NZFF

by **Rotordude** » Wed Jan 19, 2011 11:27 pm

Just a heads up for those that may be interested in a tighter mesh for our Aotearoa. It is availible from this site http://scenari.realearthx.it/catalog.html for a small fee of â‚¬9.99 = $17 of ours.
The server is slow for downloads but he does offer a DVD service. I am downloading atm and have half of the South Island installed.
Total size is around 7.9gig for North and South.

So far for what I have seen, it is really awesome. Cant wait till the Milford section arrives.

I fell upon this site purely by accident while I was browsing youtube.

So there ya go, looks like everyone is getting in on the NZ scene, the more attention we get the better.

by **Adamski** » Wed Jan 19, 2011 11:55 pm

I'm a bit dumb when it comes to scenery ... will this work with VLC?

by **Adamski** » Thu Jan 20, 2011 11:15 am

Wait ... hang on folks ... you're confusing me even more!!!!

Rortordude's original post (and link) talk about *MESH* ... then we're talking about *LANDCLASS* (GEX etc.).

My question still stands ... would the elevation data in the Italian mesh conflict with anything in VLC?

by **Rotordude** » Thu Jan 20, 2011 11:28 am

Adamski wrote:
QUOTE (Adamski @ Jan 20 2011, 12:15 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>
Wait ... hang on folks ... you're confusing me even more!!!!

Rortordude's original post (and link) talk about *MESH* ... then we're talking about *LANDCLASS* (GEX etc.).
So .... are these MESH files on the Italian site anything to do with If so, I'm not touching 'em!

My question still stands ... would the elevation data in the Italian mesh conflict with anything in VLC?

Im still flying around, will give you feed back...(still downloading off very slow server) well I may do. It sounds like I am stepping on what has become the VLC sacred cow so I may just drop the subject

by **Adamski** » Thu Jan 20, 2011 11:42 am

Rotordude wrote:
QUOTE (Rotordude @ Jan 20 2011, 12:28 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>
It sounds like I am stepping on what has become the VLC sacred cow so I may just drop the subject

Please don't drop it ... I'm still confused

@IanW ... you know about all this stuff (!) ... would this 5m *MESH* be in any way problematic with VLC? Is there a copyright issue with it?

by **Rotordude** » Thu Jan 20, 2011 12:05 pm

It WILL cause issues in some areas guaranteed! as the 5mtr mesh is tighter vertically, I have found a few air strips that have an issue, but no more than when one changes from default mesh to a 20mtr.

by **toprob** » Thu Jan 20, 2011 12:13 pm

Time to tidy this up a bit before paranoia runs amok...

I've deleted some posts, Rotordude I'm sorry that you were put in the position where you needed to prove that you actually owned the software you use, that shouldn't happen. It does go to show that there is a new element of distrust with anything relating to new releases which appear out of the blue. We've had a bit of a bad run, that's for sure.

I can imagine that some of us are sceptical, but there's no reason to think that this is anything but a legitimate release. No doubt it has some kind of EULA, and probably gives the source of the data, I guess that this will be available to anyone who is concerned. At 7.6kb/s, I think it'll be a while before I can check it out, though.

Adamski -- I guess that the only person who can answer your questions is the developer. Have you tried contacting them?

by **Adamski** » Thu Jan 20, 2011 2:59 pm

toprob wrote:
QUOTE (toprob @ Jan 20 2011, 01:13 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>
Adamski -- I guess that the only person who can answer your questions is the developer. Have you tried contacting them?

No (not yet) ... I only heard about this yesterday

... I wonder whether they've even heard of VLC though. More likely that ppl here from VLC would be able to tell if there may be any "gotchas".

Thanks for weighing in, Rob

I hope feathers are suitably unruffled now!

@rotordude ... the price they quote is for the *whole lot*? Are the individual dowloads totally separate /standalone ... ie. can you add these as you go along? I suspect that's what you're doing <?> ... with the D/L being so painfully slow.

by **Rotordude** » Thu Jan 20, 2011 3:21 pm

Adamski wrote:
QUOTE (Adamski @ Jan 20 2011, 03:59 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>
@rotordude ... the price they quote is for the *whole lot*? Are the individual dowloads totally separate /standalone ... ie. can you add these as you go along? I suspect that's what you're doing <?> ... with the D/L being so painfully slow.

Price is for north and south, each archive is password protected, Daniele will send you a key.
You will need something like 7zip or winzip to unpack them standard windows zipped folders wont work.

Just unpack them as they come in, it is a bit hard to find the new scenery while flying when there are only 2 or 3 installed

they seem to be in order and work down from Marlborough / farewell spit to bluff.

2 to go on the south archives, then I can start on that other place

Adamski wrote:
QUOTE (Adamski @ Jan 20 2011, 03:59 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>
No (not yet) ... I only heard about this yesterday ... I wonder whether they've even heard of VLC though. More likely that ppl here from VLC would be able to tell if there may be any "gotchas".

mmmmm do I smell a licensed 5mtr enhance version of VLC

by **Timmo** » Thu Jan 20, 2011 3:26 pm

Adamski wrote:
QUOTE (Adamski @ Jan 20 2011, 12:55 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>
I'm a bit dumb when it comes to scenery ... will this work with VLC?

Without having actually tested this mesh but speaking in general terms: Different mesh files will 'work' (including default if you wish) with the 'landclass' part of VLC but with the usual potential issues apparent. That is, airport elevations (either default, VLC or other) may be incorrect in relation to the new mesh meaning airports sit in a trench or on a plateau.

