Google Maps 3D Objects injected!!!

[cwburnett 1,809]

4 minutes ago, n4gix said:

We have been locking the posts there to prevent fellow members replying, commenting, or otherwise making the post cluttered with side-chatter and such noise...

However I can unlock your contribution(s) so that you can make updates, and will simply have to hide any replies (or move them back to the main forum at least.

We would prefer to keep each entry in the T&T forum down to one tip or trick per post, and keep them as short and to the point as possible.

PM me with whichever you wish to be unlocked.

If you want, maybe just link to the CJ4 thread like you did with the Caravan thread? I thought that worked well. If that's okay. Totally up to you, I'm just a guest here!

I'll let you know if/when I do more avionics videos (without a voiceover, lol) and we can decide how to add them then if they're useful.

[RioPilot 99]

It was not a particularly enjoyable experience, but after much trial and error (and learning the basics of Blender in less than 24 hours), I've managed to create a Google photogrammetry model of a casino in Atlantic City, which properly displays in the sim.

However, the texture and mesh resolution was not to my liking. When using RenderDoc to capture the 3D Google image, does anyone know how to get a good enough "scan" of the model to where the quality doesn't degrade too much?

[n4gix 4,979]

32 minutes ago, cwburnett said:

If you want, maybe just link to the CJ4 thread like you did with the Caravan thread? I thought that worked well. If that's okay. Totally up to you, I'm just a guest here!

CJ4 done. Works for me. I'll leave the topic pinned to the top of the main forum for the time being so it won't get pushed down into the weeds again.

[reignman40 450]

https://www.fsdeveloper.com/forum/forums/msfs2020.155/

https://www.fsdeveloper.com/forum/threads/introduction-to-msfs-sdk-scenery.448469/

 

Edited August 27, 2020 by reignman40

[Farlis 2,453]

Just a heads up on my previous plan to add all churches to my hometown and then release it as a freeware package on the weekend:

As it always is with these projects they tend to outgrow their initial goal. After I saw the preliminary results I was so amazed how a few real life buildings spread among the ai generated buildings Because here in Europe it is usually not the highrises that form the visual fingerprint of a city, it is the belltowers of the churches.

It treally transformed a generic city into having exactly the kind of skyline that I have known for decades, I decided to add further structures that are so unique that the AI has no clue what to make out the images of them. And I got sidetracked by trying the same with the city of Lübeck, which is famous for it's 7 belltower silhoutte. And it worked the same miracle.

And while I still share the final result with the community, it is going to take at least another week until I'm done.

[FlyIce 354]

36 minutes ago, Farlis said:

And while I still share the final result with the community, it is going to take at least another week until I'm done.

Thank you! It'll be great that we have crowdfunding like community with each member contributing even just a ting bit but all added together keeps covering more areas better.

https://www.msfsaddons.org/ seems to be a good start, but I hope sth that can develop into a more centralized and automatic update system. With numerous addons coming out from every corner of the world, their numbers probably are soon going be impossible to track and manage by individual users. Of course, no chance MS/Asobo is going to have a hand in these Google-injected freeware business.

[CJ1045 469]

Followed the video and nicely have a model in Blender. Not too difficult although I found it a little hit/miss whether Renderdoc sucked in just the right mesh. Sadly the small town I was interested in does not have 3D buildings whereas fairly nearby Bath does. My own house is also flat as a pancake which is a bit of a shame. Going to see what Heathrow looks like, should be fun!!

 

CJ

[ThrottleUp 639]

This is amazing. I find Googles imagery to be much better than Bings. Like others have said I wonder how long this will go on for before MS sits up and takes notice. Will they release a patch that stops this sort of thing? 

On another note - some very clever and talented people out there. The sim is barely out the starting gate and look at the stuff we are seeing already. 

[tweekz 2,165]

9 hours ago, Farlis said:

Because here in Europe it is usually not the highrises that form the visual fingerprint of a city, it is the belltowers of the churches.

Exactly! That's why I wonder that Blackshark didn't use that map info to place such things where they are instead of normal buildings. This data is freely available, even in BING.

[Shack95 2,708]

41 minutes ago, tweekz said:

Exactly! That's why I wonder that Blackshark didn't use that map info to place such things where they are instead of normal buildings. This data is freely available, even in BING.

I don’t know how exactly the autogen works, i.e. how the buildings are generated to match their footprints, but I could imagine that it isn‘t that easy for complex structures such as churches. Moreover, they need to create various styles to make it look plausible. I mean, a typical church in e.g. the UK looks rather different from a typical church in Bavaria. And then there‘s mosques, synagogues, Hindu temples etc etc. I‘m sure they‘ll come at some point, but I guess we‘ll first see powerlines, chimneys and radio towers. 

Edited August 31, 2020 by Shack95

[CJ1045 469]

Sadly Heathrow, as an example, in Google maps is nowhere near as good as Bath city. The default Heathrow in the game is better.

 

CJ

[Der Zeitgeist 1,575]

12 minutes ago, Shack95 said:

I don’t know how exactly the autogen works, i.e. how the buildings are generated to match their footprints, but I could imagine that it isn‘t that easy for complex structures such as churches. Moreover, they need to create various styles to make it look plsusible. I mean, a typical church in e.g. the UK looks rather different from a typical church in Bavaria. And then there‘s mosques, synagogues, Hindu temples etc etc. I‘m sure they‘ll come at some point, but I guess we‘ll first see powerlines, chimneys and radio radio towers. 

The worst thing would have been generic-looking churches, mosques, etc. when the real buildings have a very particular style. Considering how passionate people tend to get about religious matters, staying away from that was probably the best thing to do.

[Shack95 2,708]

16 minutes ago, Der Zeitgeist said:

The worst thing would have been generic-looking churches, mosques, etc. when the real buildings have a very particular style. Considering how passionate people tend to get about religious matters, staying away from that was probably the best thing to do.

Agreed. Imagine the outcry if the AI placed a mosque instead of a church or vice versa because the data just says „place of worship“.

Edited August 31, 2020 by Shack95

[tweekz 2,165]

1 hour ago, Shack95 said:

I don’t know how exactly the autogen works, i.e. how the buildings are generated to match their footprints, but I could imagine that it isn‘t that easy for complex structures such as churches.

What I meant was using the meta data like building type  of objects in maps. Then you just have to have a category of churches that you use like other building types (residential, industrial, etc).

This is not limited to churches. It can also be applied to other special building types like hospitals, shopping malls, radio antennas, power lines, etc.

If you were refering to the footprint alone (not dtection of building type), see below.

 

1 hour ago, Der Zeitgeist said:

The worst thing would have been generic-looking churches, mosques, etc. when the real buildings have a very particular style. Considering how passionate people tend to get about religious matters, staying away from that was probably the best thing to do.

While there are distinctive churches, in most cases it would be close enough. I think it looks even worse to have a residential building or industrial building where a church should be. Those are important landmarks for VFR. Better to have something that resembles a clocktower than nothing.

Edited August 31, 2020 by tweekz

[Farlis 2,453]

1 hour ago, tweekz said:

While there are distinctive churches, in most cases it would be close enough.

I agree. The architectural styles are mostly set. Romanesque, gothic, baroque are the most distinct. The only thing the AI would need to learn where the bell tower is flat, and where it is pointy and how tall it such a tower is on average. That should make it possible to build and approximation on the layout.

Edited August 31, 2020 by Farlis