Rwy12 Object placer

[JSMR]

Used it in the past mildly successfully. Certainly a pain to place objects accurately (like putting two airfield board markers together or fences etc). Not sure if there is any way to get it more accurate. Placing multiple objects then loading the sim again to see one object completely out of place is kinda frustrating. Having a scenery folder with 100 bgls might work as I can delete the last one and redo it. Slow though. Unless someone has a way to do it less painfully?

Is Instant Scenery the way to go for this? I believe you can see he objects in real time even in FS2004. Probably worth the 29.95 USD I suppose. 

Does anyone have any other programs they use to place objects? I think the Abucus ez-scenery placer has disappeared. 

 

 

 

[defaid]

ADE if you're making airports.

 

The final FS9 version shows precise footprints for library objects but it doesn't ship with thumbnails so, unless you're patient enough to lay all of a library out in a test-airfield and make your own thumbs, there's a bit of guesswork.

 

I think you can also compile the scenery objects and the afd into separate bgls, which may be useful for placing objects at a distance from the field though I've never bothered.

 

D

[JSMR]

Oh ok. Can I add new objects to use? 
ADE is pretty easy to use from adding new aprons, changing or removing objects etc etc. 

[leuen]

2 hours ago, JSMR said:

Is Instant Scenery the way to go for this? I believe you can see he objects in real time even in FS2004. Probably worth the 29.95 USD I suppose. 

 

Definitely. With its interface you get a very helpful WYSIWYG mode for easy handling and positioning. Furthermore you will have access to most objects stocked somewhere in your FS.

[JSMR]

37 minutes ago, leuen said:

 

Definitely. With its interface you get a very helpful WYSIWYG mode for easy handling and positioning. Furthermore you will have access to most objects stocked somewhere in your FS.

Ok thanks. Rwy12 is kinda painful. Think I'll fork out some bikkies for Instant Scenery.

[defaid]

Ready for some words?

 

Step-by-step pictorial instruction for placing objects at airports. Most of this quick ref concerns making a thumbnail. Placing an object is only a couple of clicks and you can move & rotate them in the usual ways.

 

Since you're already familiar with it: "ADE is pretty easy to use from adding new aprons, changing or removing objects etc etc. " this shouldn't present any problem.

 

For airport buildings, fences et c., it has the huge advantage of keeping all the objects in the same project so they show up when you open the .ad4 but it allows you the choice of either compiling afd & objects together or separately. Be aware though that all library objects added to an airport will be set at the airport elevation. That's great for buildings, static aircraft and fences (especially when the fence follows a flatten) but it's not any use if you want to add a sign or a poster to a wall. For independent scenery packages it's really not ideal.

 

It's probably possible to alter elevation on a per-object basis but I've never tried. Or even looked for a method.

 

Starting out, then...

 

Add objects & their textures to an existing library or declare a library as a new layer in the usual way...

 

 

In ADE, open your test airfield (nothing to stop you doing this at the airport you want to modify -- I have a test FHAW for making thumbnails):

 

 

In the tools dropdown menu, open Library Object Manager:

 

 

Click Add Folder:

 

 

Navigate to the scenery folder in your new layer:

 

 

ADE will find any new scenery object bgls and process them for you:

 

 

Click OK, click Save.

 

R-click where you want to put the object and choose Add Library Object. (The C-130 is not a new lawn ornament at Ascension Island -- I'm just making the thumbnail for now).

 

 

In the Add Library Object dialogue box, either leave "*All*" in the Library dropdown or select your new bgl. I couldn't remember the name of the new bgl but was pretty sure the object was called HTAI-something.

 

Select the scenery object & click Add:

 

 

That adds the object to the afd and makes a detailed footprint

 

 

Save & compile as usual. You may as well keep ADE open because you'll be there again soon.

 

In FS9, go to your test airport & get a good view of the new object. Stay there:

 

 

Back in ADE, open the Library Object Manager again and scroll to the new object. Click Capture New Thumbnail:

 

 

Your screen should now turn murky with FS9's window on top, and allow you to marquee-select the part of the screen you want to use as the thumbnail:

 

 

When your marquee is in the right place, hit Enter and you will return to the Library Object Manager, with a little snapshot thumbnail now in place. Click Save.

 

 

Now when you open ADE's object manager, the new object will have that thumbnail.

 

 

 

It's not necessary to make one if you know what the object is and they all have detailed footprints in ADE, which makes them easier to identify but so many objects have the same footprint (hangars, trees, repaints of static aircraft et c.) that the thumbnail is a good idea. When you've done a couple, it's second nature.

 

If you're already conversant with ADE then you know about selecting, moving & rotating objects. Also, the thumbnail will show up when you hover over the object.

 

 

[JSMR]

Awesome thank you. I’ll give it a whirl when I have time.

[leuen]

And what about placing objects somewhere in the nature?

[defaid]

9 hours ago, leuen said:

And what about placing objects somewhere in the nature?

 

Obviously something else: I'm not here to compete with you.

 

I use both EZ Scenery and Rwy12, and I prefer EZ Scenery though it too has its quirks in Win 10. But JSMR did refer to placing objects at airports, for which ADE works best.

 

Instant Scenery sounds like it fits the bill very well but I'm tight fisted and don't do much scenery modding outside of airports so I personally probably won't spend money on it.

 

D

[leuen]

It's JSMR who brought up IS. So I just pointed out what it could do else. While spending 29,.95 USD he eventually should know it. Maybe he likes ships or cars too ....

 

 

Bernard

[PhrogPhlyer]

ADE works quite well for placing multiple items.

Here are some of the over 1200 aircraft at Davis-Montham's boneyard in FSX (trying to place 2000+).

The scenery version I uploaded to FlightSim FSX Scenery had only 900.

 

 

 

[Rupert]

That shot certainly looks close to what I remember flying over RW!  And I consider it a depressing sight.

[JSMR]

Question, 

I've been able to add more objects to ADE, mostly from the Static Objects Library. I can easily add the bgl files, however no thumbnails will be there. I can add them manually. Is there another way to add them for a complete folder? Like Lars_ExtraObjects as an example. 

The only way I could do it is to add them manually by inserting them into the sim then seeing what object it was. Kinda slow. 

[defaid]

Kinda slow hardly begins to describe it but at least you only have to do it once. I generally lay out all the contents of a library bgl along a runway and brace myself for some tedium. I guess this is the main advantage of something like Instant Scenery.

 

For ADE, as long as you have an image, how you obtained it is irrelevant. It has to be a .jpg and the filename has to be the scenery object's GUID in curly brackets, for example {AD15BC2A426AE8CD834A5E853F780D7D}.jpg. Starting in Airport Design Editor.exe's root directory, the correctly named jpg goes into:

 

[ADE.exe's location]/FS9/Thumbs

 

The problem with manually adding thumbnails is twofold. First, most devs didn't bother including thumbnails with their uploads. Second, most devs also didn't bother giving a well organised document cross referencing the GUIDs with the particular object. There's often a cross ref text file matching names to GUIDs but without placing the object and looking at it, there's no way of telling what the name & GUID actually refer to.

 

I guess the GUID is somehow embedded in the object (xml?) as ADE has no problem in determining it.

 

D

[JSMR]

ok, thought that might be the case. Tedious indeed. I did also do some manually as you described which worked well. And there is a big ADE thumbnail file I found that helped add more. 

Still, SOOOOO much easier than Rwy12 which is borderline tortureous. I'll take tedious anyday, lol.