FlightGear wiki - User contributions [en]

SketchUp

2016-10-11T14:00:09Z

VicMar: /* Related content */

'''SketchUp''' is a 3D modeling program developed by @Last Software from 2000 to 2006, and by Google from 2006 to the present.

* '''Google Sketchup''' is a free version of the program with some restricted features
* '''Google Sketchup Pro''' is the unrestricted pay version. It has a free trial of 8 hours of use offered in 2008 for SketchUp Pro 6.

== Related content ==
* [[Howto: Decrease the number of faces#Decreasing the amount of faces (in SketchUp)|Howto decrease the number of faces in Sketchup]]
* [[Textures & Texture Maps in SketchUp]]
* [[SketchUp to AC3D exporter]], getting models into the [[AC3D]] (.ac) format

Please Note:
In the past, Google SketchUp has been a free download of the Pro version, which, if you did not buy a Pro licence would become a slightly throttled back version which you could keep and use free. However, now SketchUp is owned by Trimble, with the 2016 version this is no longer the case. Unless you buy the Pro licence, version 2016 stops working at the end of the trial period (30 days).

I suggest that we (FG Scenery modellers) keep using the 2015 version. Many of us can't or don't want to pay for the Pro software licence and if anyone who uses the 2016 version wants others to look at their files ( if/when they need assistance) the files can't be opened.

Unless the Trimble SketchUp policy changes to allow the non-Pro version to continue after the trial period, I suggest FG SketchUp users stay with the 2015 version. That will enable others to open your files.

Quote from Trimble T&C 2016:
"2.6.2 SketchUp Pro
If you choose to download SketchUp Pro for a Trial Period, SketchUp Pro may be made available to you without charge for the Trial Period for your evaluation purposes of its functionality. The time remaining during the trial will be displayed within the Software. Upon the expiration of the Trial Period, the Software will automatically cease to operate."

2016/2015 SketchUp Workaround (VicMar):
To revert an existing .Skp file to 2015 from 2016: Open in 2016, select and copy all, open 2015 and paste, then save. Other SketchUp 2015 users will then be able to open this file.

== Links ==
* [http://sketchup.google.com/ Official website]

{{3d}}

[[Category:Software]]

Textures & Texture Maps in SketchUp

2015-03-28T15:51:30Z

VicMar: Screen-shot instruction clarified.

Once you get into modelling for [[FlightGear]], you want to use textures. They give the certain touch of reality to every model. This tutorial shows you how to embed your own textures into a [[SketchUp]] (SU) model on Mac and Windows.

=== Copyright issues ===
Any textures found in the SU paint-box are subject to Google copyright. As Flightgear operates under the terms of the [[GNU General Public License]], model makers must not use any item, be it texture, photograph, or code etc., unless it has been released under the terms of GPL.

You can see all the details for GPL at: http://www.gnu.org/copyleft/gpl.html

The only things you can safely use in the SU paint-box are the named colours. I recommend you open the ‘Colours’ or the ‘Colours-Named’ menu, and do everything from there, ignoring the rest of the main paint-box menus. That way you cannot accidentally use something you shouldn’t.

=== Making your own textures ===
You can apply either a color or an overlay image (texture) to your model. Colors are easy, simply pick one of the predefined SketchUp colors. But it gets really nice and realistic once you use images. Let's assume you want to overlay ribbed concrete:

# Take a photo of some ribbed concrete with a digital camera, preferably with some marks to show 1 square metre.
# Upload that photo to your computer, then, in your photo processor (iPhoto on Mac; [[GIMP]], [http://www.irfanview.com/ IrfanView] or any other on windows), ‘Crop’ it to show just the square metre, and export it with a good ‘highest detail’/’lowest file size’ compromise (‘export to web’ in iPhoto).
# During that export procedure, select a pixels size which is compatible with FlightGear - that means its resolution must exist of squares of two (eg. 2<sup>0</sup>=1, 2<sup>1</sup>=2, 2<sup>2</sup>=4, 2<sup>3</sup>=8, 2<sup>4</sup>=16 and so on). That gives you possible resolutions like 2x2, 2x4, 8x32, 256x16 and all the like. If you don't do this, FlightGear can show the image, but only after a resizing procedure, which eats up processor capacity. So you want to do that for FlightGear before applying the image to your model. You can rescale distorted images in SketchUp later again.<br />If this is to be the only texture for this model, try to keep the pixels as small as you can without losing too much detail. If it is to be part of a texture map (see below), you can keep the high pixel count at this stage to preserve detail, though it still needs to be set to the 2, 4, 8 etc.sizes.<br />[[File:EXPORT.png|x356px]]<br />If your photo processor does not allow you to set the pixels, use another like Preview (Mac) or Gimp to pixel size the exported photo.
# Save that photo to your desktop.

==== Semi-transparent textures ====
[[File:Textures_transparent.png|thumb|Semi-transparent textures]] Semi-transparent textures are a powerful tool. Especially when you want to model mesh, banisters, scaffolding etc., you can use semi-transparent textures to minimize the complexity of the model. Like in the model to the right.

It's the [http://scenemodels.flightgear.org/modeledit.php?id=220 gasometer] by Jon Stockill. To simulate the framework, he uses a minimal image that is transparent except for the metal parts:

[[File:Textures_tranparent2.png]].

Another good example is the roof structure of the [http://scenemodels.flightgear.org/modeledit.php?id=795 A380 hangar] in Frankfurt (EDDF) by Christian Schmitt.

=== Loading your texture into SketchUp ===
Now you need to read that texture into SketchUp.

First you open the new texture dialog:
* '''Mac:''' Select ‘New Texture’ from the ‘Colour’ menu inside the ‘Colours- Named’ section of the SU paint-box.<br />
* '''Windows:''' Click the paint bucket (or select <tt>Window > Materials</tt>), then click the 'Create Material...' button.

<div style="float:left; clear:left; margin:1em 5px 0px 0px; background-color:white; padding:3px; border:1px solid silver;">[[File:NewTexture.png|x356px]]</div><div style="float:left; margin:1em 5px 0px 0px; background-color:white; padding:3px; border:1px solid silver;">[[File:Textures1_win.png|x356px]]</div><br clear="left" />

Select that, and you should be presented with the means to select the path to your photo (in this example we have put it on our desktop).

Select your photo, and click ‘Open’. This will take it into the paint-box with whatever name you saved it with.

<div style="float:left; clear:left; margin:1em 5px 0px 0px; background-color:white; padding:3px; border:1px solid silver;">[[File:SelectPicture.png |x356px]]</div><div style="float:left; margin:1em 5px 0px 0px; background-color:white; padding:3px; border:1px solid silver;">[[File:Textures2_win.png|x356px]]</div><br clear="left" />

In the SU paint-box you can give your new texture a unique name. Try to make this name relevant to the model you are making. This could be useful in reuniting them if ever the model and its texture get separated. For use in FlightGear there should not be any gaps in the texture name.

[[File:Name&Size.png]]

You need to set the size of your new concrete texture to 1x1 m. This means: If the area you are using the texture in is bigger than 1 metre square, the texture will be repeated every metre in every direction, until the whole target area is textured.

Applying the texture is the same as painting an area.
# Select the texture.
# Place the paint-pot tool over the target area, and click.

If your texture is a specific item, e.g. a window, the picture of the window will be presented again and again. It will be necessary to position the texture to place the required section in the target area. I describe how to do this later.

'''TIP:''' ''When making a texture of an item like a door, or window, it is a good idea to include it’s measurements in the individual texture name. The name of each item in the paint- box appears when you hold your mouse pointer over it. This helps when marking up your model with its target areas.''

<div style="float:left; clear:left; margin:1em 5px 0px 0px; background-color:white; padding:3px; border:1px solid silver;">[[File:SizeinName.png|x356px]]</div><div style="float:left; margin:1em 5px 0px 0px; background-color:white; padding:3px; border:1px solid silver;">[[File:Textures3_win.png|x356px]]</div><br clear="left" />

'''TIP:''' ''When you first start modelling, there is a lot of satisfaction to be had from making very detailed models. The downside of that is the large file size produced. This affects loading times in FlightGear.''

''By all means make your detailed model - take a snap for your own collection - then try to minimise the face count (MaverickAlex has produced a tutorial on this, see: [[Howto: Decrease the number of faces]]''

''Alternatively, you could keep your detailed model, and make a copy of the file to reduce the file size on. This copy would be the one you send to the [[FlightGear Scenery Database|scenery database]].''

'''TIP:''' ''You could save a lot of file space by snapping the whole side of your model and making a texture of it to keep in all your hard earned detail, but with only one face on the texture to be counted.''

=== Correct display of texture colors in the AC file ===
Later, when your model is done and you [[SketchUp to AC3D exporter|export it to AC format]], the textures will be defined in that AC file. There, the RGB settings should be <tt>rgb 1 1 1</tt> for a correct display of the texture colors ([[AC files: Basic changes to textures and colors]]). To insure that this will be done automatically, you should set the color of the texture to <tt>rgb 1 1 1</tt> already in SketchUp. The texture will appear whiteish in SketchUp, but correctly after export. You do that during the definition of the texture. In SketchUp, <tt>rgb 255 255 255</tt> is the same as <tt>rgb 1 1 1</tt> in the AC file:

[[File:AC_white.jpg]]

=== Making a texture map ===
If you only have one texture in a model there is no need to make a texture map, but if there are to be several textures used in the model, or, as in the Caribbean scenery project, the same textures used in many models - rather than have to forward/use multiple texture files, it is better to make a texture map.

[[File:Picture_2.png ]]

This can all be accomplished in Sketchup - though some modellers prefer to do it in a separate application.

'''NOTE:''' A texture map only works for textures which are used only once in each place. Textures that are used as tiles, i.e. appear many times next to each other to form a pattern (as in the gasometer example above), must stand alone. Otherwise the whole texture map would have to be the tile - which you probably do not want.

'''TIP:''' ''I do it all in SU to ensure the measurements are correct and match my SketchUp model.''

First you need to make each of the textures you are going to use in your model. You can produce textures (as described above) from photos, or from drawings you may have done in SU, or another application (eg. iWorks or Appleworks for Mac). You can use quite high resolution pics or drawings for these, thus keeping more detail, as you will be minimising the pixels on the final map stage.

You will not be able to use the repeats, as described in the previous section, so the size of each texture ‘Target’ area needs to be noted.

'''TIP:''' ''I use a ‘stickie’ with these details permanently at the top left of my desktop whilst modelling.''

{| class="prettytable"
!Object
!Width (m)
!Height (m)
|-
|Single door with shutters
|2.55
|2.25
|-
|Double door with shutters
|4.11
|2.25
|-
|Window with shutters
|2.54
|1.25
|-
|Square
|4.7
|4.7
|}

Next you need to mark the area where each texture is going to be placed on your model with the outline (usually a rectangle) of the texture. I call these 'targets'.

Next, place a duplicate of each of the model's targets into as near a square as you can - flat on the ground using the 'Top' view under the 'Camera' menu.

[[File:TopView.png|x356px]]

Use the ‘Orbit’ tool to make sure they are all level.

[[File:OrbitView.png]]

Then go back to the ‘Top’ view.

Make sure your square is well away from your model, and doesn't coincide with any guidelines from your model, as these could end up in the pic you take later - you don't want them in your texture map.

Next, texture each of the targets in your square (not the ones on your model).

[[File:Textured.jpg|x356px]]

It does not matter if they are not all the same way up because you can rotate them when you place them on your model.

If you are going to use the same texture on different sized targets - as in roof tiles on the sides of a roof and the ends of a roof, your texture map needs a target large enough to cover the biggest measurements in your model targets. This allows you to use it to texture the smaller ones too.

'''Example:''' ''If the side roof is 10x5, and the roof end is 6x6, you would need to have the roof tile part of the texture measuring 10x6. That would enable you to use the same texture for both parts of the roof.

You could play safe and just make the texture more than large enough to cover the roof size, but that way you would be making the file size bigger, which is to be avoided because of loading speed.''

Now use the SU 'Square' tool to cover your square of targets as tightly to the edges as possible. Make this a perfect square, even if you have to include some of the background between the targets.

[[File:PerfectSquare.png]]

'''TIP:''' ''You can see an unwanted guide line in the above picture (Bottom right, above the word ‘Square’). If you make the individual targets into a group after you have textured them, you can easily move your square beyond the guide lines or make the guide lines and axes invisible during this exercise.''

Use the SU measuring tool to measure your square. Note the measurements down for future use.

{| class="prettytable"
!Object
!Width (m)
!Height (m)
|-
|Single door with shutters
|2.55
|2.25
|-
|Double door with shutters
|4.11
|2.25
|-
|Window with shutters
|2.54
|1.25
|-
|Square
|4.7
|4.7
|}

Now use the square tool again to make another smaller square at the outside of each corner - these will act as markers for the next procedure - then erase the covering square being careful not to erase any of your textured targets.

[[File:TargetSquares.png]]

Use the inside corner of each of those corner squares as the limits of your screen-shot (Photo). In this example the photo will be equal to 4.7m x 4.7m when you take it back into the SU paint-box as a new texture. Use a photo processing application (like Gimp, Photoshop, (for Macs Preview or iPhoto will do as well)) to make the pixels a square of two. Keep the squared pixel size to the smallest one that keeps the necessary detail in the textures. Bear in mind most models are viewed as a 'flypast', which means at a distance. Try a couple of sizes to decide which will do the job effectively.

Go back to the SU paint-box and make a new texture from your photo. Make sure this new texture has a unique name, and the width and height of this texture is equal to the square you covered the targets with (hopefully you noted the measurement earlier).

Then use that new texture to texture your model with the following method:
# In the SU paint-box, select your new texture.
# Take the paint pot to your target area and click.
# When you have clicked the paint pot onto your target area, right-click: this should give you the option to position the texture.
# Another right-click at this stage will give you the option to rotate the texture if necessary. Do not forget to click 'Done' (right-click menu, or ctrl+click menu for Macs) when you have got the correct part of the texture map in your target area.

Work your way round the model until you have placed all of the required textures.

Remember to erase the duplicate square of targets in your SU file before you export to .ac.

When you [[SketchUp to AC3D exporter|export your SU file to .ac format]], there will only be one texture file.

'''TIP:''' ''Leave deleting the square until you have placed all of it’s constituent parts on your model. This makes it easier to add in any textured parts of your model which you had missed out. If you erased the square before this stage, you would have to start completely again from scratch, or have an extra texture file with that model. (It is a pride thing I guess).''

That is it.

I hope this tutorial is helpful to you.

VicMar

(Special thanks to Alex Park, who showed me how to make texture maps.)
(And David (D-79) for the PC details to match my Mac instructions)

[[Category:Howto]]
[[Category:Scenery enhancement]]

Textures & Texture Maps in SketchUp

2014-11-25T15:54:08Z

VicMar:

Once you get into modelling for [[FlightGear]], you want to use textures. They give the certain touch of reality to every model. This tutorial shows you how to embed your own textures into a [[SketchUp]] (SU) model on Mac and Windows.

=== Copyright issues ===
Any textures found in the SU paint-box are subject to Google copyright. As Flightgear operates under the terms of the [[GNU General Public License]], model makers must not use any item, be it texture, photograph, or code etc., unless it has been released under the terms of GPL.

You can see all the details for GPL at: http://www.gnu.org/copyleft/gpl.html

The only things you can safely use in the SU paint-box are the named colours. I recommend you open the ‘Colours’ or the ‘Colours-Named’ menu, and do everything from there, ignoring the rest of the main paint-box menus. That way you cannot accidentally use something you shouldn’t.

=== Making your own textures ===
You can apply either a color or an overlay image (texture) to your model. Colors are easy, simply pick one of the predefined SketchUp colors. But it gets really nice and realistic once you use images. Let's assume you want to overlay ribbed concrete:

# Take a photo of some ribbed concrete with a digital camera, preferably with some marks to show 1 square metre.
# Upload that photo to your computer, then, in your photo processor (iPhoto on Mac; [[GIMP]], [http://www.irfanview.com/ IrfanView] or any other on windows), ‘Crop’ it to show just the square metre, and export it with a good ‘highest detail’/’lowest file size’ compromise (‘export to web’ in iPhoto).
# During that export procedure, select a pixels size which is compatible with FlightGear - that means its resolution must exist of squares of two (eg. 2<sup>0</sup>=1, 2<sup>1</sup>=2, 2<sup>2</sup>=4, 2<sup>3</sup>=8, 2<sup>4</sup>=16 and so on). That gives you possible resolutions like 2x2, 2x4, 8x32, 256x16 and all the like. If you don't do this, FlightGear can show the image, but only after a resizing procedure, which eats up processor capacity. So you want to do that for FlightGear before applying the image to your model. You can rescale distorted images in SketchUp later again.<br />If this is to be the only texture for this model, try to keep the pixels as small as you can without losing too much detail. If it is to be part of a texture map (see below), you can keep the high pixel count at this stage to preserve detail, though it still needs to be set to the 2, 4, 8 etc.sizes.<br />[[File:EXPORT.png|x356px]]<br />If your photo processor does not allow you to set the pixels, use another like Preview (Mac) or Gimp to pixel size the exported photo.
# Save that photo to your desktop.

==== Semi-transparent textures ====
[[File:Textures_transparent.png|thumb|Semi-transparent textures]] Semi-transparent textures are a powerful tool. Especially when you want to model mesh, banisters, scaffolding etc., you can use semi-transparent textures to minimize the complexity of the model. Like in the model to the right.

It's the [http://scenemodels.flightgear.org/modeledit.php?id=220 gasometer] by Jon Stockill. To simulate the framework, he uses a minimal image that is transparent except for the metal parts:

[[File:Textures_tranparent2.png]].

Another good example is the roof structure of the [http://scenemodels.flightgear.org/modeledit.php?id=795 A380 hangar] in Frankfurt (EDDF) by Christian Schmitt.

=== Loading your texture into SketchUp ===
Now you need to read that texture into SketchUp.

First you open the new texture dialog:
* '''Mac:''' Select ‘New Texture’ from the ‘Colour’ menu inside the ‘Colours- Named’ section of the SU paint-box.<br />
* '''Windows:''' Click the paint bucket (or select <tt>Window > Materials</tt>), then click the 'Create Material...' button.

<div style="float:left; clear:left; margin:1em 5px 0px 0px; background-color:white; padding:3px; border:1px solid silver;">[[File:NewTexture.png|x356px]]</div><div style="float:left; margin:1em 5px 0px 0px; background-color:white; padding:3px; border:1px solid silver;">[[File:Textures1_win.png|x356px]]</div><br clear="left" />

Select that, and you should be presented with the means to select the path to your photo (in this example we have put it on our desktop).

Select your photo, and click ‘Open’. This will take it into the paint-box with whatever name you saved it with.

<div style="float:left; clear:left; margin:1em 5px 0px 0px; background-color:white; padding:3px; border:1px solid silver;">[[File:SelectPicture.png |x356px]]</div><div style="float:left; margin:1em 5px 0px 0px; background-color:white; padding:3px; border:1px solid silver;">[[File:Textures2_win.png|x356px]]</div><br clear="left" />

In the SU paint-box you can give your new texture a unique name. Try to make this name relevant to the model you are making. This could be useful in reuniting them if ever the model and its texture get separated. For use in FlightGear there should not be any gaps in the texture name.

[[File:Name&Size.png]]

You need to set the size of your new concrete texture to 1x1 m. This means: If the area you are using the texture in is bigger than 1 metre square, the texture will be repeated every metre in every direction, until the whole target area is textured.

Applying the texture is the same as painting an area.
# Select the texture.
# Place the paint-pot tool over the target area, and click.

If your texture is a specific item, e.g. a window, the picture of the window will be presented again and again. It will be necessary to position the texture to place the required section in the target area. I describe how to do this later.

'''TIP:''' ''When making a texture of an item like a door, or window, it is a good idea to include it’s measurements in the individual texture name. The name of each item in the paint- box appears when you hold your mouse pointer over it. This helps when marking up your model with its target areas.''

<div style="float:left; clear:left; margin:1em 5px 0px 0px; background-color:white; padding:3px; border:1px solid silver;">[[File:SizeinName.png|x356px]]</div><div style="float:left; margin:1em 5px 0px 0px; background-color:white; padding:3px; border:1px solid silver;">[[File:Textures3_win.png|x356px]]</div><br clear="left" />

'''TIP:''' ''When you first start modelling, there is a lot of satisfaction to be had from making very detailed models. The downside of that is the large file size produced. This affects loading times in FlightGear.''

''By all means make your detailed model - take a snap for your own collection - then try to minimise the face count (MaverickAlex has produced a tutorial on this, see: [[Howto: Decrease the number of faces]]''

''Alternatively, you could keep your detailed model, and make a copy of the file to reduce the file size on. This copy would be the one you send to the [[FlightGear Scenery Database|scenery database]].''

'''TIP:''' ''You could save a lot of file space by snapping the whole side of your model and making a texture of it to keep in all your hard earned detail, but with only one face on the texture to be counted.''

=== Correct display of texture colors in the AC file ===
Later, when your model is done and you [[SketchUp to AC3D exporter|export it to AC format]], the textures will be defined in that AC file. There, the RGB settings should be <tt>rgb 1 1 1</tt> for a correct display of the texture colors ([[AC files: Basic changes to textures and colors]]). To insure that this will be done automatically, you should set the color of the texture to <tt>rgb 1 1 1</tt> already in SketchUp. The texture will appear whiteish in SketchUp, but correctly after export. You do that during the definition of the texture. In SketchUp, <tt>rgb 255 255 255</tt> is the same as <tt>rgb 1 1 1</tt> in the AC file:

[[File:AC_white.jpg]]

=== Making a texture map ===
If you only have one texture in a model there is no need to make a texture map, but if there are to be several textures used in the model, or, as in the Caribbean scenery project, the same textures used in many models - rather than have to forward/use multiple texture files, it is better to make a texture map.

[[File:Picture_2.png ]]

This can all be accomplished in Sketchup - though some modellers prefer to do it in a separate application.

'''NOTE:''' A texture map only works for textures which are used only once in each place. Textures that are used as tiles, i.e. appear many times next to each other to form a pattern (as in the gasometer example above), must stand alone. Otherwise the whole texture map would have to be the tile - which you probably do not want.

'''TIP:''' ''I do it all in SU to ensure the measurements are correct and match my SketchUp model.''

First you need to make each of the textures you are going to use in your model. You can produce textures (as described above) from photos, or from drawings you may have done in SU, or another application (eg. iWorks or Appleworks for Mac). You can use quite high resolution pics or drawings for these, thus keeping more detail, as you will be minimising the pixels on the final map stage.

You will not be able to use the repeats, as described in the previous section, so the size of each texture ‘Target’ area needs to be noted.

'''TIP:''' ''I use a ‘stickie’ with these details permanently at the top left of my desktop whilst modelling.''

{| class="prettytable"
!Object
!Width (m)
!Height (m)
|-
|Single door with shutters
|2.55
|2.25
|-
|Double door with shutters
|4.11
|2.25
|-
|Window with shutters
|2.54
|1.25
|-
|Square
|4.7
|4.7
|}

Next you need to mark the area where each texture is going to be placed on your model with the outline (usually a rectangle) of the texture. I call these 'targets'.

Next, place a duplicate of each of the model's targets into as near a square as you can - flat on the ground using the 'Top' view under the 'Camera' menu.

