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FSX Gmax background image

D

Dheneb

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guatemala
Hello everyone I wanted to start creating a scenary for fsx and I was starting to create the background image for gmax.
I was following this tutorial... http://www.fsdeveloper.com/wiki/index.php?title=Align_background_image_in_3D_editor ... but I'm stuck in the "Getting the image" section where there is the link that explains how to use FWTools because instead there is the explanation for another program, OSGeo4W/Gdal. So I'm a little bit confused because I don't know these programs and I haven't figured out how to get sat images and how to get the coordinates to be converted with model converter x. Some time ago I also used sbuilderx but gives only two points for the coordinates. Can someone help me? Thank you all.
 
If you're just putting it into GMAX, you have to either find an appropriate aerial imagery vendor or source for the imagery.

It should either be a geotiff with the coordinates embedded into it, in some format, or you'll have to use google maps/earth to find the coordinates for the corners yourself.
 
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Hi, thanks for the reply, therefore to make a scenary even freeware, there is to pay? And for the satellite images, generally, from where you take it, it's not good with sbuilderX or other like programs? The sdk I have already it, but exactly where do I have to look in the folder?

And then I want to understand this thing, as I know the gmax ground poly for image background need the coords for 4 point of the image, if I get the image from sbuilder or even Google maps how can I position the image in the gmax poly with only 2 point coords?

I'm a bit confused sorry.
 
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Shaun said:
If you're just putting it into GMAX, you have to either find an appropriate aerial imagery vendor or source for the imagery.

It should either be a geotiff with the coordinates embedded into it, in some format, or you'll have to use google maps/earth to find the coordinates for the corners yourself.
Click to expand...

Ah ok, "appropriate vendor / source" like which? Can you give me an example?

Ok but I'm asking you guys which is the procedure to get this geotiff with embedded coords and / or "manual" Google maps/earth way, can you explain me?

Or maybe can you give me a guide or tutorial from web?
 
Hello,

You cannot use commercially sourced imagery, or imagery from Google/Bing/Yahoo without having to ensure you have the proper license to use that imagery. In most cases, imagery from these sources requires you to pay a fee for the use of that imagery, and prices are not cheap. It is probably ok to use the imagery for basic design, like ground polygon layout, as long as you do not export it with your scenery.

You can however use publicly available imagery from government sources for free. Most governments have websites which serve free GIS data to the public through accessible websites. These sources can be used free of charge in most cases for your scenery work, freeware or payware. Just make sure you check the licensing rules for the data you wish to use to make sure you comply with any restrictions they may have on the data.

====

When it comes to acquiring the imagery, as stated above, you can use public web software to access and extract data, or SBuilderX can help you get the imagery you need for your project. SBuilderX has the added bonus of including a txt file with your imagery that gives the Northwest and Southeast corner coordinates of the image in geographic format. By using a simple mathematical calculation, you can calculate the center coordinates of the image.

With the image and coordinates from SBuilderX, you can use the ModelConverterX tool to calculate the flat earth coordinates for proper placement in GMax as a textured plane for scenery design.

There are help documents included with SBuilderX which explain how to obtain background images and their associated text files with coordinates.
 
Thanks now it's much more clear...

I'll try the method with SBuilderX and ModelConverterX. But I have a question, the image of sbuilderx (such as the polygon of gmax) must be square, I can't select a rectangular area around the airport right?

Thank you very much.
 
Dheneb said:
But I have a question, the image of sbuilderx (such as the polygon of gmax) must be square, I can't select a rectangular area around the airport right?

Thank you very much.
Click to expand...
Yes, you can select a rectangular area. There is no restriction in Gmax.

The square is restricted for the texture used in Flight Sim.
Square means "double" of 8, not the meaning of square area.
You can use texture at 256x1024 as well.
 
Guys I understand how it works, but now I need the correct formula to find the midpoint between the two coordinates ...

I tried this [(x1 + x2)/2,( y1 + y2)/2]

but I don't know if it's the right one.

For example

These are the coords from the tutorial in the link

Top latitude: N53.1254080982383
Centre latitude: N53.1180834291591
Bottom latitude: N53.1107546132927

If I do

53.1254080982383 + 53.1107546132927 / 2 = 53.1180813557655

But 53.1180813557655 is not equal to 53.1180834291591 from the tutorial so what am I doing wrong? :banghead:

Someone can help me?
 
