id: 4.2-exporting-imagery title: 4.2 Exporting Imagery meta: How to use satellite imagery within the Scenery Editor of Infinite Flight. order: 2 #
4.2 Exporting Imagery #
4.2.1 #
Step 1
: After downloading SASPlanet, open the program
Step 2
: Navigate to the area that you want to obtain satellite imagery for by using the zoom in/out function and left click of your mouse
Step 3
: Select “Maps” and then the map that you would like to use
Tip
: It is important to pick the best/most recent source(s) possible. It can be helpful to compare the image with recent charts so you know what satellite image is more recent (if the layout differs between sources). If you know the airport well or know an area that is under construction you can also look for sources that show this detail to help with selection
Step 4
: Select the “Polygonal Selection” within the “Selection Manager” button (this is the second icon from the left represented by a section of map surrounded by a series of blue lines). You can also do this by going to “Operations > Selection Manager > Polygonal Selection”
Step 5
: You can use the zoom in/out function and right clicks on your mouse to navigate around the screen. Every left click will place a new node (a popup would have appeared on the map when the selection manager was selected, this allows you to delete a previous node if required)
Step 6
: Place nodes around the section of map that you want to export. The best way is to follow the airport boundary but with an additional margin added to this (diagonal lines will cause a zig-zag edge due to the tiles so working too close too the boundary will cause areas within the airport boundary to not be included in the image)
Step 7
: Once you have finished placing all nodes, click the green tick from the popup
Step 8
: The “Selection Manager” popup will appear, select the zoom level or levels (see 4.1.3 and 4.1.4 above)
Step 9
: Click start from the selection manager popup, another popup will then appear that will show the progress of the download
Step 10
: When this is completed it will say “The task is completed!”, click “Quit”
Step 11
: Go to “Operations > Selection Manager > Last Selection”. The Selection Manager popup will appear again, select the “Stitch” tab at the top
Step 12
: The following inputs must{.red} be made before clicking “Start”:
Window | Input |
---|---|
Output Format | JPEG* |
Save To | Select sensible location |
Map | Same source as source used to download imagery |
Zoom | Same zoom as used to download imagery |
Projection | “Geographic (Latitude/Longitude) / WGS84 / EPSG: 4326” is recommended |
Quality | Select 100% - if the file needs to be smaller, consider using a lower zoom level such as z20 instead of z21 |
Create Georeferencing file | Tick “.kml” |
Split Image | Splitting the image makes the file more manageable when importing it into Infinite Flight and improves performance (see 4.2.2 below) |
*There is no difference in quality between JPEG and PNG however JPEG uses compression, thus saving file size and improving performance
Step 13
: Once it is completed, navigate to the folder and delete any greyed out images as these take up space and are not required
Step 14
: Select all remaining files, right click and select the option to compress into a “.zip”
Tip
: You need to keep one image set to under 400mb, you may have to split further if this is the case but it is rare. If z20 is used then this should never happen
Step 15
: The .zip folder will appear within the folder you have sent it to, you can then send this to you device using email or a cloud service such as Google Drive
Split Image #
4.2.2 #
When looking at the “Stitch” tab of the “Selection Manager” popup, there are tiles that the satellite imagery are within. By splitting the image, it makes the file more manageable when importing it into Infinite Flight and improves performance. To do this, follow the below steps:
Step 1
: Look at the number of tiles displayed within the “Stitch” tab by “Number of Tiles”
Step 2
: Take the first number and divide this by 100, then multiply it by 15. Round this number up, to the nearest whole number and select this under “Split Image” next to the “Horizontally” window
Step 3
: Apply the same method to the second number (i.e. after the x) but select this next to the “Vertically” window
Example:
-
Number of tiles shown is 60 x 66
-
60 / 100 x 15 = 9
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66 / 100 x 15 = 9.9 (10 when rounded up)
-
9 is inputted into the “Horizontally” window, and 10 into the “Vertically” window