[[File:TopView.png|x356px]]

Use the ‘Orbit’ tool to make sure they are all level.

[[File:OrbitView.png]]

Then go back to the ‘Top’ view.

Make sure your square is well away from your model, and doesn't coincide with any guidelines from your model, as these could end up in the pic you take later - you don't want them in your texture map.

Next, texture each of the targets in your square (not the ones on your model).

[[File:Textured.jpg|x356px]]

It does not matter if they are not all the same way up because you can rotate them when you place them on your model.

If you are going to use the same texture on different sized targets - as in roof tiles on the sides of a roof and the ends of a roof, your texture map needs a target large enough to cover the biggest measurements in your model targets. This allows you to use it to texture the smaller ones too.

'''Example:''' ''If the side roof is 10x5, and the roof end is 6x6, you would need to have the roof tile part of the texture measuring 10x6. That would enable you to use the same texture for both parts of the roof.

You could play safe and just make the texture more than large enough to cover the roof size, but that way you would be making the file size bigger, which is to be avoided because of loading speed.''

Now use the SU 'Square' tool to cover your square of targets as tightly to the edges as possible. Make this a perfect square, even if you have to include some of the background between the targets.

[[File:PerfectSquare.png]]

'''TIP:''' ''You can see an unwanted guide line in the above picture (Bottom right, above the word ‘Square’). If you make the individual targets into a group after you have textured them, you can easily move your square beyond the guide lines or make the guide lines and axes invisible during this exercise.''

Use the SU measuring tool to measure your square. Note the measurements down for future use.

{| class="prettytable"
!Object
!Width (m)
!Height (m)
|-
|Single door with shutters
|2.55
|2.25
|-
|Double door with shutters
|4.11
|2.25
|-
|Window with shutters
|2.54
|1.25
|-
|Square
|4.7
|4.7
|}

Now use the square tool again to make another smaller square at the outside of each corner - these will act as markers for the next procedure - then erase the covering square being careful not to erase any of your textured targets.

[[File:TargetSquares.png]]

Click <tt>File > Export > 2D Image</tt> to save the squares. Use a photo processing application (like Gimp, Photoshop, (for Macs Preview or iPhoto will do as well)) to make the pixels a square of two. Keep the squared pixel size to the smallest one that keeps the necessary detail in the textures. Bear in mind most models are viewed as a 'flypast', which means at a distance. Try a couple of sizes to decide which will do the job effectively.

Go back to the SU paint-box and make a new texture from your photo. Make sure this new texture has a unique name, and the width and height of this texture is equal to the square you covered the targets with (hopefully you noted the measurement earlier).

Then use that new texture to texture your model with the following method:
# In the SU paint-box, select your new texture.
# Take the paint pot to your target area and click.
# When you have clicked the paint pot onto your target area, right-click: this should give you the option to position the texture.
# Another right-click at this stage will give you the option to rotate the texture if necessary. Do not forget to click 'Done' (right-click menu, or ctrl+click menu for Macs) when you have got the correct part of the texture map in your target area.

Work your way round the model until you have placed all of the required textures.

Remember to erase the duplicate square of targets in your SU file before you export to .ac.

When you [[SketchUp to AC3D exporter|export your SU file to .ac format]], there will only be one texture file.

'''TIP:''' ''Leave deleting the square until you have placed all of it’s constituent parts on your model. This makes it easier to add in any textured parts of your model which you had missed out. If you erased the square before this stage, you would have to start completely again from scratch, or have an extra texture file with that model. (It is a pride thing I guess).''

That is it.

I hope this tutorial is helpful to you.

VicMar

(Special thanks to Alex Park, who showed me how to make texture maps.)
(And David (D-79) for the PC details to match my Mac instructions)

[[Category:Howto]]
[[Category:Scenery enhancement]]

Howto:Install aircraft

2013-07-29T19:59:15Z

VicMar: /* Macintosh OS X */

{{installing}}
The latest official [[aircraft]] can be downloaded at [http://www.flightgear.org/download/aircraft-2-10-filterable/ FlightGear.org Aircraft], which then usually require unzipping software to extract from a compressed file format. Then these must be manually installed in a FlightGear software installation to use. The details depend on the method of download, operating system, and user setup.

An open source file archiver is [http://www.7-zip.org/ 7-Zip], although be aware of user setup.

You may also want to take a look at:
* [[Aircraft]]
* [[Helicopter]]
* [[Vehicle]]
* [[Table of models]]

=== Linux ===
(Ubuntu 7.10)
# Download the aircraft
# Open Terminal and log in as root
# Navigate to /usr/share/Games/FlightGear/Aircraft
# Extract your aircraft file into the folder
# Start up flight gear. Your aircraft should show up in the launcher

=== Macintosh OS X ===

# Open GUI Launcher for FlightGear Mac
# Click on "Others" tab at middle right of launcher
# Click "Install Add-On Data" link at bottom of launcher
# Select aircraft folder from menu, and click "Open"
# Click OK on pop-up box.

Please note: For Mac users, the above will not work if you have not installed FG to the applications folder. If you do not want to put your version of FG in your applications folder, you can place it in a separate folder of your own creation. That will allow the above aircraft (& scenery) installation method to work correctly/

=== Windows ===
# Download an aircraft and save it on your desktop.
# Unzip the file, using a file archiver like 7-Zip.
# Move the unzipped folder (usually the aircraft's name) to your <tt>FlightGear/data/Aircraft</tt> directory.

'''!!! IMPORTANT !!!'''

"Modern" Windows Versions (e.g. XP, Vista, Win7) tinkering a lot with user rights on access level. Therefore it's a bad idea to install and run FlightGear to and from "C:\Program Files" (German: C:\Programme). Find another drive / folder where you as logged in user have all neccesary right to read, write and execute the files you installed. Additionally there's a space / blank in folder's name which could cause weird behaviour. Use something like "C:\FlightGear".

== Choosing aircraft ==
If you are looking for information to decide what aircraft to download, try [[Table of models]] or [[Aircraft]]. External links to third party aircraft can be found at [[FlightGear hangars]]. Remember that the latest aircraft may not load with previous versions, so look for older aircraft in the links section.

== For developers ==
Help develop the [[FlightGear Package Manager]] which is intended to support automatic aircraft and scenery installation, currently in alpha development and in need of testing.

== Related content ==
* [[Installing Scenery]]

[[fr:Howto_Installer_un_avion]]

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$FG HOME

2013-03-21T11:25:53Z

VicMar: /* Common paths */

{{Stub}}

''' [[$FG_HOME]]''' is an environment variable representing the path to where user-specific data is stored (not application data). Basically, it is a name for a directory that varies with the operating system and stores information between sessions: configuration/preferences, properties marked with the "user-archive" attribute, and aircraft-specific settings (using the data helper class in aircraft.nas).

===Common paths===
* '''Windows:''' <tt>%APPDATA%\flightgear.org\</tt>
: %APPDATA% is another environment variable that depends on your Windows version. On XP and older, it can be found under <tt>C:\Documents and Settings\{username}\Application Data</tt>. On Vista and later it can be found under <tt>C:\Users\{username}\AppData</tt>. The folder is hidden by default; see [http://windows.microsoft.com/en-US/windows-vista/show-hidden-files these instructions] to unhide the folder.
* '''Mac OS X:''' <tt>~/Library/Application Support/FlightGear</tt> (to learn more about viewing hidden folders, see [http://www.mikesel.info/show-hidden-files-mac-os-x-10-7-lion/])
As all future FG updates (Scenery/TerraSync & Aircraft plus your FG preferences) will be directed to these hidden folders, it is a good idea to have their access available easily.

Desktop/Finder/Go/Go to Folder is where you need to start.

When given the option, input: ~/Library/Application Support/FlightGear

It is probably a good idea to have '~/Library/Application Support/FlightGear' saved on a Stickies note just in case you forget it.

If you want/need to refer to any of these files frequently, you could make an alias of a file, or the whole folder, and place it somewhere easier to access.
* '''Linux:''' <tt>~/.fgfs/</tt>
* '''Windows:''' %APPDATA%\flightgear.org\
* '''Mac OS X:''' ~/Library/Application Support/FlightGear
* '''Linux:''' ~/.fgfs/

=== Notes ===
[[Category:Special directories|HOME]]

Home made Joystick

2012-07-11T15:18:51Z

VicMar: /* NOTE: */

Hi,

Many of you will remember the 5 minute Yoke, well here is another home made effort for those of us who still fly by mouse.

== '''VicMar's home made Joystick. ==
'''

=== You will need. ===

1. A smooth surfaced (plastic?) hollow ball with just a little larger diameter than your computer mouse's length.

2. A wooden dowel about 50mm thick.

3. Another dowel which fits comfortably into your hand, or any other object you want which will form the handle.

4. Three Lengths of floor board. I prefer them long enough for me to be able to rest my elbow for stability.

5. A material which will set hard e.g. plaster of paris, filling foam (like cavity wall insulation) or similar.

6. Some superglue or wood glue.

=== Method. ===
'''Sizes: I have deliberately not included any measurements because they will depend on the size of your mouse etc.'''

1. Carefully cut the ball into 2 equal halves.

2. Make sure one half-sphere fits around your mouse without touching, then drill a hole in the centre with a slightly larger diameter than your thin dowel. If the gaps between your mouse and the half-sphere are too great, you can line or pack out the inside of the half-sphere with insulation tape.
==== NOTE: ====
If your mouse is wired you will need to make a hole on one edge to allow the wire through.
[[File:Screen shot 2012-07-09 at 12.34.49.png|thumb|Lower Half-sphere with mouse inside.]]
3. In the other half-sphere, drill a hole a little larger than your thin dowel's diameter, then drill a hole exactly the same diameter as the dowel in the centre of the bottom of your large dowel/handle.

4. Assemble your base, making sure there will be enough room between the upper surface of the lower half-sphere and the bottom of the uppermost flat surface of the base, to allow some movement of the smaller dowel when it is protruding from the lower surface of the upper half-sphere. The base needs to be wide enough to allow plenty of movement in all directions during use.

5. Drill a hole in your base, large enough for the upper half-sphere to swivel in all directions, but not large enough for it to pass through.
[[ File:Screen shot 2012-07-09 at 12.36.54.png|thumb|Base Unit.]]
6. Ascertain how much the smaller dowel needs to be shortened, make allowance for both the bottom of the dowel having to connect with and move the lower half-sphere (yet still clear the top of your mouse), and the other end needing to be pushed into your handle. Cut it to the required length.

7. Put some glue into the hole you drilled in the bottom of your handle, then push in the smaller dowel.

7a. Allow that glue to dry.

8. Affix some small nails near the bottom of your handle to act as anchors inside the filler, then place your handle centrally in the upper half-sphere and fill with setting material (plaster or foam etc).
[[ File:Screen shot 2012-07-09 at 12.36.08.png |thumb|Joystick.]]
8a. (Optional) If you wish to tidy things up a bit, you could trim off some of the upper half-sphere to lessen the amount of filler needed, but be careful not to remove too much, because this might allow the edge to rub/catch in the hole.

9. Allow time for the filler to set.

=== Operation. ===

After you have used your mouse to do the necessary set up for your flight (If you are fortunate enough to have a spare mouse, you can take the necessary actions with the other one provided you have a spare USB slot):

1. Place lower half-sphere over your computer mouse, making sure the end of your mouse which normally faces away from you is now facing towards you.

2. Place your handle so the upper half-sphere sits centrally in the hole in your base unit, making sure the lower end of the small dowel goes through the hole in the top of the lower half-sphere.

3. Make sure your handle is centred, then press 5 on your numpad to centre all your aircrafts control surfaces.

Start your flight.

=== NOTE: ===

It may be necessary to go into your computer's system preferences to slow down the speed of your mouse's actions, but that is optional. You may just get used to it without adjustment.

Have fun.

Cheers,
Vic

[[Category:Howto|Make a Home made Joystick]]

Home made Joystick

2012-07-11T15:08:27Z

VicMar: Created page with "Hi, Many of you will remember the 5 minute Yoke, well here is another home made effort for those of us who still fly by mouse. == ..."

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2012-07-11T14:19:49Z

VicMar:

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2012-07-11T14:19:48Z

VicMar:

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2012-07-11T14:19:45Z

VicMar:

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FlightGear Newsletter April 2012

2012-04-14T16:22:15Z

VicMar: /* Birds in FG */

{{draft|newsletter}}

{{newsletter}}
{{TOC_right|limit=2}}

''We would like to emphasize that the monthly newsletter can not live without the contributions of FlightGear users and developers. Everyone with a wiki account (free to register) can edit the newsletter and every contribution is welcome. So if you know about any FlightGear related news or projects such as for example updated scenery or aircraft, please do feel invited to add such news to the newsletter.''

== Development news ==

=== Mailing list digest ===

(by far the easiest option to populate the newsletter with contents is copying/pasting stuff from the forum and the mailing list or the git logs)

=== Forum digest ===

=== Git digest ===

== Interview with a contributor (Sam Clancy) ==
''In each edition we have an interview with a contributor. Suggestions for possible questions are available on [[interview questions]], you are invited to come up with new questions and interview ideas obviously! Anyone is free to write an interview (with him-/herself or others) for next month's newsletter! If you'd like to help interview a contributor or get interviewed, please do consider adding yourself to the [[list of interview volunteers]]!''

'''[http://www.flightgear.org/contributors/ Read this and previous interviews at our website's archive].'''

* '''How long have you been involved in FlightGear?'''
Actively I've been involved with the FlightGear project since early January 2011. Simply because my old computer (which my family had had for about 5 or 6 years prior) couldn't run FlightGear. But after we upgraded... (insert evil laugh here)
* '''What is your forum nickname?'''
connect is my name.
* '''What are your major interests in FlightGear?'''
Flying, first of all. My life dream is to become a commercial airline pilot, hopefully somewhere in Europe. I've taken my very first steps towards this in real life, with my "TIF" or Training Introductory Flight, but I also believe my prior experience FlightGear, and of course my continued use of FlightGear gives me a much cheaper alternative, for the time being, to gain experience.
* '''Why is it that you are interested in flight simulation or aviation in general?'''
The fact that it took mankind literally thousands of years to figure out how to fly, in just a century we've gone from the Wright Flyer all the way to the Antonov An-225, the Airbus A380, the Boeing 747, the list is endless. I think the fact we got to the moon is pretty good to.
* '''What project are you working on right now?'''
I think you mean projects, in my case. I've actually got three on the go; all of which I am collaborating on (something I love with FlightGears community spirit). They are; the Airbus A350-900XWB in co-operation with Malik Guest (tehwarlock). The Jabiru J-170 (the aircraft I completed my "TIF" or Training Introductory Flight in) with Narendran Muraleedharan (Omega Pilot/Omega95) and Project Brisbane, perhaps the most ambitious, with Lachlan Bruce (spitfirebruce21), Drew Gibson (VH-TIT/FlightGearNZ) and Malik Guest (tehwarlock).
* '''What do you plan on doing in the future?'''
I actually don't know. I just hope I can develop my skills enough to contribute something really good to the FlightGear Project.'''
* '''Are you happy with the way the FlightGear project is going?
Overall; yes. Having come in the days of v2.0.0 and at one stage, using 0.9.0, it's blatantly obvious the progress that has been made in the year or so I've been actively involved in the community.
* '''On average, how much time do you spend working with/contributing to FlightGear?'''
A day? Hours. Note the plural form of the word. I don't have a number, as I'm frankly not pedantic enough to record, but I assume it'd scare me.
* '''Which of the more recent FlightGear developments do you consider most interesting/appealing?'''
Thorsten's Local/Advanced Weather; I use it everytime I fly. It's alot nicer visually then the "Global/Simple Weather" and I think it competes with FSX and REX.
* '''What do you enjoy most about developing for FlightGear?'''
The satisfaction you get when something works! Maybe that's because I'm not the most technically minded, hehe.

'''[http://www.flightgear.org/contributors/ Read this and previous interviews at our website's archive].'''

== Snapshot releases ==
Every now and then, easy-to-install development snapshots are created (usually, twice montlhy). These snapshos depict a recent state of the development version of FlightGear. By using them users can test out features that will be included in the upcoming release. Testers are encouraged to file bugs at [http://code.google.com/p/flightgear-bugs/ the issue tracker].

The snapshot can be download via the links at the bottom of this page: http://www.flightgear.org/download/. Updates and feedback can be found [http://flightgear.org/forums/viewtopic.php?f=28&t=10488&p=144233&hilit=snapshot#p144233 at the forum].

== Nasal for newbies ==

== New software tools and projects ==

== FlightGear addons and mods ==

== In the hangar ==

All the way back in May 2011, we addopted a new status-rating system for aircraft. So far, only a few have actually been rated, as can be seen in the list 'hockenberry' set up at [https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/ccc?key=0ApzphjA4w05ndF94Y2F0bzJTbHQ5QTJXZXJRcUVRbWc&hl=en_US Google Docs]. If you're an aircraft developer and your aircraft is/are not on the list, please consider rating their status. All you'll need to know/do is described at [[Formalizing Aircraft Status]]. If you'd just like to get started contributing to FlightGear, this would also seem like an excellent way to get started.

=== New aircraft ===

=== Updated aircraft ===
The Zivko Edge by Thorsten D was already a great airplane, Jentron worked the FDM over and now its quite capable of tumbling and spinning with rough handling.

=== Liveries ===

== Scenery corner ==
=== Birds in FG ===
Every so often I get fed up modelling buildings, so I think of other (often silly) things I can model for FlightGear. I have already made several low-poly models which can be used with AI scenarios. This time I have created an animated Seagull. [[File:Sea_Gulls_2.png|thumb|]]

By attaching him, and variations of him, as sub-models to an invisible rotating base, You can have several seagulls circling above any model which has an .xml file.

There are 2 standard sub-model entries which can be added individually or together to an existing model’s .xml file. Each will add 4 Seagulls:
<model>
<path>Models/Fauna/SeaGull_Origin.xml</path>
<offsets>
<x-m> 0.0</x-m>
<y-m> 0.0</y-m>
<z-m>15.0</z-m>
</offsets>
</model>
The above option is already available and the one below has been sent for inclusion in the model database, and should be available very soon.
<model>
<path>Models/Fauna/SeaGull_Origin_2.xml</path>
<offsets>
<x-m> 0.0</x-m>
<y-m> 0.0</y-m>
<z-m>20.0</z-m>
</offsets>
</model>

These entries can be altered to your own preference, or if you so wish you can alter the individual Seagull variations, which can be found in <tt>[[$FG_ROOT]]/Models/Fauna</tt>.

Who says we have to be serious all the time. Have fun. Enjoy.

VicMar

=== TerraGear ===
As you might be aware there is constant genapts850 development going on, to bring the apt.dat 850 format features (and beyond) to FlightGear. This work has now been merged into the official Terragear git repository for general consumption. Work is still ongoing to bring missing features like some special light variants, runway shoulders and different textures in. Some bad bugs have been fixed recently and there are even Windows binaries available from our build server.

== Aircraft of the month ==
== Airport of the month ==
== Screenshot of the month ==
FlightGear is going to simulate the effect of air pollution - with some air pollution, sunrise colors become a lot more spectacular, as demonstrated here by a DR-400 experiencing a sunrise flying close to Nice (France).

[[File:Dr400-nice.jpg|800px]]

== Suggested flights ==

=== Central Karakoram range ===
Let's explore one of the highest regions of the planet - the central Karakoram with the densest concentration of mountains of 8000 m and above. We're going to need a good climbing performance for the trip - even the frozen plateau of Baltoro glacier above which K2 and Gasherbrum V and VI loom is more than 13.000 ft high.

[[File:Karakoram1.jpg|300px|thumb|left|Circling Gasherbrum I]]

Take off from Skardu airport in Pakistan (OPSD). Skardu has a reasonably long (11,944 ft) runway at just 7,316 ft elevation, so you can take a jet, but for instance the Twin Otter is more stylish.

South of Skardu lies Deosai park, a famous high plateau, but we turn initially east. There's a chain of lakes which is the Indus river. After about five miles, the Shigar river merges with the Indus. Turn slightly left and follow the Shigar, then follow it into a long and broad lake-filled valley stretching into north-western direction.

Towards the end of the lake, a small tributary river, the Braldu, turns eastward out of the main valley. Follow the Braldu and start climbing (if you haven't done so yet). About 15 miles after turning into the Braldu river valley, two glacier-filled valleys stretch to the north - admire the view!

[[File:Karakoram2.jpg|300px|thumb|right|Heading back into Skardu, Nanga Parbat on the horizon]]

Passing a few lakes, you reach finally Baltoro glacier continuing the river valley stretching eastward. Ever climbing, follow the glacier till you reach some kind of T-junction. The glacier arm reaching north leads to K2 (which sadly isn't really there in Flightgear), but just ahead of you are the still rather impressive peaks of Gasherbrum V, VI and I - circle the range and make some pictures!

A good way back to Skardu is to go about 10 miles sourth from the Gasherbrum peaks, then head due west. To your west, you can see the long valleys fall away from the high ranges, to your right is the still glacier-covered high Karakoram. On a clear day (really good visibility selected) you can see the distinctive peak of Nanga Parbat appearing straight ahead on the horizon. The valley of Skardu is quite a distinctive feature and finding back VFR should not be a problem.

== Aircraft reviews ==

== Wiki updates ==
Throughout April, various aspects of the wiki have been changed or updated. The wiki software is now running the latest stable release, providing better security and usability. A side effect of this update is a bunch of new features.

Besides the update, several new extensions were installed.

Some of the most noticeable changes include:
* The '''upload wizard''' guides you through the process of uploading files. It provides an user interface to fill in the information template that we discussed in the previous newsletter edition. And should therefore help us archiving files in a way that they can be easily found back and used among the wiki and other places.
* Vector is the '''new default style''' of the wiki. It comes with a more advanced search box (moved to the top right of the page), showing suggestions of articles that you might be looking for.

===New articles===
<DynamicArticleList>
type=new
count=10
</DynamicArticleList>
===New aircraft articles===
<DynamicArticleList>
type=new
count=10
categoryRoot=Aircraft
</DynamicArticleList>
===Most popular newsletters===
<DynamicArticleList>
type=hot
count=5
categoryRoot=FlightGear Newsletter
</DynamicArticleList>

== Community news ==
=== FlightGear on YouTube ===

=== New tutorials and screencasts ===
=== Forum news ===
=== Multiplayer ===
=== Virtual airlines ===
=== FlightGear events ===

== Useful links ==
== And finally ... ==
=== Contributing ===
One of the regular thoughts expressed on the FlightGear forums is "I'd like to contribute but I don't know how to program, and I don't have the time". Unfortunately, there is a common mis-conception that contributing requires programming and lots of free time. In fact, there are a huge range of ways to contribute to the project without needing to write code or spending days working on something.

For ideas on starting to contribute to FlightGear, you may want to check out: [[Volunteer]].

=== Call for volunteers ===
* The [[OpenRadar]] project is looking for a new maintainer.
* The [[FGFSPM]] (FlightGear Package Manager) is looking for a new maintainer.

=== Did you know ===

[[Category:FlightGear Newsletter|2012 04]]

FlightGear Newsletter April 2012

2012-04-14T15:15:46Z

VicMar: /* Birds in FG */

{{draft|newsletter}}

{{newsletter}}
{{TOC_right|limit=2}}

''We would like to emphasize that the monthly newsletter can not live without the contributions of FlightGear users and developers. Everyone with a wiki account (free to register) can edit the newsletter and every contribution is welcome. So if you know about any FlightGear related news or projects such as for example updated scenery or aircraft, please do feel invited to add such news to the newsletter.''

