Answer to P3D bad scenery.

[ashmanmedia 0]

I have always loved FSX X-Plane not for the real flying but to push the quality of the scenery...

Recently I have seen Apple Maps utilize a 3D Photo Mapping and then Google allows 3D Earth like mapping all from a photo from a satellite?

How can Lockheed Martin change the scenery from its older Auto Gen and begin to utilize GOOGLE MAPS 3D engine with accurate roads like x-plane has done with its OpenStreet db?

X-Plane is king here with its engine.  

 

But is google maps 3d FREE and can it render it fast enuf for flight?

 

just some thoughts...

[AnkH 2,263]

Google 3D Maps is indeed impressive, but besides the rendering speed, there are other obvious issues: it is based on an aerial image. Means for example that the image of my hometown is taken in autumn while the image of the city close by is taken in early summer, offering two completely different colour sets. And: the shadows are all representing a single timepoint in the day. Furthermore, the resolution of the 3D structures is great for "googling" around, but for a proper 3D program where you also migh end up really close to such a 3D structure, the resoultion is not good enough. Last but not least, the range: everything further away than some 5nm from your viewpoint is completely blurried and not 3D anymore in Google 3D maps. Flying above something like that would be certainly no fun at all...

[nooon 21]

It's a TileProxy-like approach with addition of Autogen, vectors, and so on, meshes... I remember the problems that Christian Büchner had with Google, back to the time TP was enabled for GoogleMaps.He received a complaint for breaching GoogleMaps EULA because their imagery source allowed them to only display the satellite pictures inside GoogleMaps/Earth and in no way into a third-party, Google-independant product like TileProxy.

 

So even before thinking about technical feasibility for autogen and vectors, you hit the wall or Google, Apple, and whatnot EULAs.

One solution could be LM handling the functionality themselves and pay $$$ to Google or whoever to get a licensing, but that will indeed be reflected into P3D price :-)

But having real autogen and vector roads and streams, would greatly enhance VFR experience for sure. One will say you can already purchase photoscenery for that. One will reply it looks flat, that shadows are always oriented to the same angle, that seasons texture aren't always accurate...

[Limbatus 0]

im pretty sure LMT  has access to satellites.... why don't they just use their own imaging. 

[Luke 782]

Do you have exabytes of storage?

 

Cheers!

[JLSeagull 191]

Do you have exabytes of storage?

 

Cheers!

 

Nice one Luke!!