export FS9-compatible sceneries. Future versions are unlikely to be supported out of the box, but Whisplacer development is directed toward future and not past versions. As an object placer, Whisplacer is not intended to be a complete scenery design suite, but it is rather a scenery enhancer, for filling quick personnal needs like “I want to have some more buildings on that airports”, or “more static vehicles on this apron”. Of course, it could be used for bigger scenery projects or more complex tasks in conjunction with other tools.

What are Whisplacer's features ?

Whisplacer allows you to place 3D objects in Flight Simulator sceneries, edit existing sceneries, limited editing of other objects (like windsocks or generic buildings). It has a Live Preview? feature which allows you to visualize the placement of objects in a running instance of Flight Simulator while modifying your scenery in Whisplacer. It reads basic scenery libraries provided with default FS installations, which allows you to place more than 3000 stock objects with visual informations, and can import data from other libraries?.

What Whisplacer does NOT do

Whisplacer is not an aiport editor, like AFCAD, so it cannot edit runways, taxiways, parking spots or navigation aids. A lot of work has been made by two independent projects to provide great softwares for editing airports :



Whisplacer cannot edit terrain informations. These terrain informations, like roads, water polygons, city landclass polygons and much more are of a greater scale that simple object placement. There are two very useful tools in this area :



Obviously, as a scenery design tool, whisplacer could not be used for aircraft design, flight dynamics tweaking or other uses. Also scenery design aspects covered by Whisplacer are static only. Dynamic scenery elements, like moving vehicles, AI (artificial intelligence) aircrafts or ships are not adressed by Whisplacer.



[ Whisplacer user manual ] [ Home ] [ Software ] Next Chapter: Installation and requirements"
 
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http://lc0277.nerim.net/wiki/index.php?Installation and requirements

"
Installation and requirements



Basic software requirements

Whisplacer needs only one software to run : a Java Runtime Environment (JRE), which can be downloaded for free at http://www.sun.com/getjava . Be sure to have at least a JRE 5.0 (older versions are not supported) All systems having a JRE 5.0 can theorically run whisplacer, like WinXP, Vista or Linux. The software is regularly tested on Win XP (32 bits) and Linux environments. An FSX installation is not a no-go requirement, but it is greatly recommended to make use of most whisplacer features. You can use a remote installation of FSX located on another computer with shared disks (see the Configuration and tips? chapter). No FSX Service Packs are needed for Whisplacer, but SP1 is recommended, at least for your flying experience. The FSX Acceleration Pack is not required, but will be recognized if installed along with FSX.


Starting from Whisplacer 0.9, a small part of the software uses the OpenGL rendering system. Most graphics card newer than 1996 supports this rendering pipeline, and it could be disabled on demand (see the Configuration chapter)

Installation

Starting from 0.8, Whisplacer comes in two distincts archives packages : the program archive (eg Whisplacer-0.9) and the thumbnails package (Whisplacer-thumbnails-231207.zip). The two packages are evolving separately, with the program being updated more often. The thumbnails package name is timestamped with the day of its creation. Only the program package is mandatory, but the thumbnails package is a great feature of Whisplacer since it contains a visual survey of 3000+ stock objects that can be placed with the editor ! You can skip the thumbnails package if you have a low-speed internet connection because it's rather large (70+ mb).


Whisplacer does not come with an automatic installer program, since no modifications on system files are needed. All you need to do is to extract the program archive contents to a directory of your choice (eg C:\FS-TOOLS\Scenery\Whisplacer) and remember it. You can make a desktop shortcut if you want. Decompress the thumbnails archive where you installed the program, be sure to have to a directory structure looking like this :


doc-dir-structure.jpg



Ie, you should have subdirectory “thumbnails” in Whisplacer root installation directory and this thumbnails folder contains folders for each objects category, each of them containing image files. Make sure the directory “lib” is present and contains a dozen of .jar and .dll files. They are needed and whisplacer won't work without them.