== Development news ==

=== Mailing list digest ===

(by far the easiest option to populate the newsletter with contents is copying/pasting stuff from the forum and the mailing list or the git logs)

=== Forum digest ===

=== Git digest ===

== Interview with a contributor (Sam Clancy) ==
''In each edition we have an interview with a contributor. Suggestions for possible questions are available on [[interview questions]], you are invited to come up with new questions and interview ideas obviously! Anyone is free to write an interview (with him-/herself or others) for next month's newsletter! If you'd like to help interview a contributor or get interviewed, please do consider adding yourself to the [[list of interview volunteers]]!''

'''[http://www.flightgear.org/contributors/ Read this and previous interviews at our website's archive].'''

* '''How long have you been involved in FlightGear?'''
Actively I've been involved with the FlightGear project since early January 2011. Simply because my old computer (which my family had had for about 5 or 6 years prior) couldn't run FlightGear. But after we upgraded... (insert evil laugh here)
* '''What is your forum nickname?'''
connect is my name.
* '''What are your major interests in FlightGear?'''
Flying, first of all. My life dream is to become a commercial airline pilot, hopefully somewhere in Europe. I've taken my very first steps towards this in real life, with my "TIF" or Training Introductory Flight, but I also believe my prior experience FlightGear, and of course my continued use of FlightGear gives me a much cheaper alternative, for the time being, to gain experience.
* '''Why is it that you are interested in flight simulation or aviation in general?'''
The fact that it took mankind literally thousands of years to figure out how to fly, in just a century we've gone from the Wright Flyer all the way to the Antonov An-225, the Airbus A380, the Boeing 747, the list is endless. I think the fact we got to the moon is pretty good to.
* '''What project are you working on right now?'''
I think you mean projects, in my case. I've actually got three on the go; all of which I am collaborating on (something I love with FlightGears community spirit). They are; the Airbus A350-900XWB in co-operation with Malik Guest (tehwarlock). The Jabiru J-170 (the aircraft I completed my "TIF" or Training Introductory Flight in) with Narendran Muraleedharan (Omega Pilot/Omega95) and Project Brisbane, perhaps the most ambitious, with Lachlan Bruce (spitfirebruce21), Drew Gibson (VH-TIT/FlightGearNZ) and Malik Guest (tehwarlock).
* '''What do you plan on doing in the future?'''
I actually don't know. I just hope I can develop my skills enough to contribute something really good to the FlightGear Project.'''
* '''Are you happy with the way the FlightGear project is going?
Overall; yes. Having come in the days of v2.0.0 and at one stage, using 0.9.0, it's blatantly obvious the progress that has been made in the year or so I've been actively involved in the community.
* '''On average, how much time do you spend working with/contributing to FlightGear?'''
A day? Hours. Note the plural form of the word. I don't have a number, as I'm frankly not pedantic enough to record, but I assume it'd scare me.
* '''Which of the more recent FlightGear developments do you consider most interesting/appealing?'''
Thorsten's Local/Advanced Weather; I use it everytime I fly. It's alot nicer visually then the "Global/Simple Weather" and I think it competes with FSX and REX.
* '''What do you enjoy most about developing for FlightGear?'''
The satisfaction you get when something works! Maybe that's because I'm not the most technically minded, hehe.

'''[http://www.flightgear.org/contributors/ Read this and previous interviews at our website's archive].'''

== Snapshot releases ==
Every now and then, easy-to-install development snapshots are created (usually, twice montlhy). These snapshos depict a recent state of the development version of FlightGear. By using them users can test out features that will be included in the upcoming release. Testers are encouraged to file bugs at [http://code.google.com/p/flightgear-bugs/ the issue tracker].

The snapshot can be download via the links at the bottom of this page: http://www.flightgear.org/download/. Updates and feedback can be found [http://flightgear.org/forums/viewtopic.php?f=28&t=10488&p=144233&hilit=snapshot#p144233 at the forum].

== Nasal for newbies ==

== New software tools and projects ==

== FlightGear addons and mods ==

== In the hangar ==

All the way back in May 2011, we addopted a new status-rating system for aircraft. So far, only a few have actually been rated, as can be seen in the list 'hockenberry' set up at [https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/ccc?key=0ApzphjA4w05ndF94Y2F0bzJTbHQ5QTJXZXJRcUVRbWc&hl=en_US Google Docs]. If you're an aircraft developer and your aircraft is/are not on the list, please consider rating their status. All you'll need to know/do is described at [[Formalizing Aircraft Status]]. If you'd just like to get started contributing to FlightGear, this would also seem like an excellent way to get started.

=== New aircraft ===

=== Updated aircraft ===
The Zivko Edge by Thorsten D was already a great airplane, Jentron worked the FDM over and now its quite capable of tumbling and spinning with rough handling.

=== Liveries ===

== Scenery corner ==
=== Birds in FG ===
Every so often I get fed up modelling buildings, so I think of other (often silly) things I can model for FlightGear. I have already made several low-poly models which can be used with AI scenarios. This time I have created an animated Seagull.
[[File:Sea_Gulls_2.png]]

By attaching him, and variations of him, as sub-models to an invisible rotating base, You can have several seagulls circling above any model which has an .xml file.

There are 2 standard sub-model entries which can be added individually or together to an existing model’s .xml file. Each will add 4 Seagulls:
<model>
<path>Models/Fauna/SeaGull_Origin.xml</path>
<offsets>
<x-m> 0.0</x-m>
<y-m> 0.0</y-m>
<z-m>15.0</z-m>
</offsets>
</model>
The above option is already available and the one below has been sent for inclusion in the model database, and should be available very soon.
<model>
<path>Models/Fauna/SeaGull_Origin_2.xml</path>
<offsets>
<x-m> 0.0</x-m>
<y-m> 0.0</y-m>
<z-m>20.0</z-m>
</offsets>
</model>

These entries can be altered to your own preference, or if you so wish you can alter the individual Seagull variations, which can be found in <tt>[[$FG_ROOT]]/Models/Fauna</tt>.

Who says we have to be serious all the time. Have fun. Enjoy.

VicMar

=== TerraGear ===
As you might be aware there is constant genapts850 development going on, to bring the apt.dat 850 format features (and beyond) to FlightGear. This work has now been merged into the official Terragear git repository for general consumption. Work is still ongoing to bring missing features like some special light variants, runway shoulders and different textures in. Some bad bugs have been fixed recently and there are even Windows binaries available from our build server.

== Aircraft of the month ==
== Airport of the month ==
== Screenshot of the month ==
FlightGear is going to simulate the effect of air pollution - with some air pollution, sunrise colors become a lot more spectacular, as demonstrated here by a DR-400 experiencing a sunrise flying close to Nice (France).

[[File:Dr400-nice.jpg|800px]]

== Suggested flights ==

=== Central Karakoram range ===
Let's explore one of the highest regions of the planet - the central Karakoram with the densest concentration of mountains of 8000 m and above. We're going to need a good climbing performance for the trip - even the frozen plateau of Baltoro glacier above which K2 and Gasherbrum V and VI loom is more than 13.000 ft high.

[[File:Karakoram1.jpg|300px|thumb|left|Circling Gasherbrum I]]

Take off from Skardu airport in Pakistan (OPSD). Skardu has a reasonably long (11,944 ft) runway at just 7,316 ft elevation, so you can take a jet, but for instance the Twin Otter is more stylish.

South of Skardu lies Deosai park, a famous high plateau, but we turn initially east. There's a chain of lakes which is the Indus river. After about five miles, the Shigar river merges with the Indus. Turn slightly left and follow the Shigar, then follow it into a long and broad lake-filled valley stretching into north-western direction.

Towards the end of the lake, a small tributary river, the Braldu, turns eastward out of the main valley. Follow the Braldu and start climbing (if you haven't done so yet). About 15 miles after turning into the Braldu river valley, two glacier-filled valleys stretch to the north - admire the view!

[[File:Karakoram2.jpg|300px|thumb|right|Heading back into Skardu, Nanga Parbat on the horizon]]

Passing a few lakes, you reach finally Baltoro glacier continuing the river valley stretching eastward. Ever climbing, follow the glacier till you reach some kind of T-junction. The glacier arm reaching north leads to K2 (which sadly isn't really there in Flightgear), but just ahead of you are the still rather impressive peaks of Gasherbrum V, VI and I - circle the range and make some pictures!

A good way back to Skardu is to go about 10 miles sourth from the Gasherbrum peaks, then head due west. To your west, you can see the long valleys fall away from the high ranges, to your right is the still glacier-covered high Karakoram. On a clear day (really good visibility selected) you can see the distinctive peak of Nanga Parbat appearing straight ahead on the horizon. The valley of Skardu is quite a distinctive feature and finding back VFR should not be a problem.

== Aircraft reviews ==

== Wiki updates ==
Throughout April, various aspects of the wiki have been changed or updated. The wiki software is now running the latest stable release, providing better security and usability. A side effect of this update is a bunch of new features.

Besides the update, several new extensions were installed.

Some of the most noticeable changes include:
* The '''upload wizard''' guides you through the process of uploading files. It provides an user interface to fill in the information template that we discussed in the previous newsletter edition. And should therefore help us archiving files in a way that they can be easily found back and used among the wiki and other places.
* Vector is the '''new default style''' of the wiki. It comes with a more advanced search box (moved to the top right of the page), showing suggestions of articles that you might be looking for.

===New articles===
<DynamicArticleList>
type=new
count=10
</DynamicArticleList>
===New aircraft articles===
<DynamicArticleList>
type=new
count=10
categoryRoot=Aircraft
</DynamicArticleList>
===Most popular newsletters===
<DynamicArticleList>
type=hot
count=5
categoryRoot=FlightGear Newsletter
</DynamicArticleList>

== Community news ==
=== FlightGear on YouTube ===

=== New tutorials and screencasts ===
=== Forum news ===
=== Multiplayer ===
=== Virtual airlines ===
=== FlightGear events ===

== Useful links ==
== And finally ... ==
=== Contributing ===
One of the regular thoughts expressed on the FlightGear forums is "I'd like to contribute but I don't know how to program, and I don't have the time". Unfortunately, there is a common mis-conception that contributing requires programming and lots of free time. In fact, there are a huge range of ways to contribute to the project without needing to write code or spending days working on something.

For ideas on starting to contribute to FlightGear, you may want to check out: [[Volunteer]].

=== Call for volunteers ===
* The [[OpenRadar]] project is looking for a new maintainer.
* The [[FGFSPM]] (FlightGear Package Manager) is looking for a new maintainer.

=== Did you know ===

[[Category:FlightGear Newsletter|2012 04]]

FlightGear Newsletter April 2012

2012-04-14T15:13:33Z

VicMar: /* Birds in FG */

{{draft|newsletter}}

{{newsletter}}
{{TOC_right|limit=2}}

''We would like to emphasize that the monthly newsletter can not live without the contributions of FlightGear users and developers. Everyone with a wiki account (free to register) can edit the newsletter and every contribution is welcome. So if you know about any FlightGear related news or projects such as for example updated scenery or aircraft, please do feel invited to add such news to the newsletter.''

== Development news ==

=== Mailing list digest ===

(by far the easiest option to populate the newsletter with contents is copying/pasting stuff from the forum and the mailing list or the git logs)

=== Forum digest ===

=== Git digest ===

== Interview with a contributor (Sam Clancy) ==
''In each edition we have an interview with a contributor. Suggestions for possible questions are available on [[interview questions]], you are invited to come up with new questions and interview ideas obviously! Anyone is free to write an interview (with him-/herself or others) for next month's newsletter! If you'd like to help interview a contributor or get interviewed, please do consider adding yourself to the [[list of interview volunteers]]!''

'''[http://www.flightgear.org/contributors/ Read this and previous interviews at our website's archive].'''

* '''How long have you been involved in FlightGear?'''
Actively I've been involved with the FlightGear project since early January 2011. Simply because my old computer (which my family had had for about 5 or 6 years prior) couldn't run FlightGear. But after we upgraded... (insert evil laugh here)
* '''What is your forum nickname?'''
connect is my name.
* '''What are your major interests in FlightGear?'''
Flying, first of all. My life dream is to become a commercial airline pilot, hopefully somewhere in Europe. I've taken my very first steps towards this in real life, with my "TIF" or Training Introductory Flight, but I also believe my prior experience FlightGear, and of course my continued use of FlightGear gives me a much cheaper alternative, for the time being, to gain experience.
* '''Why is it that you are interested in flight simulation or aviation in general?'''
The fact that it took mankind literally thousands of years to figure out how to fly, in just a century we've gone from the Wright Flyer all the way to the Antonov An-225, the Airbus A380, the Boeing 747, the list is endless. I think the fact we got to the moon is pretty good to.
* '''What project are you working on right now?'''
I think you mean projects, in my case. I've actually got three on the go; all of which I am collaborating on (something I love with FlightGears community spirit). They are; the Airbus A350-900XWB in co-operation with Malik Guest (tehwarlock). The Jabiru J-170 (the aircraft I completed my "TIF" or Training Introductory Flight in) with Narendran Muraleedharan (Omega Pilot/Omega95) and Project Brisbane, perhaps the most ambitious, with Lachlan Bruce (spitfirebruce21), Drew Gibson (VH-TIT/FlightGearNZ) and Malik Guest (tehwarlock).
* '''What do you plan on doing in the future?'''
I actually don't know. I just hope I can develop my skills enough to contribute something really good to the FlightGear Project.'''
* '''Are you happy with the way the FlightGear project is going?
Overall; yes. Having come in the days of v2.0.0 and at one stage, using 0.9.0, it's blatantly obvious the progress that has been made in the year or so I've been actively involved in the community.
* '''On average, how much time do you spend working with/contributing to FlightGear?'''
A day? Hours. Note the plural form of the word. I don't have a number, as I'm frankly not pedantic enough to record, but I assume it'd scare me.
* '''Which of the more recent FlightGear developments do you consider most interesting/appealing?'''
Thorsten's Local/Advanced Weather; I use it everytime I fly. It's alot nicer visually then the "Global/Simple Weather" and I think it competes with FSX and REX.
* '''What do you enjoy most about developing for FlightGear?'''
The satisfaction you get when something works! Maybe that's because I'm not the most technically minded, hehe.

'''[http://www.flightgear.org/contributors/ Read this and previous interviews at our website's archive].'''

== Snapshot releases ==
Every now and then, easy-to-install development snapshots are created (usually, twice montlhy). These snapshos depict a recent state of the development version of FlightGear. By using them users can test out features that will be included in the upcoming release. Testers are encouraged to file bugs at [http://code.google.com/p/flightgear-bugs/ the issue tracker].

The snapshot can be download via the links at the bottom of this page: http://www.flightgear.org/download/. Updates and feedback can be found [http://flightgear.org/forums/viewtopic.php?f=28&t=10488&p=144233&hilit=snapshot#p144233 at the forum].

== Nasal for newbies ==

== New software tools and projects ==

== FlightGear addons and mods ==

== In the hangar ==

All the way back in May 2011, we addopted a new status-rating system for aircraft. So far, only a few have actually been rated, as can be seen in the list 'hockenberry' set up at [https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/ccc?key=0ApzphjA4w05ndF94Y2F0bzJTbHQ5QTJXZXJRcUVRbWc&hl=en_US Google Docs]. If you're an aircraft developer and your aircraft is/are not on the list, please consider rating their status. All you'll need to know/do is described at [[Formalizing Aircraft Status]]. If you'd just like to get started contributing to FlightGear, this would also seem like an excellent way to get started.

=== New aircraft ===

=== Updated aircraft ===
The Zivko Edge by Thorsten D was already a great airplane, Jentron worked the FDM over and now its quite capable of tumbling and spinning with rough handling.

=== Liveries ===

== Scenery corner ==
=== Birds in FG ===
Every so often I get fed up modelling buildings, so I think of other (often silly) things I can model for FlightGear. I have already made several low-poly models which can be used with AI scenarios. This time I have created an animated Seagull.
[[File:Sea_Gulls_2.png]]

By attaching him, and variations of him, as sub-models to an invisible rotating base, You can have several seagulls circling above any model which has an .xml file. Each will add 4 Seagulls.

There are 2 standard sub-model entries which can be added individually or together to an existing model’s .xml file:
<model>
<path>Models/Fauna/SeaGull_Origin.xml</path>
<offsets>
<x-m> 0.0</x-m>
<y-m> 0.0</y-m>
<z-m>15.0</z-m>
</offsets>
</model>
The above option is already available and the one below has been sent for inclusion in the model database, and should be available very soon.
<model>
<path>Models/Fauna/SeaGull_Origin_2.xml</path>
<offsets>
<x-m> 0.0</x-m>
<y-m> 0.0</y-m>
<z-m>20.0</z-m>
</offsets>
</model>

These entries can be altered to your own preference, or if you so wish you can alter the individual Seagull variations, which can be found in <tt>[[$FG_ROOT]]/Models/Fauna</tt>.

Who says we have to be serious all the time. Have fun. Enjoy.

VicMar

=== TerraGear ===
As you might be aware there is constant genapts850 development going on, to bring the apt.dat 850 format features (and beyond) to FlightGear. This work has now been merged into the official Terragear git repository for general consumption. Work is still ongoing to bring missing features like some special light variants, runway shoulders and different textures in. Some bad bugs have been fixed recently and there are even Windows binaries available from our build server.

== Aircraft of the month ==
== Airport of the month ==
== Screenshot of the month ==
FlightGear is going to simulate the effect of air pollution - with some air pollution, sunrise colors become a lot more spectacular, as demonstrated here by a DR-400 experiencing a sunrise flying close to Nice (France).

[[File:Dr400-nice.jpg|800px]]

== Suggested flights ==

=== Central Karakoram range ===
Let's explore one of the highest regions of the planet - the central Karakoram with the densest concentration of mountains of 8000 m and above. We're going to need a good climbing performance for the trip - even the frozen plateau of Baltoro glacier above which K2 and Gasherbrum V and VI loom is more than 13.000 ft high.

[[File:Karakoram1.jpg|300px|thumb|left|Circling Gasherbrum I]]

Take off from Skardu airport in Pakistan (OPSD). Skardu has a reasonably long (11,944 ft) runway at just 7,316 ft elevation, so you can take a jet, but for instance the Twin Otter is more stylish.

South of Skardu lies Deosai park, a famous high plateau, but we turn initially east. There's a chain of lakes which is the Indus river. After about five miles, the Shigar river merges with the Indus. Turn slightly left and follow the Shigar, then follow it into a long and broad lake-filled valley stretching into north-western direction.

Towards the end of the lake, a small tributary river, the Braldu, turns eastward out of the main valley. Follow the Braldu and start climbing (if you haven't done so yet). About 15 miles after turning into the Braldu river valley, two glacier-filled valleys stretch to the north - admire the view!

[[File:Karakoram2.jpg|300px|thumb|right|Heading back into Skardu, Nanga Parbat on the horizon]]

Passing a few lakes, you reach finally Baltoro glacier continuing the river valley stretching eastward. Ever climbing, follow the glacier till you reach some kind of T-junction. The glacier arm reaching north leads to K2 (which sadly isn't really there in Flightgear), but just ahead of you are the still rather impressive peaks of Gasherbrum V, VI and I - circle the range and make some pictures!

A good way back to Skardu is to go about 10 miles sourth from the Gasherbrum peaks, then head due west. To your west, you can see the long valleys fall away from the high ranges, to your right is the still glacier-covered high Karakoram. On a clear day (really good visibility selected) you can see the distinctive peak of Nanga Parbat appearing straight ahead on the horizon. The valley of Skardu is quite a distinctive feature and finding back VFR should not be a problem.

== Aircraft reviews ==

== Wiki updates ==
Throughout April, various aspects of the wiki have been changed or updated. The wiki software is now running the latest stable release, providing better security and usability. A side effect of this update is a bunch of new features.

Besides the update, several new extensions were installed.

Some of the most noticeable changes include:
* The '''upload wizard''' guides you through the process of uploading files. It provides an user interface to fill in the information template that we discussed in the previous newsletter edition. And should therefore help us archiving files in a way that they can be easily found back and used among the wiki and other places.
* Vector is the '''new default style''' of the wiki. It comes with a more advanced search box (moved to the top right of the page), showing suggestions of articles that you might be looking for.

===New articles===
<DynamicArticleList>
type=new
count=10
</DynamicArticleList>
===New aircraft articles===
<DynamicArticleList>
type=new
count=10
categoryRoot=Aircraft
</DynamicArticleList>
===Most popular newsletters===
<DynamicArticleList>
type=hot
count=5
categoryRoot=FlightGear Newsletter
</DynamicArticleList>

== Community news ==
=== FlightGear on YouTube ===

=== New tutorials and screencasts ===
=== Forum news ===
=== Multiplayer ===
=== Virtual airlines ===
=== FlightGear events ===

== Useful links ==
== And finally ... ==
=== Contributing ===
One of the regular thoughts expressed on the FlightGear forums is "I'd like to contribute but I don't know how to program, and I don't have the time". Unfortunately, there is a common mis-conception that contributing requires programming and lots of free time. In fact, there are a huge range of ways to contribute to the project without needing to write code or spending days working on something.

For ideas on starting to contribute to FlightGear, you may want to check out: [[Volunteer]].

=== Call for volunteers ===
* The [[OpenRadar]] project is looking for a new maintainer.
* The [[FGFSPM]] (FlightGear Package Manager) is looking for a new maintainer.

=== Did you know ===

[[Category:FlightGear Newsletter|2012 04]]

FlightGear Newsletter April 2012

2012-04-14T15:08:52Z

VicMar: /* Birds in FG */

{{draft|newsletter}}

{{newsletter}}
{{TOC_right|limit=2}}

''We would like to emphasize that the monthly newsletter can not live without the contributions of FlightGear users and developers. Everyone with a wiki account (free to register) can edit the newsletter and every contribution is welcome. So if you know about any FlightGear related news or projects such as for example updated scenery or aircraft, please do feel invited to add such news to the newsletter.''

== Development news ==

=== Mailing list digest ===

(by far the easiest option to populate the newsletter with contents is copying/pasting stuff from the forum and the mailing list or the git logs)

=== Forum digest ===

=== Git digest ===

== Interview with a contributor (Sam Clancy) ==
''In each edition we have an interview with a contributor. Suggestions for possible questions are available on [[interview questions]], you are invited to come up with new questions and interview ideas obviously! Anyone is free to write an interview (with him-/herself or others) for next month's newsletter! If you'd like to help interview a contributor or get interviewed, please do consider adding yourself to the [[list of interview volunteers]]!''

'''[http://www.flightgear.org/contributors/ Read this and previous interviews at our website's archive].'''

