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VTP Builder Explained

A few words about mesh.

The end result is only as good as the source data allows. And the LOD should closely match the source resolution.

Also, be sure the extents ( the outermost bounds ) of the source data exceed the extents of the end mesh... make sure your source is bigger than the end product. The INF produced from VTBuilder needs to be tweaked a bit to force the destination bounds of the oversized source. Then the mesh will exactly cover the area you need. The most common size for mesh in FSX and FS9 is the LOD5-size. I made LOD7 and LOD 8 mesh for CFS2 that is LOD2 sized, but finer resolution meshes should be LOD5-sized or smaller, as they will be much larger BGL file sizes. The source data needs to be bigger than the destination or you will get gaps in the BGLs.

We still don't have a source of world-wide mesh that is suitable for mesh production over LOD8. SRTM is about as good as it gets, with the CGIAR about the best source available. The newer ASTER GDEM v2 data is unsuitable for mesh as it has hundreds of spikes and pits in most LOD5-sized chunks.

In a nutshell, unless you have a secret source of DEM data, or you are making mesh of the US, then there is no better source of mesh available than the sets I have already made for CFS2. Why reinvent the wheel? And, for CFS2, I seriously doubt you need mesh over LOD7 resolution while you are dog-fighting. If you are just looking for screenshots, or scenery flying, you're better off with FSX or FS9.

Dick
 
......

NOT trying to steal any thunder here, Mr R - Just sharing information.

Never know - Some young blood out there might take up the gauntlet and discover something new in MeshMaking ! :wavey:

SC
:kilroy:
 
It's not an ego thing.

I made the mesh for the CFS2 community because the only other source of free world mesh is at Simviation. That mesh is defective. It has gaps between the different BGLs, and it does not fix the header bug in the FS2000 resample... which might not allow the mesh to even display or might foul up other mesh BGL displays.

There really is nothing new in mesh creation. It's pretty straight forward. The source is everything, and that hasn't changed much in recent years. The SRTM data is really only suitable up to LOD8 resolution. Buying LOD9 or higher resolution sets is pretty ridiculous outside the US areas. That's just oversampled data that give fictitious bumps to the mesh if it's made from SRTM. CGIAR is the standard for SRTM data. ViewfinderPanoramas is the best corrections to that set.

Dick
 
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