I installed SBX, got images through manifold install and have background images in SBX, but will not compile...no errors, just nothing happens.
I would attach an screenshot of the SBX BGL Compile dialog, but can only read English. The dialog shows Type of Scenery...Terrain Vector grayed out. Start FSX is enabled. Copy Files to BGL Folder is grayed out and the Cancel and Compile buttons are enabled. A click compile and nothing happens, except for the dialog closing. I have JPEGs in SBuilder/T1 and nopthing in SBuilder/scenery folder.
I must be doing something fundamentally wrong. Any suggestions would be appreciated.
Regards,
Wes Garrard
SBuilder for FSX
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Wesley Garrard
- Posts: 3
- Joined: Tue Jan 23, 2007 10:18 pm
- Location: USA
I select all from menu and same problem. Now I am new to SB and with no help file all I did was to select add map and selected one of the many .JPG files downloaded by manifold. Then select all and try to compile. All grayed out and cannot compile.
Basically I am trying to do the most simple thing...download aerial photos to compile into BGL files to put into FSX.
My apoligies for being such a newbie to SB.
Regards,
Wes Garrard
Basically I am trying to do the most simple thing...download aerial photos to compile into BGL files to put into FSX.
My apoligies for being such a newbie to SB.
Regards,
Wes Garrard
Hello
Hum! That is not possible! You wanted to make PHOTO scenery. At the moment SB only makes TERRAIN scenery or, in other words, lines and polygons. Lines and polygons can be painted with textures or they can define traffic lanes (in the case of lines) or they can define exclusions (in the case of polygons).
The previous version of SBuilder (2.05) was able to make PHOTO scenery for FS2004. It used maps. The BGLS were generated from the maps.
Now you have 2 things: maps and background (Manifold Tiles). If you get a map (see for example http://www.ptsim.com/sbuilder/gmaps.htm ) you could add a map and then generate the BGL. Copyrights questions are with you. It would be very simple for me to add to SBX the function to generate a BGL from a background. But then I would be in trouble with the owners of the images. May be I should write to Live Earth and ask them if I could make available a version of SBuilder that would display the backgrounds directly from the Live Earth servers (without the manifold cached folders) and generate a BGL with photo scenery from those backgrounds.
Do you (or any other Sbuilder user) think that it is worth the trouble of asking (yes it is difficult to ask or to get the rigth contact just for asking).
Kind Regards, Luis
Hum! That is not possible! You wanted to make PHOTO scenery. At the moment SB only makes TERRAIN scenery or, in other words, lines and polygons. Lines and polygons can be painted with textures or they can define traffic lanes (in the case of lines) or they can define exclusions (in the case of polygons).
The previous version of SBuilder (2.05) was able to make PHOTO scenery for FS2004. It used maps. The BGLS were generated from the maps.
Now you have 2 things: maps and background (Manifold Tiles). If you get a map (see for example http://www.ptsim.com/sbuilder/gmaps.htm ) you could add a map and then generate the BGL. Copyrights questions are with you. It would be very simple for me to add to SBX the function to generate a BGL from a background. But then I would be in trouble with the owners of the images. May be I should write to Live Earth and ask them if I could make available a version of SBuilder that would display the backgrounds directly from the Live Earth servers (without the manifold cached folders) and generate a BGL with photo scenery from those backgrounds.
Do you (or any other Sbuilder user) think that it is worth the trouble of asking (yes it is difficult to ask or to get the rigth contact just for asking).
Kind Regards, Luis
Luis,
Regarding your image BGL question:
For me one of the nicest functions of SB is photoscenery. The Google API is limited. However, it should be possible to "stitch together", a large area of high resolution (1 meter/pixel or better) stuff using Manifold's program.
As to the legal area - JD Cox takes many images from Terrasever and stitches them together for an excellent composite of high resolution photos for conversion to a BGL using SDK tools. I see no difference with his activity and yours using a different photo source. You may want to send him an email to see if he has a special relationship with Microsoft to allow his activity/facilitation. Unfortunately Terraserver covers very few areas in the USA and non-worldwide.
The rule-of-thumb seems to be that if you do not directly profit, or knowingly assist, in the making of a profit, there is no problem. Also, you do not eliminate any commercial attribution or watermarks in your process which carries the title of ownership forward to anyone who uses your program.
I have seen lots of posts on other forums for other products that spend lots of bandwidth on this subject which is moot for all PRACTICAL purposes. May be fun to argue in a law school but not really a live argument.
Dick Boley near 5G8
Regarding your image BGL question:
For me one of the nicest functions of SB is photoscenery. The Google API is limited. However, it should be possible to "stitch together", a large area of high resolution (1 meter/pixel or better) stuff using Manifold's program.
As to the legal area - JD Cox takes many images from Terrasever and stitches them together for an excellent composite of high resolution photos for conversion to a BGL using SDK tools. I see no difference with his activity and yours using a different photo source. You may want to send him an email to see if he has a special relationship with Microsoft to allow his activity/facilitation. Unfortunately Terraserver covers very few areas in the USA and non-worldwide.
