Blue Sky Star making entire US Orthos

[Richard Sennett 2,499]

Well the thing with orthos is that you should only generate the areas as and when you want them. It can take time depending on your internet but Ortho4XP can just batch convert and you can walk away from the computer). For me to generate Southern California, I clicked on the tiles I wanted (about 10 I think), walked away, came back to my computer in about 4 hours 

 

4 hours for 10 tiles and thats not the entire state - now I see the interest in this product

[tonywob 4,769]

Well it's all dependent on your Internet speed. It would take me 4 hours to download the equivalent scenery as well from a website (I don't have the most amazing Internet). I've heard of people doing it much quicker that I can. But, as they say, each to his own

[irrics 1,517]

I don't even know why we are debating this…

 

I think it's great that there will be some options for those that don't want to do all of it manually.

 

I'd argue one of the long-standing problems holding X-plane back from more widespread adoption is the lack of commercial products available for purchase for those that don't want to do it all themselves or source everything themselves from all over the Internet

[tonywob 4,769]

You're right it's pointless debating it (I've tried to convince people before). I'm absolutely in the minority here when it comes to making my own scenery.

[irrics 1,517]

You're right it's pointless debating it (I've tried to convince people before). I'm absolutely in the minority here when it comes to making my own scenery.

Honestly there's just no point in trying to convince people of anything as it relates to doing it yourself versus purchasing. Some just don't want to do with themselves and are happy to part with money instead, which of course is absolutely 100% fine.

 

There's no right or wrong answer here.

[Paraffin 2,197]

Excited to see how it looks in some known areas vs my manually done ones in the PNW

 

Speaking of the PNW...

 

The Cascade range and coastal areas between Washington State and BC Canada are a popular flying area. That's going to be a pretty dramatic visual change right at the border, if this product only covers the USA. Are there equivalent sources of orthos for the Canada side?

[Richard Sennett 2,499]

You're right it's pointless debating it (I've tried to convince people before). I'm absolutely in the minority here when it comes to making my own scenery.

 

Not a minority just a great talent  :wink:

[alpilotx 505]

And don't forget ... just because they get money for it, it doesn't means it will be perfect.

 

Orthoimagery is a very complex topic, which is still not well understood by many (and thus, many are often "surprised" about the inherent issues arising). The end result is massively influenced by the source data quality ... and to some extent by the time and resources people are willing (and able) to invest to correct the problems (which are sometimes correctable, sometimes not really). Especially at continental scale, you can be 100% assured that quality won't be consistent and you will need to accept some (or a lot) of problems (depending on regions - some will be maybe super great, others maybe super meh) ...

 

And now,if it will not be perfect, but the price still very high (even if most of it only covers the HDDs and shipping ... but people might not understand that) ... then one can easily imagine the end users reactions.

 

In this sense, Ortho4XP might be much less risky investment :wink:

[Richard Sennett 2,499]

Just a thought but am correct that they have to pay money to distribute this bet they do so more involved than just time and hard drives in the selling price

[Mountain Man 142]

It's interesting that people would rather pay out $200 and buy an external hard-drive, when you could easily generate the entire US completely for free using Ortho4XP (Which will produce fantastic coastlines). The mind boggles, but I never was a good business man 

 

Opportunity cost.  Spending lots of time to do it yourself versus spending lots of money to have someone else do it for you.  Same reason people go to restaurants when it costs much less to prepare a meal at home.

[tonywob 4,769]

 

 

Just a thought but am correct that they have to pay money to distribute this bet they do so more involved than just time and hard drives in the selling price

 

If they are using USGS imagery which is likely the case, then it can be used freely. This is why I'm often surprised nobody has done this sooner

[alpilotx 505]

If they are using USGS imagery which is likely the case, then it can be used freely. This is why I'm often surprised nobody has done this sooner

Yes, I suppose they are doing exactly that (why shouldn't they ... its the obvious way to go). And knowing (or to be correct : suspecting) this tells me, that they won't be able to deliver a "super perfect" continental scale orthophoto mesh ... but just a "cool" orthophoto mesh, which will shine in some areas and less so in others (and will show some "nasty" transition seems here and there ... etc. etc. ...). Depending on the price point and expectations this might be "just right" to some or an "insult" or a "rip off" for others.

[Richard Sennett 2,499]

If they are using USGS imagery which is likely the case, then it can be used freely. This is why I'm often surprised nobody has done this sooner

 

So it can be sold interesting 

[tonywob 4,769]

I think they'll need to at least do some colour correction and tidy up the coastlines otherwise I suspect they'll get some backlash quite quickly. Which is just an incredibly difficult job to do for an area that big.

[Richard Sennett 2,499]

Huge undertaking for sure

 

Also one must keep in mind there may be a payware product such as Orbx global that would provide seasonal textures one day