* '''How long have you been involved in FlightGear?'''
Actively I've been involved with the FlightGear project since early January 2011. Simply because my old computer (which my family had had for about 5 or 6 years prior) couldn't run FlightGear. But after we upgraded... (insert evil laugh here)
* '''What is your forum nickname?'''
connect is my name.
* '''What are your major interests in FlightGear?'''
Flying, first of all. My life dream is to become a commercial airline pilot, hopefully somewhere in Europe. I've taken my very first steps towards this in real life, with my "TIF" or Training Introductory Flight, but I also believe my prior experience FlightGear, and of course my continued use of FlightGear gives me a much cheaper alternative, for the time being, to gain experience.
* '''Why is it that you are interested in flight simulation or aviation in general?'''
The fact that it took mankind literally thousands of years to figure out how to fly, in just a century we've gone from the Wright Flyer all the way to the Antonov An-225, the Airbus A380, the Boeing 747, the list is endless. I think the fact we got to the moon is pretty good to.
* '''What project are you working on right now?'''
I think you mean projects, in my case. I've actually got three on the go; all of which I am collaborating on (something I love with FlightGears community spirit). They are; the Airbus A350-900XWB in co-operation with Malik Guest (tehwarlock). The Jabiru J-170 (the aircraft I completed my "TIF" or Training Introductory Flight in) with Narendran Muraleedharan (Omega Pilot/Omega95) and Project Brisbane, perhaps the most ambitious, with Lachlan Bruce (spitfirebruce21), Drew Gibson (VH-TIT/FlightGearNZ) and Malik Guest (tehwarlock).
* '''What do you plan on doing in the future?'''
I actually don't know. I just hope I can develop my skills enough to contribute something really good to the FlightGear Project.'''
* '''Are you happy with the way the FlightGear project is going?
Overall; yes. Having come in the days of v2.0.0 and at one stage, using 0.9.0, it's blatantly obvious the progress that has been made in the year or so I've been actively involved in the community.
* '''On average, how much time do you spend working with/contributing to FlightGear?'''
A day? Hours. Note the plural form of the word. I don't have a number, as I'm frankly not pedantic enough to record, but I assume it'd scare me.
* '''Which of the more recent FlightGear developments do you consider most interesting/appealing?'''
Thorsten's Local/Advanced Weather; I use it everytime I fly. It's alot nicer visually then the "Global/Simple Weather" and I think it competes with FSX and REX.
* '''What do you enjoy most about developing for FlightGear?'''
The satisfaction you get when something works! Maybe that's because I'm not the most technically minded, hehe.

'''[http://www.flightgear.org/contributors/ Read this and previous interviews at our website's archive].'''

== Snapshot releases ==
Every now and then, easy-to-install development snapshots are created (usually, twice montlhy). These snapshos depict a recent state of the development version of FlightGear. By using them users can test out features that will be included in the upcoming release. Testers are encouraged to file bugs at [http://code.google.com/p/flightgear-bugs/ the issue tracker].

The snapshot can be download via the links at the bottom of this page: http://www.flightgear.org/download/. Updates and feedback can be found [http://flightgear.org/forums/viewtopic.php?f=28&t=10488&p=144233&hilit=snapshot#p144233 at the forum].

== Nasal for newbies ==

== New software tools and projects ==

== FlightGear addons and mods ==

== In the hangar ==

All the way back in May 2011, we addopted a new status-rating system for aircraft. So far, only a few have actually been rated, as can be seen in the list 'hockenberry' set up at [https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/ccc?key=0ApzphjA4w05ndF94Y2F0bzJTbHQ5QTJXZXJRcUVRbWc&hl=en_US Google Docs]. If you're an aircraft developer and your aircraft is/are not on the list, please consider rating their status. All you'll need to know/do is described at [[Formalizing Aircraft Status]]. If you'd just like to get started contributing to FlightGear, this would also seem like an excellent way to get started.

=== New aircraft ===

=== Updated aircraft ===
The Zivko Edge by Thorsten D was already a great airplane, Jentron worked the FDM over and now its quite capable of tumbling and spinning with rough handling.

=== Liveries ===

== Scenery corner ==
=== Birds in FG ===
Every so often I get fed up modelling buildings, so I think of other (often silly) things I can model for FlightGear. I have already made several low-poly models which can be used with AI scenarios. This time I have created an animated Seagull.
[[File:Sea_Gulls_2.png]]

By attaching him, and variations of him, as sub-models to an invisible rotating base, You can have several seagulls circling above any model which has an .xml file.

There are 2 standard sub-model entries which can be added individually or together to an existing model’s .xml file:
<model>
<path>Models/Fauna/SeaGull_Origin.xml</path>
<offsets>
<x-m> 0.0</x-m>
<y-m> 0.0</y-m>
<z-m>15.0</z-m>
</offsets>
</model>
The above option is already available and the one below has been sent for inclusion in the model database, and should be available very soon.
<model>
<path>Models/Fauna/SeaGull_Origin_2.xml</path>
<offsets>
<x-m> 0.0</x-m>
<y-m> 0.0</y-m>
<z-m>20.0</z-m>
</offsets>
</model>

These entries can be altered to your own preference, or if you so wish you can alter the individual Seagull variations, which can be found in <tt>[[$FG_ROOT]]/Models/Fauna</tt>.

Who says we have to be serious all the time. Have fun. Enjoy.

VicMar

=== TerraGear ===
As you might be aware there is constant genapts850 development going on, to bring the apt.dat 850 format features (and beyond) to FlightGear. This work has now been merged into the official Terragear git repository for general consumption. Work is still ongoing to bring missing features like some special light variants, runway shoulders and different textures in. Some bad bugs have been fixed recently and there are even Windows binaries available from our build server.

== Aircraft of the month ==
== Airport of the month ==
== Screenshot of the month ==
FlightGear is going to simulate the effect of air pollution - with some air pollution, sunrise colors become a lot more spectacular, as demonstrated here by a DR-400 experiencing a sunrise flying close to Nice (France).

[[File:Dr400-nice.jpg|800px]]

== Suggested flights ==

=== Central Karakoram range ===
Let's explore one of the highest regions of the planet - the central Karakoram with the densest concentration of mountains of 8000 m and above. We're going to need a good climbing performance for the trip - even the frozen plateau of Baltoro glacier above which K2 and Gasherbrum V and VI loom is more than 13.000 ft high.

[[File:Karakoram1.jpg|300px|thumb|left|Circling Gasherbrum I]]

Take off from Skardu airport in Pakistan (OPSD). Skardu has a reasonably long (11,944 ft) runway at just 7,316 ft elevation, so you can take a jet, but for instance the Twin Otter is more stylish.

South of Skardu lies Deosai park, a famous high plateau, but we turn initially east. There's a chain of lakes which is the Indus river. After about five miles, the Shigar river merges with the Indus. Turn slightly left and follow the Shigar, then follow it into a long and broad lake-filled valley stretching into north-western direction.

Towards the end of the lake, a small tributary river, the Braldu, turns eastward out of the main valley. Follow the Braldu and start climbing (if you haven't done so yet). About 15 miles after turning into the Braldu river valley, two glacier-filled valleys stretch to the north - admire the view!

[[File:Karakoram2.jpg|300px|thumb|right|Heading back into Skardu, Nanga Parbat on the horizon]]

Passing a few lakes, you reach finally Baltoro glacier continuing the river valley stretching eastward. Ever climbing, follow the glacier till you reach some kind of T-junction. The glacier arm reaching north leads to K2 (which sadly isn't really there in Flightgear), but just ahead of you are the still rather impressive peaks of Gasherbrum V, VI and I - circle the range and make some pictures!

A good way back to Skardu is to go about 10 miles sourth from the Gasherbrum peaks, then head due west. To your west, you can see the long valleys fall away from the high ranges, to your right is the still glacier-covered high Karakoram. On a clear day (really good visibility selected) you can see the distinctive peak of Nanga Parbat appearing straight ahead on the horizon. The valley of Skardu is quite a distinctive feature and finding back VFR should not be a problem.

== Aircraft reviews ==

== Wiki updates ==
Throughout April, various aspects of the wiki have been changed or updated. The wiki software is now running the latest stable release, providing better security and usability. A side effect of this update is a bunch of new features.

Besides the update, several new extensions were installed.

Some of the most noticeable changes include:
* The '''upload wizard''' guides you through the process of uploading files. It provides an user interface to fill in the information template that we discussed in the previous newsletter edition. And should therefore help us archiving files in a way that they can be easily found back and used among the wiki and other places.
* Vector is the '''new default style''' of the wiki. It comes with a more advanced search box (moved to the top right of the page), showing suggestions of articles that you might be looking for.

===New articles===
<DynamicArticleList>
type=new
count=10
</DynamicArticleList>
===New aircraft articles===
<DynamicArticleList>
type=new
count=10
categoryRoot=Aircraft
</DynamicArticleList>
===Most popular newsletters===
<DynamicArticleList>
type=hot
count=5
categoryRoot=FlightGear Newsletter
</DynamicArticleList>

== Community news ==
=== FlightGear on YouTube ===

=== New tutorials and screencasts ===
=== Forum news ===
=== Multiplayer ===
=== Virtual airlines ===
=== FlightGear events ===

== Useful links ==
== And finally ... ==
=== Contributing ===
One of the regular thoughts expressed on the FlightGear forums is "I'd like to contribute but I don't know how to program, and I don't have the time". Unfortunately, there is a common mis-conception that contributing requires programming and lots of free time. In fact, there are a huge range of ways to contribute to the project without needing to write code or spending days working on something.

For ideas on starting to contribute to FlightGear, you may want to check out: [[Volunteer]].

=== Call for volunteers ===
* The [[OpenRadar]] project is looking for a new maintainer.
* The [[FGFSPM]] (FlightGear Package Manager) is looking for a new maintainer.

=== Did you know ===

[[Category:FlightGear Newsletter|2012 04]]

File:Sea Gulls 2.png

2012-04-14T15:04:07Z

VicMar:

=={{int:filedesc}}==
{{Information
|description={{en|1=FG Sea Gulls in flight}}
|date=2012-04-14
|source={{own}}
|author=[[User:VicMar|VicMar]]
|permission=
|other_versions=
|other_fields=
}}

=={{int:license-header}}==
{{self|cc-by-sa-3.0}}

FlightGear Newsletter April 2012

2012-04-10T12:39:00Z

VicMar: /* Scenery corner */

{{draft|newsletter}}

{{newsletter}}
{{TOC_right|limit=2}}

''We would like to emphasize that the monthly newsletter can not live without the contributions of FlightGear users and developers. Everyone with a wiki account (free to register) can edit the newsletter and every contribution is welcome. So if you know about any FlightGear related news or projects such as for example updated scenery or aircraft, please do feel invited to add such news to the newsletter.''

== Development news ==

=== Mailing list digest ===

(by far the easiest option to populate the newsletter with contents is copying/pasting stuff from the forum and the mailing list or the git logs)

=== Forum digest ===

=== Git digest ===

== Interview with a contributor (Sam Clancy) ==
''In each edition we have an interview with a contributor. Suggestions for possible questions are available on [[interview questions]], you are invited to come up with new questions and interview ideas obviously! Anyone is free to write an interview (with him-/herself or others) for next month's newsletter! If you'd like to help interview a contributor or get interviewed, please do consider adding yourself to the [[list of interview volunteers]]!''

'''[http://www.flightgear.org/contributors/ Read this and previous interviews at our website's archive].'''

* '''How long have you been involved in FlightGear?'''
Actively I've been involved with the FlightGear project since early January 2011. Simply because my old computer (which my family had had for about 5 or 6 years prior) couldn't run FlightGear. But after we upgraded... (insert evil laugh here)
* '''What is your forum nickname?'''
connect is my name.
* '''What are your major interests in FlightGear?'''
Flying, first of all. My life dream is to become a commercial airline pilot, hopefully somewhere in Europe. I've taken my very first steps towards this in real life, with my "TIF" or Training Introductory Flight, but I also believe my prior experience FlightGear, and of course my continued use of FlightGear gives me a much cheaper alternative, for the time being, to gain experience.
* '''Why is it that you are interested in flight simulation or aviation in general?'''
The fact that it took mankind literally thousands of years to figure out how to fly, in just a century we've gone from the Wright Flyer all the way to the Antonov An-225, the Airbus A380, the Boeing 747, the list is endless. I think the fact we got to the moon is pretty good to.
* '''What project are you working on right now?'''
I think you mean projects, in my case. I've actually got three on the go; all of which I am collaborating on (something I love with FlightGears community spirit). They are; the Airbus A350-900XWB in co-operation with Malik Guest (tehwarlock). The Jabiru J-170 (the aircraft I completed my "TIF" or Training Introductory Flight in) with Narendran Muraleedharan (Omega Pilot/Omega95) and Project Brisbane, perhaps the most ambitious, with Lachlan Bruce (spitfirebruce21), Drew Gibson (VH-TIT/FlightGearNZ) and Malik Guest (tehwarlock).
* '''What do you plan on doing in the future?'''
I actually don't know. I just hope I can develop my skills enough to contribute something really good to the FlightGear Project.'''
* '''Are you happy with the way the FlightGear project is going?
Overall; yes. Having come in the days of v2.0.0 and at one stage, using 0.9.0, it's blatantly obvious the progress that has been made in the year or so I've been actively involved in the community.
* '''On average, how much time do you spend working with/contributing to FlightGear?'''
A day? Hours. Note the plural form of the word. I don't have a number, as I'm frankly not pedantic enough to record, but I assume it'd scare me.
* '''Which of the more recent FlightGear developments do you consider most interesting/appealing?'''
Thorsten's Local/Advanced Weather; I use it everytime I fly. It's alot nicer visually then the "Global/Simple Weather" and I think it competes with FSX and REX.
* '''What do you enjoy most about developing for FlightGear?'''
The satisfaction you get when something works! Maybe that's because I'm not the most technically minded, hehe.

'''[http://www.flightgear.org/contributors/ Read this and previous interviews at our website's archive].'''

== Snapshot releases ==
Every now and then, easy-to-install development snapshots are created (usually, twice montlhy). These snapshos depict a recent state of the development version of FlightGear. By using them users can test out features that will be included in the upcoming release. Testers are encouraged to file bugs at [http://code.google.com/p/flightgear-bugs/ the issue tracker].

The snapshot can be download via the links at the bottom of this page: http://www.flightgear.org/download/. Updates and feedback can be found [http://flightgear.org/forums/viewtopic.php?f=28&t=10488&p=144233&hilit=snapshot#p144233 at the forum].

== Nasal for newbies ==

== New software tools and projects ==

== FlightGear addons and mods ==

== In the hangar ==

All the way back in May 2011, we addopted a new status-rating system for aircraft. So far, only a few have actually been rated, as can be seen in the list 'hockenberry' set up at [https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/ccc?key=0ApzphjA4w05ndF94Y2F0bzJTbHQ5QTJXZXJRcUVRbWc&hl=en_US Google Docs]. If you're an aircraft developer and your aircraft is/are not on the list, please consider rating their status. All you'll need to know/do is described at [[Formalizing Aircraft Status]]. If you'd just like to get started contributing to FlightGear, this would also seem like an excellent way to get started.

=== New aircraft ===

=== Updated aircraft ===
The Zivko Edge by Thorsten D was already a great airplane, Jentron worked the FDM over and now its quite capable of tumbling and spinning with rough handling.

=== Liveries ===

== Scenery corner ==
=== Birds in FG ===
Every so often I get fed up modelling buildings, so I think of other (often silly) things I can model for FlightGear. I have already made several low-poly models which can be used with AI scenarios. This time I have created an animated Seagull.

<TABLE> <TR> <TD>[[File:Sea Gulls.png]]</TD>

<TD>By attaching him, and variations of him, as sub-models to an invisible rotating base, You can have several seagulls circling above any model which has an .xml file.

There are 2 standard sub-model entries which can be added individually or together to an existing model’s .xml file:

<model>
<path>Models/Fauna/SeaGull_Origin.xml</path>
<offsets>
<x-m> 0.0</x-m>
<y-m> 00.0</y-m>
<z-m> 15.0</z-m>
</offsets>
</model>
The above option is already available and the one below has been sent for inclusion in the model database, and should be available very soon.

<model>
<path>Models/Fauna/SeaGull_Origin_2.xml</path>
<offsets>
<x-m> 0.0</x-m>
<y-m> 00.0</y-m>
<z-m> 20.0</z-m>
</offsets>
</model>

These entries can be altered to your own preference, or if you so wish you can alter the individual Seagull variations, which can be found in data/Models/Fauna.</TD></TR></TABLE>

Who says we have to be serious all the time. Have fun. Enjoy.

VicMar

=== Terragear ===
As you might be aware there is constant genapts850 development going on, to bring the apt.dat 850 format features (and beyond) to FlightGear. This work has now been merged into the official Terragear git repository for general consumption. Work is still ongoing to bring missing features like some special light variants, runway shoulders and different textures in. Some bad bugs have been fixed recently and there are even Windows binaries available from our build server.

== Aircraft of the month ==
== Airport of the month ==
== Screenshot of the month ==

Flightgear is going to simulate the effect of air pollution - with some air pollution, sunrise colors become a lot more spectacular, as demonstrated here by a DR-400 experiencing a sunrise flying close to Nice (France).

[[File:Dr400-nice.jpg|800px]]

== Suggested flights ==

=== Central Karakoram range ===

Let's explore one of the highest regions of the planet - the central Karakoram with the densest concentration of mountains of 8000 m and above. We're going to need a good climbing performance for the trip - even the frozen plateau of Baltoro glacier above which K2 and Gasherbrum V and VI loom is more than 13.000 ft high.

[[File:Karakoram1.jpg|300px|thumb|left|Circling Gasherbrum I]]

Take off from Skardu airport in Pakistan (OPSD). Skardu has a reasonably long (11,944 ft) runway at just 7,316 ft elevation, so you can take a jet, but for instance the Twin Otter is more stylish.

South of Skardu lies Deosai park, a famous high plateau, but we turn initially east. There's a chain of lakes which is the Indus river. After about five miles, the Shigar river merges with the Indus. Turn slightly left and follow the Shigar, then follow it into a long and broad lake-filled valley stretching into north-western direction.

Towards the end of the lake, a small tributary river, the Braldu, turns eastward out of the main valley. Follow the Braldu and start climbing (if you haven't done so yet). About 15 miles after turning into the Braldu river valley, two glacier-filled valleys stretch to the north - admire the view!

[[File:Karakoram2.jpg|300px|thumb|right|Heading back into Skardu, Nanga Parbat on the horizon]]

Passing a few lakes, you reach finally Baltoro glacier continuing the river valley stretching eastward. Ever climbing, follow the glacier till you reach some kind of T-junction. The glacier arm reaching north leads to K2 (which sadly isn't really there in Flightgear), but just ahead of you are the still rather impressive peaks of Gasherbrum V, VI and I - circle the range and make some pictures!

A good way back to Skardu is to go about 10 miles sourth from the Gasherbrum peaks, then head due west. To your west, you can see the long valleys fall away from the high ranges, to your right is the still glacier-covered high Karakoram. On a clear day (really good visibility selected) you can see the distinctive peak of Nanga Parbat appearing straight ahead on the horizon. The valley of Skardu is quite a distinctive feature and finding back VFR should not be a problem.

== Aircraft reviews ==

== Wiki updates ==
===New articles===
<DynamicArticleList>
type=new
count=10
</DynamicArticleList>
===New aircraft articles===
<DynamicArticleList>
type=new
count=10
categoryRoot=Aircraft
</DynamicArticleList>
===Most popular newsletters===
<DynamicArticleList>
type=hot
count=5
categoryRoot=FlightGear Newsletter
</DynamicArticleList>

== Community news ==
=== FlightGear on YouTube ===

=== New tutorials and screencasts ===
=== Forum news ===
=== Multiplayer ===
=== Virtual airlines ===
=== FlightGear events ===

== Useful links ==
== And finally ... ==
=== Contributing ===
One of the regular thoughts expressed on the FlightGear forums is "I'd like to contribute but I don't know how to program, and I don't have the time". Unfortunately, there is a common mis-conception that contributing requires programming and lots of free time. In fact, there are a huge range of ways to contribute to the project without needing to write code or spending days working on something.

For ideas on starting to contribute to FlightGear, you may want to check out: [[Volunteer]].

=== Call for volunteers ===
* The [[OpenRadar]] project is looking for a new maintainer.
* The [[FGFSPM]] (FlightGear Package Manager) is looking for a new maintainer.

=== Did you know ===

[[Category:FlightGear Newsletter|2012 04]]

FlightGear Newsletter April 2012

2012-04-10T11:40:42Z

VicMar: /* Scenery corner */

{{draft|newsletter}}

{{newsletter}}
{{TOC_right|limit=2}}

''We would like to emphasize that the monthly newsletter can not live without the contributions of FlightGear users and developers. Everyone with a wiki account (free to register) can edit the newsletter and every contribution is welcome. So if you know about any FlightGear related news or projects such as for example updated scenery or aircraft, please do feel invited to add such news to the newsletter.''

== Development news ==

=== Mailing list digest ===

(by far the easiest option to populate the newsletter with contents is copying/pasting stuff from the forum and the mailing list or the git logs)

=== Forum digest ===

=== Git digest ===

== Interview with a contributor (Sam Clancy) ==
''In each edition we have an interview with a contributor. Suggestions for possible questions are available on [[interview questions]], you are invited to come up with new questions and interview ideas obviously! Anyone is free to write an interview (with him-/herself or others) for next month's newsletter! If you'd like to help interview a contributor or get interviewed, please do consider adding yourself to the [[list of interview volunteers]]!''

'''[http://www.flightgear.org/contributors/ Read this and previous interviews at our website's archive].'''

* '''How long have you been involved in FlightGear?'''
Actively I've been involved with the FlightGear project since early January 2011. Simply because my old computer (which my family had had for about 5 or 6 years prior) couldn't run FlightGear. But after we upgraded... (insert evil laugh here)
* '''What is your forum nickname?'''
connect is my name.
* '''What are your major interests in FlightGear?'''
Flying, first of all. My life dream is to become a commercial airline pilot, hopefully somewhere in Europe. I've taken my very first steps towards this in real life, with my "TIF" or Training Introductory Flight, but I also believe my prior experience FlightGear, and of course my continued use of FlightGear gives me a much cheaper alternative, for the time being, to gain experience.
* '''Why is it that you are interested in flight simulation or aviation in general?'''
The fact that it took mankind literally thousands of years to figure out how to fly, in just a century we've gone from the Wright Flyer all the way to the Antonov An-225, the Airbus A380, the Boeing 747, the list is endless. I think the fact we got to the moon is pretty good to.
* '''What project are you working on right now?'''
I think you mean projects, in my case. I've actually got three on the go; all of which I am collaborating on (something I love with FlightGears community spirit). They are; the Airbus A350-900XWB in co-operation with Malik Guest (tehwarlock). The Jabiru J-170 (the aircraft I completed my "TIF" or Training Introductory Flight in) with Narendran Muraleedharan (Omega Pilot/Omega95) and Project Brisbane, perhaps the most ambitious, with Lachlan Bruce (spitfirebruce21), Drew Gibson (VH-TIT/FlightGearNZ) and Malik Guest (tehwarlock).
* '''What do you plan on doing in the future?'''
I actually don't know. I just hope I can develop my skills enough to contribute something really good to the FlightGear Project.'''
* '''Are you happy with the way the FlightGear project is going?
Overall; yes. Having come in the days of v2.0.0 and at one stage, using 0.9.0, it's blatantly obvious the progress that has been made in the year or so I've been actively involved in the community.
* '''On average, how much time do you spend working with/contributing to FlightGear?'''
A day? Hours. Note the plural form of the word. I don't have a number, as I'm frankly not pedantic enough to record, but I assume it'd scare me.
* '''Which of the more recent FlightGear developments do you consider most interesting/appealing?'''
Thorsten's Local/Advanced Weather; I use it everytime I fly. It's alot nicer visually then the "Global/Simple Weather" and I think it competes with FSX and REX.
* '''What do you enjoy most about developing for FlightGear?'''
The satisfaction you get when something works! Maybe that's because I'm not the most technically minded, hehe.

