MAKING SCENERY FOR COUNTRY AIRSTRIPS Version 1.

0 July 2008 Page 1

OZxDeveloperGuideSeries

MAKINGSCENERYFORCOUNTRYAIRSTRIPS
ByProf.JohnHockings
Version1.0July2008

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MAKING SCENERY FOR COUNTRY AIRSTRIPS Version 1.0 July 2008 Page 2

WELCOMETOTHEOZxFSXDEVELOPERGUIDES!

This document is the first in the OZx series of FSX developer guides which will be published and made
available to anyone embarking on scenery or airport design for FSX. Over the coming months we will be
releasingdetailedguidesonphotorealdevelopment,usingtheFSXSP2SDKtoolssuchasannotator.exe,and
manyotherusefulguideswhichwillmakeyourhobbyeasierandmorefun!
Pleasemakeyourselfacuppa,sitbackandreadthroughthisgreatguideandthengothroughitonyourPC
andyoushouldbeonyourwaytoyourfirstFSXfreewareairportinnotime!

ABOUTTHEAUTHOR
Professor John Hockings is the Design Director for Architectus Brisbane (http://www.architectus.com.au)
andbringstoOZxanincrediblepedigreeofarchitecturaldesignskillsandknowledge.WhatsetsJohnapart
in FS scenery design is not his technical skill but his design flair. He knows just how to select, scale, orient
andplacetrees,buildingsandotherobjectstomakethemappeartotallynaturalandrealnestledperfectly
intothelandscape.ProfhastakentoFSscenerydesignwithgreatenthusiasm,drawingmuchfromMark
Leesknowledgeandisnowalsocreatingsmallcountryairfieldsatanalarmingrate.



MAKING SCENERY FOR COUNTRY AIRSTRIPS Version 1.0 July 2008 Page 3
MAKINGSCENERYFORCOUNTRYAIRSTRIPS

This tutorial attempts to give a step by step guide making simple scenery for FSX using a few readily
available programmes. I hope it will be enough to get people started making scenery, and I hope it is as
explanatoryaspossible.Ihavetriedtousenexttonocomputerjargon,andtogivesimpleexplanationsas
towhatistheaimofeachstepalong theway,andtogiveprecisedescriptionsofthosesteps.Ioftenfind
when reading other tutorials that some steps are left out, assuming that they are either obvious or would
alreadybeknown.Mytutorialisforcomputerdummies,wholiketheideaofmakingengagingsceneryina
creativeway.EverythingIknowhascomefromlessonsfromMarkLee.Isaythisnottoblamehimformy
misinterpretations, but simply to point out that I had no clue before I spent a few hours handson in his
studio,andlateraskedhimamillionquestionsonline.ThanksMark.
WHATAREWETRYINGTODO?
AsonefliesaroundinFTX/FSX,oneisnotflyingoveractualaerialimageryofAustralia,butratheracollage
of flat scenery which is based on a few real aerial images of similar kinds of countryside laid over a three
dimensionaltopography.ThiscollageapproximatesverywelltheexperienceofflyingoverAustralia,bethat
overcities,farmland,orwilderness.(Note:IuseORBXscenery,butthetutorialisrelevanttoanylocationin
FSX, with or without scenery addons). FTX also adds roads in their correct location, and changes scenery
patternsinaprettygoodapproximationofrealpatterns.Thatis,youwillseeimageryoftownswherethere
aretownsinreallife,riverswherethereareriversanddesertwherethereisdesert.Whatismore,FSXand
other addons have already provided appropriate contours so the earth/terrain is shaped in a good
approximationofreality.Asweareinaflightsimulator,andhencemainlyflyingfromairporttoairport,FSX
already has a number of airports built in, with some generic building scenery included. There are many
airports in the basic FSX package. However, many rural strips are missing completely, and much of the
sceneryandlandscapeoftheFSXairportsisgenericratherthanmodelledonreality.
We are trying to insert a flat aerial image of a real airstrip as it is seen in Google Earth into the FSX/FTX
scenery, and then to add three dimensional objects onto that image base such as hangars, strip markers,
windsocks,cars,people,andsoonuntilwegetanimmersiveexperienceofbeingatthestrip.Butnotso
muchitleadstoaperformancehit!
GETTINGREADYTOBEGIN
Step1istoloadupsomeprogrammestouse,andtoconfiguresomefoldersforeasyaccess.
You should have Microsoft Flight Simulator X SDK (Software Development Kit) with your deluxe version of
Flight Simulator X. Find it in Program Files/Microsoft Games/Flight Simulator X SDK. Make sure you
installeditaswellasFSXwhenyoufirstinstalledyoursim.Otherwise,doitnow.
YouwillalsouseFSXGet,afreewareprogrammewhichcanbedownloadedfromFSXGet.
YouwillalsoneedSbuilderX,alsofreelyavailableonthenet.SBuilderX
Formakingtheobjectscenery,IuseInstantScenery,whichyouneedtopurchasefromFlight1.Ifyourenot
sure about this, try building a photoreal base first , and if you like doing it, then you can get the scenery