Again, without seeing this mesh itself, a 5m mesh is a concept that requires a bit more explanation- When I created the VLC mesh, I could have interpolated and compiled this at any ground resolution I wanted......but that doesn't mean the final result would have been any different (apart from larger file sizes and longer load times) or better. Alternatively, someone could take the raw SRTM mesh and put it through resample at a 1m setting if they so wished- But it would be like taking an image from a 1 mega pixel digital camera, re sampling it to 12 mega pixels and then selling it as a 12 mega pixel image*- All that you have is 12 times the data but without 12 times the information. Another way to think of it is plugging in a very high resolution screen into a computer that only outputs a 800*600 pixel display- Those extra pixels are simply repeating the same information from their surrounding neighbours .

So, why do New Zealand mesh addons seem to top out at 20m? There are a few country wide sources of terrain information, the main ones being the SRTM data (used in the default mesh), newer ASTER data (which is supposed to be 30m but the quality is pretty low) and the 20m LINZ contours (used for the VLC mesh- Obviously contours are not a continuous mesh so need to be interpolated to create a contiguous surface- There are some other height sources which are used to beef up the data too). The 20m pixel size (well, 20m-ish....the actual value is in spherical degrees rather than a projected measurement of area such as meters) used for the VLC and RB mesh is the 'balance point' at which the accuracy of the source data is not lost (i.e. desampled) while at the same time not simply adding pixels for the sake of it (up-sampled). Given that, to my knowledge, these are the only country wide sources of terrain data anything much more than a 20m mesh is simply adding more pixels as a point of difference.

*again I should stress I haven't seen this mesh nor know its data sources

by **deaneb** » Thu Jan 20, 2011 4:42 pm

Must admit in the screenshots, I can't really see a difference between 5m and 20m. But definitely between default and others.

by **toprob** » Thu Jan 20, 2011 4:44 pm

Rotordude wrote:
QUOTE (Rotordude @ Jan 20 2011, 04:21 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>
Price is for north and south, each archive is password protected, Daniele will send you a key.
You will need something like 7zip or winzip to unpack them standard windows zipped folders wont work.

Just unpack them as they come in, it is a bit hard to find the new scenery while flying when there are only 2 or 3 installed they seem to be in order and work down from Marlborough / farewell spit to bluff.

2 to go on the south archives, then I can start on that other place

If you have the SDK installed, you could drop the BGLs into TMFViewer which will show the exact coverage. I plan to do this, but so far I only have one file:)

From memory, you should be able to extract the files as normal, but it is a bit counter-intuitive. Try right-clicking on the actual file within the zip, and see if there's an option to enter the password.

by **Rotordude** » Thu Jan 20, 2011 5:22 pm

been there tried that, even Dopus wont do it and that is unusual.

Only southern fiordland to go now.

Had a look at the files in TmfViewer there is defiantly a lot of extra data in them. Damn near identical to google earth

Adamski
NZ_S_001 Marlborough Sounds
NZ_S_014 Milford (part of)

by **Adamski** » Thu Jan 20, 2011 6:17 pm

deaneb wrote:
QUOTE (deaneb @ Jan 20 2011, 05:42 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>
Must admit in the screenshots, I can't really see a difference between 5m and 20m. But definitely between default and others.

... I'd like to see a comparison of the 5m and 20m compared to *VLC* (which, to my eye at least, looks pretty damn' good!).

@Timmo - thanks for taking the time for such a detailed post - much appreciated. Who knows, I may even understand it all one day

... for the moment, I'm just glad *other* people do

.

As to the amount of "real" information in these new elevation files ... I suppose it'd be hard to tell just looking at the files themselves <?> if, as you say, actual filesize may be a red herring.

@rotordude ... have you grabbed/installed Milford Sound yet? That's got to be the acid test!

If VLC is going to become the vehicle for all sorts of future scenery upgrades - be it mesh or texture, then I'd be happier hanging onto my dollars for a while and giving them to our own home-grown talent some time later. They deserve it! As it is, it looks like they're going to have to fend off those predatory Aussies

.

by **kcgb** » Thu Jan 20, 2011 7:15 pm

~~Lol~~ That was Quick

Must have a hawk looking at this topic

by **Naki** » Thu Jan 20, 2011 7:37 pm

Time to lock this now as I will be deleting and trimming posts all night..................!!!!

Edit: I don't lock topics lightly but I wont tolerate inflammatory posts.

I will sleep on this and perhaps unlock in the morning

Rotordude (Pete) wanted to add the following:

QUOTE

Adam all I can say is there is a difference, screen shots don't show it all you have to get up close and personal to the mesh.

I fly bush 99.9% of the time so having a 5mtr mesh at a price of 17 bucks is a steal. If it is "resampled" then it is a good job at it. For me I have not lost any money what so ever.
If you are going to fly at 300kts + at 20,000ft then it is a waste you will never notice it.

I'm not pushing the product, it was just an exciting find that I though I would share and give a heads up to folks. The decision is yours, I'm finished with this thread

To the neigh sayers that jumped in with all the negativity they could carry, all I can say is I am some what shocked that after a thread of this nature posted here http://nzff.org/forum/viewtopic.php?t=13576 talking about nurturing and backing developers to just turn around and shoot the product down.
QUOTE
if you are part off the community you should be backing the designers .... 'end off the day' the future is backing all come free or pay ware
Who would have thought something like a 5mtr mesh for the price of a coffee and cake would end up trashed and locked.
True colours aye..

--------------------

Regards always
Pete[/quote]

Last edited by Naki on Thu Jan 20, 2011 9:33 pm, edited 1 time in total.

NZFF

5 mtr LOD13 New Zealand mesh

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