PSX - Google Earth tracking

[ScudRunner]

Hello all!...

a question to those code cutters out there...

One of the utilities I have found really useful in my FSX setup is the FSXGet tracking utility (kudos Jurgen Treml) which allows me to see/review my 3D flight path progressively captured in Google Earth as I fly along. Some here may be familiar with it.

Anyone with knowledge of developing GE applications and the data interfaces from PSX have thoughts as to how involved developing an app of that kind for PSX would be???

best to all

Scud.

[CarlBB]

Hi
Appreciate it does not answer your requirement fully, but a utility I use takes an FSX flightplan and creates - I think a kml file - that you can display the static route in Google Earth.
At lunch now, but I can provide name if of interest.
Carl

[Hardy Heinlin]

Hi,

Martin E. has already written such a tool for PSX:



The screenshots show PSX and Martin's addon running on the same computer. PSX's desktop frame has been scaled down with the mouse to be in line with the GE window. It runs very smooth on my iMac. GE just doesn't bank and pitch yet.


Cheerio,

|-|ardy

[falconeye]

Very nice indeed..

[ScudRunner]

Great news!!

thanks for the replies folks.

Scud

[fft82]

Fantastic!

ps. you may want to turn on photorealistic atmosphere rendering on Google Earth, the Andes looks superb using it.

[John Golin]

... or just use XPlane or FSX / Prepar3d for the outside view...

[ScudRunner]

When typing my original query I had wondered whether we could use such a utility for adding some simplified  `out the window' realism to ground ops (such as following taxiways etc).

I would have been happy simply to have my flight path output to GE so I can see it in a plan view - for an effect like `Airshow'. This is what I use FSXGet for running on a separate machine to my FSX install.

Should have known a few people were way ahead on this already!!.

chrs
Scud

[ScudRunner]

Hello,

with the pending release of PSX, could someone (Martin??) advise if/when this Google Earth/PSX addon might be available for release??

cheers
Scud

[martin]

Hello All,

well, the fact of the matter is that I am actually still debating with myself if or if not to release the thing to the general (PSX) public at all; there are some snags and various limitations.

At the moment I am a bit short of time, but I'll explain in detail later, in another post here; and then let's see how it goes.

Cheers,
Martin

[ScudRunner]

Ok Martin, thanks for the update....

chrs,
Scud.

[martin]

Greetings,

as promised, some more comments about PSX_Earth (PSXE), the application to use Google Earth (GE) connected to PSX.

As also said already, I am still trying to arrive at a decision if to release at all or not.

The main point is that this is (at best) The Poor Man's Scenery Generator, which means it is not really a full scenery generator if you compare it to the available alternatives.
And I fear people will overlook this and be frustrated. If you see it as a kind of "glorified moving map", you may be OK, but if you expect the equivalent of VisualPSX/FSX or XView/X-Plane in that role, you'll be disappointed.

Here are some of the quirks and limitations in more detail:

¤ PSX-Earth requires a web browser and Internet connection, as it uses the Google Earth browser plug-in.
Note that this is not the stand-alone variant of GE (which does not require a browser), nor is it Google Maps (which does not require a special browser plug-in).

¤ Hardy has kindly called PSXE "smooth", and it is as smooth as it can get (or at least as I can get it). But as far as I could find out, it is not possible (with the approach I took) to increase the refresh rate of GE above ca. 1 Hz (once per second). There is some interpolation etc., but if you are used to e.g. FSX frame rates (well, the theoretical ones  :mrgreen:), you will probably still find it rather stuttery.

¤ PSXE uses just the yaw axis, no rolling, no pitch*. Again, think moving map rather than true cockpit view experience.
* although you can sort of fake the latter manually.
The metaphor for the application is actually not so much that of a true cockpit view but of a "belly camera" which you can swivel around its yaw and pitch axis, but not bank.

¤ no representation, 3D or otherwise, of your flight plan waypoints or flight paths, neither the planned nor the actually executed/passed ones.
I had this in the predecessor (PS1_Earth for PS1), but the whole logic changed for PSX_Earth, and adding this waypoint/flightplan/path feature again, while certainly desirable, will require a major extension of the program.