First run

On the first run after installation, some wizards may appears to finalize the installation so that it fits to your machine setup. The most important of them is the making of the library database. This steps will recognize default objects library currently present in your FS setup (which may vary if you have installed some extension packs, like the Acceleration pack) This step is mostly automatic.

A word about licensing and intellectual property

Whisplacer is opensource and licensed into the public domain, which means that nobody, including the author can claim intellectual property or royalties on it. As a consequence, everyone can distribute the software on its own site, modify the software, republish it, etc. Unlike other nifty objects placers, there are no secrets inside Whisplacer since you can freely access and modify the source code and share programming tips or informations with anyone including the author.


Also no restrictions apply on the files you created with Whisplacer, but be sure to respect ongoing copyrights if you modified existing sceneries or libraries.


However, we strongly advocate you to distribute your scenery free of charge, even if you feel it could be commercial product. During the last few years, a payware industry has established itself on the roots of what used to be a hobby for most of us. Bear in mind that nearly all of the payware developpers began with hobbyist design with public tools and SDK but actually very few of them are real salaried employee. The payware industry had only enriched the commercial and marketing branch and store owners, and will utimately kill the hobby spirit, with its ideals of mutual aid and fun.



[ Whisplacer user manual ] [ Home ] [ Software ] Next chapter: Basic features


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"
Basic features



This chapter covers most basic aspects of scenery editing with Whisplacer. You should read it if you're not familiar with the interface of the current version of Whisplacer or with scenery editing in general.

General interface overview

doc-main-interface.jpg

The general interface layout is similar to most Windows applications. The center of the application is a top-down map view that display objects placement like on a satellite/aerial view. Most editing actions are present in both a menu and a icon toolbar.

Navigating on the map

Specific keyboard & mouse shortcuts are used to navigate in the map :


  • Moving around with arrow keys or third mouse button (usually right button)
  • Double third button click will center map on the desired point
  • Zooming in/out is done with mouse wheel (or using toolbar buttons)
  • Map rotation is done using ctrl + mouse wheel (10° increment) or shift +mouse wheel (1° increment)

.

File loading and saving

doc-open.jpg



Before you can use the interface, a file must be loaded or created. By default no files are loaded, so most menu and buttons items are greyed out because you cannot use them yet.


Choose the load item or the new item from the file menu before editing. When loading a file, you can choose a existing file. Whisplacer does not use a proprietary file format, so you can use it cooperatively with other softwares. The file formats supported are :

  • XML placement files (load from FS9 / FSX, save only as FSX)
  • BGL placement (load from FS9/FSX, save only as FSX)
  • XML mission (FSX only, partial)

The BGL file format is the native format used for scenery inside FS. All sceneries must be compiled or saved to BGL before they can be used in FS. XML is a source format, which contains the same informations but in manner that allows them to be easily edited by humans or third-party programs.


Be aware that “BGL” and “XML” file extensions are rather generic in FS scenery design. A file can be a BGL but do not contain any information useful for whisplacer. Whisplacer will show you an error message if the file does not contains any usable data or extra data that are not supported.


warning.png
Warning : When reading or saving files, Whisplacer only keeps informations that are relevant to the software use. For instance, airport data will be deleted from XML files since Whisplacer cannot edit them. Be sure to separate placement informations from other data.



Keeping your scenery files tidy and especially separating different data kinds in different files is a good practice. See the page on best scenery practices?.


The save and save as items will save current loaded scenery. The same choice of file formats is proposed. Saving as BGL will be done using a built-in compiler and allows you to immediately add the file to FS and fly over it. This compiler was made from partial informations on the file format and the saved scenery may contains errors. If you experience scenery display problems, especially on geographically wide areas, you should use manual compilation?.

New scenery creation

When choosing to create a new file, the map center view will be situated at 0° North and 0° west. The menu item “Display – Enter coordinates” will jump at a specified position. If you don't know exact coordinates, you can launch flight simulator, go to the location of your choice. The position of your plane in FS will be synchronized in Whisplacer. See the chapter on FS communication? for more informations.

