Autogen Fine Tuning

[Greazer 1,320]

The AI which scans satellite imagery can only do so much.  A dark spot may probably be a tree, but maybe not. And which type of tree is it exactly??  So the AI may do a good job but it won't be anywhere near 100% accurate.

This is where the developers should let the community override the default autogen guesses with more accuracy. Let them define, yes there's a tree here and it's a large pine. Or this is a house but it's a different kind of house. In time, the world will be filled out with more accurate autogen, by the community.

Greazer.

[Shack95 2,658]

This is a refreshing idea and I’d love to fine-tune my hometown but I wonder if it’s feasible that way. This would require someone to check our decisions which would be an extreme effort.

[Claviateur 789]

1 hour ago, Greazer said:

The AI which scans satellite imagery can only do so much.  A dark spot may probably be a tree, but maybe not. And which type of tree is it exactly??  So the AI may do a good job but it won't be anywhere near 100% accurate.

This is where the developers should let the community override the default autogen guesses with more accuracy. Let them define, yes there's a tree here and it's a large pine. Or this is a house but it's a different kind of house. In time, the world will be filled out with more accurate autogen, by the community.

Greazer.

I think we will be able to modify the procedural part of the world but certainly not the photogrammetry one...

In X-Plane 11, the terrain components are baked together and require some rocket science to compile a new one. However, using a tool like World2XPlane, we could write config files with rules to generate specific overlays for the terrain (roads, autogen types, vegetation etc.)... Usually we do this using OSM data as is (or modified using tools like JOSM) and we compile a complete 1x1 tile....But there are no tools available to manually modify a small area in XP11...

The most flexible way to customize a procedural terrain in MSFS, is to have both, the tools to batch generate terrain components on a large scale using procedural rules and other tools to manually edit small areas as well...

Hopefully and ideally, all this is already done for us using Azure AI and then we will simply add the custom 3D landmarks here and there. 🙂

Edited October 9, 2019 by Claviateur

[Greazer 1,320]

9 minutes ago, Shack95 said:

This is a refreshing idea and I’d love to fine-tune my hometown but I wonder if it’s feasible that way. This would require someone to check our decisions which would be an extreme effort.

If you look what Laminar did, they allow Developers to submit their airports. They are checked then become part of the product. If there is a known rogue developer they are banned. About 15,000 3d airports in XP now. Microsoft should implement the same idea, it won't cost extra, only the tool to place autogen. The vegetation, trees and buildings will become more varied and real.

[Shack95 2,658]

15000, wow, I didn‘t know it‘s that many. I like the idea. If it‘s possible, I‘m all for it.

[Greazer 1,320]

The editor should let you quickly add, remove or swap out trees. Or change structures. The other beauty of this idea is you are setting specific tree types and the sim will know which ones lose leaves in fall and go bare in winter. It will render correctly. Hence, bringing Seasons to the sim.

[jlund 380]

It would be fantastic if they added a Simdirector  like in P3D (that actuallly works) and yes I know it's a LM product,  or an Instant scenery creator, so we would be able to add our own autogen, cause as already mentioned, the auto generated autogen won't / can't be 100% correct all over the world.

Edited October 9, 2019 by jlund

[Greazer 1,320]

5 hours ago, jlund said:

It would be fantastic if they added a Simdirector  like in P3D (that actuallly works) and yes I know it's a LM product,  or an Instant scenery creator, so we would be able to add our own autogen, cause as already mentioned, the auto generated autogen won't / can't be 100% correct all over the world.

I have never heard of Simdirector but it sounds like what I was thinking. The tool should be easy and fun to use to complete your own neighborhood or town. It will only be a matter of time before the whole earth or much of it has detailed autogen. Great for detailed visuals when flying plus the added bonus that the sim can render the correct trees/vegetation appearance depending on the season.  This idea is a must for the world environment.

[WarpD 824]

Yeah... all it takes is an 11-yr old with an attitude to go screaming through the Azure scenery and making changes that are 1000% inaccurate.  Kinda like what happens to Wikipedia.  

Edited October 10, 2019 by WarpD

[Greazer 1,320]

2 hours ago, WarpD said:

Yeah... all it takes is an 11-yr old with an attitude to go screaming through the Azure scenery and making changes that are 1000% inaccurate.  Kinda like what happens to Wikipedia.  

That's why there's a review and ratings system.