AeroScenery Beta - Help With Testing Required

  • Thanks for the updated program. No problems running it now.

    Gave it a go for a level 14 tile selected, level 14 also selected to be generated by Geoconvert and zoom level 18. The output had some mask files, which Geoconvert usually only produces when your source image selection size doesn't match the FS2 tile size or transparency is used. Looking at the PNG files produced I see that there is a small strip across the top which has spilled over to another tile. It looks like the level 14 tile in AeroScenery and FS2 might be a slightly different size. Re-ran this using zoom level 19 with similar results, although I got less mask files. Used both Bing and Google with the same results.

    Also tried running download, stitch, generate aid/tmc and geocovert all as part of the one selection. This combination of selections failed in ver 0.4, but ran perfectly in ver 0.5.

    Ran AeroScenery for 12 level 13 tiles, zoom 17, Geoconvert level 13. Mask issues occurred again with level 13 tiles with a proportionally larger strip spilling across to the tile above, resulting is extra files and mask files. With 12 grids selected AeroScenery kicks off 12 Geoconvert sessions at the same time. This maxed out the CPU and stopped all other activity. All sessions finished without issue though. If a batch session could be implemented in a future update, it would allow the PC to function normally while the process is running. When copying the result ttc files across to FS2 I notice that were some duplicate files created. For instance grid 1 and grid 2 both had a file with the same name, although the content was different. The grid 1 naming convention was used for one of the tiles in the grid 2 folder. The grid 2 file with the grid one name was one of those files with just a strip across the bottom, so seems to be a mask issue.

    Loved the ability to select the different map view types. I did get myself confused when I was able to display google on the maps but had Bing selected on the extract.

    Great update.

    Thanks, Chris

    Win 10 64-bit, 24GB RAM, i5-9400F @ 3.9, 6GB Nvidia RTX-2060

    Edited 3 times, last by crispy136 (July 23, 2018 at 1:42 PM).

  • ... spilled over to another tile. It looks like the level 14 tile in AeroScenery and FS2 might be a slightly different size.

    Google and Bing tile divisions don't necessarily fall on the AFS grid, so when stitching we have to use whole Google and Bing tiles then let GeoConvert crop as it wants. Seeing overspill in the "stitched" folder is therefore expected.

    The aim is that we feed GeoConvert exact AFS grid square coordinates so there wont be any masks (apart from for real transparency).

    What you're seeing might be because I have to give GeoConvert rounded coordinates in the TMC file. I was always concerned about the accuracy of this and whether GeoCovert snaps to the nearest grid square coordinate.

    I think later versions of GeoConvert can handle non-rounded coordinates but as it stands I have no way of checking the GeoCovnert version easily (sigh).

    Anyway, if you hit the "Open in Map" toolbar button above the map for the grid square in question and send me the link, I can always have a look and see if I can reproduce and fix the issue. I could make "use accurate GeoConvert coordinates" an option if that fixes it.

    Also tried running download, stitch, generate aid/tmc and geocovert all as part of the one selection. This combination of selections failed in ver 0.4, but ran perfectly in ver 0.5.

    Good to hear that it's working well in this release. :)

    AeroScenery - Easily create photoreal scenery for Aerofly

  • Nick, any issues/limitations with downloading multiple squares or processing multiple through GeoConvert? I noticed a single square download occupied ~12GB of space so you have to make sure you have the storage room if you try a bunch of squares.

  • Nick, any issues/limitations with downloading multiple squares or processing multiple through GeoConvert? I noticed a single square download occupied ~12GB of space so you have to make sure you have the storage room if you try a bunch of squares.

    The only issue at the moment is that I can't detect when to close GeoConvert so you'll end up with multiple open GeoConvert instances all running in parallel. That probably isn't the most efficient way to run GeoConvert, but there's no specific reason why it wont work.

    Other than that you're just limited by disk space.

    (Remember that once you're done you can clean up image tiles, stitched images and GeoConvert raw images if you want to. AeroScenery needs to do a better job at asking whether to do that at the end of a run).

    AeroScenery - Easily create photoreal scenery for Aerofly

  • Thanks Nick

    The google link is https://www.google.com/maps/@-21.1015…m/data=!3m1!1e3.