Adding and editing objects

When you had created a new scenery or opened an existing one, you're ready for adding and editing objects. In this page we will cover only 3D Library objects, as they are the main focus of whisplacer and allows you to enhance significatively your scenery. More informations about other objects types will be providen in separate pages. The general procedure for adding and editing them is however very similar to library objects.


3D Library objects (sometimes abbreviated as 'LO' in this document) are a set of default scenery objects shipped with Flight Simulator. More than 3,000 of them are available in a dozen of distinct categories ranging from trees to churchs, ground vehicles, static airplanes, hangars, etc


Whisplacer can also use objects shipped by third party creators or modeled by yourself?. See the chapter on library management on this topic. The object adding process is done using the edition toolbar. The first icon of the toolbar (a mouse pointer) is used to reinitialize or abort the current operation (usually to revert back to selection mode),other buttons are used to insert a specific kind of object. Inserting LO is done using the second button.


doc-btn-obj.jpg



Select the add object button to insert a new object. This function can also be called using the “INSERT” keyboard shortcut. The mouse pointer will show a specific text giving an indication the current function, here “object” meaning that the next mouse click will indicate where to place the object. Then, click on the map where you want to insert it. It's better to have a precise idea of the map position, using a background image? or FS synchronisation?. If you want to abort the operation, then press escape or click on the first toolbar button.


doc-obj-inserted.jpg
The map will show a top view of the object, here the hangar and a descriptive text (extracted from FS database, so it may looks rather cryptic)



info.png
By default, the first object placed will be a large airport hangar. To speed up multiple objects addition, whisplacer does not ask you the type of object to add each time you click. It simply use the model of the last selected object.


Objects properties

Double click on the object you added to edit its properties. The properties box shows you a number of fields that can be modified to tweak the object placement. Perhaps the most important one is the type button that shows you a little image of the object (only if you installed the thumbnail package)


  • Latitude and longitude informations are editable, but you probably want to tweak them using the map view instead
  • Altitude is useful only if you want to have an object in the air. They can be defined relative to sea level or ground level using the AGL checkbox below

  • Keep Pitch/Bank angles at zero unless you want a wobbly object. The heading angle can be modified directly on the map view using shift + left button (see mouse shortcuts below)
  • The display properties are for experts only. You can choose the minimum image complexity at which the object is displayed, eg if you have a complex scenery where some objects should only be displayed on powerful computers
  • The object GUID is a unique identifier of the object using hexadecimal numbers. Use them only if you are experienced with such identifiers. Otherwise Whisplacer offers objects browsers more handy to select a specific object.
  • Attached objects? properties will be covered in a separate page.

doc-obj-select.jpg


Click on the image thumbnail to select a new object type. If the library was correctly initialized on first startup and you installed the thumbnail package, you should see a tree of all library objects available and images representing them. Select a new object and click on OK. If you made some custom objects using a 3D modelling program, refer to the library management chapter to use them.

Edition mouse and keyboard shortcuts

A basic set of mouse shortcuts are available in the map view to deal with objects :
  • first (left) button will select an object. Ctrl+click will add the object to the current selection
  • Double first (left) mouse button to edit an object properties
  • Left button + drag will move the object
  • Left button + shift + drag will change the object heading.

Also some standard keyboard shortcuts are available
  • insert to insert a new object
  • delete to delete the current object(s) selection
  • ctrl + x, ctrl+c, ctrl+v will respectively cut, copy and paste a selection of multiple objects
  • ctrl+z will undo the last modification
Adding and editing other object types

Whisplacer can also edit other object types :


[ Whisplacer user manual ] [ Home ] [ Software ] Next Chapter: Advanced editing features?


