KXNA Northwest Arkansas Regional Airport by JackRiordan

[TruNorth Air 1]

Hello everyone!

 

I wanted to share the progress I'm making on one of my upcoming add-on sceneries. I know this airport has been recreated before in great detail, but I wanted a more up-to-date version that was photoreal, all-season compatible, and has animated jetways.

 

I will be uploading it as freeware once I get the rest of the assets created and added. I only live 10 minutes from this airport, and I will continue to update it as necessary. At this time, v2.0 is available, which includes the all-season photoreal scenery, taxiways, runways, and tarmacs. No buildings are complete, yet. I am currently working on the terminal.

 

Please take the time to view my Steam community page at http://steamcommunity.com/profiles/76561198099305594

 

You can follow me on twitter @fsxfuscentral

 

I appreciate all feedback on this project. Future plans include recreating all of Northwest Arkansas airports!

 

Link to pics...

 

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/C4vblqPVUAE3Vea.jpg:large

 

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/C4kuoiTUEAAKvTL.jpg:large

 

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/C3v7BhMVcAEONWK.jpg:large

 

[Ramjett 27]

Jack,

I just stumbled on this post and immediately went to the library to see if anything under your name had been posted yet.  Sadly, no hits, but I am very interested in this project.  I used to live near Highfill in Springtown and would drive out to XNA a lot to watch arrivals and departures.

Moved to Idaho in 2003 so KXNA..."The Airport that WalMart Built"...has kinds been a "back-burner" for me, but this post has rekindled interest.

 

The screenshots look like it will be amazing.

Randy

 

[Gregg_Seipp 565]

That looks well done! 

[scottb613 1,188]

Hi Jack,

Nice entrance to the community and nice work - looks like you are off to a good start...

One thing - from when I used to do some scenery design - take a look at a plugin called "Metrix" for Photoshop... It's a color matching program and I used it to perfectly blend satellite imagery to the colors of the surrounding tiles... It's pretty remarkable - especially if you want to match each season... It's certainly a useful tool to add to your toolbox...

http://www.jnrubin.net/psi/index.html

Regards,

Scott

[TruNorth Air 1]

Apologies for not replying sooner! I've been away on military orders, and this project went on the back burner. Here are the latest screenshots I took before I left...

KXNA Teaser #12

KXNA Teaser #17

KXNA Teaser #20

Project KXNA 2017 #3

I'm back home now, so I'll start working on it again soon. Thank you for the motivation and suggestions! That Metrix plugin looks good, but I am only using GIMP now. Although, If I can get it to work with GIMP, it would speed things up a bit.

[TruNorth Air 1]

On 5/3/2017 at 6:42 PM, Ramjett said:

Jack,

I just stumbled on this post and immediately went to the library to see if anything under your name had been posted yet.  Sadly, no hits, but I am very interested in this project.  I used to live near Highfill in Springtown and would drive out to XNA a lot to watch arrivals and departures.

Moved to Idaho in 2003 so KXNA..."The Airport that WalMart Built"...has kinds been a "back-burner" for me, but this post has rekindled interest.

 

The screenshots look like it will be amazing.

Randy

 

I use KXNA primarily when I travel. Being a flight sim enthusiast, I knew it would be my first real scenery project. So far, the terminal is really kicking my tail. I have a ton of pictures, and sometimes I end up just sitting trying to find out what I'm going to tackle next!

[TruNorth Air 1]

Apologies for no recent updates. I've been enjoying outdoor activities this summer, but I will resume this project as the fall weather forces me back indoors. If you are interested in my project and would like to BETA test it for me, reply to this thread. Thank you!

[Jamrom23T 9]

Looks awesome bro.  Great job!

I do.have a question that I hope you can answer.  I'm kinda new to making scenery as well.  I'm familiar with everything other than making seasons.  How do you make a season bmp appear for each time of year?

I'm presently reworking Brookhaven Airport in Long Island.  I've done Bayport and Elizibeth Field on Fishers Island as well.  But only have 1 season bmp for each.

Thanks!

JR

[awreaper 14]

Jamrom if you use SBuilderX you can set the season bitmaps there.  Right click on the edge of the original bitmap and a menu will come up.

[TruNorth Air 1]

On 10/16/2017 at 3:21 PM, Jamrom23T said:

Looks awesome bro.  Great job!

I do.have a question that I hope you can answer.  I'm kinda new to making scenery as well.  I'm familiar with everything other than making seasons.  How do you make a season bmp appear for each time of year?

I'm presently reworking Brookhaven Airport in Long Island.  I've done Bayport and Elizibeth Field on Fishers Island as well.  But only have 1 season bmp for each.

Thanks!

JR

It's a bit complicated...

Once I pull the satellite imagery with SBuilderX313, 4 files are created in the SBuilderX313/Tools/Work folder. There will be a BMP file, a text document, a BGL file, and a setup information file.

The bitmap is the satellite imagery, the text file is the coordinates that you would input into ADE when you import the image to use as a guide when placing objects, the BGL file can be deleted since a new one will be created, and the setup information file is only the partial information you'll need to compile the scenery.

