Using TerraScene and Autoasm?

[victorwest2 0]

I was going to give scenery creation a bit of a rest for a few weeks but then I decided to give Autoasm a go using images created with Terrascene. Not much luck so far. How do you create images if you don't have FlyII. I seem to get errors when trying to render in Terrascene which seem to need FlyII to resolve.

[victorwest2 0]

>I was going to give scenery creation a bit of a rest for a>few weeks but then I decided to give Autoasm a go using images>created with Terrascene. Not much luck so far. How do you>create images if you don't have FlyII. I seem to get errors>when trying to render in Terrascene which seem to need FlyII>to resolve.>>Just to add, this is to make scenery for FS9.

[John_Cillis 2,406]

It has been an eternity since I had done this. I believe I had to disable certain parts of the process, so that just the tga file was generated--that can be done without FlyII.I then converted the tga file to a bitmap, split it w/resample, and went from there. I did make some pretty nice scenery of the Tahoe area with it--looks a heck of a lot like USA roads. I'm sorry to say though that with the release of FS2002, I quit using TerraScene since I only used it to render lakes as accurately as I could in FS2000. FS2002's lakes were so much improved, I retired from this method of making scenery...-John

[Guest victorwest]

>It has been an eternity since I had done this. I believe I>had to disable certain parts of the process, so that just the>tga file was generated--that can be done without FlyII.>>I then converted the tga file to a bitmap, split it>w/resample, and went from there. I did make some pretty nice>scenery of the Tahoe area with it--looks a heck of a lot like>USA roads. I'm sorry to say though that with the release of>FS2002, I quit using TerraScene since I only used it to render>lakes as accurately as I could in FS2000. FS2002's lakes were>so much improved, I retired from this method of making>scenery...>>-John Many thanks John. Based on that, I don't think I'll bother. Victor

[Guest cwright]

>I was going to give scenery creation a bit of a rest for a>few weeks but then I decided to give Autoasm a go using images>created with Terrascene. Not much luck so far. How do you>create images if you don't have FlyII. I seem to get errors>when trying to render in Terrascene which seem to need FlyII>to resolve.>>Hi Victor, if you could let me know the problem then I could probably help. You certainly don't need Fly! to create TS images. When you want to render an image be sure you don't enable the Fly editor - maybe that's the problem. I assume you have the AutoAsm release from the end of last year. Since then there have been enormous improvements, though it hasn't been released yet. It now has an editor and tools aimed at correcting problems in TS images, something that's essential for consistent results. I'm afraid the new release is still some way away, but you could start with: http:/www.kline.demon.co.uk/AutoAsmV05.zip (the original release last December) http:/www.kline.demon.co.uk/AutoAsm_Update_2.zip You probably already have the first one, but the update includes a very detailed tutorial on how to set up TS for generating bitmaps that AutoAsm can use. If you let me know your email address I could send you the very latest program version. Using TerraScene/AutoAsm, you can generate very detailed LWM/VTP scenery. In fact it's so detailed that it can reduce FS performance. For that reason I added options that let you reduce the point density. After generating your TS bitmap for a half degree square you can create the scenery in AutoAsm in, say, twenty minutes. Most of that time is needed to correct errors using the AutoAsm editor and tools. The half degree square could contain many hundreds of thousands of points. Best regards, Chris

[nudata 10]

Indeed AutoASM is the program many have been awaiting. It does everything for you in terms of roads, bridges, streams, lakes, and rivers. The interface is complicated since there are many options. It also has a strong system for correcting errored or incomplete BMPs from USGS data. These BMPs form the basis of the system.Terrascene 2.1 is easy to use. As mentioned when you get to the step to render make sure that you only select the day scene and no FLY stuff near the bottom of the screen.You need to set Terrascene to not render conventional textures. Its purpose is to translate the USGS info into colored items. As an example you probably want 4 lane highways so set them to a color like red. You will want some secondary roads so set Terrascene to render them in orange. Lakes might be set to render in light blue. River shores in green and ocean shores in something else. Thus is very easy to do in Terrascene. Convert the TGA file to a BMP, resize it, and set to 256 colors (Paint Shop Pro does this). Then AutoASM essentially traces FS2004 roads, rivers, etc based upon the colored "stripes" that represent the various elements - roads, ocean shores, etc. During this process it will automatically correct error where the USGS data produced confusing BMP stripes. The bit map is then converted to BGS (water elements and roads) and away you fly.It does work and works well. I can assure you that elements placed fit very well with FSGenesis mesh. No more roads and rivers climbing hillsides. Things are where they should be. AutoASM is one of those programs that seem very complicated until you understand the purpose of each step. I can render a 1/4 tile in Terrascene 1.5 minutes and complete the entire AutoASM process in 20 minutes. You can participate in the process for free or buy a package that has only SOME of the elements.Dick Boley @KLBE

