In-game VS Satellite

[DadJokeCinema 145]

17 hours ago, Superdelphinus said:

I was wondering if anyone could be bothered to post an fsx and xplane (both stock) screen shot of each of the same areas too?

I don't have stock, but this is Baltimore in P3D with some Megascenery textures and ActiveSky.

 

[toprob 105]

On 9/13/2019 at 7:11 PM, Superdelphinus said:

I was wondering if anyone could be bothered to post an fsx and xplane (both stock) screen shot of each of the same areas too?

Not stock, but I did post a Prepar3d screenshot of Lake Tekapo in another thread. This is a photoscenery, which may be a bit more comparable to the MSFS video. The video doesn't show the lighter run-off from the river, though, which is quite obvious in the photoscenery.

[DadJokeCinema 145]

8 hours ago, toprob said:

Not stock, but I did post a Prepar3d screenshot of Lake Tekapo in another thread. This is a photoscenery, which may be a bit more comparable to the MSFS video. The video doesn't show the lighter run-off from the river, though, which is quite obvious in the photoscenery.

Are your water settings just up high or do you have an add-on for that?

Edited September 14, 2019 by NotASenator
typo

[toprob 105]

5 hours ago, NotASenator said:

Are your water settings just up high or do you have an add-on for that?

My water settings are medium, but as I only use photoscenery I do use PTA to adjust the 'limpidity' so that the photo water colour shows through strongly. In the earlier aerial image you can see the discolouration where the river meets the lake, so that's what you really see in my screenshot

The scenery here is my own, I live about 80 kms from where this screenshot was taken, as the crow flies, so it's a favourite place for me to fly.

In the other 'Tekapo' thread here, I did mention the remarkable turquoise colour of Lake Tekapo, where the glaciers grind the rock into a fine dust. For me, this sort of thing is important to show in the simulator.

Edited September 14, 2019 by toprob

[reignman40 450]

So MSFS2020 looks better than real life.. Good to know. 😛

[Noooch 1,084]

Dubai

[Noooch 1,084]

Barcelona

[dtrjones 356]

On 8/29/2019 at 8:38 PM, F737NG said:

You're right, the embedded clouds in the ground photo images from Bing aren't present and ruining the in-sim experience.

Oh lord... "ruining the in-sim experience" - so how many hours have you spent in this sim which have been ruined by the embedded clouds...

[dtrjones 356]

On 9/13/2019 at 3:00 PM, Noooch said:

All my comparaison pics on the first page have disappeared, I don't know what happened...

Excellent work with the images, @simmerhead would be impressed I'm sure 😛 5 star rating!

Edited September 15, 2019 by dtrjones

[dtrjones 356]

On 8/31/2019 at 12:10 AM, RioPilot said:

I think it really is quite remarkable how it seems like whatever software they're using is able to automatically read a 2-dimensional satellite image, and create an appropriate autogen building. This one particularly stuck out to me. It's just a random apartment building, and yet the "autogen" (if it's even appropriate to call it that), matches the overall shape of the actual building. I wonder how they're able to accomplish this. I suppose the AI is able to examine the satellite image and deduce automatically? If so, that really is quite amazing.

And below, a close up view of the actual building in the circle. The flight sim shot shows the walls having a reddish color like in real life, though I wonder if that's merely a coincidence.

 

Yep Orbx TrueEarth has the same characteristics. It's good to know this provides a nice alternative when photogrammetry isn't available.

[Gulfstream 416]

On 8/30/2019 at 7:10 PM, RioPilot said:

I think it really is quite remarkable how it seems like whatever software they're using is able to automatically read a 2-dimensional satellite image, and create an appropriate autogen building. This one particularly stuck out to me. It's just a random apartment building, and yet the "autogen" (if it's even appropriate to call it that), matches the overall shape of the actual building. I wonder how they're able to accomplish this. I suppose the AI is able to examine the satellite image and deduce automatically? If so, that really is quite amazing.

I am curious how they are doing this also.

The software engineer part of my brain thinks this can only be done if given digital city data where the buildings are laid out (think how Google Maps and others can show 3D building outlines even in regular map view ... that data).

If they have that data, then they have the walls and height information, and can just put appropriate "walls" on the building.

Some people may claim this is done with aerial photogrammetry but that doesn't get you all sides of the building (much if it will be obscured in many cases, think interior courtyards).

[DadJokeCinema 145]

On 9/16/2019 at 6:01 PM, Gulfstream said:

I am curious how they are doing this also.

The software engineer part of my brain thinks this can only be done if given digital city data where the buildings are laid out (think how Google Maps and others can show 3D building outlines even in regular map view ... that data).

If they have that data, then they have the walls and height information, and can just put appropriate "walls" on the building.

Some people may claim this is done with aerial photogrammetry but that doesn't get you all sides of the building (much if it will be obscured in many cases, think interior courtyards).

Intelligent photogammetry combines multiple sources (satellite, footprint renderings from sat data + vector info, 360 aerial footage) and machine learning (taking into account millions and millions of photos) to make rational guesses about buildings. It's not always great, but if you have fall backs - for example, machine learning uses existing datasets to make assumptions, so for example if you're pretty sure an interior courtyard is somewhere, can fabricate a fake on to put in its place.

I remember with the early Bing Maps examples, they were sourcing hundreds of thousands of indexed, GPS-tagged photos online of the marketplace around the Pike Place fish market to build an explorable 3D version of the area. I imagine the technology has grown in leaps and bounds since then.

[Noooch 1,084]

Normandie, France

[Dominique_K 10,133]

8 hours ago, Noooch said:

Normandie, France

 

This is a strong tide area. I wonder how the new sim will cope with that if it does. If not will the bay be at low or high tide 😉 ? I'd prefer at low tide where it is very spectacular.

Edited September 20, 2019 by domkle

[Shack95 2,658]

I like the fact that the roofs are grey as is common in that area. In the wing tip pic they were red, so I assume we can expect quite some regional variation.