'''[http://www.flightgear.org/contributors/ Read this and previous interviews at our website's archive].'''

== Snapshot releases ==
Every now and then, easy-to-install development snapshots are created (usually, twice montlhy). These snapshos depict a recent state of the development version of FlightGear. By using them users can test out features that will be included in the upcoming release. Testers are encouraged to file bugs at [http://code.google.com/p/flightgear-bugs/ the issue tracker].

The snapshot can be download via the links at the bottom of this page: http://www.flightgear.org/download/. Updates and feedback can be found [http://flightgear.org/forums/viewtopic.php?f=28&t=10488&p=144233&hilit=snapshot#p144233 at the forum].

== Nasal for newbies ==

== New software tools and projects ==

== FlightGear addons and mods ==

== In the hangar ==

All the way back in May 2011, we addopted a new status-rating system for aircraft. So far, only a few have actually been rated, as can be seen in the list 'hockenberry' set up at [https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/ccc?key=0ApzphjA4w05ndF94Y2F0bzJTbHQ5QTJXZXJRcUVRbWc&hl=en_US Google Docs]. If you're an aircraft developer and your aircraft is/are not on the list, please consider rating their status. All you'll need to know/do is described at [[Formalizing Aircraft Status]]. If you'd just like to get started contributing to FlightGear, this would also seem like an excellent way to get started.

=== New aircraft ===

=== Updated aircraft ===
The Zivko Edge by Thorsten D was already a great airplane, Jentron worked the FDM over and now its quite capable of tumbling and spinning with rough handling.

=== Liveries ===

== Scenery corner ==
Every so often I get fed up modelling buildings, so I think of other (often silly) things I can model for FlightGear. I have already made several low-poly models which can be used with AI scenarios. This time I have created an animated Seagull.

[[File:Sea Gulls.png]]

By attaching him, and variations of him, as sub-models to an invisible rotating base, You can have several seagulls circling above any model which has an .xml file.

There are 2 standard sub-model entries which can be added individually or together to an existing model’s .xml file:

<model>
<path>Models/Fauna/SeaGull_Origin.xml</path>
<offsets>
<x-m> 0.0</x-m>
<y-m> 00.0</y-m>
<z-m> 15.0</z-m>
</offsets>
</model>
The above option is already available and the one below has been sent for inclusion in the model database, and should be available very soon.

<model>
<path>Models/Fauna/SeaGull_Origin_2.xml</path>
<offsets>
<x-m> 0.0</x-m>
<y-m> 00.0</y-m>
<z-m> 20.0</z-m>
</offsets>
</model>

These entries can be altered to your own preference, or if you so wish you can alter the individual Seagull variations, which can be found in data/Models/Fauna.

Who says we have to be serious all the time. Have fun. Enjoy.

VicMar
=== Airports ===

== Aircraft of the month ==
== Airport of the month ==
== Screenshot of the month ==

Flightgear is going to simulate the effect of air pollution - with some air pollution, sunrise colors become a lot more spectacular, as demonstrated here by a DR-400 experiencing a sunrise flying close to Nice (France).

[[File:Dr400-nice.jpg|800px]]

== Suggested flights ==

=== Central Karakoram range ===

Let's explore one of the highest regions of the planet - the central Karakoram with the densest concentration of mountains of 8000 m and above. We're going to need a good climbing performance for the trip - even the frozen plateau of Baltoro glacier above which K2 and Gasherbrum V and VI loom is more than 13.000 ft high.

[[File:Karakoram1.jpg|300px|thumb|left|Circling Gasherbrum I]]

Take off from Skardu airport in Pakistan (OPSD). Skardu has a reasonably long (11,944 ft) runway at just 7,316 ft elevation, so you can take a jet, but for instance the Twin Otter is more stylish.

South of Skardu lies Deosai park, a famous high plateau, but we turn initially east. There's a chain of lakes which is the Indus river. After about five miles, the Shigar river merges with the Indus. Turn slightly left and follow the Shigar, then follow it into a long and broad lake-filled valley stretching into north-western direction.

Towards the end of the lake, a small tributary river, the Braldu, turns eastward out of the main valley. Follow the Braldu and start climbing (if you haven't done so yet). About 15 miles after turning into the Braldu river valley, two glacier-filled valleys stretch to the north - admire the view!

[[File:Karakoram2.jpg|300px|thumb|right|Heading back into Skardu, Nanga Parbat on the horizon]]

Passing a few lakes, you reach finally Baltoro glacier continuing the river valley stretching eastward. Ever climbing, follow the glacier till you reach some kind of T-junction. The glacier arm reaching north leads to K2 (which sadly isn't really there in Flightgear), but just ahead of you are the still rather impressive peaks of Gasherbrum V, VI and I - circle the range and make some pictures!

A good way back to Skardu is to go about 10 miles sourth from the Gasherbrum peaks, then head due west. To your west, you can see the long valleys fall away from the high ranges, to your right is the still glacier-covered high Karakoram. On a clear day (really good visibility selected) you can see the distinctive peak of Nanga Parbat appearing straight ahead on the horizon. The valley of Skardu is quite a distinctive feature and finding back VFR should not be a problem.

== Aircraft reviews ==

== Wiki updates ==
===New articles===
<DynamicArticleList>
type=new
count=10
</DynamicArticleList>
===New aircraft articles===
<DynamicArticleList>
type=new
count=10
categoryRoot=Aircraft
</DynamicArticleList>
===Most popular newsletters===
<DynamicArticleList>
type=hot
count=5
categoryRoot=FlightGear Newsletter
</DynamicArticleList>

== Community news ==
=== FlightGear on YouTube ===

=== New tutorials and screencasts ===
=== Forum news ===
=== Multiplayer ===
=== Virtual airlines ===
=== FlightGear events ===

== Useful links ==
== And finally ... ==
=== Contributing ===
One of the regular thoughts expressed on the FlightGear forums is "I'd like to contribute but I don't know how to program, and I don't have the time". Unfortunately, there is a common mis-conception that contributing requires programming and lots of free time. In fact, there are a huge range of ways to contribute to the project without needing to write code or spending days working on something.

For ideas on starting to contribute to FlightGear, you may want to check out: [[Volunteer]].

=== Call for volunteers ===
* The [[OpenRadar]] project is looking for a new maintainer.
* The [[FGFSPM]] (FlightGear Package Manager) is looking for a new maintainer.

=== Did you know ===

[[Category:FlightGear Newsletter|2012 04]]

File:Sea Gulls.png

2012-04-10T11:25:26Z

VicMar: == Summary == {{File information |Description = Sea Gulls |Source = FlightGear |Date = 2012-04-10 |Author = VicMar }}

== Summary ==
== Summary ==
{{File information
|Description = Sea Gulls
|Source = FlightGear
|Date = 2012-04-10
|Author = VicMar
}}
== Licensing ==
{{PD-self}}

FlightGear Newsletter April 2012

2012-04-10T11:14:47Z

VicMar: /* Scenery corner */

{{draft|newsletter}}

{{newsletter}}
{{TOC_right|limit=2}}

''We would like to emphasize that the monthly newsletter can not live without the contributions of FlightGear users and developers. Everyone with a wiki account (free to register) can edit the newsletter and every contribution is welcome. So if you know about any FlightGear related news or projects such as for example updated scenery or aircraft, please do feel invited to add such news to the newsletter.''

== Development news ==

=== Mailing list digest ===

(by far the easiest option to populate the newsletter with contents is copying/pasting stuff from the forum and the mailing list or the git logs)

=== Forum digest ===

=== Git digest ===

== Interview with a contributor (Sam Clancy) ==
''In each edition we have an interview with a contributor. Suggestions for possible questions are available on [[interview questions]], you are invited to come up with new questions and interview ideas obviously! Anyone is free to write an interview (with him-/herself or others) for next month's newsletter! If you'd like to help interview a contributor or get interviewed, please do consider adding yourself to the [[list of interview volunteers]]!''

'''[http://www.flightgear.org/contributors/ Read this and previous interviews at our website's archive].'''

* '''How long have you been involved in FlightGear?'''
Actively I've been involved with the FlightGear project since early January 2011. Simply because my old computer (which my family had had for about 5 or 6 years prior) couldn't run FlightGear. But after we upgraded... (insert evil laugh here)
* '''What is your forum nickname?'''
connect is my name.
* '''What are your major interests in FlightGear?'''
Flying, first of all. My life dream is to become a commercial airline pilot, hopefully somewhere in Europe. I've taken my very first steps towards this in real life, with my "TIF" or Training Introductory Flight, but I also believe my prior experience FlightGear, and of course my continued use of FlightGear gives me a much cheaper alternative, for the time being, to gain experience.
* '''Why is it that you are interested in flight simulation or aviation in general?'''
The fact that it took mankind literally thousands of years to figure out how to fly, in just a century we've gone from the Wright Flyer all the way to the Antonov An-225, the Airbus A380, the Boeing 747, the list is endless. I think the fact we got to the moon is pretty good to.
* '''What project are you working on right now?'''
I think you mean projects, in my case. I've actually got three on the go; all of which I am collaborating on (something I love with FlightGears community spirit). They are; the Airbus A350-900XWB in co-operation with Malik Guest (tehwarlock). The Jabiru J-170 (the aircraft I completed my "TIF" or Training Introductory Flight in) with Narendran Muraleedharan (Omega Pilot/Omega95) and Project Brisbane, perhaps the most ambitious, with Lachlan Bruce (spitfirebruce21), Drew Gibson (VH-TIT/FlightGearNZ) and Malik Guest (tehwarlock).
* '''What do you plan on doing in the future?'''
I actually don't know. I just hope I can develop my skills enough to contribute something really good to the FlightGear Project.'''
* '''Are you happy with the way the FlightGear project is going?
Overall; yes. Having come in the days of v2.0.0 and at one stage, using 0.9.0, it's blatantly obvious the progress that has been made in the year or so I've been actively involved in the community.
* '''On average, how much time do you spend working with/contributing to FlightGear?'''
A day? Hours. Note the plural form of the word. I don't have a number, as I'm frankly not pedantic enough to record, but I assume it'd scare me.
* '''Which of the more recent FlightGear developments do you consider most interesting/appealing?'''
Thorsten's Local/Advanced Weather; I use it everytime I fly. It's alot nicer visually then the "Global/Simple Weather" and I think it competes with FSX and REX.
* '''What do you enjoy most about developing for FlightGear?'''
The satisfaction you get when something works! Maybe that's because I'm not the most technically minded, hehe.

'''[http://www.flightgear.org/contributors/ Read this and previous interviews at our website's archive].'''

== Snapshot releases ==
Every now and then, easy-to-install development snapshots are created (usually, twice montlhy). These snapshos depict a recent state of the development version of FlightGear. By using them users can test out features that will be included in the upcoming release. Testers are encouraged to file bugs at [http://code.google.com/p/flightgear-bugs/ the issue tracker].

The snapshot can be download via the links at the bottom of this page: http://www.flightgear.org/download/. Updates and feedback can be found [http://flightgear.org/forums/viewtopic.php?f=28&t=10488&p=144233&hilit=snapshot#p144233 at the forum].

== Nasal for newbies ==

== New software tools and projects ==

== FlightGear addons and mods ==

== In the hangar ==

All the way back in May 2011, we addopted a new status-rating system for aircraft. So far, only a few have actually been rated, as can be seen in the list 'hockenberry' set up at [https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/ccc?key=0ApzphjA4w05ndF94Y2F0bzJTbHQ5QTJXZXJRcUVRbWc&hl=en_US Google Docs]. If you're an aircraft developer and your aircraft is/are not on the list, please consider rating their status. All you'll need to know/do is described at [[Formalizing Aircraft Status]]. If you'd just like to get started contributing to FlightGear, this would also seem like an excellent way to get started.

=== New aircraft ===

=== Updated aircraft ===
The Zivko Edge by Thorsten D was already a great airplane, Jentron worked the FDM over and now its quite capable of tumbling and spinning with rough handling.

=== Liveries ===

== Scenery corner ==
Every so often I get fed up modelling buildings, so I think of other (often silly) things I can model for FlightGear. I have already made several low-poly models which can be used with AI scenarios. This time I have created an animated Seagull.

By attaching him, and variations of him, as sub-models to an invisible rotating base, You can have several seagulls circling above any model which has an .xml file.

There are 2 standard sub-model entries which can be added individually or together to an existing model’s .xml file:

<model>
<path>Models/Fauna/SeaGull_Origin.xml</path>
<offsets>
<x-m> 0.0</x-m>
<y-m> 00.0</y-m>
<z-m> 15.0</z-m>
</offsets>
</model>
The above option is already available and the one below has been sent for inclusion in the model database, and should be available very soon.

<model>
<path>Models/Fauna/SeaGull_Origin_2.xml</path>
<offsets>
<x-m> 0.0</x-m>
<y-m> 00.0</y-m>
<z-m> 20.0</z-m>
</offsets>
</model>

These entries can be altered to your own preference, or if you so wish you can alter the individual Seagull variations, which can be found in data/Models/Fauna.

Who says we have to be serious all the time. Have fun. Enjoy.

VicMar
=== Airports ===

== Aircraft of the month ==
== Airport of the month ==
== Screenshot of the month ==

Flightgear is going to simulate the effect of air pollution - with some air pollution, sunrise colors become a lot more spectacular, as demonstrated here by a DR-400 experiencing a sunrise flying close to Nice (France).

[[File:Dr400-nice.jpg|800px]]

== Suggested flights ==

=== Central Karakoram range ===

Let's explore one of the highest regions of the planet - the central Karakoram with the densest concentration of mountains of 8000 m and above. We're going to need a good climbing performance for the trip - even the frozen plateau of Baltoro glacier above which K2 and Gasherbrum V and VI loom is more than 13.000 ft high.

[[File:Karakoram1.jpg|300px|thumb|left|Circling Gasherbrum I]]

Take off from Skardu airport in Pakistan (OPSD). Skardu has a reasonably long (11,944 ft) runway at just 7,316 ft elevation, so you can take a jet, but for instance the Twin Otter is more stylish.

South of Skardu lies Deosai park, a famous high plateau, but we turn initially east. There's a chain of lakes which is the Indus river. After about five miles, the Shigar river merges with the Indus. Turn slightly left and follow the Shigar, then follow it into a long and broad lake-filled valley stretching into north-western direction.

Towards the end of the lake, a small tributary river, the Braldu, turns eastward out of the main valley. Follow the Braldu and start climbing (if you haven't done so yet). About 15 miles after turning into the Braldu river valley, two glacier-filled valleys stretch to the north - admire the view!

[[File:Karakoram2.jpg|300px|thumb|right|Heading back into Skardu, Nanga Parbat on the horizon]]

Passing a few lakes, you reach finally Baltoro glacier continuing the river valley stretching eastward. Ever climbing, follow the glacier till you reach some kind of T-junction. The glacier arm reaching north leads to K2 (which sadly isn't really there in Flightgear), but just ahead of you are the still rather impressive peaks of Gasherbrum V, VI and I - circle the range and make some pictures!

A good way back to Skardu is to go about 10 miles sourth from the Gasherbrum peaks, then head due west. To your west, you can see the long valleys fall away from the high ranges, to your right is the still glacier-covered high Karakoram. On a clear day (really good visibility selected) you can see the distinctive peak of Nanga Parbat appearing straight ahead on the horizon. The valley of Skardu is quite a distinctive feature and finding back VFR should not be a problem.

== Aircraft reviews ==

== Wiki updates ==
===New articles===
<DynamicArticleList>
type=new
count=10
</DynamicArticleList>
===New aircraft articles===
<DynamicArticleList>
type=new
count=10
categoryRoot=Aircraft
</DynamicArticleList>
===Most popular newsletters===
<DynamicArticleList>
type=hot
count=5
categoryRoot=FlightGear Newsletter
</DynamicArticleList>

== Community news ==
=== FlightGear on YouTube ===

=== New tutorials and screencasts ===
=== Forum news ===
=== Multiplayer ===
=== Virtual airlines ===
=== FlightGear events ===

== Useful links ==
== And finally ... ==
=== Contributing ===
One of the regular thoughts expressed on the FlightGear forums is "I'd like to contribute but I don't know how to program, and I don't have the time". Unfortunately, there is a common mis-conception that contributing requires programming and lots of free time. In fact, there are a huge range of ways to contribute to the project without needing to write code or spending days working on something.

For ideas on starting to contribute to FlightGear, you may want to check out: [[Volunteer]].

=== Call for volunteers ===
* The [[OpenRadar]] project is looking for a new maintainer.
* The [[FGFSPM]] (FlightGear Package Manager) is looking for a new maintainer.

=== Did you know ===

[[Category:FlightGear Newsletter|2012 04]]

Howto:Make a helipad

2011-12-13T11:48:23Z

VicMar: /* Distributing */

[[File:EH0001.jpg|thumb|270px|An [[EC135]] at the helipad of a [[VU University Medical Center|large hospital]] in Amsterdam, the Netherlands.]]
[[File:RS_Platform.png|thumb|270px]]The current [[FlightGear]] world has little '''helipads''' to fly from/to with your [[helicopter]]. This article is meant to provide help in the progress of making a helipad.

== Creating the model ==
Every face in FlightGear is solid and can be landed on by default, so helipads can be modeled just like any other object.

Placing lights is very easy. FlightGear contains two basic lights in the <tt>[[$FG ROOT]]/Models/Effects/Lights/</tt> directory: the red one is usually used to mark obstructions, while the green ones mark the helipad. You can link to those models from your buildings .xml file like this:

<model>
<path>Models/Effects/Lights/GreenLight.xml</path>
<offsets>
<x-m> -11.50</x-m>
<y-m>-160.50</y-m>
<z-m> 34.7</z-m>
<heading-deg>0</heading-deg>
</offsets>
</model>

== Editing apt.dat ==
Right now your helipad can be landed on, but we do like to takeoff from it aswell, don't we? Therefore, we need to extend the apt.dat file, which stores all [[:Category:Airports|airport]] information. You can find it likely in <tt>[[$FG ROOT]]/Airports</tt>.(Mac route = FlightGear/data/Airports). Before we can edit the file we need to unzip it first. Be sure to always make a backup before you change anything.

Once it's unpacked, open it with any texteditor you like (TextEdit is prefered for MAC users) and scroll down to the bottom of the file, where the heliports are listed (lines with [H]) in alphabetical order. Now we need to add one or two line(s) to the file, in order to add our helipad as a startup location.

As an example, the lines below are used for the helipad on the roof of a large hospital in the Netherlands.

<tt>17 126 0 0 EH0001 [H] VU medisch centrum<br />
10 52.33434 4.85911 H1x 360.00 40 0000.0000 0000.0000 36 111111 2 0 2 0.25 0 0300.0300</tt>

In the airport list of [[FlightGear Launch Control|FGrun]] it will appear as EH0001, VU medisch centrum [H] with runway H1.

Let us take a closer look at these two lines. The first line is only neccesary when the airport/heliport does not exist yet. If that is the case, you can add the helipad with just the second line.

{| class="prettytable"
!Code
!Function
|-
|17
|Defines this as a heliport.
|-
|126
|Elevation above MSL.
|-
|<nowiki>0</nowiki>
|No [[Air traffic control|control tower]] available.
|-
|<nowiki>0</nowiki>
|No default buildings.
|-
|EH0001
| The ICAO code of the helideck.
|-
!Code
!Function
|-
|10
|Defines this as runway (in this case helipad).
|-
|52.33434
|Latitude of helipad.
|-
|4.85911
|Longitude of helipad.
|-
|H1x
|Runway number (in this casehelipad number).
|-
|360.00
|Runway heading (true).
|-
|40
|Length of runway (in this case helideck) in feet.
|-
|0000.0000 0000.0000
|Just leave them like this.
|-
|36
|Width of runway, also in feet.
|-
|111111 2 0 2 0.25 0 0300.0300
|Just leave them like this.
|}

To find the center of the helipad, place a model at the center of the helipad using the [[UFO]] and press d to export the location data to the console. The lat, long and alt values can be copied to the lines that you include in the apt.dat file.

Save the file after you've made your changes and zip it again, overwriting/replacing the old apt.dat.gz file.

== Testing ==
=== MAC ===
At the time of writing this wiki, the Mac's GUI launcher cannot synchronize the apt.dat update at run time, and is also not able to access the Helipad part of the apt.dat file, and therefore the Heliports are not listed in the ‘position’ page of the Launcher, where you usually choose your starting points.

# Add --airport=EH0001 (replace with your helipad ICAO code) in the window on the ‘Others’ page of the Launcher.
# In the ‘Positions’ page of the Launcher, choose and select [[KSFO]].
# Now just start your flight as usually.

=== Windows ===
Refresh your FlightGears airport cache, with the button on the Airport page of the Launcher. Now your heliport should come up in the list. Just select it as every other airport and run FlightGear to see if your hard work paid of.

== Distributing ==
If you want your helipad to be included with a further FlightGear release, make sure to send your change/addition to apt.dat to http://data.x-plane.com/ and upload your model to the [[FlightGear Scenery Database]].

Untill FlightGear moves to the new apt.dat format, place your apt.dat changes in [[FlightGear User Created Helipad List]], so others can enjoy your helipads aswell. If you send your changes to Vic Marriott(vic165@btinternet.com), he will update the list for you.

[[Category:Howto|Make a helipad]]
[[Category:Scenery enhancement|Make a helipad]]

User talk:VicMar

2011-09-04T16:31:06Z

VicMar:

User talk:VicMar

2011-09-04T08:57:05Z

VicMar: Created page with "VicMar started a few models on Helgoland, including the airport terminal building (EDXH) with the nearby shop and mobile home park. It is hard to find photos of local landmarks,..."

VicMar started a few models on Helgoland, including the airport terminal building (EDXH) with the nearby shop and mobile home park.

It is hard to find photos of local landmarks, or interesting buildings there. Anyone who has visited Helgoland and is prepared to show VicMar their photos could make a valuable contribution at VicMar's talk page. The church for example would be a welcome addition. If you know of any such photos on the internet, which cannot be found by searching with the obvious names, details would also be welcome.

Any help is much appreciated.

04:57, 4 September 2011 (EDT)04:57, 4 September 2011 (EDT)04:57, 4 September 2011 (EDT)04:57, 4 September 2011 (EDT)04:57, 4 September 2011 (EDT)04:57, 4 September 2011 (EDT)04:57, 4 September 2011 (EDT)04:57, 4 September 2011 (EDT)04:57, 4 September 2011 (EDT)04:57, 4 September 2011 (EDT)04:57, 4 September 2011 (EDT)04:57, 4 September 2011 (EDT)04:57, 4 September 2011 (EDT)04:57, 4 September 2011 (EDT)04:57, 4 September 2011 (EDT)04:57, 4 September 2011 (EDT)04:57, 4 September 2011 (EDT)04:57, 4 September 2011 (EDT)04:57, 4 September 2011 (EDT)04:57, 4 September 2011 (EDT)04:57, 4 September 2011 (EDT)[[User:VicMar|VicMar]]

FlightGear Newsletter August 2011

2011-08-28T08:47:17Z

VicMar: /* Scenery corner */

{{newsletter}}
{{TOC_right|limit=2}}

''We would like to emphasize that the monthly newsletter can not live without the contributions of FlightGear users and developers. Everyone with a wiki account (free to register) can edit the newsletter and every contribution is welcome. So if you know about any FlightGear related projects such as for example updated scenery or aircraft, please do feel invited to add such news to the newsletter.''

