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Warning : Newbie Mesh Builder Alert...

B

BJamieson

Messages
79
Country
unitedkingdom
Hi folks,

I have decided to try my hand at building meshes and scenery for FSX.

I am trying to make a 'high res' (well, higher res than out-of-the-box) version of the Falkland Islands & later on, New Zealand.

I have a couple of questions:

I have downloaded srtm 'finished' 3 arc second data, which seems to be the best resolution available for these areas.

I have used Global Mapper to translate the data into both bil and geotiff.

Using basic inf files, I have created two different bgl files one from each of the exports.

The resulting bgls were different sizes.

Q1) Is there a 'prefered' intermediate format when creating meshes ?

The meshes were dropped into the Addon Scenery scenery folder. FSX was restarted, and not a jot of difference to the existing mesh. :confused:

Q2) Do I need to wiggle something else to make the mesh 'work', or by creating a basic destination section in the inf, have I just replaced like with like ?

Here is the inf file that I used with the geotiff data.

[Source]
Type = GeoTIFF
Layer = Elevation
SourceDir = "E:\SRTMTerrain\Falklands\"
SourceFile = "falk.tif"

[Destination]
LOD = Auto
DestFileType = BGL
UseSourceDimensions = 1
DestDir = "E:\SRTMTerrain\Falklands\"
DestBaseFileName = "falk"

The resulting bgl file was 'viewable' and seemed ok, but LOD 7 seemed better than LOD 9.

Q3) Is that to be expected ?
 
In playing around with Global Mapper exported DEM data, I have found that both the 16 bit and 32 bit formats will be accepted by resample, but I don't know if one is better than the other. It probably is immaterial with SRTM data since the source data is all integer. Are looking at the results in-game or just in tmfviewer? I've also played around with exporting at different resolutions from Global Mapper, but couldn't see any improvement in the game.

Maybe some one else has some advice on getting beter looking results from SRTM, esp for island areas.

scott s.
.
 
BJamieson said:
Q1) Is there a 'prefered' intermediate format when creating meshes ?

The meshes were dropped into the Addon Scenery scenery folder. FSX was restarted, and not a jot of difference to the existing mesh. :confused:
Click to expand...

Speaking off-the-cuff here:

The SRTM data comes out to a 76m in FS.

You need to find out exactly what res the default FSX mesh is for the Falklands. If it's 76m, then you're not going to see much difference.

However, I doubt the default FSX Falklands are 76m. Probably less.

On the other hand, if it's a lower res by default, then you ought to see a difference provided your mesh slider is set appropriately and your inf is right.

Keep in mind the SRTM data seems to only go between 60 degN and 60degS. Not sure offhand if the Falk's are below 60S. Probably not.

The only way I could ever get an .inf to work, was to use Matthew Styles SRTM2BGL program. I used it some in FS2004. I am not good with math. Maybe using GeoTIFF you don't need to worry about cell dimensions...
 
Mace said:
The only way I could ever get an .inf to work, was to use Matthew Styles SRTM2BGL program. I used it some in FS2004. I am not good with math. Maybe using GeoTIFF you don't need to worry about cell dimensions...
Click to expand...

Gee, I wrote that so long ago I had forgotten about it... Maybe its time to update it for FSX. Give it a GUI, make it easier to use.

Nice to see people are still using it.
 
Aha !!! Found the problem...

It was down to idiot user error... :rotfl:

I had created the mesh wonderfully successfully, and am now thinking about trying out a bit of interpolation type oversampling stuff to see how that 'helps'.

The problem was that I put the bgl file into a folder called Falklands, and dropped that into the addon scenery - scenery folder.

As soon as I took it out of the falklands folder, and dropped the thing straight into the addon scenery - scenery folder, it worked !!!

Repeat after me - I am an idiot ! :eek:

The mesh adds massively to the scenery, so I am really pleased with that.

I am now fighting with xml and camels and google earth, in order to 'fine-tune' the coast lines. To be honest - it is probably worth nuking the whole of the island and building a complete replacement. The textures are all wrong, and the coastline is 'imaginative' ;) .

And then there are the two gmax microlights to dust off too...

Thanks for reading, and thanks too for the suggestions...

Brian
 
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