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Minor update Forest 1.03 is now available for download. =========== Version 1.03 (Build 133) ============ New Features Project cleanup functions added Usability Enhancements Editor now only asks if you want Surveyor to apply recently saved edits if edits have actually been saved during the session.

Minor update Forest 1.02 is now available for download. The Forest documentation has been updated to cover the new features and layout introduced since version 1.0. Please download the newest documentation available with the Forest setup files.

Forest 1.01 (build 130) is now available for download. Release Notes: ================================================== Version 1.01 beta (Build 120) ================================================== New Features Added project archival capability (Share > Archive Project) to make it easier to share projects or store them for later use. New project now creates an "Info" directory. This directory is a place to store useful information about a project. Anything in the directory can be included in project Archives. A Template ReadMe file is placed into the Info directory. Loading a Forest definition file will now automatically create the "info" project subfolder if none exists. This will update older projects when they are loaded into Forest 1.01+. Added a direct menu link (Share > Visit Official Forest Forums) to the FSDeveloper.com Forest online support forums. GUI Updates Corrected display of Surveyor and Forester labels so they always show whenever a project is loaded. Added dedicated "Review Survey" button to main GUI window removing the need for the "Survey Image" right click shortcut available in earlier versions. Relabeled all "View / Edit Survey Mask" UI elements to "Review Survey" Added arrow graphics to main GUI window. New Survey Source dialog more clearly describes the available surveying options. Improved dialog text for many notification windows. Usability Enhancements Modified the Surveyor "Check neighboring pixels" algorithm resulting in much faster processing while retaining similar results. Review survey functions are now enabled/disabled on project load based on presence required project files. Main program window now moves to front when Apply Edits (resurvey) is selected from the Editor > Edit menu. Entering color pick mode in the Editor now automatically toggles display of the Color Range tab. If an image file is present, blank mask files are now created (if not already present) anytime a definition file is loaded. Modifed "Perform Survey" function to test if both mask files are present (_mask.bmp and _wmask.bmp) before displaying Confirm Survey Source dialog. Program now enables appropriate menu items when a project is loaded even if some project elements are missing. Added support for jpeg images with ".jpeg" extension in addition to existing ".jpg" support. Stability / Error checking Improvements Added checks for a "." character in the project name which causes problems for the BGL compiler. Added check for "," in folder path which causes issues with explorer operations. Added check for a valid image file in the project folder before allowing the Editor to open. ================================================== Version 1.01 (Build 130) ================================================== New Features Smart Filter is now usable in the graphical editor. Combined with "Obey" restrictions this will enable you to produce results identical to the auto survey function. GUI Updates Added smart painting filter button/indicator to the Editor tool panel. Added image area statistics to Surveyor logging. Added Smart Filter status and sensitivity settings to Surveyor logging. "Check Neighboring Pixels" function has been relabeled "Smart Filter". Rearranged Editor Options tab functions to accommodate new Smart painting filter functionality. Usability Enhancements Upon closing the Editor you will now be asked if you would like Surveyor to apply your edits (if edits have occurred). Bug Fixes Corrected bug which caused projects to load with functions disabled if Forest is launched from an associated definition file. Corrected several bugs with auto definition file (.fdefauto) loading. Known Issues Editor performance degradation when zoomed. Performance improves as Editor window size is reduced. Extremely large images may exhibit refresh issues when zoomed to maximum. Performance improves if zoom is reduced. Some functions are disabled while the Editor is in color selection mode including: - Editor close button (X) is disabled while Color Selection mode is active if there are unsaved edits. - File and Edit menus are disabled while Color Selection mode is active. - Main program window does not confirm exit if close button (X) is clicked while any Editor window is in color selection mode Forester (Plant Trees) progress bar is not accurate when Tree Density is not set to 100% Forester may on occasion create a blank XML/BGL (file with no coordinates in the filename). It is safe to delete this BGL file as it contains zero scenery objects.