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https://web.archive.org/web/20081123094425/http://lc0277.nerim.net/whisplacer/import-tut.html

https://web.archive.org/web/20081123095233/http://lc0277.nerim.net/whisplacer/import-tut.pdf

"
Managing objects library with Whisplacer

This document covers the various steps needed to manage objects library used by Whisplacer. Whisplacer is an object placer that allows you to created Flight Simulator scenery by placing various 3D objects, effects and other scenery elements. Note that this document does not contain any information about object of library creation.


Whisplacer maintains a database of objects, which contains various informations about the size, the visual appearance and other data needed for the preview feature. 3D objects are usually packed into what is called a library, that is a collection of objects reusable in different scenery. Flight simulator X is shipped with a default library set of around 3500 objects in a dozen categories. This set of objects is already configured in Whisplacer, but a lot of third-party objects library can be freely downloaded and they must be configured in the Whisplacer library manager in order to be used by the software.


This document will use the following free libraries as demonstration :

Note that a lot of Pre-FS9 objects are available, called API or macros. These objects are incompatibles with Whisplacer and should not be used for creating FSX scenery, since they rely on backward-compatibility features and are not guaranteed to work on future versions of Flight Simulator.




Installation of the objects library in Flight Simulator

A third-party object library may have specific installation procedures, so you should refer to its documentation before configuring it. Generally a library comes with a set of one or more BGL files numerous textures, in either BMP or DDS format. The two sets of files are found in two directories, respectively the scenery and the texture folder.


The configuration of the library in Flight Simulator is an important step and depends on the distribution and folders organisation you're setting up. The general rule is to have the library base folder (containing both the scenery and texture subfolders) declared in the Flight Simulator scenery database.


This declaration is important, because if objects library cannot be found by Flight Simulator, the scenery may fail to display and the preview feature of Whisplacer can lead to FS crash.



Basic declaration of the library in Whisplacer

The basic declaration of the library is the essential step needed to use objects from a third-party library in Whisplacer.

First, open the library manager, by accessing the library maintenance menu item :


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This will display the library maintenance panel :


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This dialog features a tree representation of all libraries actually configured in Whisplacer and a set of actions needed for the maintenance of the live preview feature (this will be treated later) .

The tree is a logical way to store and clevery organize library, for instance by type or author. It does not reflect the physical organization of files.



By default, there is a virtual folder called “FSX Libraries” containing all default libraries. You could add third party libraries in this folder, but it's not recommended, so as to clearly identify stock libraries and non-default libraries. This distinction is necessary if you wish to redistribute your scenery, because you'll need to ship or provide a link to third-party libraries.



So let's use a different folder for storing libraries; the “User libraries” folder could be used for that. We're going to add the complete Rwy12 libraries. Since there are numerous library files in this package, we'll create a subfolder for rwy12.


Select “Add folder” and choose the parent folder, here the “User libraries” folder :


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And provide a name for your folder :


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Now you've added a Rwy12 folder.


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The next step is to import BGL files into the folder we've created. Select “Add a library BGL” and choose the folder we created :


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Next locate the folder where you decompressed the Rwy12 libraries. You can select multiples BGL files :


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The import process can be very long, so if you're going to add a lot of files, you can go out and take a cup of coffee. The software will open every file and report errors at the end. If everything went fine , you'll see the following message :


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If you tried to import old libraries containing incompatible objects, the program may report some error messages. Click on details to see the causes :


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If the program reports some error messages that is not related to the format of BGL files, it may be a bug and you should send the details of the error to the author.



Finally you'll see all BGL files you selected as child folders :


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The tree elements can be expanded to see the objects. Now that the objects are imported into Whisplacer, they can be placed in the editor. Note that you only need to add libraries once.


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As you can see, the objects are designated by their GUID (the hexadecimal numbers). Depending on the version of the Flight Simulator used to design objects, they can have a friendly name or not. Here you imported Rwy12 libraries, which were designed for FS9, so they don't have such informations.




Importing other library informations


It is generally easier to use friendly names rather than the numerical GUID for placing and displaying objects on name. FSX objects have names encoded in the library file (this name is set up by the object designer). For FS9 objects, Whisplacer can modify the displayed name to a more friendly string.


