I have been running through the PilotEdge rating videos on the Tube (Well worth viewing, even if you never subscribe). The instructor constantly brings up SkyVector map and chart overlays on the active single display to illustrate procedures. Anyone know how they are doing this? Is it post-processing? The little bit of research I have done on how to integrate SkyVector into 2020 only brings up a couple of 3rd-party add-ons that seem to have rather limited success in achieving this. If PilotEdge has a method of their own, it makes subscribing to this rather pricey service a bit more attractive.

Think he is just pulling the browser window over the screen he is recording. Was there a specific video you are referencing?

2 hours ago, Bosco19 said:

The instructor constantly brings up SkyVector map and chart overlays on the active single display to illustrate procedures. Anyone know how they are doing this? Is it post-processing?

I'll have to check it out. Though I haven't been doing it with SkyVector maps, I have been superimposing my Navigraph charts while flying by simply switching active windows.  I would be doing the same with SkyVector or my Simplates charts.  I switch active windows with Alt-Tab - with my chart window reduced to a portion of the screen, they superimpose with much of the aircraft panel still visible.  Alt-Tab again and it's gone.

As a semi-retired television producer, yes, it may have been done in post or even in a form of "real-time" editing with Capture or OBS, etc. However, they may have simply been switching top windows.

Negative. All the videos I've watched so far (7-8 of them) incorporate extensive use of maps and charts from SkyVector. I would have to run through one to be sure, but it seems they just "appear" as an overlay - and he will bring up a chart and then bring up another overlay on top of that to display the airport diagrams. When I watch these videos, the tension and pressure of interacting with live controllers and having to follow procedures exactly really took me back to my flying days, where there were no "pauses", no time-outs to go take a leak, no re-tries. The clock never stops running, and it doesn't end until your wheels are on the ground again. Flying on PilotEdge might possibly be the best thing you can do to make your sim seem realistic. The sim itself is always going to be a pale replica of real flight.

If I recall correctly, isn't there an option to run the sim "windowed" or not? Isn't there more "overhead" if you run windowed? If he is ALT+ Tabbing it doesn't show on-screen. And when he brings up a second layer, that would mean you have to go through the small window that pops up requiring you to stop the scrolling tab on one of several open windows (always a challenge for me). And I don't think that allows you to have more than one overlay open at a time does it?

not sure if you want to work it this way, but will suggest in case you hadnt thought of it.

the fltplan.com website (owned by Garmin) has a free product similar to ForeFlight that can be loaded on an iPad tablet. a piece of software runs on your computer that connects to the simulator. it transmits your position in the sim to the app on the tablet.

in essence it is a moving map. you can import flight plans exported from skyvector.com and display it over the standard vfr sectionals on the tablet. the app will also display your position relative to an airport diagram.

check it out at fltplan.com. the app is called fltplan go. only for iPad right now.

Edited February 28, 20215 yr by yurei

Thanks Yurei. Am aware of that, If I had a dedicated sim setup somewhere in a back room I would be considering other options. Unfortunately, life intrudes upon my computer desk and deters me from having too many peripherals and other devices competing for space. The other intrusion is aging. You get past a point where you only want to go to so much trouble and effort to support something that's just an occasional hobby. And I think that might be more so when you've spent many years involved in the real thing, and you realize that no matter how far off the deep end you go with this stuff, it's never going to be the real thing. You've had your moment.

OK, for anyone following this thread...I started SkyVector, then booted into MSFS, set the display to [windowed], and set up a test flight. I WAS able to alt-tab between SkyVector and MSFS. While in SkyVector I was able to open the airport search page, find an airport, and open its chart in another window. I now had three pages open, and could Alt-Tab between them. So I guess PilotEdge was doing it this way. I am not accustomed to working across multiple windows, so this was a good test and refresher for me. I have not actually flown yet, so whether or not my frame rate will take a noticeable hit for operating windowed, I can't say. I have no desire to manage an additional external device, such as a tablet, so it's good to know the tabbing method works.

I haven't noticed much if any performance hit by doing this.  I would note that whatever window is active or foremost will be the only thing you can do something in.  In other words, you have to alt-tab back to the sim window to make any adjustments or operate the aircraft - it only takes a split second to do this.

BTW, I do not run the sim windowed, though I can see there might be some benefit to this.  I simply have my Navigraph or SkyVector window squeezed down to frame the charts and it superimposes itself over a portion of the sim while active.

Not sure I could get away with that. I am vision-impaired now and don’t think I would be able to read that stuff squeezed down to a smaller size. Worth a try though. 

Not sure how the overlay was done in the video, but I only fly on Pilotedge.  It's wonderful having dedicated, professional ATC.  Some are real world controllers, some aren't, but all are very professional.

It definitely recreates the real world ATC environment and the pressures that come with it.  It's great!  You'll love it.

I only fly in windowed mode as I reference a lot of things while flying outside the sim and toggle back and forth with no issues.

I use Foreflight for flight planning, charts and flight monitoring as in real life but of course Foreflight is expensive.  I have it on my iPad while flying the sim also. Works great. 

I think for a free aspect Skyvector, Fltpln.com or Fltpln.go is a great option as mentioned.

Good luck and have a great experience with Pilotedge.   While the controllers are demanding as in real life, also as in real life they will help you a lot too.

Regards,

 

 

 

Thanks for the input. I spent the last 10 years of my PP flight experience flying around locally, VFR, in a small Experimental that took me more than 20 years to build from plans and raw materials. This was done out of a large hobby airport, home to a lot of builders and sport flyers. I had very little interaction with ATC during that time, enjoying my own bird locally and flying every old taildragger I could get my hands on. When I heard about PilotEdge and started watching their ratings videos I was yanked back to my early days, when I rented airplanes and flew around in the system more, and it made me recall the sense of fear and intimidation that comes with the early training and flying years - interacting with ATC (and I was actually a controller myself in my youth). You can debate the pros and cons of MSFS, but even if you have your bedroom decked out like a 747 cockpit, the sim is never going to be a real flying experience. Logging into PilotEdge and interacting with controllers is going to give you a better taste of real flying than any peripheral you can buy.

1 hour ago, Bosco19 said:

Not sure I could get away with that. I am vision-impaired now and don’t think I would be able to read that stuff squeezed down to a smaller size. Worth a try though. 

The size of the charts is not reduced - I simply crop the window of that application to frame the chart only and not the extraneous items that may be around it.  The chart then uses maybe a 4th of my screen when active, with 3/4 of the aircraft panel still in view.  Once the chart window is active, I can also zoom in to any feature.

Gotcha. Thanks