New to MESH - Please 'SPLAIN to me.

[Guest SIX]

OK,I have been flying around for almost a year now. I have a few questions about MESH scenery as I am ready to purchase, if it will meet my needs. If you folks would be as so kind to help me, maybe I won't be in the dark. ;)I have add-on aircraft payware and freeware. I have add-on aiport scenery payware and freeware. I have come to one conclusion here: Payware is almost entirely always better. Is this the case with MESH? What is the difference, please be more specific than "quality". I fly mainly long-hauls. What is the extent that the MESH will help me with the user experience. For example: 1. Ground Level to 10K 2. 10,000 ft to FL200 3. FL200 to FL300 and up.Personally, most people would think that airport scenery is a waste when you are a long hauler, however I want to make the experience as life like as possible. So, even if MESH will make my experience more accurate at 5,000 ft, it may be worth it. I would like to start flying long hauls and then going to small airports with small aircraft. There are so many brands like LAGO, FSGenesis, GAIA MESH. That is the only ones I know of, personally. Are there more? Can you list them and their web addresses? Which is better. If FS Gevesis does a great job of the Rockies is it necessarily just as good of job in the Appalachians?Does anybody know of any coupon codes or anything like that so I can get a break on pricing? I would love to buy Europe and the USA at the same time...all of it. But, not at those prices ;)Any input at all would be helpful.Thanks for your time and effort!-----------Wilson HinesHEAVY LHC Editorwww.heavylhc.com (in progress)UVI014FS GROUPFlt Planning DirectorAOL IM: dal276wh

[Guest SIX]

Also, I read the post about "terminologies". But, I am also wondering about the "meter" measurments. For example, is 9 meter MESH more detailed than 38 meter mesh? Please explain. Thanks again,-----------Wilson HinesHEAVY LHC Editorwww.heavylhc.com (in progress)UVI014FS GROUPFlt Planning DirectorAOL IM: dal276wh

[Justin Toposim 16]

HI Wilson,Yes, 9.6m terain is more detailed than 38.2m.These figures refer to the distance between elevation points. The smaller the distance, the more detailed the terrain, and the more elevation points per given area.For a succinct overview, you can read up athttp://www.fsgenesis.comClick the Mesh Central tab, then "A Mesh Primer"Hope this helpsJustinFSG

[Justin Toposim 16]

HI Wilson,>I fly mainly long-hauls. What is the extent that the MESH >will help me with the user experience. For example: > 1. Ground Level to 10K Here is where you get the most benefit.> 2. 10,000 ft to FL200 Not much benefit, but some.> 3. FL200 to FL300 and up.Very little benefit. >Personally, most people would think that airport scenery is >a waste when you are a long hauler, however I want to make >the experience as life like as possible. So, even if MESH >will make my experience more accurate at 5,000 ft, it may be >worth it. I would like to start flying long hauls and then >going to small airports with small aircraft. >>There are so many brands like LAGO, FSGenesis, GAIA MESH. >That is the only ones I know of, personally. Are there >more? Can you list them and their web addresses? Which is >better. If FS Gevesis does a great job of the Rockies is it >necessarily just as good of job in the Appalachians? >Well, I try. I have a pretty extensive quality control and testing regimen, but don't claim perfection. I do try to fix any problems discovered after shipment in a timely manner by issuing downloadable Service Releases when needed.>Does anybody know of any coupon codes or anything like that >so I can get a break on pricing? I would love to buy Europe >and the USA at the same time...all of it. But, not at those >prices ;) >Don't need a coupon code at my site. I have a built-in bundle pricing scheme. Buy two 15% off, all the way to buy 5 45% off. The discount is calculated at checkout and is automatic.As of right now, only have US and Yukon. Once the final SRTM data is released I plan on international continental sets. So fr the only SRTM data that's been released is preliminary, error-prone data, mostly for academic use. Not really suitable for FS TErrain yet.>Any input at all would be helpful. >Hope this helps . . .Justinhttp://www.fsgenesis.com

[Guest sgreenwood]

Hello Wilson,I provide somewhat detailed discussions of several aspects of mesh quality on my website. I also offer the only 38m mesh coverage for the entire continental US, as well as lower resolution mesh for the entire globe. I will be adding my 9.6m data soon.Regards,Stevewww.fs-traveler.com

[Guest]

Just a couple of points. Increasing the number of points of elevation sampled increases the number of polygons drawn EXPONENTIALLY albiet making the polys smaller. In the fairly small area that I'm working on at LOD11(19m)if I slew accross it really fast I have to wait several seconds for the mesh to appear. Granted you'll rarely fly near the ground at 800kts.Someone please correct me if I'm wrong but the terrain engine only draws mesh out about 40 miles with the slider all the way to the right. At 30,000 feet looking out the cockpit of a jetliner what is the CLOSEST thing you can see? And at 30 miles out on a screen that's maybe 1280 pixels wide you will see only 1280 of those samples per line.On approaches however the difference can be startling. Little things that go unnoticed on MS's 1k standard mesh leap off the screen. Creekbeds and river valleys become nav aids even though the trees hide the water. I was surprised how much difference the free USGS 100m mesh made. I went to 19m because I got picky about having the intersections at the top of hills in my photoreal be right at the top of hills and my riverbed flat, etc.. Even then I am only going to correct a few areas where it's noticable to me because I spent so much of my life in that area.Unless you're matching up to photoreal or there are particular geographic landmarks you're going sightseeing for at low altitude I think 38m is a good compromise. There's a Finger Lakes mesh that covers an area between (roughly) Rochester NY and Albany and south toward Pennsylvania that's available for download that should give you a good feel for what 38m looks like. Fly from say Penn Yan to Corning in MS's world and then load the mesh. You'll be hooked.Good luck.John