The rule-of-thumb seems to be that if you do not directly profit, or knowingly assist, in the making of a profit, there is no problem. Also, you do not eliminate any commercial attribution or watermarks in your process which carries the title of ownership forward to anyone who uses your program.
I have seen lots of posts on other forums for other products that spend lots of bandwidth on this subject which is moot for all PRACTICAL purposes. May be fun to argue in a law school but not really a live argument.
Dick Boley near 5G8
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Wesley Garrard
- Posts: 3
- Joined: Tue Jan 23, 2007 10:18 pm
- Location: USA
Hey Luis,
1) I guess I am having a hard time distinguishing the difference between a map and background. They are both images right? How was the previous version of SB able to create PHOTO scenery from maps?
2) Regarding the use of images from the servers on the internet such as Terraserver, many are public domain, specifically Terraserver. The US goverment (US taxpayers) paid to send those planes and satellites up to take those pictures, not Microsoft. Whether it is Google, Microsoft, or whomever, all of those aerial/satellite images appear to be USGS/NASA photos. Here are a couple of quotes from their the Terraserver website:
"Enhance your own web site or application by programming with TerraService Web Service. Our web service enables you to query TerraServer meta data and access TerraServer Map Servers to render custom imagery maps for you web site or client application."
Also:
"Many users of TerraServer-USA have requested permission to use imagery from TerraServer-USA. All the data stored within Microsoft Terraserver is public domain, US Geological Survey data. Thus, users are welcome to include references to TerraServer-USA imagery in their own web pages. All that is asked is that an acknowledgement be placed next to the image referencing that it is a USGS image and that it comes from TerraServer-USA. "
3) I believe for many simmers flying above photorealistic scenery has great interest. Just look at the hot topic at avsim where a guy is doing something similar in realtime. The screenshots are truly amazing:
http://forums.avsim.net/dcboard.php?az= ... 2711&page=
To some of us it is the holy grail of flight sim.
Regards,
Wes Garrard
1) I guess I am having a hard time distinguishing the difference between a map and background. They are both images right? How was the previous version of SB able to create PHOTO scenery from maps?
2) Regarding the use of images from the servers on the internet such as Terraserver, many are public domain, specifically Terraserver. The US goverment (US taxpayers) paid to send those planes and satellites up to take those pictures, not Microsoft. Whether it is Google, Microsoft, or whomever, all of those aerial/satellite images appear to be USGS/NASA photos. Here are a couple of quotes from their the Terraserver website:
"Enhance your own web site or application by programming with TerraService Web Service. Our web service enables you to query TerraServer meta data and access TerraServer Map Servers to render custom imagery maps for you web site or client application."
Also:
"Many users of TerraServer-USA have requested permission to use imagery from TerraServer-USA. All the data stored within Microsoft Terraserver is public domain, US Geological Survey data. Thus, users are welcome to include references to TerraServer-USA imagery in their own web pages. All that is asked is that an acknowledgement be placed next to the image referencing that it is a USGS image and that it comes from TerraServer-USA. "
3) I believe for many simmers flying above photorealistic scenery has great interest. Just look at the hot topic at avsim where a guy is doing something similar in realtime. The screenshots are truly amazing:
http://forums.avsim.net/dcboard.php?az= ... 2711&page=
To some of us it is the holy grail of flight sim.
Regards,
Wes Garrard
My homemade definitions - The background is a static picture that cannot be used directly for display in FSxxxx but is used as a template for hand tracing and element placement.. Map is an image that can be manipulated and actually displayed in FSxxxx.
As to Government paid for data. That data becomes the property of the Government which has been entrusted by the citizens for its management. So, some clever type in the government decided why not restrict access and force the citizens to pay for the data. There is some USGS data that is licensed to commercial firms that do that. A more interesting analogy is that the FCC sells portions of the airwaves for big sums and a significant amount of money has been collected. If this is not illegal (big companies fought it) then our little photos and elevation needs will slowly become payware. The trigger will be when the acquisition becomes frequent enough to justify the expense of making it payware.
Dick Boley near 5G8
As to Government paid for data. That data becomes the property of the Government which has been entrusted by the citizens for its management. So, some clever type in the government decided why not restrict access and force the citizens to pay for the data. There is some USGS data that is licensed to commercial firms that do that. A more interesting analogy is that the FCC sells portions of the airwaves for big sums and a significant amount of money has been collected. If this is not illegal (big companies fought it) then our little photos and elevation needs will slowly become payware. The trigger will be when the acquisition becomes frequent enough to justify the expense of making it payware.
Dick Boley near 5G8
Hi Folks
Question about map display extents.
Don't know if this only applies to the FSX version of SBuilder.
I understand that SBuilder will only display maps at their available zoom level.