MAKING SCENERY FOR COUNTRY AIRSTRIPS Version 1.0 July 2008 Page 4
softwarefromFlight1.comPerhapsthereareotherfreewaysofmakingsceneryobjects,butthisistheone
Iuse,andItoldyouIwasgoingtokeepthissimple!
You also need a Photoshop style product. I use Photoshop CS2 but I am told you can equally use the
cheaperandhighqualityPaintshopPro,oroldercheaperversionsofPhotoshop.Itisnotrecommendedto
usethedefaultMSPaint.
Before you begin using SBuilderX, you will need to set up your Work folder within the SBuilderX program
folders.(SeeFigure1)
The Work folder is located within the Tools folder of your SBuilderX program folders. Copy 'resample.exe'
fromtheToolsfolderandplaceitintotheWorkfolder.AddaswellTmfViewer,whichyoucancopyacross
from Program Files/Microsoft Games/Flight Simulator X SDK/SDK/Environment Kit/Terrain
SDK/TmfViewer.exe. Note: I use Vista, and the illustrations show Vista style folders, and the Vista folder
structure. Just use your normal procedures for copying and pasting files around between folders, and
generallythefolderstructuresIamusingmatchthoseinXP.Theillustrationsheresimplyshowthefilesin
theirrequiredfolderlocations.

Figure1:WorkfolderwithintheToolsfolderoftheSBuilderXfolder



MAKING SCENERY FOR COUNTRY AIRSTRIPS Version 1.0 July 2008 Page 5
LETSGETSTARTED
Step one is to get Google Earth and FSX linked using FSXGet. This allows you to locate your plane on the
groundinthecentreoftheairstripasseenonGoogleEarth,andsimultaneouslyseeitlocatedinFSX.
1.OpenFSXGet
2.RightclickFSXGeticoninstartbar>openFSX
3.ChangeFSXfromafullscreenviewtoawindowedview
4.ChooseatopdownviewinFSX
5.InFSX,gotothenearestairporttoyournewstrip
6.RightclickFSXGeticoninstartbar>openGoogleEarth
7.InFSX,slewyouraircrafttothecentreofthenewstripinGoogleEarththatyouwanttomodel.
8.CheckthatGoogleEarthandFSXareorientedidentically(north)(SeeFigure2)

Figure2:AircraftlocatedincentreofstripinGoogleEarth,andshowinginFSX,sidebysideonyourscreen
SteptwoistouseSBuilderXandbeginthenewsceneryproject.Itbasicallyallowsyoutoconstructthenew
photorealtextureforthenewstripinaformatwhichcanbedisplayedbyFSX.
1.OpenSBuilderXandnameanewproject,andcheckthatfileswillbesavedinyourWorkfolderlocation.It
isbesttonameyournewprojectwithyourinitials,follwedbytheairstripnameorcode,eg.Iwouldnameit
ejh_Eidsvold_Station
2.MaximisetheSBuilderXwindow,clickzoom(magnifyingglass)andkeepclickingtogetazoominthe15
17range.(SeeFigure3)



MAKING SCENERY FOR COUNTRY AIRSTRIPS Version 1.0 July 2008 Page 6

Figure3:Step2,settingthezoomusingthezoomtool
3.>View>showaircraft(SeeFigure4)

Figure4:Step3,>showaircraft.Aredcrosshairappears.