Forest 1.01 beta is now available for download. While this release carries a "beta" label it should be highly reliable and relatively bug free and is recommended for general use. Updated documentation should be available within the coming weeks. Build Notes Version 1.01 beta (Build 120) New Features Added project archival capability (Share > Archive Project) to make it easier to share projects or store them for later use. New project now creates an "Info" directory. This directory is a place to store useful information about a project. Anything in the directory can be included in project Archives. A Template ReadMe file is placed into the Info directory. Loading a Forest definition file will now automatically create the "info" project subfolder if none exists. This will update older projects when they are loaded into Forest 1.01+. Added a direct menu link (Share > Visit Official Forest Forums) to the FSDeveloper.com Forest online support forums. GUI Updates Corrected display of Surveyor and Forester labels so they always show whenever a project is loaded. Added dedicated editor button to main GUI window removing th eneed for the Survey Image right click shortcut. Relabeled all "View / Edit Survey Mask" UI elements to "Review Survey" Added arrow grapics to main GUI window. New Survey Source dialog more clearly describes the available options. Improved dialog text for many notification windows. Usability Enhancements Modified the Surveyor "Check neighboring pixels" algorithm resulting in much faster processing while retaining similar results. Review survey functions are now enabled/disabled on project load based on presence required project files. Main program window now moves to front when Apply Edits (resurvey) is selected from the Editor > Edit menu. Entering color pick mode in the editor now automatically toggles display of the Color Range tab. If an image file is present, blank mask files are now created (if not already present) any time a definition file is loaded. Modifed "Perform Survey" function to test if both mask files are present (_mask.bmp and _wmask.bmp) before displaying Confirm Survey Source dialog. Program now enables appropriate menu items when a project is loaded even if some project elements are missing. Added support for jpeg images with ".jpeg" extension in addition to existing ".jpg" support. Stability / Error checking Improvements Added checks for a "." character in the project name which causes problems for the BGL compiler. Added check for "," in folder path which causes issues with explorer operations. Added check for valid image file before allowing the editor to open. Known Issues Editor performance degradation when zoomed. Performance improves as editor window size is reduced. Extremely large images may exhibit refresh issues when zoomed to maximum. Performance improves if zoom is reduced. Some functions are disabled while Editor is in color selection mode including: - Editor close button (X) is disabled while Color Selection mode is active - File and Edit menus are disabled while Color Selection mode is active - Main program window does not confirm exit if close button (X) is clicked while any editor window is in color selection mode Forester (Plant Trees) progress bar is not accurate when Tree Density is not set to 100%

Forest is a scenery designer's tool that places trees in BGL files. This is very different from the product you reference which is using the autogen system. Autogen trees are excluded from most photo scenery. If you want autogen with photo scenery you would need to use a tool like scenProc to tell the sim where to place the autogen trees. Finally since photo scenery is based on static satellite imagery placing seasonal trees atop would produce very unnatural results (e.g. winter trees on top of a summer background image).

The Forest draft documentation has been updated with additional information on the Surveyor and Forester modules. http://www.fsdeveloper.com/forum/threads/download-forest-tree-placement-tool.434494

Watch video featuring Forest vegetation at 1S0 Pierce County Thun Field (KPLU). This sample project is available at FSDeveloper.com.

If you are focused on creating large scenery areas (bigger than 100 sq km) I would say Arno's scenProc is probably a better fit for your workflow. Forest places trees as bgl files - the focus here being on enhancing the initial and final phases of flight quickly and easily. I have produced over 20 airports in my home region (Western Washington) using the tool and I really enjoy the added immersion when taking off and landing. Once I am enroute (at altitude) I prefer my photo scenery without autogen. You could always just use both! Happy simming

Photo scenery fans - I have just released a free little utility to help you bring those boring, flat photo scenery airports to life. Introducing Forest - FSX and P3D Tree Placement Tool. A free utility which makes it easy to generate trees in that all important 10km radius around an airport. See more detailed thread here: http://forum.avsim.net/topic/471395-forest-new-tool-for-enhancing-barren-photo-scenery-airports