    I don't think the decimal points are causing the mask issues. I have been extracting image data using FSET and using a little utility to align the images extracted co-ordinates in FSET with the FS2 tile sizes. FSET would no doubt have to trim downloaded images to fit the FS2 tile size when it stitched together the images for Geoconvert to use. The TMC file was generated using another utility using the same co-ordinates as the FSET extract and only used 2 decimal places. When I used this method everything always lined up and no mask files were produced. I usually run Geoconvert with masks off, and the tiles always line up in FS2. I only ever use the mask option if i have a file with a transperancy.

    I see the mask option has disappeared from the setup screen, so I assume it is on all the time. Perhaps I could manually edit the TMC file, then run Geoconvert and see if the issue goes away.

    I have rerun the first 2 grids individually and still got file name conflicts, so the problem is not multiple Geoconverts running at once. Have attached some screen shots of the output so you might get a better idea of the problem.

    Thanks, Chris

    Win 10 64-bit, 24GB RAM, i5-9400F @ 3.9, 6GB Nvidia RTX-2060

    Edited once, last by crispy136 (July 23, 2018 at 2:30 PM).

  • (Remember that once you're done you can clean up image tiles, stitched images and GeoConvert raw images if you want to. AeroScenery needs to do a better job at asking whether to do that at the end of a run).

    Yeah, once I have copied the GeoConvert ttc files to the fs2 \images folder for a square, I hit the "Delete Images" button to recover the used storage space.

  • Have attached some screen shots of the output so you might get a better idea of the problem.

    Thanks Chris,

    Frustratingly, it is some very slight discrepancy between the way GeoConvert is calculating grid square coordinates and the way I'm calculating grid square coordinates.

    I tried increasing precision to 8 decimal places and it made worse, there were more masks.

    I tried rounding down in all cases, but there was still the mask you got

    My calculation seems to be correct, some / most of the time because I haven't noticed this before.

    Without porting the exact code that IPACS uses, or having their list of coords for each grid square, it's hard to know how to improve this one.

    Is the FSET conversion tool you use an IPACS tool, or from someone on here?

    In the meantime, remember that in the settings you can turn off the use of masks, which will do the job apart from shore line regions.

    AeroScenery - Easily create photoreal scenery for Aerofly

  • Nick hod,

    I am thinking level 18 is 1m/pix. Is this correct? Is level 20 then .25m/pix?

    Is there any advantage or disadvantage of using a level 13 vs level 14 grid size if the intention is to make a rectangle for an airport area of say 10 nm x 8 nm?

    Great work btw.

    Regards,

    Ray

  • I'm confused by the texture missing icons that Aerofly is showing. Aerofly obviously thinks this isn't water and should have scenery or it would be adding in its default water texture.


    Maybe the Bing / Google's definition of the shoreline and Aerofly's is different here.


    If you give me a Google maps link I'll give it a try and see what I can come up with.

    Nick, here's the Google link - https://www.google.com/maps/@27.8068913,-97.0930023,14.42z

  • Nick hod,

    I am thinking level 18 is 1m/pix. Is this correct? Is level 20 then .25m/pix?

    Is there any advantage or disadvantage of using a level 13 vs level 14 grid size if the intention is to make a rectangle for an airport area of say 10 nm x 8 nm?

    Great work btw.

    Thanks!

    In 0.5 the zoom / image detail slider now shows you the meters per pixel value. Zoom 20 is 0.146 m/pix.

    I suppose the only disadvantage of using selecting with level 14 size tiles is that you can't generate level 13 ttc files from them.

    However, when you look at commercial scenery like OrbX LOWI all the super detailed stuff is level 14 and level 15 files, so it's probably not an issue for most people.

    AeroScenery - Easily create photoreal scenery for Aerofly

  • Thanks!

    In 0.5 the zoom / image detail slider now shows you the meters per pixel value. Zoom 20 is 0.146 m/pix.

    I suppose the only disadvantage of using selecting with level 14 size tiles is that you can't generate level 13 ttc files from them.

    However, when you look at commercial scenery like OrbX LOWI all the super detailed stuff is level 14 and level 15 files, so it's probably not an issue for most people.

