FMS landscapes from the beginning

[michaellown]

Hi everybody, I am new to the forum and I would like some help.

I would like to make a landscape of the field where I fly but I don't know where to start, I don't want photo realistic ( not yet ) but I would like something that looks right. Can someone help?

Where can I get the images I need??

Any help would be appreciated,

Michael

[KEW]

Hi,

I made a landscape of my local flying field some years ago. I took a series of overlapping photos with a digital camera to form a panorama. It was quite a lot of work. It is not a photo-cube photo-realistic one but it worked out quite well. I still fly from it sometimes.

Once I know your depth of knowledge of FMS, I can help you to achieve what you want to do. Do you understand all of the programming parameters used to make a scene? If not, let me know because I have put together a manual explaining the functions of all the different commands along with some of their limitations.

Regards,

KEW

[michaellown]

Hi KEW, Thanks for the reply.

Consider me a complete novice, a manual would be very helpful. I found a tutorial but its not aimed at beginners (how do you convert to .BMP, what programs do you need to use to make a landscape )

I may need a " use this program to do this, then you do this by doing that " kind of help

Thanks for your help

Michael

[KEW]

Hi Michael,
I will send you a private message containing my e-mail. Once you contact me by e-mail, I can send you the manual. It is in Microsoft Word format.
The best way to start your own field is by making a new folder under "c:\Program Files\FMS\Landscape\". Call it My Field or some other meaningful name. This will keep all of the files you need in one place, and you will not mess up any of the existing scenes.
There are only two types of files you need to make a field:
Bitmaps (.bmp), which are the picture files you are using to make objects in the landscape.
A program file (.scn), which is used to arrange the objects in the right place.
If you are using picture files that are in other formats, e.g. .jpg, they need to be converted to .bmp. All you need to do is to load the .jpg in a graphic program such as Microsoft Paint, then "Save as" and select 256 color bitmap (*.bmp) into your working folder.
The scenery program file (.scn) can be opened and edited using Microsoft Notepad. You can save it the first time as a .txt file and then change the name of the file to a .scn.
More later when you have the manual and a million questions. If we use this forum for the questions and answers, other beginners may benefit by reading them.
Regards,
Keith

[phildc]

Keith,

If you are willing to give advice in this forum, you could consider making your "manual" public.

Phil.

[TreeHugger]

There is a rather detailled and comprehensive tutorial included with this scenery, but it is written in german. Maybe an online service like translate.google.com will help?

Regards

[michaellown]

Hi Keith,

My first question, How can I get ground images of the field I want to model, would Google Earth be any good? What " altitude " should I get the pic from?

michael

[KEW]

Hi Treehugger,

I downloaded the FMS Tutorial and translated it using Google Translate. It did a pretty good job and I was able to correct most of the mis-translations. It is a very thorough manual and I learned a couple of things from it but it would be rather heavy going for an absolute beginner.

Thanks,
KEW

[KEW]

Hi Phildc,

I would be happy to make my manual available but don't know how. Any suggestions?

Regards,

KEW

[KEW]

Hi Michael,

I am not familiar with all of the features of this program but you probably could use Google Earth to get the ground scenery. I don't know if it would also give you the contour information. If not, you need is a large scale contour map of the area you want to make into a scene if you want absolute accuracy.

My approach would be to stand in the middle of the area with a squared note pad and estimate the distance and elevation from your point of view of all of the major features in each direction, and draw them on the notepad using the squares for scale. This can then be translated freehand into a grey-scale bitmap image using a paint program. It only needs to be approximate to look authentic.

Regards,
Keith.

[michaellown]

Hi Keith,

my field is coming along slowly but surely, only one question so far, how do I change a .txt to a .scn?

[phildc]

Hi Phildc,

I would be happy to make my manual available but don't know how. Any suggestions?

Regards,

KEW

If you don't have a personal site or place to make the file available for others, do
a Google search on 'free file hosting' which will give a number of hits, e.g.
http://www.mediafire.com/
I have no experience with this particular site and cannot garantee the conditions, hosting duration, a.s.o.
The way to upload your file, and the adress to be used to retrieve the file will be explained on the site you select.
Just copy the adress on the forum, with any description/explanations needed.

In case you have a personal site, use an 'ftp' (file transfer program) software to upload the file.

Phil.

[TreeHugger]

[..]how do I change a .txt to a .scn?

Just replace the file extension, no conversion needed. (MyField.txt -> MyField.scn, that's all) The content must be a valid scenery file, of course.

Regards

[michaellown]

Thanks Treehugger. I figured it out seconds after I hit submit

I have made a test landscape using kews manual and some of his .bmp files but I keep getting:

ERROR: Floating point value expected at :

I have had this three times, what do I need to change at the specified line on the .scn file?

[KEW]

The error message is probably caused by a syntax error. Check for a comma in place of a decimal, or a mis-spelled command.
The way to identify the exact location of the error is to narrow down on it by "half-splitting". Place an "END" statement half way through the program. If you still get the message, the error is in the first half. Move the "END" to the middle of the half with the error and try again. Keep doing this and you will quickly isolate the faulty line of code. If you identify the faulty line but can not debug it, show it to us in a message, with a couple of other lines before and after, and we will help.

You are making progress. Hang in there!

KEW