No problem, as this is not a question about zoom levels.
The area coverage extent
as displayed in the SBuilder viewport
is 4x larger than that in Internet Explorer/Manifold.
This makes the visible map half the size
of that visible concurrently in Internet Explorer.
e.g.
If a tile is displayed as 100x100 pixels in IE,
that same tile is only displayed as 50x50 pixels in SBuilder.
This seriously limits the accuracy of positioning.
Could the SBuilder viewport be recoded and scaled to -
at least match pixel by pixel that of IE,
or even better,
to be greater than that displayed in IE.
I'm running 2 off 1600x1200 monitors.
HTH
ATB
Paul
Question about map display extents.
Don't know if this only applies to the FSX version of SBuilder.
I understand that SBuilder will only display maps at their available zoom level.
No problem, as this is not a question about zoom levels.
The area coverage extent
as displayed in the SBuilder viewport
is 4x larger than that in Internet Explorer/Manifold.
This makes the visible map half the size
of that visible concurrently in Internet Explorer.
e.g.
If a tile is displayed as 100x100 pixels in IE,
that same tile is only displayed as 50x50 pixels in SBuilder.
This seriously limits the accuracy of positioning.
Could the SBuilder viewport be recoded and scaled to -
at least match pixel by pixel that of IE,
or even better,
to be greater than that displayed in IE.
I'm running 2 off 1600x1200 monitors.
HTH
ATB
Paul
Hi and thanks for the sbuilder beta Luis...
Tried to create an exlude file for default ENAL airport with no luck..
First i tried to creat an poly around the buildings, choosing if i remember correctly exclude_utillities and then compiled an bgl file witch i put in an own folder called e.g ENAL_exclude with subfolder scenery. Put that one into the scenery library with 1 priority...
This did not work, no buildings was excluded from the default airport.
If someone has an genius way to explain me how to exlude these buildings so i can start designing my airport, please feel free to send me an email on post@tknudsen.com
I have all required things installed such as Toolbars, SDK, SDK SP1 and so on..
All correct bgl tools are within the tools folder of sbuilder..
Please help
Tried to create an exlude file for default ENAL airport with no luck..
First i tried to creat an poly around the buildings, choosing if i remember correctly exclude_utillities and then compiled an bgl file witch i put in an own folder called e.g ENAL_exclude with subfolder scenery. Put that one into the scenery library with 1 priority...
This did not work, no buildings was excluded from the default airport.
If someone has an genius way to explain me how to exlude these buildings so i can start designing my airport, please feel free to send me an email on post@tknudsen.com
I have all required things installed such as Toolbars, SDK, SDK SP1 and so on..
All correct bgl tools are within the tools folder of sbuilder..
Please help
Luis,
Is it possible to provide an option for a "blending mask (alpha) when the user draws a polygon. Some land class look ok from SBX but others do not.
Also, could you make the landclass/poly type window larger or expandable. With so many selections it would be nice to see more as you scroll.
Dick Boley near 5G8
Is it possible to provide an option for a "blending mask (alpha) when the user draws a polygon. Some land class look ok from SBX but others do not.
Also, could you make the landclass/poly type window larger or expandable. With so many selections it would be nice to see more as you scroll.
Dick Boley near 5G8
Hi all,
At first thanks all for the program and information.
Here is my information-question.
-I finally have the background working, this seems to only work with googleV2
-When I use go to position or fly aircraft to I have error communicating with FSUIPC( I reinstalled FSUIPC..)
-I cannot compile a BLG, I draw a polygon,ad a map(wich I think is neccesary or does it als take texture from background?) select it with pointer, compile BGL, nothing
I'm new to FSX scenery but I already spent hours and hours to it...
Maybe a quick overview of how to add landclass-texture with sbuilder would be nice..
Thanks
At first thanks all for the program and information.
Here is my information-question.
-I finally have the background working, this seems to only work with googleV2
-When I use go to position or fly aircraft to I have error communicating with FSUIPC( I reinstalled FSUIPC..)
-I cannot compile a BLG, I draw a polygon,ad a map(wich I think is neccesary or does it als take texture from background?) select it with pointer, compile BGL, nothing
I'm new to FSX scenery but I already spent hours and hours to it...
Maybe a quick overview of how to add landclass-texture with sbuilder would be nice..
Thanks
Just draw a polygon over your background. Complete it with a tight click. Then right click on an edge and go to properties at the bottom of the opoup window. There you can select the texture you want in the polygon. See my message above. Those are two polygons with city textures selected from the right click properties menu.
Note: you have to go into Virtual Earth and Google and scan around the area you will want for a background at the zoom level you will want. Do not go too fast to allow the images to be refreshed and captured by the Manifold program.
Dick Boley near 5G8
Note: you have to go into Virtual Earth and Google and scan around the area you will want for a background at the zoom level you will want. Do not go too fast to allow the images to be refreshed and captured by the Manifold program.
Dick Boley near 5G8