MAKING SCENERY FOR COUNTRY AIRSTRIPS Version 1.0 July 2008 Page 7
4.>View>showbackground(setGoogleEarthinSBXprefsasdefaultfortiles)(SeeFigure5)

Figure5:>showbackground
5.File>addmapfrombackground
6.click/dragtoselectmoreexactlyareayouwillneedforyourphotorealbackground.(SeeFigure6)

Figure6:trimmingthebackground
7. File >save project. This creates two files in the Work folder, a .bmp and a .txt file The .bmp file is the
basis of the photoreal base for the airstrip. You will notice that you also have a .SBP file, which is the
SbuilderXfileyouwillreturntolater.Youwon'tusethetextfilenow,butkeepitiflateryoumightwantto
make an ADE (Airport Design Editor) template for creating an AFCAD (to make runways, taxiways, aprons
andparkingbays).Oritmaybeusedforcreatingyourdefaultinffile.InmyWorkfolderyoucanseeIknow
haveejh_Eidsvold_Station.SBP,xxxxxxxxxxx.BMPandxxxxxxxxxxx.TXT(SeeFigure7)



MAKING SCENERY FOR COUNTRY AIRSTRIPS Version 1.0 July 2008 Page 8

Figure7:Workfolderwithmy.BMP,.TXTand.SBPfiles

MAKINGSEASONALVARIATIONSANDBLENDMASK
There are a number of things which need to be done to this base image. Four seasonal colour variations
need to be made of it, to match the FSX seasons appropriate for your scenery location. A night variation
with lighting also needs to be made. Any water bodies (dams, ditches, lagoons, etc) also need a variation
made for them. Lastly, you will need to make a 'blend mask' which defines the edges of the photoreal
backgroundwhereitwilljoinwiththesurroundingFSXscenery.
1.Openthexxxxxxxxxxxx.bmpfileinPhotoshop,andreopenyourFSXwindow,andchangetheFSXseason
to summer. The following steps all aim to make the colouration of your background photoreal match the
colourationsoftheseasonalFSXimage.Byplacingthetwoimagessidebyside,youcangetaverygoodfeel
forthis.Basically,under>Image>Adjustments,varyLevels,ColourBalance,andHue/Saturationyoucan
achieveallthevariationstotheimagethatyouwill need tomake.Justbepatientandexperiment.There
areofcourseotheradjustmentsinPhotoshop,buttheseareallyouneedtouse.(SeeFigure8and9)

MAKING SCENERY FOR COUNTRY AIRSTRIPS Version 1.0 July 2008 Page 9

Figure8:Initial.bmpandFSXsummersidebyside

Figure9:colourationof.bmpadjustedtomatchcolourationoffallassetinFSX
2.Dosummerfirst,andsaveasxxxxxxxxxxxx_su.bmpintoyourWorkfolder



MAKING SCENERY FOR COUNTRY AIRSTRIPS Version 1.0 July 2008 Page 10
3. Repeat for spring, fall and winter. Save as xxxxxxxxxxxx_sp.bmp, xxxxxxxxxxxx _fa.bmp, and
xxxxxxxxxxxx_wi.bmpintoyourWorkfolder.Iprefertodotheminthisorderastheygraduallygetbrowner
anddullerinthisorder,atleastfortheGoldregion.Itdoesntmatterwhatorderyoudothemin,ofcourse.
4.Nowtherearefournew.bmpfilesintheworkfolder.Nextstepistomakethenightlightingfile.First,
open the xxxxxxxxxxxx _su.bmp. Save as xxxxxxxxxxxx_LM.bmp. Go to
>Image>Adjustments>Brightness/Contrast, drop the brightness back to somewhere between 80 to 100,
andthe contrastbackto about65to 70.Thendropsaturationbacktoapointwherethelightregionsin
theimagearejustvisible.
5. Then we add some lights in the locations you would expect them to be, around buildings, parking etc.
Choose offwhite from the colour swatch, Brush tool dimension 25 px, Mode: lighten, Opacity 75%, and
Flow 100%. Dot in the lights with the brush tool. Then to add the halo and spilled light, change colour to
pale yellow, Brush to 75 px, Opacity to 25% and add light effects around the original white light dots. I
sometimesaddthesameeffectstothestripitself,ifithasnightlighting.(SeeFigure10)
MattTomkinsAdvancedNightLightingTip:
TheresatrickierwayofdoingLMs.InPhotoShopyoumakeaduplicatelayerontheoriginalSUfile.Inthe
toplayer,dowhatsoutlinedabove.Inthebottomlayer,addyellowandredtogetanartificiallightingeffect
onthegroundimagery.Gobacktothetoplayer.Makeitabitmoretransparentsoyoucanseesomeofthe
contentinthebottomlayer.Overtherelevantarea(thatneedsillumination,wherethehousesandstreets
are)ruboutthedarktoplayer.Makesuretheressomefeatureintheeraser.Makethetoplayeropaque
again and then merge the two layers. This way will give you ground details in the night map. Have a go
yourselfandcomparetheresults.