== New FlightGear Version Finally Released ==
On August 17 after a year and a half of hard work, [http://www.flightgear.org/announcements/flightgear-v2-4-0-released/ FlightGear v2.4 has finally been released!] Thanks to the key developers that took the lead to overhaul the FlightGear release plan and create a regular release cycle. Thanks also to each and every developer in every portion of the FlightGear community who have contributed to make FlightGear such a success! [http://www.flightgear.org/download/ Please click here to jump to the download page.]
Starting with the v2.4 release, the development of FlightGear will now follow the [[Release Plan]], which will act as a guideline in upcoming development and regular releases of the FlightGear simulator in the form of a six-month development cycle. In other words, if this Release Plan's suggestions are followed thoroughly, stable releases of the simulator will be created twice a year, on the 17th of February and August.

== FlightGear.org Main Website Updated ==
Along with the [http://www.flightgear.org/announcements/flightgear-v2-4-0-released/ v2.4 release], the [http://www.flightgear.org FlightGear.org] web site has seen a complete overhaul during the month of August. The new website is based on "wordpress" which supports multiple editors and allows for much easier editing and updating of content. One interesting feature of wordpress is the ability to create "posts" and then allow anyone to add their own comments (pending approval.) Newsletter contributors (and anyone else) are invited to create a "post" for the main flightgear.org web site. This is a great way to promote your own project and do so in a context that allows more paragraphs, more detail, and more pictures than can fit in a newsletter article. So please continue to submit newsletter articles, but also please consider developing a longer version for the main web site!

== Development news ==

=== AI/ATC interactions ===
[[File:Ehamrwyblock.png|thumb| Heavily congested taxiways at Schiphol after the 777-200 had been blocking active runway 24 for nearly 4 hours.]]
While the preparations for our upcoming release are still going on, development for the next release has already started. In early august code changes were committed, which allow FlightGear users to interact with an artifically intelligent ATC system. Currently it is possible to request startup clearance, permission for push back, as well as taxi-clearances. A brand new, and highly experimental, ground network visualization system makes it possible to taxi from parking to runway along the route given by ATC. Hold position and resume taxi instructions can be be given in order to avoid collisions with other (AI controlled) aircraft. Hand-off to a tower controller, as well as more interactive take offs, are in the planning stages. The aim is to have all stages of IFR commercial aviation traffic under ATC control before the release of flightgear 2.6.0, which is planned for early 2012.

== Nasal for newbies ==
== New software Tools and Projects ==
=== TerraMaster ===
[http://code.google.com/p/terramaster TerraMaster] is a Java-based application that lets you pick-and-choose which scenery tiles you would like to sync with the FG scenery server. Ideal for those people who prefer to TerraSync preflight rather than inflight.
== FlightGear Addons and Mods ==
== In the Hangar ==
=== New Aircraft ===
[[File:A310-snap.png|thumb| Mahan Air A310-300 over Schiphol.]]
Icecode and Star a few months ago started the development of the [http://wiki.flightgear.org/Airbus_A310-300 Airbus A310-300]. The latest version of the model includes a detailed cockpit and a realistic YAsim FDM. You can view the development progress [http://www.flightgear.org/forums/viewtopic.php?f=4&t=12790 here].

==== TECNAM P.92 ECHO ====
[[File:Tecnam-P92.PNG|200px|thumb| Tecnam-P92.]]
A french team who likes to be called "The Flightgear France patrol" has been working on many aircrafts. It is composed of many specialists in various fields (3D, texture, FDM, nasal, xml, sound...).
The France patrol is proud to offer you a new airplane: the Tecnam-P92. It is probably the best ultralight aircraft available by now in Flightgear. All the instruments, electrical systems and most of the sound are realistically simulated.
You can download this airplane in [http://helijah.free.fr/flightgear/hangar.htm Helijah's hangar] here as well as in the GIT repository.
This team is currently working on other planes and helos, such as the R44, DC3 C-47 and D510. Those aircrafts can also be found in Helijah's hangar and in GIT.

=== Updated aircraft ===
=== Liveries ===
== Scenery corner ==
=== Airports ===
I have started a few models on Helgoland with the airport terminal building (EDXH) with the nearby shop and Mobile home park.

It is hard to find photos of local landmarks, or interesting buildings there. Anyone who has visited Helgoland and is prepared to show me their photos could make a valuable contribution here. The church would be a welcome addition.

If you know of any such photos on the internet, which cannot be found by searching with the obvious names, details would also be welcome.

Any help much appreciated.

VicMar

== Aircraft of the month ==

The Bombardier CRJ700 series was reviewed as this week/month's feature aircraft. You can read the full review at our wiki's [[Bombardier CRJ700 series#Aircraft of the Week.2FMonth|Bombardier CRJ700 series]] article.

== Airport of the month ==
== Screenshot of the month ==
== Suggested flights ==
Set your plane at LPLA. This was an emergency landing site for the space shuttle so you will have plenty of room to take off.
We will have to fly an odd pattern. The reason for that: If you don't fly to high you will have some amazing views.

Fly towards and over LPPD. Look out the window and enjoy the view.
Head out towards LPHR. If you feel LPHR coming near, look out the window good, you might have to pull your plane up.

Happy flying!

== Aircraft reviews ==
== Wiki updates ==
== Community news ==

[http://wiki.flightgear.org/User:Longfly Longfly] is very proud and happy to announce the first official release of the "FlightgGear aircraftlist". After eight months of development it contains exactly '''491 different aircrafts''' for FlightGear with screenshots (click on the thumbnails – not everyone is working yet) and download-links.

Because it is a very long list (6127 lines of code and many images) it may take very long to load on some slow computers. So I'll implement five subpages with always 100 planes. There is also a filter, so you can get a better overview of your favorite planes.

The list should be complete but if an aircraft is missing I urge you to report it to me [http://flightgear.bplaced.de/index.php/flugzeugliste/report-a-missing-plane (pm or forum post or mail)] – Thanks! Furthermore feedback, criticism and new ideas are always very welcome in [http://www.flightgear.org/forums/viewtopic.php?f=4&t=10536&start=45 the forum threat].

Here it is: [http://flightgear.bplaced.de/aircraftlist/ '''www.flightgear.bplaced.de/aircraftlist/''']

Have fun exploring it!

=== Stunt Fridays Monthly Video Challenge ===
Stunt Friday, originally a weekly event, is a monthly event where participants compete to record videos of a given stunt, and compete to create the most interesting video and stunt.
The challenge for August involved landing an aircraft at the notoriously infamous former Kai Tak international airport in Hong Kong.
[[User:Alphamedia|Andrew Yokoyama ("kyokoyama")]] won this month's challenge with a crosswind landing of a BAe Concorde in a storm and heavy crosswinds.

* [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HnwFduqGHNM&feature=relmfu Announcement Video]
* [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rMX_30khbXg Winner Announcement Video]
* [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P21z6aFYeA4 Winning Video: BAe Concorde, British Airways]

* [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JKxI1wYHBy4 Kyokoyama's First Video: B777, Custom Livery]
* [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6x3vQ6O6Iek&feature=player_embedded Ernest1984's Video: B787, House Livery]
* [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sXLy5GTuE30 CatchatyouFG's Video: A340, Cathay Pacific Airlines]
* [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bRoDzuR2rlo&feature=related Youssef's Video: B777, KLM]
* [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OkXr36GglEo&feature=player_embedded abc45's First Video: A320, Philippines Airlines]
* [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3fxxyFUyyAU&feature=player_embedded abc45's Second Video: A380, Singapore Airlines]
* [http://s979.photobucket.com/albums/ae271/MTshoot/?action=view&current=KaiTak13.mp4 E-Savageair's Video: B747, Cathay Pacific Airlines]

=== FlightGear on YouTube ===
=== New tutorials and screencasts ===
=== Forum news ===
=== Multiplayer ===
=== Virtual airlines ===
=== FlightGear events ===

== Useful links ==
== And finally ... ==
=== Contributing ===
One of the regular thoughts expressed on the FlightGear forums is "I'd like to contribute but I don't know how to program, and I don't have the time". Unfortunately, there is a common mis-conception that contributing requires programming and lots of free time. In fact, there are a huge range of ways to contribute to the project without needing to write code or spending days working on something.

For ideas on starting to contribute to FlightGear, you may want to check out: [[Volunteer]].

=== Call for volunteers ===
* The [[OpenRadar]] project is looking for a new maintainer.
* The [[FGFSPM]] (FlightGear Package Manager) is looking for a new maintainer.

== Did you know==

{{Template:Newsletternav}}

FlightGear Newsletter July 2011

2011-07-19T14:18:58Z

VicMar: /* Airport of the month */

{{newsletter}}
{{TOC_right|limit=2}}

''We would like to emphasize that the monthly newsletter can not live without the contributions of FlightGear users and developers. Everyone with a wiki account (free to register) can edit the newsletter and every contribution is welcome. So if you know about any FlightGear related projects such as for example updated scenery or aircraft, please do feel invited to add such news to the newsletter.''

== Development news ==
== Snapshot releases ==
Some of you might know that James and Gene have spent a lot of time assembling a "nightly build server" for the FlightGear project: [[FlightGear Build Server]].

This monitors the git repository for any source code changes and then spawns builds for windows, linux, and the mac.

You can find the build server here: http://flightgear.simpits.org:8080/

This is really great work and a huge contribution to the FlightGear project.

Unfortunately, to run a nightly build from the build server, you still have to pull the latest data tree from the git repository. That's not all that hard once you work through the details, but it's a bit "fiddly" for some folks.

So Curt has been playing around with creating a developer's snapshot release which would be similar to our official release.

It's one big setup.exe that includes all the programs and the data. We are hopeful that this will eventually make the current development version of FlightGear more accessible for "joe average" users which would then in term hopefully give us more feedback and bug reports ahead of our official release.

None of this would be possible without the "hudson" build server that Gene and James set up.

There are a couple things that are done with this snapshot package:

* a unique app name of the form: FlightGear YYYYMMDD is assigned so you can have multiple versions installed concurrently and they don't step on each other and don't step on the official release. If people maintain multiple snapshots installed on their systems, that might help narrow down when a bug was introduced.

* The openal installer "oalinst.exe" is included and vcredist_x86.exe ... neither of these may be required in the long term if we can just ship the needed dll's, but that probably needs further testing.

Does it basically work? Are there any major packaging blunders? Please note, FlightGear bugs and feature request should still be handled through normal channels. But I am interested in packaging issues right now.

To provide feedback please us this forum thread: http://flightgear.org/forums/viewtopic.php?f=28&t=10488

For downloads please see:
* http://mirrors.ibiblio.org/pub/mirrors/flightgear/ftp/Win32/Setup%20FlightGear%20v20110629.exe"

== Nasal for newbies ==
== New software tools and projects ==
==== FGAnswers ====
[[File:bannerFGanswers.png|top-left|link=http://flightgear.shapado.com]]

Michat has been working all night long to start a Q & A service for the FlightGear community based on Shapado AGPL.

FGAnswers is attempt to provide an easy way to find first hand brief information around the massive info-data that FG generates. Michat has been designed the basis of the system giving space to all available languages as posibble in order to reach as many pilots and devs as FG used to enjoy.

FGAnswers, offers all kind of services: Live Chat Support, Flight Center, Training Center, FGSoft Center, ATC Center, VA Center. From easy FAQ's to the deepest Q's. Classic routes, flying techniques, school, fly essentials, dedicated Wiki pages for ATC, VA's, Pilots, or Simply for How to's.. writters-readers, video makers.... and many more.

With almost infinite possibilities, for sure that FGAnswers will need your help, but how? Easy just using it for free, with honor and honesty.

Make your questions [http://flightgear.shapado.com here].

Michat will be out of the cockpit for 2 month.

Happy answers, have a good summer.
DC3-forever. ;)

== FlightGear addons and mods ==
== In the hangar ==
=== New aircraft ===
=== Updated aircraft ===

==== Boeing 747-400 ====
The warning and advisory system of the [[Boeing 747-400]] has been dramatically improved. The new system is derived from the [[Boeing 777-200ER|777-200ER]]'s but has been fine-tuned for the 744. Besides this, the landing gear failure system is now more "realistic", as it supports single gear failures. The simmer can decide what gear will get stuck (and thus no longer listen to control inputs). When the gear is extended above the maximum extension speed (270kts), all gear units will automatically get stuck.

==== Eurofighter Typhoon ====
Algernon is planning to publish a new alpha release of the ongoing Eurofighter Typhoon project. This will coincide with the next release of FlightGear, and will only be compatible with that new version - some code is used which is not backwards compatible (development of the aircraft for version 2.0 and earlier is not currently taking place, and may not be resumed if FGFS 2.4 is widely adopted). New features include a revised flight control system and autopilot, improved Multi-Function Displays and HUD (good approximations of the real aircraft), and a pared-down Manual Data Entry panel which gives mouse control over navigation systems, autopilot, radar and communications equipment. More comprehensive information of the systems found in the upcoming release can be found in the [[Eurofighter_Typhoon:_Flight_Manual|Flight Manual article]].

[[File:livery_database_dhc-6_images.png|thumb|An example of a image-only page ([[DHC-6]]).]]

=== Liveries ===
The [[livery database]]'s functionality has been extended. Visitors can now finetune the looks of the livery and aircraft lists. One can choose between a text only, or a image only layout. Besides that the number of liveries to be shown per page can be set.

Checkout for yourself at [http://liveries.flightgear.org/ liveries.flightgear.org]

== Scenery corner ==
=== Airports ===

== Aircraft of the month ==
== Airport of the month ==

== New SketchUp Exporter Plugin ==

SketchUp to AC3D exporter - Development Update July 2011

SketchUp models which are completed using the existing SketchUp to AC3D exporter are rendered in FlightGear with double sided faces.

Though there is nothing wrong with double sided faces, there is a considerable saving in FG processing if single faces can be used. This affects fps (frames per second) and is particularly noticeable when entering an area which is heavily inhabited by buildings/models.

It is possible to export SketchUp models with single faces by using a new version of the exporter (adapted by VicMar & i4dnf).

The new version is named ‘ac3dS_export.rb’ and is available for download from:
http://vicmar.weebly.com/downloads.html

The ‘ac3dS_export.rb’ file should be placed in the same folder/directory as the existing exporter. In the SketchUp ‘Plugins’ menu, it will appear as “Export to AC3D (Single_Faced)” and will appear with the existing exporter.

The new version is recommended for use with SketchUp models which DO NOT have any see-through textures. It is also not recommended if your model has apertures like Hangar doors, which allow a view inside the building, as the opposite walls will be invisible.

There is a work around for models which have see-through textures, but it is a chore to do, so it is recommended you use the existing exporter. If you would like details of the work arounds, yes there are two, just ask.

Any feedback will be welcomed on the Forum:

http://www.flightgear.org/forums/viewtopic.php?f=5&t=12778

== Screenshot of the month ==

== Suggested flights ==
== Aircraft reviews ==

== Wiki updates ==
The FlightGear Wiki used to block open proxy IP adresses. Several people reported that they were unable to register an account because of that. Such issues should be solved by now. So, if you were unable to register before, [http://wiki.flightgear.org/index.php?title=Special:UserLogin&type=signup please try again].

===New articles===
<DynamicArticleList>
type=new
count=10
</DynamicArticleList>
===New aircraft articles===
<DynamicArticleList>
type=new
count=10
categoryRoot=Aircraft
</DynamicArticleList>
===Most popular newsletters===
<DynamicArticleList>
type=hot
count=5
categoryRoot=FlightGear Newsletter
</DynamicArticleList>

== Community news ==
=== FlightGear on youtube ===
* A [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I2TUSiDAwEk video uploaded by El Flauta] performing some aerobatic maneuvers in a [[Zlin 50 lx]] over Chubu International Airport, Japan.

=== New tutorials and screencasts ===
=== Forum news ===
=== Multiplayer ===
=== Virtual airlines ===
=== FlightGear events ===

== Useful links ==
== And finally ... ==
=== Contributing ===
One of the regular thoughts expressed on the FlightGear forums is "I'd like to contribute but I don't know how to program, and I don't have the time". Unfortunately, there is a common mis-conception that contributing requires programming and lots of free time. In fact, there are a huge range of ways to contribute to the project without needing to write code or spending days working on something.

For ideas on starting to contribute to FlightGear, you may want to check out: [[Volunteer]].

=== Call for volunteers ===
* The [[OpenRadar]] project is looking for a new maintainer.
* The [[FGFSPM]] (FlightGear Package Manager) is looking for a new maintainer.

=== Did you know ===

SketchUp to AC3D exporter

2011-07-19T09:54:11Z

VicMar: /* Development */

{{Infobox Software
| title = SketchUp to AC3D exporter
| logo =
| image =
| alt =
| developedby = James Turner and others
| initialrelease = 0.1 (1 September 2008)
| latestrelease =
| writtenin = Ruby
| os =
| platform =
| developmentstatus = Active (2008-)
| type =
| license = [[GNU General Public License]]
| website =
}}
With the '''SketchUp to AC3D exporter''', developed by James Turner and improved by others, you are able to export [http://sketchup.google.com SketchUp] models to the [[File Formats#.2A.ac|.ac fileformat]]. The script works on both the free version aswell on the pro version.

== Installation ==
You can download the script at [[:File:ac3d_export.rb|this link]]. Place the .rb file into your <tt>SketchUp/Plugins</tt> folder. Now restart SketchUp and the script should be visible through the <tt>Plugins > Export to AC3D</tt> menu.

NOTE: on Google Sketchup 8, users are able to export as a .dae file, and AC3D is able to import .dae files- meaning no conversions are necessary if texturising in AC3D.

== A note about textures ==
The AC3D exporter is set to export textures to the PNG format by standard. That means that for FlightGear to be able to display your model correctly, you will have to provide your textures in the .png format.

So if you have a texture in a format other than PNG, you'll have to transform it into PNG. One free program capable of this conversion is ImageMagick. You can download it here:

* [http://www.imagemagick.org/script/binary-releases.php#windows Windows]
* [http://www.imagemagick.org/script/binary-releases.php#macosx Mac]

Also see: [[AC files: Basic changes to textures and colors#Textures|AC files: Textures]] and [[Textures & Texture Maps in SketchUp#Correct display of texture colors in the AC file|SketchUp: Correct display of texture colors in the AC file]].

== Development ==
The script is still in development at the moment. The current progress as of 12 September 2008 is:

'''Done:'''
* Geometry export
* Texture export

'''Known Issues:'''
* Texture scaling on the model may appear wrong, further testing required
* Material properties are guessed, so may appear different from Blender defaults. SketchUp has very limited material controls, so manual editing may be required.

'''To do:'''
* Conversion of lat- and longitude locations.

== Development Update July 2011 ==
SketchUp models which are completed using the existing
SketchUp to AC3D exporter are rendered in FlightGear with double sided faces.

Though there is nothing wrong with double sided faces, there is a considerable saving in FG processing if single faces can be used. This affects fps (frames per second) and is particularly noticeable when entering an area which is heavily inhabited with buildings/models.

It is possible to export SketchUp models with single faces by using a new version of the exporter (adapted by VicMar & i4dnf).

The new version is named ‘ac3dS_export.rb’ and is available for download from:
http://vicmar.weebly.com/downloads.html
The ‘ac3dS_export.rb’ file should be placed in the same folder/directory as the existing exporter. In the SketchUp ‘Plugins’ menu, it will appear as “Export to AC3D (Single_Faced)” and should appear with the existing exporter. Do NOT remove the existing exporter.

The new version is recommended for use with SketchUp models which do NOT have any see through textures. It is also not recommended if your model has apertures like open Hangar doors, which allow a view inside the building, as the opposite walls will be invisible.

There is a work around for models which have see-through textures, but it is a chore to do, so it is recommended you use the existing exporter for such models.
{{3d}}

[[Category:Modeling]]
[[Category:Scenery enhancement]]

UK Scenery Wish List

2010-12-11T09:57:03Z

VicMar: /* London */

This pages is a list of high-impact UK scenery objects that are currently missing from [[FlightGear]]. It's subjective, please feel free to add entries, and especially to claim entries if you feel like working on one. The list is particularly biased towards things that are prominent from the air. Some of these things already existing in the 3D Warehouse, so another possibility is to contact authors there for permission to use the model under the [[GPL]] (including any textures), but many of the models there are rather too detailed for comfortable use in FG.

== London ==

* London Eye (I suspect this is a hellish thing to model)(Done by MAverickAlex)
* Millbank Tower
* Centrepoint (yuck)
* BT Tower
* Tower of London
* Buckingham Palace
* Natwest Tower (not correct name anymore, I know)
* Lloyds building
* Bankside (Tate Modern)
* Battersea Power Station
* County Hall
* St Paul's
* Palace of Westminster and Houses Of Parliament (Done by MaverickALex)
* The Shell Centre
* Heathrow terminals 1-4 (Being worked on by Gijs and statto)
* Heathrow hangers
* London City terminal buildings (terminal done by MaverickAlex)
* ExCeL (prominent beside London City)
* 8 Canada Square (HSBC building) - (being worked on by zakalawe)
* 25 Canada Square (Citigroup tower)
* More Thames bridges - and the flood barrier
* Wimbledon (WIP VicMar)

Once the above are done, there's a ''very'' long list of other buildings - the rest of Canary Wharf, Whitehall, all the mainline railway stations, the list is endless.

== Other Prominent City Buildings ==

=== Blackpool ===
* Blackpool Tower (IanBee has basic model - needs refining)
* The 'Big One' (a pig to model) and the rest of the Pleasure Beach
* 3 Piers (2 - Central and North already modeled by IanBee .. how do we publish these?)
* Gas Towers and Tesco complex on Approach to Airport (IanBee has these.. again ..how to publish?)

=== Manchester ===
* Manchester Hilton (Beetham tower) - being worked on by zakalawe
* (former) UMIST buildings
* Piccadilly / Gateway House
* GMEX / conference centre
* City Tower
* Portland Tower

=== Edinburgh ===
* Holyrood House
* Balmoral Hotel
* New Royal Infirmary
* David Hume and Appleton Towers
* Carlton Hill monuments
* Ocean Terminal (and Britannia)

=== Glasgow ===

* SECC
* Clyde Bridges

=== Newcastle ===
* Tyne Bridges

=== Birmingham ===
* NECC
* The Rotunda

=== Brighton ===
* Royal Pavilion
* Brighton Marina - work in progress by VicMar

== Major Airports ==

MaverickAlex is planning work on major UK terminals from the start of 2009. If you're planning to work on a UK airport not listed here, it would be worth checking on the forums.

* Gatwick (EGKK) terminals
* Manchester (EGCC) buildings
* Stanstead (EGSS) passenger terminal
* Luton (Sleazy Jet home!) buildings - MaverickAlex has this basically done
* Glasgow (EGPF) terminal buildings
* Birmingham - bonus points for including Birmingham International rail station and a Nasal-scripted shuttle train between the terminals - same idea as EDDF and KSFO.
* Shoreham (EGKA) Buildings are a work in progress by VicMar
* Edinburgh (EGPH) - zakalawe plans to look at this in the near future, but help is welcome
* Norwich (EGSH) (construction complete, including Cathedral and Carrow Road, submitted to scenery database)
* Heathrow
* Lasham
* Bristol
* Cambridge
* East Midlands
* Leeds-Bradford
* Liverpool John Lennon Airport (EGGP) - Under construction by andyramone

== Bridges ==

We have many of these already, thanks to work by Jon Stockhill and others.

