New Autogen/Annotator - Art Martin ??

[nudata 10]

The last version that I have is v1.0 3/25/05.I understand that an update was posted but alleged complaints caused it to be removed. Will that, or an even better, update to this needed program be forthcoming???Dick Boley @KLBE

[Guest bones]

I'm sure it will. I have the beta but it's still being worked on..boneshttp://fsaviation.nethttp://www.precisionmanuals.com/images/forum/ng_driver.jpg

[arno 1]

Hi,Art's program has indeed been removed from the library here, but he has found another host:http://www.vfraddons.co.uk/artseditor_view.phpAnd on my website I have created a support forum for him as well:http://www.scenerydesign.org/forum/forumdisplay.php?f=56

[Guest artmartin]

Dick, it became apparent to me that Avsim's libraries, as wonderful as they are for a responsible user, are a minefield for someone wanting to release a beta program or even a production program that hasn't exhaustively tested and accepted. Even though my program was clearly labeled as beta and there were risks involved in using it, the download numbers were staggering. Where I was looking only for a selected audience of dedicated testers that would work with me in getting this program debugged and fully released, it seems that many opportunistic people simply download anything that's free and then complain to the library managers when something doesn't work perfectly. I don't want to put Avsim through that anymore. The handful of individuals I've been working with to debug and enhance my program have been wonderful in their comments and patience and the support forums I've been given are much more intimate and attract primarily serious scenery designers that aren't so prone to whine to the hosts. I think Avsim is missing the boat by not providing a completely separate library area dedicated to new program deployment and testing that requires a much stricter level of entry and responsibility than their general libraries. The huge audience they attract is compelling to the ego when you see your program downloaded by 1000 people in a day but then the realization hits you that there's no way you can provide support for those types of numbers when your only intention was to share a freeware tool as a gift back to the community. It's been quite the learning experience.Art

[nudata 10]

Art,The program is a must have for those developing photoreal landcover, or for those that want Autogen on some commercial products.It is also an excellent tool to adjust existing FS2004 textures. Perhaps some of the less mature will see the harm they can do as they attempt to make their mark on the world through zealous, ill-founded, criticisim.Dick Boley @KLBE

[Guest artmartin]

Ok, a new version of the program is available on the VRF host site that fixes a number of bugs and adds in a really fun feature as illustrated below. Here's the link to the program:http://www.vfraddons.co.uk/artseditor_view.phpArt Martinhttp://forums.avsim.net/user_files/113224.jpg

[arno 1]

Wow Art, this looks fantastic. Nice to be able to see a preview of the autogen in the mosaic view as well. I should try it (if I had a photo scenery to test it with).

[Guest artmartin]

I had received a forum message prior from a user in Germany that giant trees were showing up when he was using Flight Simulator after creating autogen from my program and I thought it might be from the earlier problems I was having with the differences between American and European representations of decimal numbers. Well, last night in my own flying around my scenery, I was treated to 12000 foot trees that, although rather visually stunning, were hardly desirable. Seems that one of the masked edit controls in my program flaked out on me. Although it was setup exactly as the other 3 that control minimum and maximum vegetation heights it was giving quite a different output. If it displayed a number such as 12.000 it was reporting 12000. I don't remember making any changes to this control for many versions so I believe this to be an anomoly with VB. I made a fix last night that reads the formatted text instead of the text output and that seems to correct the problem.If you have either of the last 2 versions of the program, please get version 1.0.26 (which I just sent in to Dazzy at the VFR Autogen Site) and open and resave any tiles you've saved recently or you'll be in the land of the giants. Art Martin