Adding 10 meter elevation data to fs2002...

[Guest]

I'm a newbie to scenery design, so bear with me.I found the 10 meter USGS dem file that I wanted. I translated this dem file into a binary file that fs2002 can use with a util. called read_dem.exe. I then created an inf file per the instructions in the scenery SDK, and used the resample.exe util. to create a bgl file. I viewed this bgl file on the bgl viewer that comes with the sdk. It looked great--rich with detail. However, when I place this bgl file in the scenery sub-directory of the addon scenery folder per the instructions in the sdk, I can see no change in the resolution of the landscape I'm trying to modify when I fly around it. In this case the landscape is Yosemite Valley, and a major feature in the valley is a monument of granite called "Half Dome". When I fly by half dome, it is the same featureless lump it was before I added the higher resolution elevation bgl file.I did this thing absolutely by the book, but I just can't seem to get the higher resolution to take. Any helpful comments are welcome. Also, if there are any utilities out there I can download to help automate the proccess, I'd love to hear about them.

[Guest sgreenwood]

Since your bgl file looks OK, only a couple of "obvious" things come to mind:* Be sure the Addon Scenery area exists and is checked in the Scenery Library. (And that your file is actually in the addon sceneryscenery folder.)* Have you entered the correct coordinates in the inf file?These determine where the data will apear in the sim. Check the bgl file using the Tmfviewer and see if you are in the correct hemisphere! (Western hemisphere data should have negative longitude values.)Stevewww-fs-traveler.com

[Guest]

Everything you mention checks out. I can even see Half Dome itself in the tmf viewer. This is my target terrain feature.Someone in another forum suggested I tamper with the fs2002.cfg file, and change "Terrain_Max_Vertex = 19" to "Terrain_Max_Vertex = 21" in order for the LOD 12 data to show up. Do you know anything about this?

[Guest sgreenwood]

Sure do; check my website.www.fs-traveler.com/tmv-example.htmlAnd FS2002 limits the radius of LOD12 mesh to about 7 or 8 nautical miles. You should consider recreating it at LOD10 and LOD11 and compare screenshots. The coverage will increase and there will be little loss of detail. They still benefit from a TMVL setting of 21.Steve

[Guest]

The other forum also mentioned that I have to match my destination boundries to the LOD grid boundries. How do I do this? The grid boundries I use are the lat and long boundries that came with the dem header.To be more specific, is it sufficent to set UseSourceDimensions = 1 in the destination section of the inf and then in the source section set lat and lon to the upper left grid coordinates, or must I specify Northlat, Southlat, Eastlon, Westlon in the destination section?

[Guest sgreenwood]

>The other forum also mentioned that I have to match my>destination boundries to the LOD grid boundries. How do I do>this? There is no need to do this. Your approach is fine, for now. (I assume you have been able to view your new mesh by now, constructed without regard to LOD grid boundaries!) Resample only creates mesh for full LOD quadrants, any data outside the boundaries will simply be ignored. >To be more specific, is it sufficent to set>UseSourceDimensions = 1 in the destination section of the inf>and then in the source section set lat and lon to the upper>left grid coordinates As long as you are using only one source data file, this is sufficient. >or must I specify Northlat, Southlat,>Eastlon, Westlon in the destination section? Only if you are using more than one source file, or want to limit the amount of source data included in your mesh to a subset of the source area (for example, to control which LOD grid quadrants are included), but you can also adjust the size of the source data to accomplish the same end. If you do get more involved with mesh development you will want to learn more about using LOD values effectively. You can learn more about LOD quadrants by experimenting with my LOD calculator spreadsheet (Excel 2000 format). Once you understand how all this works, you can decide how you want to assemble the alternatives.Steve

[rhumbaflappy 113]

Hi fleubout.Steve is giving you great advice, and his website is VERY informative.I don't know where you got your data, but I'm guessing it's the USGS National Map Seamless Distribution:http://seamless.usgs.gov/viewer.htmYou can order the NED data in 1 degree chunks... like N38 N37 W120 W119, to cover Yosemite.You can choose to download the data as BIL format. This requires no translation. Here's my INF file ( I renamed the BIL as N38W120NED.bil ):[source]Type = ElevS16LSBSourceDir = "."SourceFile = "N38W120NED.bil"NullCellValue = -32767Lat = 38Lon = -120NumOfCellsPerLine = 3600NumOfLines = 3600CellXDimensionDeg = 0.00027CellYDimensionDeg = 0.00027[Destination]LOD = 10DestDir = "."DestBaseFileName = "N38W120NED"UseSourceDimensions = 1I call this with a batchfile named N38W120NED.bat:resample N38W120NED.inftmfcompress N38W120NED.tmf N38W120NEDC.tmftmf2bgl N38W120NEDC.tmf N38W120NED.bgldel *.tmfThis makes a BGL that covers slightly less than the 1 degree bounds. As Steve wrote, for your purposes you don't need to worry about the LOD bounds.The datum is NAD83 but I don't think reprojection to WGS84 would be of much benefit... so don't worry about that.http://forums.avsim.com/user_files/14328.jpgDick

[rhumbaflappy 113]

Hi fleubout.A correction to the INF file:[source]Type = ElevS16LSBSourceDir = "."SourceFile = "N38W120NED.BIL"NullCellValue = -32767Lat = 37.99986111207111Lon = -119.99986111271100 NumOfCellsPerLine = 3600NumOfLines = 3600CellXDimensionDeg = 0.00027777777780CellYDimensionDeg = 0.00027777777780[Destination]LOD = 10DestDir = "."DestBaseFileName = "N38W120NED"UseSourceDimensions = 1These values come from the "BLW" file, and they are correct.Dick