* Dartford crossing
* Skye
* Erskine bridge (on the Clyde)
* Humber Bridge - Humberside, East Yorkshire

== Power Stations ==

Again thanks to Jon Stockhill many of the cooling towers and chimneys already exist - what's missing is the main buildings.

* Torness - being drafted by zakalawe
* Cockenzie - will be done by zakalawe
* Longannet - ditto
* Sizewell power station (East Anglian coast)
* Dungeoness
* Shoreham (Done by VicMar)

== Landmarks ==

Again the key here is visibility from the air - hence the absence of Stonehenge (?? - Depends on how high you fly).

* Angel of the North (Done by MaverickAlex)
* Stonehenge (???)
* South coast piers (Brighton Pier (ex-Palace Pier) done by VicMar).
* Brighton Marina - in progress by VicMar
* Glasgow 'sail'
* Spinaker Tower (Portsmouth) - in-progress by Fahim Dalvi
* The "Gurkin" London
* Norwich Castle & Cathedral - Completed by andyramone
* Edinburgh Castle
* Olympic site London
* Millenium Stadium
* Tower of London
* City Hall
* London tower bridge

==Football Stadiums==

Andyramone is undertaking a project to create UK football stadiums. It is ongoing, and completed and under construction models will be listed here. (PM andyramone on forum for requests.)

*Carrow Road - Norwich City - Complete and submitted
*Portman Road - Ipswich Town - Complete, ready for submission
*Emirates Stadium - Arsenal - Complete and submitted
*Stamford Bridge - Chelsea - Complete and submitted
*White Hart Lane - Tottenham - Complete, ready for submission
*Upton Park - West Ham - On the list
*Craven Cottage - Fulham - On the list
*Wembley - England - On the list

==See also==
*[[Landmark Wish List]]

Anaglyph (3D)

2010-09-25T09:26:25Z

VicMar: /* Mac OS X */

[[Image:OV_10_in_Anaglyph.jpg|thumb|Anaglyph provides increased 3D realism.]]
This wiki describes how to use the '''stereo vision''' or '''[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anaglyph_image anaglyph images]''' ability of [[OpenSceneGraph]] and let you experience the [[FlightGear]] world in 3D. Another excellent example and simple application of FlightGear's flexibility and realism.

'''Important Notice:''' Even though it might not pose any danger, try avoiding excessive use of different color paired glasses, and after your flying sessions with the glasses or whatever, let your eyes and brain rest for a while before starting to sew, chop meat, drive 160mph, dig the garden etc.

==Anaglyph, that weird looking glasses...==
As you might know or not, FlightGear migrated graphics functions from [[PLIB]] to [[OSG]]. [[FlightGear 1.9.0]], released Decemeber 22, 2008, marked the release of the OSG version of FlightGear. As of August 2010, most recent stable version of Flightgear uses OSG. For those who are unaware of OSG, it is an open source high performance 3D graphics toolkit.

Stereo vision exploit the human perception by showing a 3-Dimensional image on a 2-Dimensional surface. To understand stereo vision and human judgement of visual distance (that is how we keep visual separation from the traffic), make the following small experiment. While reading this text, close your left eye and then right eye, open left. When you alternate your view, it'll feel like the monitor is moving to little left when you observe with right eye, and vice versa. This situation gives us two different images. Now imagine you took this two "slightly" different images and match it such that each eye sees what it is supposed to see. There are not so many but quite a few ways to achieve this separation. And OSG is capable of doing all of this. Now apply this to your short final 28R at KSFO!

==How to multiply your realism level by 10==
For this experience, you will need
# A working copy of FlightGear, of course.
# A pair of Red-Green or Red-Cyan pair of 3D glasses. You might have one at home or if you are a DIY type, check [http://stereo.gsfc.nasa.gov/classroom/glasses.shtml NASA way of doing glasses] or [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Liquid_crystal_shutter_glasses Liquid Crystal Shutter Glasses] and probably suitable hardware (anyone experienced with or owns one pair of this thing might help developing this page).

The easiest and shortest way to experiment with this is to follow the procedure below (quick start).

===Windows===
[[Image:Anaglyph1.jpg|thumb|Accessing advanced options.]]
[[Image:Anaglyph2.jpg|thumb|Final result in Environment settings.]]
# Start the [[FlightGear Launch Control|FlightGear launcher]], select your aircraft and select your location.
# On the next screen, click "Advanced" just above the "Run" button.
# On the new window, titled "Advanced Options" highlight the "Environment" from the list on the left
# Now, you will create new environment variables, click "New" and type <tt>OSG_STEREO=ON</tt>, then again click "New". At this point you should be seeing "OSG_STEREO=ON" on environment list.
#The commands (including the one we just created) that you have to pass to OSG consist of:

#*<tt>OSG_STEREO=ON</tt>
#*<tt>OSG_STEREO_MODE=ANAGLYPHIC</tt>
#*<tt>OSG_SCREEN_DISTANCE=0.7</tt>
#*<tt>OSG_EYE_SEPARATION=0.06</tt>
#*<tt>OSG_SCREEN_HEIGHT=0.19</tt>
#*<tt>OSG_SCREEN_WIDTH=0.33</tt>

The result should be something like shown on the right.

After you entered the last value, click "OK" to quit from the Advanced Options window. Remove your pilot raybans, put your fancy 3D glasses and click "Run".

===Mac OS X===
[[Image:Anaglyphic2.jpg|thumb|Red-Green Anaglyph OSG Render in action]]
Thanks to [http://flightgear.org/forums/memberlist.php?mode=viewprofile&u=1650 someguy] (not some guy, a FlightGear forum member!) for providing Mac OS X instructions. And here is the related [http://www.flightgear.org/forums/viewtopic.php?f=19&t=9222&p=93141#p93141 post]with more screenshots.

# In the Finder, select the menu item Go > Go to Folder... and enter "~/.MacOSX" without the quotes. You will go to a hidden folder in your user directory.
# You should see a file named "environment.plist". Open it in TextEdit.
# Between the <dict> and </dict> tags, add the following:

<key>OSG_EYE_SEPARATION</key>
<real>0.065</real>
<key>OSG_SCREEN_DISTANCE</key>
<real>0.75</real>
<key>OSG_STEREO</key>
<string>ON</string>
<key>OSG_STEREO_MODE</key>
<string>ANAGLYPHIC</string>

Don't disturb anything else in there and save the file. Then log out (Shut Down and Start up, or Restart). Fire up Flightgear and be amazed.

If you don't see environment.plist, you'll need to create it. No problem, just open a new document in TextEdit (or another .xml editor e.g. Taco), enter these lines, and save as environment.plist:

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<!DOCTYPE plist PUBLIC "-//Apple//DTD PLIST 1.0//EN" "http://www.apple.com/DTDs/PropertyList-1.0.dtd">
<plist version="1.0">
<dict>
<key>OSG_EYE_SEPARATION</key>
<real>0.065</real>
<key>OSG_SCREEN_DISTANCE</key>
<real>1</real>
<key>OSG_STEREO</key>
<string>ON</string>
<key>OSG_STEREO_MODE</key>
<string>ANAGLYPHIC</string>
</dict>
</plist>

===Tweaking The View/Stopping Nausea===
A brief explanation of the values we gave for the environment variables goes like this. This info comes directly from the [http://www.openscenegraph.org/projects/osg/wiki/Support/UserGuides/StereoSettings OSG Stereo Settings] page.

'''OSG_STEREO=ON:''' is quiet self explanatory...We have to tell OSG to turn on the stereo rendering.

'''OSG_STEREO_MODE=ANAGLYPHIC:''' Well, the fanciness level starts here...In our relatively cheap case, we chose anaglyph rendering since we only had red-green or red-cyan glasses to see...So we tell OSG to fit our budget by rendering the scene according to ANAGLYPH method. But on the other hand, OSG provides not only ANAGLYPH (as default), it supplies its user with a wide variety of stereo render options.(Don't get scared by the frame rates shown on the screenshots, enabling stereo view didn't effected the framerates of the old laptop the screenshots were taken).These are;

*<tt>ANAGLYPH Use anaglyphic stereo when in stereo (default) (See green-red filtered images).</tt>
*<tt>QUAD_BUFFER Use quad buffered stereo when in stereo.</tt>
*<tt>HORIZONTAL_SPLIT Use horizontal split stereo mode when in stereo [http://wiki.flightgear.org/index.php/File:OSG_Anaglyph_StartScreen.jpg Starting],[http://wiki.flightgear.org/index.php/File:Hor_Cockpit.jpg Running!], [http://wiki.flightgear.org/index.php/File:Stereo_B1900D_View.jpg External Stereo View]</tt>
*<tt>VERTICAL_SPLIT Use vertical split stereo mode when in stereo [http://wiki.flightgear.org/index.php/File:Vertical_Sep_Cockpit.jpg Vertical Separation Cockpit] and [http://wiki.flightgear.org/index.php/File:Vertical_Sep_External.jpg External View]</tt>

(Any practical application sample of Vertical Split?)

To understand the red-green images, one can carefully inspect especially the horizontally separated images. If you carefully look at [http://wiki.flightgear.org/index.php/File:Hor_Cockpit.jpg this] image, note how the runway markings are appearing in a different perspective in left and right images. This is an exact (but not working in this case) copy of [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stereoscopy "cross eyed 3D"] pictures.What OSG does when you tell to enable the Anaglyph instead of this horizontal stereo, it applies color filters that exactly (not at practice sometimes, within color bandwidth limits) matches with your green and red filters on your glasses. Then it overlaps these filtered images and displays as a single image. Then, your left eye, with a green filter, filters the green image and sees the reddish image and vice versa for the right eye. Thus, giving each eye what they should be seeing in a real cockpit is also assembled by our brain, and perceived as a 3D environment. A small reminder about the Quad Buffered Stereo. It should only be enabled when you have a proper hardware, such as liquid crystal shutter glasses. The author attempted enabling this command on a laptop, resulting in bunch of error log in FlightGear console window and application hang.

'''OSG_SCREEN_DISTANCE=0.95:''' is the "distance" to your very own screen in metrics. For a good practice, you'd better measure this distance to your screen and not to make it 0.2 meters or 14.3 meters , since the first one is dangerous to your health and latter one to your flight profile. For multiple display, the measurements (should?) be from your viewpoint to the monitor surface. Contributes to the feeling of the depth on your screen.

'''OSG_EYE_SEPARATION=0.06:''' Eye seperation...Funny but is the actual distance between two pupils of your eyes. Measure but don't pop them out for a precision measure with a caliper. Makes significant contributions to the realism of the simulator. Generally 5 to 7 cm (0.05 to 0.07 meters). For imperial units convert 1 inch=25.4mm, 1 meter=3.280 ft.

'''OSG_SCREEN_HEIGHT=0.19:''' Is another basic measure. You can omit this and OSG will assign a default value, but of course, every monitor might be slightly different then the rest. This is the actual height of the [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Viewable_image_size visible image size] on your screen.

'''OSG_SCREEN_WIDTH=0.33:''' Similar to the height. If you are really lazy to measure your screen dimensions or stuck in the middle of a desert with a laptop and internet connection, but no ruler and you don't have any idea of your handspan, here's another unlimited service from FlightGear!

{| border="1" cellpadding="5" cellspacing="0" align="center"
|+Diagonal size in inches and corresponding Width and Height for different aspect ratios.
|-
!colspan="2"|Diagonal
!colspan="2"|4:3
!colspan="2"|16:9
|-
| (in)||(cm)||w (cm)||h (cm)||w (cm)||h (cm)
|-
| 7||18||14||11||15||9
|-
| 10||25||20||15||22||12
|-
| 11||28||22||17||24||14
|-
| 14||36||28||21||31||17
|-
| 15||38||30||23||33||19
|-
| 17||43||35||26||38||21
|-
| 19||48||39||29||42||24
|-
| 20||51||41||30||44||25
|-
| 21||53||43||32||46||26
|-
| 22||56||45||34||49||27
|-
| 23||58||47||35||51||29
|-
| 24||61||49||37||53||30
|-
| 25||64||51||38||55||31
|}

==Eye Separation and Horizontal Distance==

The very final part of the OSG stereo view options consists of few variables that accommodate the device specific issues and finally allows you to set straight look or cross-eyed look (not advised) options.
'''OSG_SPLIT_STEREO_HORIZONTAL_SEPARATION:''' variable adjusts the distance between two horizontally separated view-ports (e.g. right/left screens). If not specified in the environment variables with the OSG_STEREO_MODE=HORIZONTAL_SPLIT set, it takes its default 42 '''pixels''' value. This value is probably specific to the 3D LCD glasses (like tiny screens in front of your eyes), to adjust the distances between two images.

'''OSG_SPLIT_STEREO_HORIZONTAL_EYE_MAPPING:''' While OSG_STEREO_MODE=HORIZONTAL_SPLIT is set, it can take variables such as LEFT_EYE_LEFT_VIEWPORT or LEFT_EYE_RIGHT_VIEWPORT. LEFT_EYE_LEFT_VIEWPORT obviously set the left eye to render to left viewport, right eye to right viewport as a default if not set in Environment. On the other hand LEFT_EYE_RIGHT_VIEWPORT set the left eye to render to right viewport, right eye to left viewport (kind of cross eyed or again, device specific).

'''OSG_SPLIT_STEREO_VERTICAL_SEPARATION:''' theoretically does the same thing as horizontal separation but showing images up/down as opposed to left/right. It can take values similar to HORIZONTAL_SEPARATION in pixels.

'''OSG_SPLIT_STEREO_VERTICAL_EYE_MAPPING''' works the same way as horizontal mapping, displaying upper and lower images respectively. The string variables are LEFT_EYE_TOP_VIEWPORT and LEFT_EYE_BOTTOM_VIEWPORT, which are quiet self-explanatory.

==Links==
*[http://www.openscenegraph.org OSG Website]
*[http://www.openscenegraph.org/projects/osg/wiki/Support/UserGuides/StereoSettings Stereo Settings]
*[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anaglyph_image Anaglyph Image on Wikipedia]
*[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Retinal_rivalry An important warning about using highly filtering glasses]

Howto:Add details to your airport

2010-01-07T10:57:36Z

VicMar: /* Workflow */

[[FlightGear]] has thousands of accurately positioned [[:Category:Airports|airports]], but most of them simply consist of runways and taxiways. Although a number of major international and national airports have been modelled, you may prefer to just fly from your local small airfield or nearby municipal airport. Here's how to add detail to your home base.

Let's assume you have some idea of the layout of your chosen airfield, the buildings and facilities. Use your existing resources, Google Earth to obtain several plan views and Google Image Search for as many other details as you can find. Flickr and similar websites are also useful sources of images.

Print this guide and your images and load FlightGear with the [[UFO]] situated on your airfield.

==Placing your first model==
{{main article|Howto: Place 3D objects with the UFO}}
Stay in cockpit view. Increase the UFO altitude for a better view: Home = up, End = down.

Move towards the location of the first major building, terminal or hanger: Page Up = speed up, Page down = slow down. Use the arrow navigation keys to steer; you may prefer to use your joystick. Zoom in for a more accurate view: x = zoom in, X = zoom out.

Now open the list of the models you want to add to your scene: hit the Spacebar. Select your first model to add: scroll down and up to view all the models. Generic buildings (and objects) are obtainable from the <tt>[[$FG_ROOT]]/Models/</tt> directory.

Choose your model: leftclick on the list – or if you're unsure – click on any model for now.

Now place your model: position the mouse cursor on your chosen spot in the view and left click. The chosen model will now be visible on the ground at your airport.

You may now view other choices of model: Ctrl-Page Up = cycle down Model List, Ctrl-Page Down = cycle up Model List. You are able to cycle through all the model choices if you wish.

When you have decided on this first model to add to your airport you may adjust its position more exactly: hit the Tab key.
* Adjust the '''position''' of your model: click on the left/right arrow keys and/or move the sliders. The model will be moved relative to your UFO position.
* Adjustment of model '''orientation''' is usually needed: use the heading controls.
* Adjustment of model '''altitude''' above sea level may be required: best to use the altitude slider at first. Use SHIFT key to get a more accurate placement.

If you get it wrong hit Backspace to delete the model.

===Placing more models===
Move to the location of the second model to be added. Repeat selection and positioning of your next model.

===Be Creative===
It is possible to adapt the models to suit your own requirements. For example, sink a three storey building into the ground to make a single storey airport terminal; combine or overlap buildings to make more complex shapes; sit small buildings on larger ones for more interesting architecture.

==Saving to FlightGear==
Save your work at regular intervals: hit d and note the location now listed in your terminal/command console, for example

#w010n50/w003n51/2909017.stg

Then edit/copy (don't use Ctrl-c) the objects listing also listed in your terminal/command console, an example

OBJECT_SHARED Models/Airport/hangar.ac -2.70395512 51.38404119 183.5494 0.0

Modify the .stg file: start your text editor (Gedit, NotePad etc.) and open the relevant .stg file in the appropriate <tt>[[$FG_SCENERY]]/Objects</tt> folder.

2909017.stg located in the <tt>[[$FG_SCENERY]]/Objects/w010n50/w003n51</tt> folder, as shown above.

It is wise first make a back-up of the original .stg file first. Rename it to <tt>2909017.old</tt> for example.

Edit/paste the object listing from your terminal/command console to the .stg file

OBJECT_SHARED Models/Airport/hangar.ac -2.70395512 51.38404119 183.5494 0.0

If you're lucky, all subsequent changes should be made to just this .stg file. Otherwise make notes of all the .stg files to be changed.

==Placing signs==
{{main article|Signs}}
Runway and taxiway signs are first obtained from the Models List as the <tt>[[$FG_ROOT]]/Aircraft/ufo/Models/sign.ac</tt>.

Make a note of the order in which you place them.

Add the sign models to the .stg file as before (d, copy, .stg, paste) and then you need to modify the entries using Gedit or NotePad. For example, change the relevant entry in the .stg file to create a yellow sign for taxiway “A”:

OBJECT_SIGN {@Y}A -2.70283307 51.38317242 184.0008 96.0

Or change another entry to produce a yellow sign for taxiway “B”:

OBJECT_SIGN {@Y}B -2.70283307 51.38317242 184.0008 96.0

To create a red sign for runway “27-09”:

OBJECT_SIGN {@R}27-09 -2.70283307 51.38317242 184.0008 96.0

and so on.

==Adding more detail==
Now you know how to do it you can float around the airport in the UFO and place models wherever you wish.

Regularly hit the d-key and copy and paste the new object listings to the relevant .stg file.

Separate each type of object listings in the .stg file with comment lines to keep track of your work, eg:
## buses, trucks, vehicles and miscellaneous static objects.

==Workflow==
You may find that it is best to build your airport in the following sequence:

# Major buildings can be found in
#* <tt>[[$FG_ROOT]]/Models/Airport/</tt>
#* <tt>[[$FG_ROOT]]/Models/Buildings</tt>
# Hangers listed in <tt>[[$FG_ROOT]]/Models/Airport</tt>.
# Service buildings and miscellaneous buildings to be found in:
#* <tt>[[$FG_ROOT]]/Models/Airport</tt>
#* <tt>[[$FG_ROOT]]/Models/Commercial</tt>
#* <tt>[[$FG_ROOT]]/Models/Industrial</tt>
# Fences in the Models/Boundaries list.
# Great static aircraft and services are located in
#* <tt>[[$FG_ROOT]]/Models/Aircraft</tt>
#* <tt>[[$FG_ROOT]]/Models/Airport</tt>
# Vehicles are in the <tt>[[$FG_ROOT]]/Models/Transport</tt> list.
# Signs, as described [[#Placing signs|earlier]].
Add other details such as ISO containers at rear of buildings, buses, tankers, light aircraft.
# Red hazard lights may be added to tall structures, find them in <tt>[[$FG_ROOT]]/Models/Effects/</tt>
# Radio masts, monopoles and other towers they may be lowered in height by adjusting the Altitude slider if necessary. Airports are usually flat, low scenes so any verticals help to add interest to your views.
#* <tt>[[$FG_ROOT]]/Models/Communications</tt>
#* <tt>[[$FG_ROOT]]/Models/Military</tt>
# Immediately outside the airport there are usually large spaces for car parking. Currently there are no 3D models of these so you will have to devise a suitable texture map for them.
# In the areas surrounding the airport you could add residential and commercial properties bearing in mind the distance and visibility of these objects.
# Usually there are some prominent tall objects within a few miles of your airport so it will be worth the effort to add replica versions of these to your scenery.
# Add trees from <tt>[[$FG_ROOT]]/Models/Trees</tt>. In many parts of the world the coniferous/deciduous mix varies so you could rename the appropriate file(s) in <tt>[[$FG_ROOT]]/Models/Trees</tt> and <tt>[[$FG_ROOT]]/Textures/Trees</tt> to give the proportions you wish, e.g.
#* If you wish to reduce the number of coniferous trees around your airport, you have to edit the <tt>[[$FG_ROOT]]/materials.xml</tt> file. Do note that this file is distributed with FlightGear and therefore changes will be lost in a next release, unless commited to [[CVS]]. It is better (but harder) to [[Howto: Create custom scenery|edit the terrain]] instead, to reflect the real area.

==Your updated airport==
As you settle into your new home you will probably wish to adjust, delete or modify the models which, unfortunately, has to be carried out the long way by first deleting them from the .stg file and re-installing using the UFO method.

Keep an eye on frame rates and stop or back-track when you think you've reached your optimum eye-candy/framerate limit. Remember – have fun.

[[Category:Scenery enhancement|Add details to your airport]]

AC3D file format

2009-08-19T14:40:35Z

VicMar: /* Identifying an object */

Ac files (extension .ac) are the basis of all [[scenery]] and [[aircraft]] models in [[FlightGear]]. Knowing how to read and change an AC file can be useful sometimes, e.g. when you quickly want to change a color or use another texture. This article shows you how to modify the material and texture entries.

===Materials===
[[Image:AC_color.jpg|thumb|rgb 1 1 0]][[Image:AC_ambient.jpg|thumb|amb 0.72 0.64 1]][[Image:AC_emission.jpg|thumb|emis 1 0 0]][[Image:AC_spec.jpg|thumb|spec 0 1 0]][[Image:AC_trans.jpg|thumb|trans 0.5]]

When you open an AC file in a text editor, you will see a number of material lines like this:

<tt>MATERIAL "default" rgb 0.5 0.5 0.5 amb 0.4 0.4 0.4 emis 0 0 0 spec 0.2 0.2 0.2 shi 128 trans 0</tt>

This line defines the material ''default'' for all poly structures that use this material. It is the default color of .ac files produced by the [[SketchUp to AC3D exporter]].

We will now go through that line bit by bit:

<tt>rgb 0.5 0.5 0.5</tt>
: Color: This material is medium grey. Red Green Blue (of which the color is composed) are all medium strong. <tt>rgb 0 0 0</tt> is black, <tt>rgb 1 1 1</tt> is white. Mix to your needs. In the example to the right, red and green make yellow. (More examples [http://web.njit.edu/~walsh/rgb.html here]. Those RGB values can go from 0 to 255, so divide by 255 to get the value appropriate for AC files.)