[Guest SIX]

Man, these are some great response post you guys worked on. I appreciate your hard-work.Justin, I have been in contact with you via email and I think you know what route I am taking, however it will be taken care of in whole by Wednesday.I do still have a couple questions I have thought about today. I live in Northern Michigan and we have nice rolling hills. The highest ones may be 1000 ft or so. Will I see this in any of this in the FS Genesis scenery?Next, I make KBFI (Boeing Field) as a home base. If you know anything about KBFI, it is literally a couple miles at best from KSEA. When your on approach into either of the airports for a North to South landing, you will be taken across a hill. With MS FS2k2 default scenery, I ALWAYS get Terrain warnings in my PSS 747-400 (Pull UP! TERRAIN TERRAIN). VATSIM ATC have decision hieghts based on the Default scenery. In other words, they tell you to descend and maintain 3,000 ft. I usually have literally less than 200 ft clearance. They know about that hill, they have planned the approaches. Now, the last time I let ATC control me into the airport I told them about that problem and they said they would adjust their numbers. However, with some serious MESH scenery, wouldn't I be in serious danger. 200 ft is no playing room, whatsoever. On take off from 13R at KBFI you have to pull up and with a 100% fueled 747-400 that can be a chore to get over that hill as well. There are other airports with simular default scenery "problems" of the same nature. The question remains, what has been your experience with these situations and how does MESH effect your ability to interact with ATC (VATSIM or AI)?Think about it...Thanks...-----------Wilson HinesHEAVY LHC EditorUVI014FS GROUPFlt Planning DirectorAOL IM: dal276wh

[Justin Toposim 16]

HI Wilson>Man, these are some great response post you guys worked on. >I appreciate your hard-work. >Justin, I have been in contact with you via email and I >think you know what route I am taking, however it will be >taken care of in whole by Wednesday. >Thanks, again . . .>I do still have a couple questions I have thought about >today. I live in Northern Michigan and we have nice rolling >hills. The highest ones may be 1000 ft or so. Will I see >this in any of this in the FS Genesis scenery? >You will see it in the expansion of Appalachians & Northeast, which will ship probably around mid-October. Completing Texas & SE right now. When that's done, I'll expand the existing Appalachians & Northeast to fill in whatever gaps remain, northern Michigan included, at which point I will have full 38.2m coverage of the contiguous US in a five CD Set, each also available separately.>Next, I make KBFI (Boeing Field) as a home base. If you >know anything about KBFI, it is literally a couple miles at >best from KSEA. When your on approach into either of the >airports for a North to South landing, you will be taken >across a hill. With MS FS2k2 default scenery, I ALWAYS get >Terrain warnings in my PSS 747-400 (Pull UP! TERRAIN >TERRAIN). VATSIM ATC have decision hieghts based on the >Default scenery. In other words, they tell you to descend >and maintain 3,000 ft. I usually have literally less than >200 ft clearance. They know about that hill, they have >planned the approaches. Now, the last time I let ATC >control me into the airport I told them about that problem >and they said they would adjust their numbers. However, >with some serious MESH scenery, wouldn't I be in serious >danger. 200 ft is no playing room, whatsoever. On take off >from 13R at KBFI you have to pull up and with a 100% fueled >747-400 that can be a chore to get over that hill as well. >There are other airports with simular default scenery >"problems" of the same nature. The question remains, what >has been your experience with these situations and how does >MESH effect your ability to interact with ATC (VATSIM or >AI)? >Not really qualified to answer that, since my production schedule really hasn't allowed much time for the online flying experience. All I can say is that the terrain mesh will approximate the real-world data within the constraints of the resampled Level of Detail. The Higher the LOD, the closer will be the approximation.I guess if VATSIM uses real-world data, routes, vectors, SIDS, etc. that you shouldn't have problems.Hope this helpsJustinhttp://www.fsgenesis.com

[Guest SIX]

I took the plunge. I went with www.fsgenesis.com MESH scenery a few minutes ago. $100 for lifetime membership, no shipping ever, no more money when FS2k4 comes out, no more anything...but great scenery. I can't wait.-----------Wilson HinesHEAVY LHC EditorUVI014FS GROUPFlt Planning DirectorAOL IM: dal276wh

[Guest]

Hi WilsonDoes anybody know of any coupon codes or anything like that so I can get a break on pricing? I would love to buy Europe and the USA at the same time...all of it. But, not at those prices About England and Wales, something special is about to happen. You can get the terrain and aerial views in a complete package that will retail in four issues of three discs each issue.Buying all for 99.99 English pounds will save you Twenty Pounds over the cost of separate issues With this scenery, you have all the hills and views which when flying will show every road, building, just as a real pilot would see in daylight.The first set is due almost now and is for the Eastern part of England.Go to www.getmapping.com/flightsim and follow the links and see the screenshots.During the Millenium Year the whole of England and Wales was mapped from a height of 5000ft.

[Garys 209]

Hi, I just went and had a look at the getmapping site and I have to say that this scenery looks amazing. The only qestion I have is that in the screen shots I have seen, the land looks perfectly Flat. Is this the case or are rolling hills etc depicted in this scenery package as well?CheersGaz

[Guest]

"Hi, I just went and had a look at the getmapping site and I have to say that this scenery looks amazing. The only qestion I have is that in the screen shots I have seen, the land looks perfectly Flat. Is this the case or are rolling hills etc depicted in this scenery package as well?"Hi Gaz,VISUAL FLIGHT Mesh is included in the package insofar as England and Wales are concerned. The other scenery for the UK is due later. If you want Scotland, which is spectacular, you will need VISUAL FLIGHT 2. See www.visualflight.co.uk for more views..