Why I have issues with photogrammetry
Posted: Tue Feb 18, 2025 2:04 pmThe subtitle here should be 'The Worst Screenshots of All Time.'
Really, it's more of a love/hate relationship with photogrammetry. As someone who has always prioritised real-looking scenery, it's a big leap forward, but I think MSFS photogrammetry is a long way away from something that works reliably. I won't go into the streaming/bandwidth issues that a lot of people have, this is just one aspect in MSFS2024.
I've been thinking about this after reading a thread on the flightsimulator.com forum. One bloke has rated a lot of photogrammetry areas in the world, and you can see his ratings etc here.
He's looked at Auckland, Wellington, Tauranga and Queenstown, but doesn't mention Christchurch. The whole thread is a good read, but the link takes you straight to his updated ratings.
Here's my one big issue with 2024. They've added 80,000 helipads as default, a lot of these -- 10,000? -- are hand-crafted, but most are not. There are a few in New Zealand, and these add a lot to the experience for heli fans. But combined with photogrammetry, the non-hand-crafted helipads are not much good. If anyone can get a better result, let us know.
Tauranga Hospital -- the one that got me riled up first
Wellington Hosp -- at least there's an actual platform model here
The other Wellington Hosp helipad -- you can start to see the benefit of Photogrammetry over the road, with actual facades
...although something terrible has happened to Countdown, near the hospital
In Auckland, Advanced Flight Ltd have helipads here
For goodness sake, this is Auckland Hospital
Out my way, here's Avalon Studios, in the Hutt
Another hospital I wouldn't want to visit, Hamilton
North Shore Hospital
Papakura Military Base, room for improvement
The US Embassy helipad in Wellington
Really, it's more of a love/hate relationship with photogrammetry. As someone who has always prioritised real-looking scenery, it's a big leap forward, but I think MSFS photogrammetry is a long way away from something that works reliably. I won't go into the streaming/bandwidth issues that a lot of people have, this is just one aspect in MSFS2024.
I've been thinking about this after reading a thread on the flightsimulator.com forum. One bloke has rated a lot of photogrammetry areas in the world, and you can see his ratings etc here.
He's looked at Auckland, Wellington, Tauranga and Queenstown, but doesn't mention Christchurch. The whole thread is a good read, but the link takes you straight to his updated ratings.
Here's my one big issue with 2024. They've added 80,000 helipads as default, a lot of these -- 10,000? -- are hand-crafted, but most are not. There are a few in New Zealand, and these add a lot to the experience for heli fans. But combined with photogrammetry, the non-hand-crafted helipads are not much good. If anyone can get a better result, let us know.
Tauranga Hospital -- the one that got me riled up first
Wellington Hosp -- at least there's an actual platform model here
The other Wellington Hosp helipad -- you can start to see the benefit of Photogrammetry over the road, with actual facades
...although something terrible has happened to Countdown, near the hospital
In Auckland, Advanced Flight Ltd have helipads here
For goodness sake, this is Auckland Hospital
Out my way, here's Avalon Studios, in the Hutt
Another hospital I wouldn't want to visit, Hamilton
North Shore Hospital
Papakura Military Base, room for improvement
The US Embassy helipad in Wellington
(pic 3)