(Note:asyouoftenusethe_sufileasyourbasefileforothernewfiles,itisalwaysagoodideatodoa'save
as'xxxxxxxxxxxx_wi.bmp,_sp.bmp,_fa.bmp,_hw.bmp,_LM.bmp,_W.tifor_B.tifassoonasyouopenyour
_sufile.Thiswillensureyoudonotinadvertentlyoverwriteit,andloseit.)

MAKING SCENERY FOR COUNTRY AIRSTRIPS Version 1.0 July 2008 Page 11

Figure10:nightlighting
6.Lastlywewillmakeablendmaskandawatermask.Tomakethewatermask,openup_suagain,andthis
time,addanewlayer,andnameitW.Ifthereareanydamsorsmallwaterbodies,usethePolygonalLasso
tooltocapturethewaterarea,andfillusingthepaintbucketwithanappropriatewatercolour.FSX/FSXwill
add reflection effects to this. Show/Hide other layers and Save as xxxxxxxxxxxx_W.tif. Yes, these times
we are saving as TIFF files, not BMPs. Discarding 'other layer info' as you save will reduce the file size.
Again make sure you dont save the changes to your _su.bmp as you close it. If there is no water layer
requiredforyourscenery,removeallreferencestoitinthe.inf:Channel_LandWaterMask=7.0,thewhole
[Source7]sectionandreduceyournumberofsourcesfrom7to6.



MAKING SCENERY FOR COUNTRY AIRSTRIPS Version 1.0 July 2008 Page 12

Figure11:watermask
7. Now we will make the blend mask. The blend mask defines the area of photoreal imagery, or to put it
anotherway,itdefinestheboundarywherethephotorealimagerymeetsthedefaultorFSXscenery.The
arthereofcourseistomakethisboundaryunnoticeable.Youshouldnotbeabletotellwheretheboundary
is between your photoreal scenery and the surrounding scenery. Often it is best to blend along lines of
trees, because the trees you can add later will hide the line of blend. Sometimes though, you are in a
landscape of sharply edged agricultural fields with no trees in sight, and it is better to make a more crsip
edge in a geometric shape to blend well with the surrounding landscape. Other times you might have to
blendsmoothgrasswithsmoothgrass,andsoasoftundulatingblendedgewillbetterdisguisethejointline.
To make the blend mask, open _su.bmp again, make a new layer named B, and use the same Polygonal
Lasso tool, with an appropriate number of 'pixels of feather' (say 15 for sharp edge, 15 for soft edge) to
markouttheareawherethephotorealwillbestjoinwiththesurroundingFSXscenery.Thiswillgiveyoua
'selected' polygon. Now, go to Select>Inverse to select the area around the polygon (See Figure 12), and
with a pure black, use the Paintbucket to fill this area, Mode: normal, Opacity: 100%, and Tolerance: 255.
Again, Show/Hide all other layers, and Save as xxxxxxxxxxxx_B.tif, again discarding 'other layer info' to
reducefilesize.(SeeFigure13)



MAKING SCENERY FOR COUNTRY AIRSTRIPS Version 1.0 July 2008 Page 13

Figure12:Drawthepolygon,andinverttheselection

Figure13:Completedblendmask



MAKING SCENERY FOR COUNTRY AIRSTRIPS Version 1.0 July 2008 Page 14
NOWWECANCOMPILETHEPHOTOREALBACKGROUND!
1. ReopentheSbuilderXejh_Eidsvold_Station.SBPfile,clickontheedgeoftheimagesothatafine
greenselectedlineappearsaroundit(SeeFigure14),andthenclickthegreenCompilearrow.
(SeeFigure15)

Figure14:selectimageinSBuilderX



MAKING SCENERY FOR COUNTRY AIRSTRIPS Version 1.0 July 2008 Page 15

Figure13:Compilethephotorealbackground.
2.ThiscreatestwofilesintheWorkfolder,a.bglfileandaPhoto01.inffile.Discardthe.bglfile,andclose
FSXGet,FSX,andGoogleEarth.
3. Open the photo.inf file and the appropriate SBX .inf file. We will now edit the SBX.inf file so that it
containsthespecificinformationforthispieceofphotorealscenery.IntheSBX.inffile,replaceallinstances
of 'SBXBMP' with xxxxxxxxx. Then replace _yM, _xM, _xD, and _yD in the SBX.inf file with the appropriate
codesfromthephoto.inffile.eg
ulyMap=25.3663640738948
ulxMap=151.075744628906
xDim=1.07288360595426E05
yDim=9.6939384375605E06

ifyoucan'tgetanappropriate.inffileIwillincludeoneattheendofthetutorial.Copyandpasteitintoa
.txtfilebeforeusingit.