¤ Views from high altitudes (FL100 and higher, say) can be quite nice, but close to or on the ground, views will often leave something to be desired, as (naturally) the resolution of the satellite and aerial imagery is often not really up to it. (Hardy has included above some ground screenshots, too, so you can form your own impressions.)
That said, the GE images are generally very good nowadays, and at least on major airports, it is quite possible to taxi PSX along the proper taxiways (even better so where they have painted the taxiway signs on the ground!). And there seems to be an increasing number of 3D buildings in GE (often contributed by users), sometimes even including a few 3D aircraft (e.g. at EGLL London Heathrow).
 
There are also some plus points:
¤ free of charge (both the GE plugin and PSX-Earth)  
¤ bypasses the "photo scenery" vs. "landclass scenery" dilemma (FS9/FSX fans will know what I mean...)
¤ map/satellite imagery more or less always up to date (to the degree that Google update it all the time)
¤ 100% realistic imagery...
¤ ...and worldwide coverage!!  

To sum up, the thing is probably fit for the intended purpose, but if you ignore or misconceive that intended purpose, or substitute your own expectations, you won't be happy with PSX_Earth.

So, the big question is this:
There will certainly be (in fact, already is!   ) a big or possibly huge "market" for scenery generators to be used with PSX.
But is there a "market segment" for something like PSX_Earth at all, once we subtract the X-Plane and FSX users?

Actually, I wouldn't worry too much about that if it were just a matter of making the files available for download.
But before any release, there is more work to be done (probably quite a lot), such as:
 
¤ Code was developed over a year ago, all details safely forgotten, re-familiarization required.
¤ The GE API can be a moving target: PSX_Earth will have to keep up with all future changes they see fit to make.
¤ testing against the newest PSX beta;
¤ testing against the newest Java 1.7 runtime environment;
¤ possibly testing against other browsers (so far, only Firefox and Google Chrome have been tried).
¤ polishing/updating the documentation;
¤ above all: subsequent support??!!!!
(remember we are talking Java* and web technology** here! :-)
¤ and so on...
 
_______* platform-independent! "Code once, crash everywhere!"
_______** "A butterfly landing on an ENTER key in Lithuania may trigger
__________a shstorm on a server in Sydney!"
 
Well, let's see.
For starters, I'll follow with interest the further comments (if any) in this thread.   :mrgreen:

Cheers,
Martin

[ScudRunner]

Hi Martin,

thanks for your detailed update.

As I was the one who initially raised this topic, I would like to clarify what I was asking about.

I had no intention of using this as a scenery generator to fly the aircraft with - I would personally use FSX. What I was hoping for was something that would allow me to follow along my route as it progressed in a top-down view in GE or alternatively save the route I had just flown in PSX as a .kml so I could later display it as a path in GE.  I have noted in your post that the `draft' add-on does not do that kind of function (without yet more work on your part).

Like you mentioned the thing that appealed to me is the world-wide coverage of GE, the fact that it is updated semi regularly and I just find it fascinating to correlate where I have flown over in my sim with the detailed 'real world'.

Hope that clarifies what I was on about!

thanks and cheers
Scud.

[martin]

Hello Scud,

thanks for the comment.

Yes, I understand, and what you have in mind is currently not possible, alas.

But there is an idea here: It might be feasible to  use the PSX_Earth application's "skeleton" (i.e. drop all the "scenery viewing"/"belly cam" stuff), to see if it can be re-used in a separate dedicated "pure route/waypoint viewer" type of thing.

It would be an alternative to adding the route/waypoint display functions to the existing PSX_Earth. But I'd have to investigate carefully which one requires more work / involves more complications.

I'll think about it.

Cheers,
Martin

[ScudRunner]

Thanks for looking at it Martin.

It would be an ideal application (as far as I am concerned) if it could be done that way ref your workload.

thanks and best wishes
Scud.

[Avi]

Hi,

I'm saying release it. As you said, there are advantages and disadvantages to the software but let the user to decide if he/she can use it or not, if it is a good thing for him/her or not.

Don't be too worried there is no flight track or future waypoints in PSXE as there were in the previous version for PS1, PSX has it on a map (something PS1 didn't have).

Cheers,

[John Golin]

Call it a "Proof of Concept" - that takes any pressure off with expectations

[martin]

Good idea. Or "public Beta", that's is a nice CYA stratagem, too.  :mrgreen:

Cheers,
Martin "What? Me? PSX_Earth? What's PSX_Earth??" E.

[martin]

Update

PSX_Earth has now been released.

See announcement here.

Cheers,
Martin