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Guest cbuchner1

ANN: Streaming mesh technology

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Guest cbuchner1

Remember when I said the next TP version was going to bring something new and revolutionary?The next Tileproxy version is likely going to feature streaming of FSX compliant elevation meshes at up to 3m accuracy (where available). Source will be USGS and other public domain material - some of it highly accuate LIDAR data, preprocessed into LOD tiles (~2 MB chunks each) and streamed from a dedicated server as soon as the aircraft approaches the region.Building up of this infrastructure and data base may take half a year. Access will likely require some kind of account (free) so I can monitor and when necessary restrict usage and prevent abuse. Upkeep of the server and the generated traffic may have to be paid for by voluntary donations.I have yet to figure out some of the technical details - but that's the base line.Mesh coverage will start out with US data first, and later be extended to world wide.The central server may later be used to host other scenery data (vectors or autogen), but let's start with meshes first. The place may also be extended to host some kind of online community (sharing of flight plans, hosting of MP sessions etc).Whad'ya think?

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Sounds great to me - the world is a BIG place and trying to store mesh for places that you don't even fly in is a bit wasteful Same goes for scenery. I am looking forward to seeing what you come up with ChristianBarry

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Will TP also save this new terrain data on my computer so it won't have to be loaded later ???My cache.service2 folder is around 4 gig, can this folder just keep growing to no end ??I still don't understand the file structure. If my data is downloaded into cache.service2, then what data is going into the Photoreal World folder. I've tried finding out but to no avail...

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Guest cbuchner1

Tileproxy Photoreal World = BMP cache, inefficient long term storage. Flush/Clean regularly and rinse.service caches = JPG caches, more efficient caching. Flush/Clean with Service Cache Browser depending on regional preferences.If you don't want any caches at all, check "diskless mode" during installation.

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Sounds lik a good idea, why dont you get some sort of paypal fund going, I wil happily contribute to continue your efforts, FSX is finally getting used on my system now, been sitting on the shelf from day 2, with all the scenery turned off,weather MaX and running tileproxy its fantastic. Even though I have a high end system it just cannot deliver FSX out of the box for meBTW with FS9 and ultimate terrain lighing mesh, tileproxy even looks stunning at night. The default orange night textures of FS are just a no-go for me nowGreat workRegs

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What was that you said about taking a holiday :-) It is a very good idea, nothing improves photographic scenery like a good mesh.There is a downside however. Microsofts airport flattens are a heap of dung. With a decent mesh a large number of airports will have ugly cliffs around them. I understand that it is possible to have a sloping flatten, but I for one do not know how it is done. The alternative is to remove the default flatten and use the mesh if it is accurate enough. I do not know how to do that either.Meanwhile I am going to get some more memory and a better cpu cooler. I do know how to do that.Bernard

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Guest wolfram_ravenwolf

Interesting idea, Christian, although I must admit I have mixed feelings about this: Central server = central point of failure.I'm also a bit concerned about the "gray area" - the better TileProxy becomes, the more people will use it, and the more popular is gets, the more likely the tile providers will take notice. And although I think you're legally safe with your "FSX turned into a browser", nothing prevents the providers from changing their EULA's to ban such usage. But I guess that's a general problem which has nothing to do with you running a central server or not.Of course Microsoft's official sponsorship might still be the best long-term outcome, especially if Microsoft takes over Yahoo! ;) They'd be well advised to make such arrangements with their tile providers, even if it's restricted to FSX or its successor...Back to the topic at hand, though: I'd surely and happily donate some money to you for such a wonderful project. After all, I'm also saving money I'd otherwise spend on landclass scenery, ground texture enhancements and other stuff like that.One concept I've always favored regarding open source software development is paying developers to implement new features I'd like to have. Remember the poll you did about which area of TileProxy you should focus on? If instead of votes, you'd receive some money and then work on the features that got paid for most, wouldn't that be a win:win situation for you and your users at the same time?Food for thought. Another thought I'd like to add: What about peer-to-peer streaming of mesh data instead of or in addition to a central server? Would take load (and bandwidth cost) off of your server.Well, just some ideas, maybe something of interest to you... :)

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Guest Mike707

I think the idea is a great one and it will bring much more reality to the flight experience. One question, is that level of detail for the mesh be better than the products that are already availabe such as FS Genesis, etc.?

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That idea sure sounds great. May I ask how you will implement that on the client side? I mean, if I recall correctly, a couple of weeks ago you wrote that creating terrain mesh on the fly wasn't possible. I assume you have found a way to do just that now? Does that involve creating or modifying BGL files on the fly?

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Guest cbuchner1

the idea is that you have 120,000 "transparent" mesh bgls sitting on your hard drive that contain no altitude, and they get replaced on the fly with actual bgls containing a mesh.

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Guest cbuchner1

No, same res - except where free LIDAR data is available (-> 3m mesh?)

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Guest sstobbe

I would be interested in using this if it had better (source)resolution outside of North America than the 90m STRM mesh available on DVD from commercial providers. Otherwise, I am guessing that FS Genesis loaded to my hard drive would be more reliable.On a related note, is there any way to reduce the amount of "rounding off" of edges in the terrain mesh? Resolutions better than 38m don't make a discernable difference because of this.

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Guest cbuchner1

Later this summer. This might be a 1.0 Beta followed by a 1.0 release and it will have a GUI for configuration.

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sounds amazing as basically anything tp-related ^^however, i'm wondering if its possible to code a fs9-compatible version of the 'streaming mesh' option - or did i just trigger the thick-head alarm and its more than an idea already?best regards anyways, jan

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