[Guest victorwest]

Many thanks for the answers. I stand very much corrected!Chris, I think I do have the latest version available but I'll check when I get back home tonight. I'm sure it contains instructions of how to use bitmaps created using Terrascene. However, it's the bit getting to the bitmap that I'm trying to do. I seem to remember that when I first tried to render in TS I got an error message regarding a missing texture. I then unchecked the Fly tick boxes at the bottom of the screen but then received an error message which related to a file not found. I can't remember the full error but it related to something in the Fly directory. I'll check that out tonight as well.Victor

[nudata 10]

Here is a Terrascene 2.1 project file - attached. It is for an area in Western Pennsylvania. Pay close attention to the color selection options so that you understand that each color tells AutoASM what type of "thing" to create. If you successfully run this project then you should see many roads rivers and lakes in the produced (output folder) TGA file. Of course you can use your own colors to taste.Note that not all items in Terascene are set to a color. As an example I do not include easements and dirt bike trails, etc...Dick Boley @KLBE

[wsieffert 0]

Hi Chris,For some reason your urls are adding:http://forums.avsim.net/www.kline.demon.co.uk/AutoAsmV05.zip - forums.avsim.net to the beginning of the URL causing it not to work.Some time ago you also posted an autoasmV06.zip that I downloaded around 12/22/03.W. Sieffert

[victorwest2 0]

I seem to get the following error when attempting to save render"Validation failed texture missing=base/swamp-bog.jpg, mapped to Background Texture"Update: Problem solved. One of my lines still had the "texture" boxclicked

[Guest victorwest]

After everything went through, I was left with a tga file of over 400MB!! Methinks this is rather large and that I need to reduce the area I'm trying to cover! Or is 400mb normal?Victor

[Guest cwright]

>Hi Chris,>>For some reason your urls are adding:>>http://forums.avsim.net/www.kline.demon.co.uk/AutoAsmV05.zip ->forums.avsim.net to the beginning of the URL causing it not to>work.>Hi, yes, that's strange. The path I entered is certainly correct, I guess the forum decided to add it. I never had this problem before. The solution is to copy the url and paste it into the browser.>Some time ago you also posted an autoasmV06.zip that I>downloaded around 12/22/03. The biggest hold-up is the new manual. But I think I'll upload the very, very temporary version together with the latest program exe later today. Best regards, Chris>>W. Sieffert

[nudata 10]

Only deal with 1/4 of a Global tile. You can also reduce the resolution to 15m from default 7.8 to reduce the size. A matter of taste once you see the results. I have used lower but now stick to 7.8m which produces TGAs less than 120mb. On a 1.6ghz cpu I use PAINTsHOP pRO (jasc SOFTWARE)and the conversion steps (2) to a BMP takes about 2 min. The entire process is accomplished in logical steps once the underlying logic becomes clear.Dick Boley @KLBE

[Guest victorwest]

>Only deal with 1/4 of a Global tile. You can also reduce the>resolution to 15m from default 7.8 to reduce the size. A>matter of taste once you see the results. I have used lower>but now stick to 7.8m which produces TGAs less than 120mb. On>a 1.6ghz cpu I use PAINTsHOP pRO (jasc SOFTWARE)and the>conversion steps (2) to a BMP takes about 2 min. >>The entire process is accomplished in logical steps once the>underlying logic becomes clear.>>Dick Boley @KLBEThanks Dick. I'll try a smaller area. The process does look straightforward.Does anybody know of a utility to convert the tga file to a bmp file? I know PSP has been mentioned but I was wondering if others were using any freeware utilities that they could recommend.Victor

[nudata 10]

Polyview is one I tried a long time ago and I think that it worked. Gogle it. The size of the TGA is an impediment to some programs even at <120mb.Dick Boley @KLBE