TaxiDraw-0.1.0 is now available from:
http://www.nottingham.ac.uk/~eazdluf/TaxiDraw-0p1p0-w32bin.zip Windows binary [375K]
and
http://www.nottingham.ac.uk/~eazdluf/TaxiDraw-0p1p0-src.tar.gz Source [74K], requires wxWindows to compile (wxGTK-dev on Linux).
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Summary of changes from 0.0.8 to 0.1.0:
Added support for displaying a background image to guide taxiway position. Fixed the bug where accelerater keys (Ctrl+...) wouldn't work under GTK if the same key was used for a non-Ctrl shortcut. Added surface type to rwy properties dialog (display only - can't be edited currently). Added a lurid-colour option to make the taxiways and runways show up better against photographic backgrounds - off by default. Added an option to disable solid-shading and display the taxiway/runways as outline only - off by default. Probably more stuff I can't think of!
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A series of screenshots showing the background display in action are at:
http://www.nottingham.ac.uk/~eazdluf/TaxiDraw0.jpg http://www.nottingham.ac.uk/~eazdluf/TaxiDraw1.jpg http://www.nottingham.ac.uk/~eazdluf/TaxiDraw2.jpg http://www.nottingham.ac.uk/~eazdluf/TaxiDraw3.jpg http://www.nottingham.ac.uk/~eazdluf/TaxiDraw4.jpg
The first shows the current FG runways for DuPage (KDPA) overlaid on USGS 1m/pixel photography. The second shows some taxiways added. The third is a close up of the taxiways. The forth shows the outline shading option. The fifth shows that one of the FG runways extends beyond the runway in the photo. Either the FG data for this runway is wrong, or it's been extended since the photo was taken. Can anyone who knows KDPA tell me which is currently correct?
How to use the Background Image function. ___________________________________
First you need an image, obviously! Public domain images from the USGS at 1m/pixel are available for the entire USA from terraserver-usa.com as far as I can see. Note the '-usa' in the url - the similarly named terraserver.com has nothing better than 8m/pixel for free. For other countries, the only ortho images available are likely to be non-redistributable. I am not a copyright lawyer (in fact I'm not a lawyer full stop :-)), and have absolutely no idea whereabouts using a copyrighted, non-redistributable image to guide creation of an entirely different and separate redistributable image falls between legitimate use of reference material to create an original work and non-legitimate creation of a derivative work from copyrighted material. Obviously each user will have to make their own call on this, but it might be considered prudent to avoid displaying screenshots of taxiways overlaid over copyrighted images.
At the moment, the calibration function only calibrates position from one point and requires manual entry of the scale, so you need an image in one of the supported projections, and need to know the scale in meters per pixel. Currently supported projections are UTM (hardwired to NAD83) which is what the USGS photography is in, and OSGB36 (UK grid) which is what most (all?) UK ortho-photography is likely to be in. Some available photography is therefore currently unusable, such as the Massachusetts GIS photography, which is in the Mass State Plane coordinate system. I plan to add the ability to calibrate rotation and scale from two points in the future, to allow any ortho-photography to be used.
So... load an image using the load image function. Only jpegs are currently supported. Load an airport. Set the projection as appropriate. Click 'calibrate image' from the 'Background' menu. You will be prompted for the scale in meters/pixel. Then you will be prompted to click one point on the FlightGear airport, followed by the corresponding point on the background. Before the first calibration the image can't be moved or scaled, so you probably can't get the same point, but calibration can be performed as many times as desired, and the image can be scaled and panned on subsequent calibrations. The scale prompt is not-rerun, so if you get it wrong you need to reload the image, which resets the state to uncalibrated. When happy, the calibration can be saved, and then reloaded on a subsequent session.
Acknowledgements ________________
The UTM implementation came from Fred Bouvier, who says he got it from Norman Vine, and was apparently written by one Fred M. Erickson, so thanks to all of those!
Disclaimer ________
There will be bugs!!! I know about the one where the grid can spew random lines across the screen when the right hand line slants of the edge of the screen, which it can do now the extra projections have been added - as a temporary workaround this can be eliminated by resizing the window. I distinctly remember when I wrote it thinking 'this will break if the line ever slants off the edge of the screen' but I can't now remember why! Doh! Now I know why my wife bought me Homer Simpson socks last Christmas!
Have fun!
Cheers - Dave
Great work, really. Can't wait to try it and draw some taxiways:)!
- Matevz
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