Auto zoom map

[seahorse 8]

Hi,

first of all, what a great soft, really, very impressed! Thanks for sharing with all of us.

I didn't see any thread for future request so here I go;

Would it be possible to add an auto zoom? What I mean is when taking off or landing then the zoom is automatically adjusted. So when taxiing you will have the taxiways and gate numbers visible, but once in the air it will automatically zoom out (or in) depending the distance your flying from the ground. Especially during landing that would be really helpful so you have a close-up view of the airport your landing at. Just an idea.

Cheers,

Luc

[albar965 1,040]

Hi Luc,

already added for the next release.  Keeps the aircraft and next waypoint centered on the map if enabled.

Alex

[seahorse 8]

Hi Alex,

I just had a look at the changes for release 2 and unfortunately I didn't find the feature I was talking about.

But then again, it looks like I didn't express myself clearly.

The feature I was talking about is not about centering the map at the airplane.

With auto zoom I mean that when I'm on the ground I will be zoomed in so the airport will fill the whole screen (easier to see gates and taxi)

But once I take off, I would like Littlenavmap to automatically zoom out so I would have more map surface displayed on the screen.

The same when landing, once I am getting closer to the ground I would like LNM automatically to zoom in.

I guess in other words, some parameter where I can specify the zoom factor linked to the AGL altitude of the aircraft.

Cheers,

Luc

Edited June 20, 2018 by seahorse

[albar965 1,040]

Hi Luc,

I remember but the feature simply did not make it into 2.0.3.
"Center map on aircraft and next flight plan waypoint" is probably closest to the functionality you mentioned.

A few questions while we're at it:

1. Should zoom linearly depend on AGL or simply use one options value for on ground and one for in air?
2. Or, should the zoom on ground be pre-defined in options or depend on the size of the airport (like "Show airport")?
3. Should the map follow the aircraft on ground or simply keep the whole airport visible ignoring aircraft position?
4. Pre-defined zoom in air or simply use center flight plan?
5. Follow aircraft in air or keep the zoom?

Have to see how and if this can be done with reasonable effort. The more combinations/functionality the harder is all to test. The changes I did for 2.0.3 already introduced a new error where aircraft positions are not updated now.

Alex

[seahorse 8]

Hi Alex,

those are interesting questions but not so easy to answer. And you're right, it shouldn't get over complicated too.

21 hours ago, albar965 said:

Should zoom linearly depend on AGL or simply use one options value for on ground and one for in air?

Happy: Use one options value for on ground and one for in air

Ideal: Zoom linearly depend on AGL

21 hours ago, albar965 said:

Or, should the zoom on ground be pre-defined in options or depend on the size of the airport (like "Show airport")?

I would say pre-defined so taxiway and gates numbers are readable. If you depend on size and have large airports (EDDF) and you put the whole airport on the screen you probably wouldn't be able to see the taxiway letters or gates, for smaller airports that might work.

Quote

Should the map follow the aircraft on ground or simply keep the whole airport visible ignoring aircraft position?

I would say follow the aircraft, but that might (is) actually achieved by the option to follow (center) the aircraft. (which I use today when taxiing)

Quote

Pre-defined zoom in air or simply use center flight plan?

Well, I guess this might complicate things, but I would say a combination of both. I a FP is loaded in LNM, then yes, center flight plan. If no FP is loaded, Pre-defined zoom in air.

Quote

Follow aircraft in air or keep the zoom?

Not very clear what you mean but I would say both, follow aircraft and keep the zoom

 

I hope you will figure out a way to achieve some of these functionalities without to many effort. The reason why I think it's interesting to have this is because if (like myself) you use LNM on a networked PC and during take-off or especially landing, you're a little busy operating the a/c so you don't want to go and fiddle on the networked PC to have the right zoom. Furthermore, at least on my networked PC (HP Thin  Client 610) the reaction on the zoom is a little slow (loading the map over internet?) so sometimes you zoom in to much or to little as it doesn't react instantly.

Actually, at least to me, the most important is during landing, so when I'm on (or close to) the ground I automatically have the airport plate on the screen so I can see how far away I'm from taxiways and then can follow the correct route to my gate.

Cheers,
Luc

Edited June 21, 2018 by seahorse
Got out before finishing answer

[seahorse 8]

Me again,

so, this morning I did some more experimenting with the different options and i got a little closer to make it more comfortable for me to use.
When I first used LNM i tried this double click to zoom in but that never worked properly for me. I always got half of my screen covered with a information window for that airport, but no zoom. After some trial and error, I found out that, if I switch off Airport info at double click, then it would work fine. Also, I resized the information window to a small vertical window and put it at the right edge of the screen. Then I tried again and found out that, more often than not, if I double click on the airport it would just display the airport information in the (already open) information window. The next time I double click on the airport it would actually zoom in. So maybe something can be done about that so both info display and zoom would be executed simultaneously?
Anyway, with the double click "zoom in" now under control, it's already a big step closer to the solution, easy way to quickly zoom in during/after landing. Another option that is quite helpful is not to display any airports/navaids/etc during zooming. Zoom reacts a lot quicker now and i don't mind to have the different info displayed after zoom is executed.

I tried your suggestion with the option "Center map on aircraft and next flight plan waypoint" but that didn't do anything for me, at least when I'm zoomed out with the whole FP on screen, it would not zoom in to the a/c and waypoint. Maybe when you're zoom in beyond, it would zoom out so you would have both a/c and waypoint on the screen, I didn't try that (forgot).

Although I got closer to a solution, id doesn't mean i would say no to autozoom 😉 

Cheers,
Luc

[albar965 1,040]

On 6/21/2018 at 6:36 AM, seahorse said:

Happy: Use one options value for on ground and one for in air

Easier solution to have two settings in the options dialog. Configuring the other option can be a nightmare.

On 6/21/2018 at 6:36 AM, seahorse said:

I would say pre-defined so taxiway and gates numbers are readable.

Covered by above settings.

On 6/21/2018 at 12:38 PM, seahorse said:

So maybe something can be done about that so both info display and zoom would be executed simultaneously?

It is executed simultaneously. It is an error if not.

On 6/21/2018 at 6:36 AM, seahorse said:

Not very clear what you mean but I would say both, follow aircraft and keep the zoom

Yup. Makes sense. Similar to the "follow" option in the search and flight plan tables.

On 6/21/2018 at 12:38 PM, seahorse said:

I tried your suggestion with the option "Center map on aircraft and next flight plan waypoint" but that didn't do anything for me, at least when I'm zoomed out with the whole FP on screen, it would not zoom in to the a/c and waypoint. Maybe when you're zoom in beyond, it would zoom out so you would have both a/c and waypoint on the screen, I didn't try that (forgot).

You need a flight plan and also better enable "Allow scrolling and zooming in the map". Then you can show the destination airport for example and the view will jump back to your aircraft and next waypoint after time. This does work. I use it all the time for my flying.😉
The leg will be shown once you're in the air. On ground it sticks to the current zoom.

Alex