I normally use GIMP to edit the BMP file to adjust the color, brightness, and contrast. Satellite imagery is too bright when imported into FSX, so the first thing to do is to turn the brightness down and the contrast up a bit.

The next thing to do is to create 2 layers. Name one Blendmask, and the other Watermask. Use the Blendmask layer and a black brush to black out the areas you want the default scenery to show through. Use the Watermask and a black brush to black out the areas you want the water to show through.

Save this project to edit later. Delete the Watermask and Blendmask, then EXPORT (DO NOT SAVE) the satellite imagery as a windows bitmap file, name it NAMEOFSCENERY_SEASON.BMP, expand compatibility options, check DO NOT WRITE COLOR SPACE INFORMATION, expand advanced options, and check 24 bits R8 G8 B8.

This will EXPORT the first bitmap you need for the satellite imagery, but you still need your masks. Undo deleting the layers, then delete the satellite imagery and the Blendmask. Export the Watermask layer and name it WHATEVERSCENERY_Watermask.BMP. Undo deleting the layers, delete the satellite imagery and the Watermask, then export the Blendmask the same as you did the satellite imagery and the Watermask naming it WHATEVERSCENERY_Blendmask.BMP.

Now you should have 3 BMP files. This will give you the masks you need, plus one season. You can edit this season later to color match it to the seasons in FSX, however, you will need to export it for each season you create and name it by the season. You will not need to edit the mask files again. At the end of the day, you should have 4 satellite imagery BMP files and 2 mask files. 6 BMP files total.

Once you have those 6 BMP files exported correctly, you will need to rewrite the Setup Information file to include the other BMP and mask files.

You will need to copy/paste YOUR...

   ulyMap =  
   ulxMap = 
   xDim =  
   yDim =  

...data from your Setup Information file to the following template, so do not delete it or you will need to start all over!

 

You can use this template below for one season or multiple seasons, but I have it set up for one right now...

[Source]
Type = MultiSource
NumberOfSources = 3

[Source1]
   Type = BMP
   Layer = Imagery
   SourceDir = "."
   SourceFile = "WHATEVERSCENERY_SEASON.BMP"
   Variation = January, February, March, April, May, June, July, August, September, October, November, December
   Channel_BlendMask = 2.0
   Channel_LandWaterMask = 3.0
   ulyMap =  
   ulxMap = 
   xDim =  
   yDim =  

[Source2]
   Type = BMP
   Layer = None
   SourceDir = "."
   SourceFile = "WHATEVERSCENERY_Blendmask.BMP"
   SamplingMethod = Gaussian
   ulyMap =  
   ulxMap = 
   xDim =  
   yDim =  

[Source3]
   Type = BMP
   Layer = None
   SourceDir = "."
   SourceFile = "WHATEVERSCENERY_Watermask.BMP"
   SamplingMethod = Gaussian
   ulyMap =  36.3571630626545
   ulxMap = -94.2228698730469
   xDim =  5.36441802978516E-06
   yDim =  4.32081009328027E-06

[Destination]
   DestDir = "."
   DestBaseFileName = "WHATEVERSCENERY"
   DestFileType = BGL
   LOD = Auto
   UseSourceDimensions = 1
   CompressionQuality = 85

 

To add more seasons, just copy and paste [Source1] and rename the SourceFile to the next season BMP. Make sure the next Source is [Source2] then [Source3] etc. etc. and make sure you annotate the Variation correctly for each BMP.

Once you have the first 4 sources as your season BMP files, the two masks should be Sources 5 and 6. Make sure you change the number of Sources at the top to 6 instead of 3. Make sure you change the...

   Channel_BlendMask = 2.0
   Channel_LandWaterMask = 3.0

...of each Source to Channels 5.0 and 6.0 if you are using 4 seasons and the Blendmask and Watermask are Sources 5 and 6. You should be getting the idea now! Save the file as WHATEVERSCENERY.INF.

 

Last, make sure you copy/paste the Resample.exe file from your SDK to the folder where you are saving these files. Click the WHATEVERSCENERY.INF file and drag it onto the Resample.exe file. A command prompt window should appear and compile the BMP files into a BGL file. Place this newly created BGL file into a WHATEVERSCENERY/SCENERY folder. Copy and paste this into your FSX/Addon Scenery folder. Once in flight sim, add this area to your scenery library just like you do any other scenery and test it out!

If the colors do not match correctly, uncheck the scenery from your FSX scenery library. Go to your work folder and edit each satellite imagery BMP individually and export them correctly. Drag your INF file back onto Resample to make another BGL. Copy/Paste that BGL into your WHATEVERSCENERY/SCENERY folder located in the FSX/ADDON SCENERY folder, overwriting the old one. Recheck the area in the scenery library and test again. Wash and repeat until you get each season to match correctly.

[TruNorth Air 1]

Apologies for the delay in responding. A lot has happened in the past months. I recently started a business creating addon scenery.

https://www.uscentralairlines.com/black-mill-scenery/

Unfortunately, KXNA is on the backburner until I get a few other smaller airports finished first.