Photo scenery fans - I have just released a free little utility to help you bring those boring, flat photo scenery airports to life. Introducing Forest - FSX and P3D Tree Placement Tool. A free utility which makes it easy to generate trees in that all important 10km radius around an airport. The tool lets you place trees in their proper real-world locations with ease and precision using a graphical editor. You do not need to be a scenery design expert to get great results within the first hour. Once you become adept you'll easily be able to generate vegetation for airports in 30 minutes or less. An automatic detection mode will analyze any satellite image and generate vegetation to fill out your airports. Upload your completed scenery to share with others. There's no longer an excuse for barren, uninteresting approaches in forested regions. The screenshot below shows individual trees (white dots) placed around Olympia Regional Airport, Washington - a sample project available for download. The background imagery is a top down screen capture from P3D 2.5 with the excellent MegaSceneryEarth Ultra-Res City Seattle Terminal Control Area installed. Visit the support forums at FSDeveloper.com and get started improving your photo scenery simulation experience! Eric

I am happy to announce a new tool to add to your scenery design arsenal. Introducing Forest Tree Placement Tool, a graphical utility for quickly adding realistic vegetation around airports and points of interest. Excerpt from the user guide: Audience scenery designers looking to easily place vegetation around airports or points of interest. Forest is a great compliment to airport design utilities and features precise graphical editing. Forest also features automatic tree detection capability to make it easy for the novice to quickly add interesting approaches and departures to barren photo scenery airports. Why a utility just for trees? Good question. As a fan of flight simulation with photo scenery I love knowing what I’m looking at enroute is nearly an exact replica of the real world. The problem is without 3D objects in the sim takeoff, landing, and pattern work in the vicinity of an airport is quite boring. Photo scenery tends to look better the higher you fly. Synthetic scenery (autogen based or other commercial 3D scenery) tends to look good once you get close to the ground but can look fake and distracting from altitude particularly when poorly overlaid atop photo scenery. So I set out to create a tool to bridge the gap. I wanted a tool that was: fast and easy to use usable anywhere there is photo scenery available flexible and tunable enough to maintain good sim performance able to create 3D stuff to see during takeoff Features: Easy to use - very little typing once you have a few tree groups setup to your liking. Fast - Most projects are rendered in less than 60 seconds. Time from imagery acquisition to using the Forest enhanced scenery in sim can be as quick as 10 to 15 minutes... Fully customizable automatic tree detection mode Graphical editor that’s almost fun to use for precision tree placement Widely customizable for any system performance level Flexible tree group system allows creation of realistic forest variation Visit the support forum at FS Developer.com.

Excellent! That's encouraging news.

Overall I really like the immersion ActiveSky Next brings to Prepar3D (v 2.2 in my case) but one "feature" drives me absolutely crazy - ASN's insistence on adjusting global visibility when it senses you have entered a cloud. The effect is clearly illustrated (and criticized) at 9:24 (and again at 12:25) in Froogle's video here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YSylDlkcBCk. While he doesn't realize it this effect is from ASN (which you can clearly see running on his taskbar) and does not happen natively without ASN injecting weather into P3D. Froogle goes on to compliment Prepar3D's native handling of clouds and visibility (at 10:55) and this brings me to my point - this effect may be advantageous with FSX but it is quite jarring and unnecessary in Prepar3D actually detracting from otherwise excellent visuals. In the video's comments one person indicated this effect will be selectable (able to be disabled) in a future version of ASN. Is this correct? Also is there any way to disable the effect currently?

But does it improve coastlines/hydrology? Does it improve coastlines/reduce "bleed through" of the landclass beneath?

I love Megascenery Earth but find the water masking lacking in many regards (missing lakes, rivers, islands, inaccurate coastlines, etc.) which results in the underlying landclass scenery "showing through" in areas that should be rendered as FSX/P3D water. Would using a product like FTX Global Vector or Ultimate Terrain X BENEATH the Megascenery layers result in water bodies lining up more accurately? The anomoly is shown in the illustrations linked below. Example 1 Example 2 My thinking is since the underlying landclass/vector scenery is "showing through" the water areas of the photo scenery replacing the underlying scenery with more accurate coastlines/hydrology would reduce these artifacts?