Scenery Tools

Hi Guys:I just realized some of the programs I am currently using to produce new scenery have not been mentioned before in the Fly! forums (or at least, have been mentioned not enough times for others to become fully aware of their potential).there are 3 in particular I would like to promote:- Elshayal Smart Web on line Software:A Freeware shapefile editor that not only allows you to create and modify all aspects of a shapefile, but also enables you to import images from google earth to use as background pictures. The Images can be imported using input like lat/long coordinates and a preferred height. once saved they retain that information which can be helpful when you are creating a satellite image scenery or just superimposing a shapefile on it.For those of you already familiar with the use of shapefiles and terrascene, this tool can be a vital asset to any further future work.for those of you with no knowledge, I can only encourage you for the time being to begin experimenting with it. I intent to publish a tutorial at some point in the near future, detailing all I have so far being able to discover/achieve using this program.Some information can be found online on its website, but its basic in content and rather general.Its available at download.net among many places, but its official website is:http://www.smartwebonline.com/ - VTBuilder:Here we have another Freeware program that allows you to view and to a degree change some geospatial data (i.e. shapefiles, DEMs...) as well as place the different formats along side for comparisonPersonally I have not fully explored its potential, perhaps with the exception of some work done on the SRTM-4 elevation files, which I found invaluable. But I have no doubt I will spend more time on it as time allows it. some of its functioning (those related to the work I already covered, will be available in the tutorial I mentioned above).This program can be found at: http://www.vterrain.org/Doc/VTBuilder/overview.html- OkMap.Another freeware that has the potential to offer new ways to work jointly shapefiles and satellite scenery.This allows the use of satellite, maps or terrain imagery available from google maps as a background to the creation of shapefiles.a tool that could be used -for example- to reproduce the variety of vegetation often encountered at different heights in mountain ranges, by creating shapefiles that run along the defined altitude in the google terrain maps.I have not carried yet any work involving this program, But my next project (in the tropics) will require me to trial and experiment with its uses.It can be found at:http://www.okmap.org/default.aspOnly shapefiles from the USA (and perhaps Europe) are so complete as to provide the least amount of work to the scenery developer in fly!, most of the world barely has info that is up to date or requires little if any work.I am hoping I can persuade other fly! fans to try out and develop scenery for those regions of the world that up to now have been absent due to the difficulty of procuring related geo-info.Daniel Arias