Someone else can point out I'm wrong, but I get the same calculation that you do, and I think it is an error on either a program or person's part. I've been using this method to design and place scenery out of 3DS Max/GMAX for some time now and never experienced an issue. Your mathematics are just fine, so run with it, and as long as you put your scenery through the converter correctly and use the proper center coordinates, you'll get the results you are looking for!

Remember:

[(x1 + x2)/2, ( y1 + y2)/2]

That is proper math for what you are trying to accomplish. If you want to double check it, do it very roundabout. Take X1 and subtract X2 to get a difference, and divide that difference by 2. Then add the result to X2. It should match the calculation above.

To make it easy, and manage all the project calculations I have to do, I created a simple spreadsheet in Excel that does all of the calculations I come across in scenery design, including unit conversions, simply by plugging in the numbers I need. You'll want to create your own version that works for your purposes if this is something you will be doing more of in the future.
 
Perfect Solo, it worked even with the double check you've been very helpful, thank you very much. :)
 
Guys, I'm doing the same steps of Dheneb to build my airport, LIPH. I made all calculations and draw the poligon in 3ds with reference numbers lat/lon.

But when I apply the aerial photo (the .bmp file is perfect, it's orthogonal) obtained with SBuilderX over the poligon I created it appears not perfectly orthogonal, it seems a bit inclined. I mapped it in planar mode as suggested but nothing change, I apply UVW Map to center in my polygon but it's always a bit inclined respect the plane. So the if I open .bmp file it's perfect, when applied to polygon it's inclined.

Can someone help me and where am I wrong?
 
A question - is your polygon perpendicular (i.e. horizontal or vertical)? If so, choose the View direction that displays the polygon flat on and then press View Align in the UVW Mapping rollout - this will align the texture to the polygon. If it is not perpendicular, then click on the little black + next to the UVW Mapping entry in the stack and select the Gizmo. Go to Rotate Mode and rotate the texture map until its angle matches that of the polygon.

Hope this helps,
 
Tom thanks for your help, I was wrong in building the plane reference in 3ds (too small). Now I solved.

The strange thing is that when I apply my aerial image over the poligon it's displayed in very low resolution (but I downloaded it in SBuilder at max res, and originated .bmp is 560mb). This is what I obtain in 3ds:

http://imgur.com/SgREofz

do you now why? I follow striclty this tutorial by Gary:


and how you can see at min 10:26 when he zoom the image is perfect.
 
Hi,

What video driver are you using for the display? In GMAX it's selected from:

Customize/Preferences/Viewports tab/Choose Driver button

I use Direct 3D, but Open GL works better on some computers.

After that, you need to maximize your quality settings. From the same screen, click the Configure Driver button.

My settings are:

Checked:
Use Incremental Scene Updates
Use Generalized Vertex Arrays

Background Texture Size: 1024
Match Bitmap Size as Closely As Possible: Unchecked

Download Texture Size: 512
Match Bitmap Size as Closely As Possible: Checked

Texel Lookup: Anisotropic
MipMap Lookup: Linear

I'm sure others have different settings, but these do work well for me. If anyone else has tips on something better, I'm all ears.

Hope this helps,
 
Thanks Tom, I'll try your settings.

For now I solved improving texture size till 4096, maybe it's too high, so I'll fine tune with your specs and report back.
 
Dheneb said:
Thanks now it's much more clear...

I'll try the method with SBuilderX and ModelConverterX. But I have a question, the image of sbuilderx (such as the polygon of gmax) must be square, I can't select a rectangular area around the airport right?

Thank you very much.
Click to expand...

No it does not have to be square using SbuilderX. The original results window will be square, but you can select the specific rectangular area within that window, and download just that. Or just download a square section, and create a blend mask to hide the stuff you don't want to see.

For your sepcific needs, this is what I would do. No Gmax required, no cartographic arithmetic required either. I do this all the time.

Use SbuilderX to obtain an image of the area you need. Don't mind if it is not as good as you want it. Download that image (which comes with its INF file, and geo tiff info embedded).

Now find the ground picture that you want to distribute with your scenery. Open the SbuilderX image you just downloaded with Photoshop or similar, then overlay the picture you want shown on your scenery exactly over it. This is where photo editing comes in handy. You have to make sure it overlays the original picture as good as possible, since it will cover the area shown on the original picture. Save the picture and recompile SbuilderX. Voila. Done.

With my trick you are essentially allowing Sbuilder to do the dirty work for you, such as coordinate geo tiff centering, so you don't have to worry about that.
 
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