    Excellent. Thanks for building this special program for us. I am waiting with great anticipation for the USGS edition. We will be able to freely share our scenery with the USGS edition.

    Regards,

    Ray

  • Excellent. Thanks for building this special program for us. I am waiting with great anticipation for the USGS edition. We will be able to freely share our scenery with the USGS edition.

    Thanks! USGS images and elevation data will definitely be coming soon. USGS elevation data is something I'm looking forward to personally.

    I've implemented calls to the USGS catalog API and coded a workaround to grab Zip files from there. (They want you to do this manually with a normal account).

    Most of the hard work is done, I just need to put it all together.

    AeroScenery - Easily create photoreal scenery for Aerofly

  • I'll try using the old FSET process for the same grid square, with masks on and see if I get the same results as AeroScenery. If I get the same problem, then it might just be a Geoconvert limitation caused by using masks. In that case the solution would just be to disable masks unless you really need them for transparencies. If I don't get the problem using FSET, then comparing images created and TMC files uses might point to a solution.

    I don't think the FSET tool was developed by IPACS, as it can also be used for FSX. My guess is that IPACS built Geoconvert around using FSET as the data source.

    Couldn't find the disable masks option you mentioned. I thought it was in the settings screen in 0.4, but is missing from that screen in 0.5.

    Thanks, Chris

    Win 10 64-bit, 24GB RAM, i5-9400F @ 3.9, 6GB Nvidia RTX-2060

  • Couldn't find the disable masks option you mentioned. I thought it was in the settings screen in 0.4, but is missing from that screen in 0.5.

    The settings form now has tabs as it was getting too big. It's there under the "GeoConvert" tab.

    If you could try the old FSET process and see if you get a mask, that would help. Should it work correctly, whatever is generating the coordinates in the .tmc file is the interesting bit.

    AeroScenery - Easily create photoreal scenery for Aerofly

  • The statement that FSET is not an IPACS program is correct. It was developed many years ago and the developer made it crystal clear that FSET was always to be freeware and he has not made any updates for several years.

    AFAIK GeoConverter is a proprietary IPACS program developed to interface with FSET.

    Regards,

    Ray

  • The statement that FSET is not an IPACS program is correct. It was developed many years ago and the developer made it crystal clear that FSET was always to be freeware and he has not made any updates for several years.

    Another utility was mentioned in the FSET / GeoConvert process. Either way, I'm interested how accurate coordinates are obtained for the TMC files when using FSET.

    For the maths nerds out there, this is how I'm currently generating them

    https://github.com/nickhod/aerosc…FS2/AFS2Grid.cs

    That is based on some code from other users of this forum. crispy136 's bug report is correct however, they aren't identical to how GeoConvert is calculating them.

    AeroScenery - Easily create photoreal scenery for Aerofly

  • AFAIK GeoConverter is a proprietary IPACS program developed to interface with FSET.

    Regards,

    Ray

    Slight correction: GeoConverter has nothing to do with FSET.

    GeoConverter is the proprietary IPACS tool to convert orthophotos into a ground carpet of textures in AFS2. It must thus be fed with orthophotos.

    FSET was developped some 10 yeas ago for FS2004 and FSX as a fire-and-forget tool to make photo ground carpets in FS out of aerial imagery picked from web services like Virtual Earth, Google, etc.

    => you select a zone, press start and get a photo ground carpet for the corresponding zone in FS.

    The orthophotos you get by the mean of FSET can of course easily be used with the GeoConverter.

    Cheers

    Antoine

    Config : i7 6900K - 20MB currently set at 3.20GHz, Cooling Noctua NH-U14S, Motherboard ASUS Rampage V Extreme U3.1, RAM HyperX Savage Black Edition 16GB DDR4 3000 MHz, Graphic Card Gigabyte GeForce GTX 1080 8GB, Power supply Corsair RM Series 850W, Windows 10 64 bit.

  • Not to split hairs, but, without FSET and GeoConverter I would not have any useful user made scenery. FSET may be only one of several sources for GeoConverter and we were only talking about FSET and GeoConverter in the conversation. Not a global conversation of all things. I think we all understand that may scenery sources can be used if in the proper format.

    The wiki speaks directly to using either FSET or USGS to feed GeoConverter. :)

    Regards,

    Ray