Hi John:
You may note that the series of posts by Luis Feliz-Tirado in the above thread I had linked to:
http://www.ptsim.com/forum/viewtopic.php?p=3416
...was subsequently the basis of the Luis Feliz-Tirado tutorial: "
Make Photo-real Ground Textures in FSX"
Make photo-real ground textures
File Description:
It is very easy to create your very own high-resolution, custom (photo-real) ground textures. This document explains the concepts and techniques and illustrates the use of SBuilderX with which you can quickly and easily download aerial images and make this type of scenery. So, why hesitate? Make Flight Simulator scenery as real as it gets! Very sorry - no support of any kind is offered. Please do not write. For any questions, please post in the Avsim Scenery Design Forum.
Filename: make_photo-real_ground_textures_in_fs_x.zip
License: Freeware
Added: 21st November 2009, 23:20:06
Downloads: 17714
Author: Luis Feliz-Tirado
Size: 2143kb
https://library.avsim.net/esearch.php?CatID=fsxsd&DLID=140539
FYI: The GIMP work-flow I posted above:
http://www.fsdeveloper.com/forum/th...-scenery-achievable.440912/page-4#post-781748
...was intended to
force GIMP into into Indexed 2-'color' mode so that the resulting colors used for a Land-Water Mask shall be ONLY pure Black (RGB0,0,0) and pure White (RGB 255,255,255) in the event that a developer for whatever reason had chosen gray-scale palette 'colors'
other than pure Black (RGB0,0,0) and pure White (RGB 255,255,255).
That also would
prevent 'unpredictable' results when, a developer had attempted to 'save work' by applying the
SamplingMethod = Gaussian parameter value in the INF for a Land-Water Mask, to the exact same 8-Bit gray-scale TIF source imagery as would have been used for the Blend Mask.
BTW: The GIMP docs I cited above:
https://docs.gimp.org/en/gimp-tutorial-quickie-change-mode.html
https://docs.gimp.org/en/gimp-image-convert-indexed.html
...explain procedures to change file format 'modes'
before output during an editing session.
Those same GIMP docs I cited above, allude to GIMP being capable of (many- but not all-) file format 'mode' changes
during output after an editing session.
However, what those 'color' mode changes may be as a function of file format changes during "Export" may be challenging for most end users to research and understand via the GIMP online help documentation.
[
EDIT]
NOTE: Final output source file format for TIFF Masks must actually be 8-Bit gray-scale; see:
http://www.fsdeveloper.com/forum/th...-scenery-achievable.440912/page-4#post-789447
So, at this point, I believe it would be best to identify a 'best practice' work-flow for Land-Water Masks in GIMP
ex:
Blend and Water Mask 8-Bit gray-scale '(256)-colors' TIFF should, IMHO, be configured as:
*
NO compression, whether FAX - CCITT 3, Huffman Encoding, LZW, PackBits etc.
* RGB
NOT CMYK
*
NO ICC sRGB Color Space Profile Embedded
* Optimized
NOT Custom Palette
1.) Image → Mode → Indexed < “Convert Image to Indexed Colors” dialog opens >
a.) In “Convert Image to Indexed Colors” dialog > ColorMap > tick "Use black and white (1-bit) palette"
NOTE: Leave '
Color Dithering' set to "
None", and do
not check the checkbox next to '
Enable dithering of transparency'
b.) Click [
Convert] button
2.) GIMP Menu > File >
Save
3.) Image → Mode →
Grayscale
4.) GIMP Menu > File >
Save
5.) GIMP Menu > File >
Export < “Export Image” dialog opens >
a.) Click [
+] next to "
Select File Type (By Extension)"
b.) Scroll / Select...
File Type: TIFF image Extensions: TIF, TIFF
c.) Click [
Export] button
< “Export Image as TIFF” dialog opens >
(1) In “
Export Image as TIFF” dialog >
Compression:
tick LZW; click [
Export] button
[
END_EDIT]
I believe it would be another helpful contribution to the FS Developer knowledge base for other prospective GIMP users if you tested this work-flow with
your files to verify that it works, then reported your results back in this thread.
I will then edit my posts here and elsewhere at FS Developer (citing use of 1-Bit 2-Indexed 'color' B+W TIF format etc.) to further explain how one might best use GIMP to in a way that ensures consistently successful results when creating Land-Water and Blend Masks for SDK Resample that are not only submitted in 8-Bit gray-scale TIF file format, but also optimized for minimal source and BGL file size.
Thanks in advance for your help with providing a 'worked example' for the SDK Resample Masking process using GIMP.
GaryGB