4.Lastly,atthebottomoftheSBX.inffile,amendforyourappropriateairfieldfilename,andchange
compressionfrom85to100ifyouwanttokeepthemaximumdetail,butendupwithamuchlargerfile.
Lowerlevelsofcompressionproduceblurryimages.
[Destination]
DestDir="."
DestBaseFileName="ejh_FIELD_PR"
DestFileType=BGL
LOD=Auto
UseSourceDimensions=1
CompressionQuality=85

MAKING SCENERY FOR COUNTRY AIRSTRIPS Version 1.0 July 2008 Page 16
becomes

[Destination]
DestDir="."
DestBaseFileName="ejh_Eidsvold_Station_PR"
DestFileType=BGL
LOD=Auto
UseSourceDimensions=1
CompressionQuality=100

5.Saveasejh_Eidsvold_Station_PR.infintoyourWorkfolder.

Now,iflikemeyouhaveVista,makeafolderonyourdesktop,andcopyallthefilesfromyourworkfolder
overintothisfolder.Iusuallynameitejh_Eidsvold_StationWorkfolder.

6.Dragtheejh_Eidsvold_Station.infontothe'resample.exe'anditwillcompileanew
ejh_Eidsvold_Station_PR.bgl

7.PlacethefileintoyourFSXAAFreeware/Sceneryfolderandgoflyoverit!!!

Thenexttutorialwillcoverflatteningorslopingyourfield,ifnecessary,addingscenery,andaddingautogen.
Butfornow,practicethoseblendsandcolourations.
JOHNHOCKINGSJuly2008



MAKING SCENERY FOR COUNTRY AIRSTRIPS Version 1.0 July 2008 Page 17

Myfinalejh_Blue_Gold.inffile
[Source]
Type=MultiSource
NumberOfSources=7

[Source1]
Type=BMP
Layer=Imagery
SourceDir="."
SourceFile="SBXBMP_su.BMP"
Variation=December,January,February,March,April
Channel_BlendMask=6.0
Channel_LandWaterMask=7.0
NullValue=
SamplingMethod=Gaussian
ulyMap=_yM
ulxMap=_xM
xDim=_xD
yDim=_yD

[Source2]
Type=BMP
Layer=Imagery
SourceDir="."
SourceFile="SBXBMP_sp.BMP"
Variation=September,October,November
Channel_BlendMask=6.0
Channel_LandWaterMask=7.0
NullValue=
SamplingMethod=Gaussian
ulyMap=_yM
ulxMap=_xM
xDim=_xD
yDim=_yD

[Source3]
Type=BMP
Layer=Imagery
SourceDir="."
SourceFile="SBXBMP_fa.BMP"
Variation=May,June
Channel_BlendMask=6.0
Channel_LandWaterMask=7.0
NullValue=
SamplingMethod=Gaussian
ulyMap=_yM
ulxMap=_xM
xDim=_xD
yDim=_yD

[Source4]
Type=BMP
Layer=Imagery
SourceDir="."
SourceFile="SBXBMP_wi.BMP"
Variation=July,August
Channel_BlendMask=6.0
Channel_LandWaterMask=7.0
NullValue=
SamplingMethod=Gaussian
ulyMap=_yM
ulxMap=_xM
xDim=_xD
yDim=_yD

[Source5]
Type=BMP
Layer=Imagery
SourceDir="."
SourceFile="SBXBMP_LM.BMP"
Variation=Night
Channel_BlendMask=6.0
Channel_LandWaterMask=7.0
NullValue=
SamplingMethod=Gaussian
ulyMap=_yM
ulxMap=_xM
xDim=_xD
yDim=_yD

[Source6]
Type=TIFF
Layer=None
SourceDir="."
SourceFile="SBXBMP_B.TIF"
SamplingMethod=Gaussian
ulyMap=_yM
ulxMap=_xM
xDim=_xD
yDim=_yD

[Source7]
Type=TIFF
Layer=None
SourceDir="."
SourceFile="SBXBMP_W.TIF"
SamplingMethod=Gaussian
ulyMap=_yM
ulxMap=_xM
xDim=_xD
yDim=_yD

[Destination]
DestDir="."
DestBaseFileName="ejh_FIELD_PR"
DestFileType=BGL
LOD=Auto
UseSourceDimensions=1
CompressionQuality=85