: The examples on the right have been made with the [[Bo105]] material dialog (when using the model, press Ctrl-Y to open it). Of course you can make them in the AC file as well: Open, edit, save, done.

: The suggested rgb setting for textures is 1 1 1, which shows the colors on the texture excactly as they were drawn. This is a problem with [[SketchUp]] resp. the [[SketchUp to AC3D exporter]]. There are two solutions to this:

: 1. Change the colors to <tt>rgb 1 1 1</tt> after export. That means that you have to change them every time you export the model.
: 2. Or you can set the color of the texture to <tt>rgb 1 1 1</tt> already in SketchUp. You will see the textures whiteish in SketchUp, but correctly after export ([[Textures & Texture Maps in SketchUp#Correct display of texture colors in the AC file|Correct display of texture colors in the AC file]]).

<tt>amb 0.4 0.4 0.4</tt>
: Ambient: The [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ambient_light ambient] is the color of the light that falls indirectly onto the material, i.e. the reflection of sunlight is (almost) not affected. In the example to the right, I have changed the ambient (not the color) to full blue.

: As of [[FlightGear CVS]], the amb setting should duplicate the rgb one.

<tt>emis 0 0 0</tt>
: Emission makes things glow. Here, I have set the emission to full red and nothing else. In total dark, the model shines red only, in light it is yellow and red. Also see [[Howto: Illuminate faces]].

<tt>spec 0.2 0.2 0.2</tt>
: [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Specular_reflection Specular] means the reflection of light that comes from the viewer, i.e. the color of light that comes from you and goes back to you. In other words, here you set the color for mirror-like reflections. In the example, specular is set to full green.

<tt>shi 128</tt>
: Shi seems to stand for shininess, but with that I'm not sure, sorry. Try yourself (no example, of course).

<tt>trans 0</tt>
: With transparency it get really interesting again. Make things transparent, even without using a [[Textures & Texture Maps in SketchUp|texture]].

===Textures===

Texture lines are found anywhere throughout the AC file and look like this:

<tt>texture "livery.rgb"</tt>
: If you have defined this texture and now you are unhappy with it, simply change the file name and the model will use the new texture. For example, if you now want to use a PNG version of this texture, change the line into <tt>texture "livery.png"</tt>. If you want to use a different texture altogether, give it the respective name like <tt>texture "thenewtexture.rgb"</tt>. See also [[SketchUp to AC3D exporter#PNG adaption|here]].

===Identifying an object===

If you write an XML file for your AC model (which you always should), you might want to refer from the XML file to certain objects in the AC file. This is necessary when you want to make certain objects rotate or change their size or illuminate them after nightfall or anything like that.

Unfortunately, when using SketchUp, the [[SketchUp to AC3D exporter]] will name every object the same:

<tt>OBJECT poly<br>
name "blah"</tt>

Here is how you can find an object you are looking for: Every part of the model with a unique <tt>material</tt> is defined as a new <tt>OBJECT poly</tt>. This means that you only have to know which material an object uses to find it in the body of the AC file. Every material is given a number, starting from the '''first material after''' <tt>material "default"</tt>:

<tt>MATERIAL "default" rgb ...</tt><br>
<tt>MATERIAL "Color_A07" rgb ...</tt> This is <tt>mat 1</tt><br>
<tt>MATERIAL "Color_D01" rgb ...</tt> This is <tt>mat 2</tt><br>
<tt>MATERIAL "Color_F01" rgb ...</tt> This is <tt>mat 3</tt><br>

Now we will look for the object further below in the AC file that uses <tt>mat 2</tt>. It is this one:

<tt>
OBJECT poly<br>
name "Roof"<br>
numvert 4<br>
-5.245000 10.550000 -0.010000<br>
5.245000 0.060000 -0.010000<br>
-5.245000 0.060000 -0.010000<br>
5.245000 10.550000 -0.010000<br>
numsurf 2<br>
SURF 0x30<br>
mat 2<br>
refs 3<br>
0 0 0<br>
1 0 0<br>
2 0 0<br>
SURF 0x30<br>
mat 2<br>
refs 3<br>
1 0 0<br>
0 0 0<br>
3 0 0<br>
kids 0
</tt>

As you can see, <tt>mat 2</tt> is used in this object. Let's imagine that we know that it is a roof. So now that we have named it ''Roof'' we can refer to it from the XML file. Voilà!

Note: When you [[Textures & Texture_Maps_in_SketchUp#Loading_your_texture_into_SketchUp|define a new texture in SketchUp]], you can give it a name. Imagine that we use the texture <tt>roof1.png</tt> and that we name the texture <tt>Roof</tt>. The name and the texture filename will appear in the AC file. Yet you will still have to rename the object. The [[SketchUp to AC3D exporter]] will give you this:

<tt>MATERIAL "Roof" rgb<br><br>
OBJECT poly<br>
name "blah"<br>
texture "roof1.png"</tt>

The name of the material does not matter at all, it could be anything. The object name is the important thing for reference from XML. Only after renaming the object you will be able to address it from the XML file. (Or, of course, you can refer to the object "blah", if this is the only object with that name in the AC file.)

When you are modelling in SketchUp and you want to ensure that you can identify one part of it later in the AC file, simply give it a unique color or texture that is not used anywhere else in the AC file. An exception to this method exists where you want your object to be invisible until the .xml file animates it (as with some lighting effects) - in that case you MUST use a unique texture. Failure to use a unique texture in these cases will result in your object not showing in FlightGear.

[[Category:Howto|AC files: Understanding and changing .ac code]]
[[Category:Scenery enhancement|AC files: Understanding and changing .ac code]]

[[Category:Howto|AC files: Understanding and changing .ac code]]
[[Category:Scenery enhancement|AC files: Understanding and changing .ac code]]

Helipad list (user created)

2009-07-20T08:38:34Z

VicMar:

This page lists [[Howto: Make a helipad|heliports]] that are not included in the official apt.dat file and therefore with [[FlightGear]]. You can easily add these heliports to FlightGear by unzipping the <tt>[[$FG_ROOT]]/Airports/apt.dat.gz</tt> file (always make a backup first!). Once it's unpacked, open it with a text editor and add (some of) the lines below to the bottom of the file (note the alphabetical order!). Save your changes and zip the file as .gz. Now refresh your FlightGear airport cache (or run FlightGear with <tt>--airport=[ICAO code]</tt>).

==Europe==
===The Netherlands===
<tt>
17 0 0 0 EHHA [H] Amsterdam Heliport<br>
10 52.414957 4.804518 H1x 284.750 79 0000.0000 0000.0000 79 111111 1 0 2 0.25 0 0300.0300 <br>
10 52.414758 4.804434 H2x 284.750 79 0000.0000 0000.0000 79 111111 1 0 2 0.25 0 0300.0300 <br>
10 52.414565 4.804333 H3x 284.750 52 0000.0000 0000.0000 52 111111 1 0 2 0.25 0 0300.0300 <br>
10 52.414391 4.804255 H4x 284.750 52 0000.0000 0000.0000 52 111111 1 0 2 0.25 0 0300.0300

17 126 0 0 EH0001 [H] VU Medisch Centrum <br>
10 52.33434 4.85911 H1x 360.00 40 0000.0000 0000.0000 36 111111 1 0 2 0.25 0 0300.0300
</tt>

----
===North Sea Oil Rigs===

<tt>
17 210 0 0 OIL001 [H] Oilrig Lennox<BR>
10 53.63305 -3.17547 H1x 180.00 40 0000.0000 0000.0000 36 111111 2 0 2 0.25 0 0300.0300

17 210 0 0 OIL002 [H] Oilrig Brent-C<BR>
10 61.09705 1.72125 H1x 180.00 40 0000.0000 0000.0000 36 111111 2 0 2 0.25 0 0300.0300

17 210 0 0 OIL003 [H] Oilrig Troll<BR>
10 60.64638 3.72576 H1x 180.00 40 0000.0000 0000.0000 36 111111 2 0 2 0.25 0 0300.0300

17 210 0 0 OIL004 [H] Oilrig Amethyst-C1-D<BR>
10 53.64672 0.60319 H1x 180.00 40 0000.0000 0000.0000 36 111111 2 0 2 0.25 0 0300.0300

17 210 0 0 OIL005 [H] Oilrig RIJN-E<BR>
10 52.17338 3.86837 H1x 180.00 40 0000.0000 0000.0000 36 111111 2 0 2 0.25 0 0300.0300

17 210 0 0 OIL006 [H] Oilrig PLACID-C <BR>
10 53.46005 3.90519 H1x 180.00 40 0000.0000 0000.0000 36 111111 2 0 2 0.25 0 0300.0300

17 210 0 0 OIL007 [H] Oilrig FOINAVEN <BR>
10 60.31705 -4.27589 H1x 180.00 40 0000.0000 0000.0000 36 111111 2 0 2 0.25 0 0300.0300

17 210 0 0 OIL008 [H] Oilrig KINSALEHEAD A<BR>
10 51.37172 -7.94544 H1x 180.00 40 0000.0000 0000.0000 36 111111 2 0 2 0.25 0 0300.0300
</tt>

===United Kingdom===
<tt>
17 75.36 0 0 EGBR [H] Bishop Rock Lighthouse <br>
10 49.87162862 -6.44497902 H1x 0.00 20 0000.0000 0000.0000 20 111111 2 0 2 0.25 0 0300.0300

17 54.33 0 0 EGEL [H] Eddystone Lighthouse <br>
10 50.15180595 -4.26500202 H1x 0.00 20 0000.0000 0000.0000 20 111111 2 0 2 0.25 0 0300.0300

17 36.40 0 0 EGLJ [H] Les Hanois Lighthouse <br>
10 49.43665928 -2.70169617 H1x 0.00 20 0000.0000 0000.0000 20 111111 2 0 2 0.25 0 0300.0300

17 53.07 0 0 EGLN [H] Longships Lighthouse<br>
10 50.06564135 -5.74566033 H1x 0.00 20 0000.0000 0000.0000 20 111111 2 0 2 0.25 0 0300.0300

17 36 0 0 EGLH [H] Needles Lighthouse <br>
10 50.66167476 -1.59030635 H1x 0.00 15 0000.0000 0000.0000 15 111111 1 0 2 0.25 0 0300.0300

17 -0.0257 0 0 EGRS [H] Royal Sovereign Lighthouse <br>
10 50.71737229 0.43792980 H1x 0.00 20 0000.0000 0000.0000 20 111111 2 0 2 0.25 0 0300.0300

17 -0.0257 0 0 EGSP [H] Sussex Police <br>
10 50.832644 -0.297318 H1x 0.00 20 0000.0000 0000.0000 20 111111 2 0 2 0.25 0 0300.0300

17 52.0 0 0 EGWR [H] Wolf Rock Lighthouse <br>
10 49.94533086 -5.80832849 H1x 0.00 25 0000.0000 0000.0000 25 111111 2 0 2 0.25 0 0300.0300
</tt>

[[Category:Airports]]
[[Category:Scenery enhancement]]

Talk:Textures & Texture Maps in SketchUp

2009-07-15T10:42:44Z

VicMar:

Why your screenshots are so blurry? They are '''very''' difficult to read.
: I'll ask Vic to update the screenshots with better ones.
: PS: Please sign all messages that you post on the wiki with four tildes (~), it'll show your name and date.
: [[User:Gijs|Gijs]] 04:28, 14 July 2009 (EDT)

New Mac screenshots and further development of the page would be nice.
When I changed the page yesterday, I tried to make it easily useable for Win users, too. I hope this works out. IMHO, the page can still be improved by cleaning it up and strightening the information. I'll try to continue this work at a later point during this week.

And indeed, the Mac screenshots are verrry blurred.

David [[User:D-79|D-79]] 06:00, 14 July 2009 (EDT)

:David, for the (other) images, it's preffered to keep the descriptions (like Windows, Step 3) out of the image and put it as description below the image (caption/alt). This way it is easier to change it later on (without updating the image) and wikilinks can be add as well.
:[[User:Gijs|Gijs]] 15:56, 14 July 2009 (EDT)

Gijs, I guess you're right. For this article, I do not want to repeat the work, but I will follow this hint for later tasks
[[User:D-79|D-79]] 16:37, 14 July 2009 (EDT)

Mac Pics updated.[[User:VicMar|VicMar]] 06:42, 15 July 2009 (EDT)

File:TargetSquares.png

2009-07-15T10:35:59Z

VicMar: uploaded a new version of "Image:TargetSquares.png"

File:PerfectSquare.png

2009-07-15T10:35:12Z

VicMar: uploaded a new version of "Image:PerfectSquare.png"

File:TopView.png

2009-07-14T20:41:00Z

VicMar: uploaded a new version of "Image:TopView.png"

File:Picture 2.png

2009-07-14T20:33:25Z

VicMar: uploaded a new version of "Image:Picture 2.png"

Textures & Texture Maps in SketchUp

2009-07-14T15:37:43Z

VicMar: /* Making a Texture Map */

[[Category:Scenery]]

Once you get into modelling for FlightGear, you want to use textures. They give the certain touch of reality to every model. This tutorial shows you how to embed your own textures into a SketchUp (Skp) model on Mac and Windows.

== Copyright Issues ==

Any textures found in the Skp paint-box are subject to Google copyright. As Flightgear operates under the terms of the General Public Licence, model makers must not use any item, be it texture, photograph, or code etc., unless it has been released under the terms of GPL.

You can see all the details for GPL at: http://www.gnu.org/copyleft/gpl.html

The only things you can safely use in the Skp paint-box are the named colours. I recommend you open the ‘Colours’ or the ‘Colours-Named’ menu, and do everything from there, ignoring the rest of the main paint-box menus. That way you cannot accidentally use something you shouldn’t.

== Making your own Textures ==
You can apply either a color or an overlay image (texture) to your model. Colors are easy, simply pick one of the predefined SketchUp colors. But it gets really nice and realistic once you use images. Let's assume you want to overlay ribbed concrete:

1. Take a photo of some ribbed concrete with a digital camera, preferably with some marks to show 1 square metre.

2. Upload that photo to your computer, then, in your photo processor (iPhoto on Mac; [[GIMP]], [http://www.irfanview.com/ IrfanView] or any other on windows), ‘Crop’ it to show just the square metre, and export it with a good ‘highest detail’/’lowest file size’ compromise (‘export to web’ in iPhoto).

3. During that export procedure, select a pixels size which is compatible with FlightGear - that means it must measure combinations of 2,4,8,16,32,64,128,256,512,1024, and so on. If you don't do this, FlightGear can show the image, but only after a resizing procedure, which eats up processor capacity. So you want to do that for FlightGear before applying the image to your model. You can rescale distorted images in SketchUp later again.

If this is to be the only texture for this model, try to keep the pixels as small as you can without losing too much detail. If it is to be part of a texture map (see below), you can keep the high pixel count at this stage to preserve detail, though it still needs to be set to the 2,4,8 etc.sizes.

[[Image:EXPORT.png]]

If your photo processor does not allow you to set the pixels, use another like Preview (Mac) or Gimp to pixel size the exported photo.

4. Save that photo to your desktop.

==Loading your Texture into SketchUp==
Now you need to read that texture into SketchUp. First you open the new texture dialog:

Mac: Select ‘New Texture’ from the ‘Colour’ menu inside the ‘Colours- Named’ section of the Skp paint-box.<br>
Windows: Click the paint bucket (or select Window --> Materials), then click the 'Create Material...' button.

[[Image:NewTexture.png]] [[Image:Textures1_win.png|border|How to define a new texture in SketchUp on Windows computers ]]

Select that, and you should be presented with the means to select the path to your photo (in this example we have put it on our desktop).

6. Select your photo, and click ‘Open’. This will take it into the paint-box with whatever name you saved it with.

[[Image:SelectPicture.png ]] [[Image:Textures2_win.png]]

7. In the Skp paint-box you can give your new texture a unique name. Try to make this name relevant to the model you are making. This could be useful in reuniting them if ever the model and it’s texture get separated. For use in FlightGear there should not be any gaps in the texture name.

[[Image:Name&Size.png]]

8. You need to set the size of your new concrete texture to 1M x 1M. This
means: If the area you are using the texture in is bigger than 1 metre square, the texture will be repeated every metre in every direction, until the
whole target area is textured.

9. Applying the texture is the same as painting an area.
a) Select the texture.
b) Place the paint-pot tool over the target area, and click.

If your texture is a specific item, e.g. a window, the picture of the window will be presented again and again. It will be necessary to position the texture to place the required section in the target area. I describe how to do this later.

'''TIP:''' ''When making a texture of an item like a door, or window, it is a good idea to include it’s measurements in the individual texture name. The name of each item in the paint- box appears when you hold your mouse pointer over it. This helps when marking up your model with it’s target areas.

''
[[Image:SizeinName.png]] [[Image:Textures3_win.png]]

'''TIP:''' ''When you first start modelling, there is a lot of satisfaction to be had from making very detailed models. The downside of that is the large file size produced. This affects loading times in FlightGear''
.
''By all means make your detailed model - take a snap for your own collection - then try to minimise the face count (MaverickAlex has produced a tutorial on this, see: [[ Howto: Decrease the number of faces|Howto: Decrease the number of faces ]]''

''Alternatively, you could keep your detailed model, and make a copy of the file to reduce the file size on. This copy would be the one you send to the Scenery database.''

'''TIP:''' ''You could save a lot of file space by snapping the whole side of your model and making a texture of it to keep in all your hard earned detail, but with only one face on the texture to be counted.
''

==Semi-Transparent Textures==
[[Image:Textures_transparent.png|thumb|Semi-transparent textures]] Semi-transparent textures are a powerful tool. Especially when you want to model mesh, banisters, scaffolding etc., you can use semi-transparent textures to minimize the complexity of the model. Like in the model to the right.

It's the [http://scenemodels.flightgear.org/modeledit.php?id=220 gasometer] by Jon Stockill. To simulate the framework, he uses a minimal image that is transparent except for the metal parts: [[Image:Textures_tranparent2.png]].

Another good example is the roof structure of the [http://scenemodels.flightgear.org/modeledit.php?id=795 A380 hangar] in Frankfurt (EDDF) by Christian Schmitt.

== Making a Texture Map ==

If you only have one texture in a model there is no need to make a texture map, but if there are to be several textures used in the model, or, as in the Caribbean scenery project, the same textures used in many models - rather than have to forward/use multiple texture files, it is better to make a Texture Map.

[[Image:Picture_2.png ]]

This can all be accomplished in Sketchup - though some modellers prefer to do it in a separate application.

'''TIP:''' ''I do it all in Skp to ensure the measurements are correct
and match my SketchUp model.''

First you need to make each of the textures you are going to use in your model. You can produce textures (as described above) from photos, or from drawings you
may have done in Skp, or another application (iWorks, Appleworks for Mac) You can use quite high resolution pics or drawings for these, thus keeping more detail, as you will be minimising the pixels on the final map stage.

You will not be able to use the repeats, as described in the previous section, so the size of each texture ‘Target’ area needs to be noted.

'''TIP:''' ''I use a ‘stickie’ with these details permanently at
the top left of my desktop whilst modelling.''

[[Image:Stickie.png ]]

Next you need to mark the area where each texture is going to be placed on your model with the outline (usually a rectangle) of the texture. I call these 'targets'.

Next, place a duplicate of each of the model's targets into as near a square as you can - flat on the ground using the 'Top' view under the 'Camera' menu.

[[Image:TopView.png ]]

Use the ‘Orbit’ tool to make sure they are all level.

[[Image:OrbitView.png ]]

Then go back to the ‘Top” view.

Make sure your square is well away from your model, and doesn't coincide with any guidelines from your model, as these could end up in the pic you take later - you don't want them in your texture map.

Next, texture each of the targets in your square (not the ones on your model).

[[Image:Textured.jpg ]]

It doesn't matter if they are not all the same way up because you can rotate them when you place them on your model.

If you are going to use the same texture on different sized targets - as in roof tiles on the sides of a roof and the ends of a roof, your texture map needs a target large enough to cover the biggest measurements in your model targets. This allows you to use it to texture the smaller ones too.

'''Example:''' ''If the side roof is 10 x 5, and the roof end is 6 x 6, you would need to have the roof tile part of the texture measuring 10 x 6. That would enable you to use the same texture for both parts of the roof.

You could play safe and just make the texture more than large enough to cover the roof size, but that way you would be making the file size bigger, which is to be avoided because of loading speed.''

Now use the Skp 'square' tool to cover your square of targets as tightly to the edges as possible. Make this a perfect square, even if you have to include some of the background between the targets.

[[Image:PerfectSquare.png]]

'''TIP:''' ''You can see an unwanted guide line in the above picture (Bottom right, above the word ‘Square’). If you make the individual targets into a group after you have textured them, you can easily move your square beyond the guide lines.''

Use the Skp measuring tool to measure your square. Note the measurements down for future use.

[[Image:Stickie.png]]

Now use the square tool again to make another smaller square at the outside of each corner - these will act as markers for the next procedure - then erase the covering square being careful not to erase any of your textured targets.

[[Image:TargetSquares.png]]

Use a snapshot tool (like Snap'n'Drag) to take a pic of the square (for Macs you can use cmd+shift+4). Alternatively, you could take a full screen shot, then use a photo processing application to crop down to your marked square, though this method could lose some of the detail quality.

Use a photo processing application (like Gimp, Photoshop, (for Macs Preview or iPhoto will do as well)) to make the pixels a 2,4,8,16,32,64,128,256,512,1024,
square.

Keep the squared pixel size to the smallest one that keeps the necessary detail in the textures. Bear in mind most models are viewed as a 'flypast', which means at a distance. Try a couple of sizes to decide which will do the job effectively.

Go back to the Skp paint-box and make a new texture from your photo. Make sure this new texture has a unique name, and the width and height of this texture is equal to the square you covered the targets with. (Hopefully you noted the
measurement earlier).

Then use that new texture to texture your model with the following method:

In the Skp paint-box, select your new texture.

Take the paint pot to your target area and click.

When you have clicked the paint pot onto your target area, right-click: this should give you the option to position the texture.

Another right-click at this stage will give you the option to rotate the texture if necessary. Don't forget to click 'Done' (right-click menu, or ctrl+click menu for Macs) when you have got the correct part of the texture map
in your target area.

Work your way round the model until you have placed all of the required textures.

Remember to erase the duplicate square of targets in your Skp file before you export to .ac.

When you [[SketchUp to AC3D exporter | export your Skp file to .ac format]], there will only be one texture file.

'''TIP:''' ''Leave deleting the square until you have placed all of it’s constituent parts on your model. This makes it easier to add in any textured parts of your model which you had missed out. If you erased the square before this stage, you would have to start completely again from scratch, or have an
extra texture file with that model. (It’s a pride thing I guess).''

That’s it.

I hope this tutorial is helpful to you.

VicMar

(Special thanks to Alex Park, who showed me how to make texture maps.)
(And David (D-79) for the PC details to match my Mac instructions)
[[Category:Howto]]

Textures & Texture Maps in SketchUp

2009-07-14T15:34:40Z

VicMar: /* Loading your Texture into SketchUp */

File:SizeinName.png

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VicMar:

File:Name&Size.png

2009-07-14T14:57:25Z

VicMar: