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MSFS Coordinates for photo

Messages
946
Country
panama
Hi, where do I get the coordinates to add to a photo in order to align an airfield.
 
Messages
1,679
Country
australia
Depends where you got your 'photo' from. I use Google Earth and when zoomed in to what I want I take a snapshot (hit the PRT SC key) and then careful to not move the displayed image I move my cursor to the top left of the satellite image and the latitude and longitude will be displayed in Google Earth bottom right of screen and then do the same with the cursor positioned bottom right corner of the satellite image. There probably is an easier way to obtains the co-ordinates but that is what I use and as I have only done it a few times I don't care.


googleearth.jpg
 
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Messages
76
Country
argentina
In theory there is a better (and more accurate) way to do it.

You can get geotiff image files which have (among other things) the coordinate information of their corners.

I don't remember if ADE can directly read the geotiff format, but if not, you can convert geotiff to any image format, and with a geotiff viewer you can take note of the exact coordinates.
You can find various geotiff viewers on the internet, also several apps to obtain them, although I remember a very simple and well-known one used for orthophoto development in XPlane, "Ortho4XP" ver 1.3, there you can select images from various sources (OSM, Bing, Google, etc) and export them as geotiff.

I hope my help is useful.
D.
 
Messages
7,450
Country
us-illinois
You could also use SBuilderX v3.15 (64-Bit) to download a background image in a (non-warped) EPSG:3867 GIS projection format.
:idea:



Assuming you successfully get SBuilderX v3.15 (64-Bit) installed and working from the link Dick provided:

https://drive.google.com/uc?export=download&id=1bvCwJA62lBYvrXvdAM33RGWIvRaV3Fs2


...Check what imagery is available by 'Editing' SBuilderX.ini to swap between tileservers in SBuilderX v3.15.

ESRI ArcGIS World Imagery, Bing / MS Virtual Earth, and Google Satellite are all providers of quality tile server imagery worldwide.


To output a 1-piece *.BMP of selected tiles from SBuilderX' work-space in a non-warped format for use in ADE:


1.) SBuilderX Menu > Edit > Edit INI file... (SBuilderX.INI opens in NotePad)

a.) In NotePad > SBuilderX.INI > Under [Tiles] section, Edit:

ReprojectMercatorTiles=True

...and change it to read:

ReprojectMercatorTiles=False


b.) NotePad Menu > File > Save

c.) NotePad Menu > File > Exit


2
.) SBuilderX Menu > File > Add Map > From Background

a.) Follow usual procedures to download / select tiles (do not compile to BGL)

(1) SBuilderX Menu > Edit >Tile Servers > Google_api3_Satellite > check: Use Google_api3_Satellite ? check-box > click: [OK]

(2) SBuilderX Menu > View > Show Background ...F1


3
.) SBuilderX outputs non-warped format 1-piece *.BMP / *.TXT into:

[SBuilderX install path]\Tools\Work sub-folder.


Note that the *.TXT file has ' Geographic' coordinates to be used for calibrating that *.BMP Background Image in ADE.


If a SBuilderX 1-piece *.BMP of selected tiles is too large for ADE's USERVA, select / output multiple tiles via smaller rectangles.


When finished, one should re-configure SBuilderX to its default setting for imagery output in a "warped" EPSG:4326 GIS projection format for FS SDK's:

4.) SBuilderX Menu > Edit > Edit INI file... (SBuilderX.INI opens in NotePad)

a.) In NotePad > SBuilderX.INI > Under [Tiles] section, Edit:

ReprojectMercatorTiles=False

...and change it to read:

ReprojectMercatorTiles=True


b.) NotePad Menu > File > Save

c.) NotePad Menu > File > Exit


BTW: Obviously, one is already using a imagery Background Map in SBuilderX v 3.15's work-space ...as shown in step 2.) above.

PS: SBuilderX Polygons can be exported as ESRI *.SHP file "primitives" that become source files if assigned 'attributes' via MSFS Polygon Properties

This latter Polygon ESRI *.SHP file "primitive" attribute configuration may best be done via MSFS SDK DevMode GUI. ;)

GaryGB
 
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Messages
110
Country
unitedstates
You can use SASPlanet which can access Bing satellite imagery (also coded for other sources, but availability has been variable over time).
When saving a selected area, there is an option to also create a georeference file (.kml is easy) with the exact coordinates to be used in ADE.
- Click an icon to start
- Select a rectangle
- Specify zoom resolution
- Enter the location and filename
- check the "kml" box
- done
 
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