World2Xplane Users?

[nigelmcelwee]

Hey guys, just curious if any x-plane’ers are using the world2xplane scenery for California here? I see the latest OSM data looks pretty detailed for the Los Angeles area and it looks like we could see quite a benefit of realistic placed buildings and objects.

Anyone using it?

[theluckyone17]

I saw the other thread regarding OpenStreetMap... I might just play with this next weekend, if I get the spare time.

[nigelmcelwee]

If we can get more people on board we can really create southern California and make it as lifelike as possible. Openstreetmap is quite addicting because any changes you make, you can see the next day when you download the new pbf file for that state. Its really cool to see the buildings you outline and define as well as the streets you add, parking lots, etc....taking off out of KHHR with World2xplane is amazing!!! taking off on runway 7 and crossing over the shopping plazas parallel with the interstate and factories behind the runway. Really cool stuff!!!

[Keith Smith]

Never tried it, can you explain a bit more about it?

[nigelmcelwee]

Never tried it, can you explain a bit more about it?

Sure Keith!! So how openstreeetmap.org works is like this……

You sign up for a free account. It only takes a few minutes. Once you are signed up when you are viewing the map there will be a button at the top called “edit” with a little arrow drop down. I find the easiest editor is called “potlatch” on the drop down. It will reopen the openstreetmap in edit mode. You will have a google maps view of the area you want to edit. You can zoom in or zoom out. If any road is labeled on there or building is highlighted purple, its already been added.

The editor is really cool and easy. Say you see a building on the map and it isn’t highlighted and you want to add it. You click your mouse on a corner of the building and it turns into a pen tool. You then click on the next corner and it adds a point to it. You connect the building by highlighting its end points until you connect the dots. Once that’s done you can select the whole building by clicking on the outline you just created. You can select what it is “building” and then the building type “hotel, office, etc..”” then you click save in the top left and it uploads to openstreetmap.

Roads are just as easy. You select the start and end point of a road. Choose its type, if its paved, two way, one way, etc…then save it. You can also edit existing peoples work if you know that building is a supermarket, you can click on it and change its type and then save.

The only thing is, openstreetmap is live so any changes you make will be for all the world to see so please make sure you change carefully. You might want to start just adding a building. And seeing what happens. Its really easy to use. If you can use photoshop or something like that, the tools are somewhat similar when editing. For xplane users on pilotedge, every little bit helps everyone on xplane because once they download the new pbf file where the openstreetmap data is located, it will have the new data.

All data gets uploaded daily. The most popular site is the geofabrik site which you can google. If you go there, you can select north America, then California. Then you download the new pbf file and run the world2xplane program to add the new pbf file with the new OSM data.

If you don’t know how to use the World2xplane exe, there is a great quick start guide on the world2xplane site with the link to the geofabrik site. I plan on spending a lot of time this weekend adding buildings and stuff to the xplane world in southern California.

[Dustin]

So how do you add a building if you don't have any knowledge of the local area?

[nigelmcelwee]

you can add the building just by drawing the points and creating the outline of it if you don't know what type of building it is you can just call it a generic building and it will make a generic building. I don't know the area at all as I live in Atlanta Georgia but you can look at aerial photographs and stuff of airports and pick out things that you recognized around the airport.

[NameCoin]

I guess what I don't understand is how this translates into scenery. Is there something we're supposed to install to X-Plane?

[nigelmcelwee]

I guess what I don't understand is how this translates into scenery. Is there something we're supposed to install to X-Plane?

yes, you need to have the world2xplane scenery generator. You can google it and go to the world2xplane website. Currently its in beta status but its beta version .06. Its very stable; at least on my system.

the program uses the most up to date OSM pbf file you download from the geofabrik site plus a world models folder thats included with the installer you need to put in your custom scenery folder to generate the buildings and what not.

[snglecoil]

Ok, I downloaded all stuff and gave it a shot for California and New Jersey since it looked like NJ had a lot more complete OSM data. I must be missing something. Is there a way to keep the regular autogen buildings intact where there are no buildings specifically mapped on OSM? I'm only getting buildings that have been individually placed in OSM.