You can either modify each object manually, by clicking on the object name in the maintenance window, or import information from a description file.


Whisplacer can read information from two different types for description format introduced by two popular objects placer :

  • Rwy12 XML object description format
  • EZ-Scenery .TXT format

Some popular libraries come with description files in this format.


To import a set of description, select “Import infos”


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And choose the location of the file containing objects descriptions. Now the objects have intelligible names :


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Setting up thumbnails





Whisplacer can display a thumbnail image of each library object configured, to let you choose more easily appropriate objects for your scenery. The default Whisplacer installation contains thumbnails for the 3500+ objects of the default FSX library. If you installed and configured third-party libraries you could provide such images.


There are two types of thumbnails used by Whisplacer : the 3D side thumbnail giving a general overview of the object and displayed when choosing a library element; and the top thumbnail displayed on the top-down map view.


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Thumbnails files must be named and located according to strict rules :

  • Each object is uniquely referenced by its GUID using the bracket notation, ie {4773ABB6-391E-29F5-ABC5-38714BEBF49A}
  • Side thumbnails are named {GUID}.thumb.EXT
  • Top thumbnails are named {GUID}.top.EXT
  • Valid file extensions are .GIF, .JPG and .PNG
  • The thumbnail image file is placed in the “thumbnails” folder of your Whisplacer installation and in a file hierarchy following the folder tree in the library manager. The first level of nodes (“FSX Libraries”, “User libraries”) is not accounted.


Let's show how this works with an example. Suppose you installed Whisplacer in C:\FS\Whisplacer. You added Rwy12 objects library according to the procedures explained in this document : ie all Rwy12 bgl files were imported under a folder called “Rwy12”, situated in the “User libraries” collections.


Suppose there is an object called “balloon_17” situated in the “add_balloons.bgl” library. The object is not referenced using its name, but with its GUID: {7BE84CB7-5E3E-4D9A-91BE-067F2A26C3F8}.


Then a valid thumbnail file search path could be :


C:\FS\Whisplacer\thumbnails\Rwy12\add_balloons\{7BE84CB7-5E3E-4D9A-91BE-067F2A26C3F8}.thumb.gif


C:\FS\Whisplacer\thumbnails : it's the base path for searching thumbnails


Rwy12 : the name of the folder we created in the library manager.

Note that its parent folder “User libraries” is not used for calculating the path


add_balloons : the name of the library file without the .bgl extension


{7BE84CB7-5E3E-4D9A-91BE-067F2A26C3F8} : object's GUID


.thumb.gif : suffix for a side thumbnail. another valid name could (be) .top.png for a top view thumbnail



Creating thumbnails for the both views of each objects could be a painful task, but some popular packages may already have thumbnails.


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'Side' thumbnail


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'top thumbnail'.

You can save thumbnails with transparent colors so objects could be displayed over a background image.




Managing export status


An unique feature of Whisplacer is the ability to insert and modify objects in a live Flight Simulator session, without the need to compile scenery and restart FS.


This feature is performed using the SimConnect API of FSX to create AI (artificial intelligence) objects similar to AI aircraft, but representing objects currently edited.


To achieve this, all objects need to be exported as SimObject container, meaning that the library objects could be used as AI objects. This is necessary to use the live preview feature. In particular, it must be checked the first time you run Whisplacer.




The library maintenance dialog allows you to perform the different steps of this export. Fortunately, most of them are automatic.


The “Refresh” button allows you to refresh the current export status of library objects. Objects showing a status in green are exported and usable for live preview. Objects in orange are not.


You change the export status by choosing a new state in appropriate column or clicking on one of the different export buttons. There exists different export modes because some objects may need special care when exporting. Generally the Automatic mode will produce the best result. After you changed some state, click on apply to operation.


You must restart FS after you altered the export status of some objects. Also, you must re-export each objects that you insert into the library."
 
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