Easily bring in Google Maps Photogrammetry Data into Flight Simulator 2020 with Google Earth Decoder

** MAKE SURE YOU HAVE THE MSFS 2020 SDK INSTALLED: WATCH HERE • [001] - Creating Your ... **
There's an amazing tool over on the /r/FS2020Creation sub-reddit called the Google Earth Decoder and it lets you simply select an area of a map and then it automatically pulls down the Google photogrammetry data, generates the model files in a flight simulator 2020 ready format.
All you need to do is drop them into a scenery project, build and you are then ready to fly over the custom Google photogrammetry scenery in Microsoft Flight Simulator 2020!
This tutorial shows how easy it is to use from start to finish.
The link for the tool is on this sub-reddit post:
* / google_earth_decoder_n...
The direct download link is (if this doesn't work then try the reddit link above):
* drive.google.com/file/d/18zdI...
If you need .Net 4.7.2 installed then you can also download this from:
* support.microsoft.com/en-gb/h...
Massive thanks to the hard work by the developer of this tool, it's a really great way to quickly get some Google photogrammetry scenery into the game!

[@underatedstar]

I almost feel sorry for Bing, it always has and likely always will be in Google's shadow. Even when a ground breaking game comes out creating a stunning re-creation of the entire world thanks to Bing, people use Google Maps to improve it lol.

[@splosh2070]

Its such a shame they used Bing for the maps, image the improvement if they went with google maps, I know Bing is owned by Microsoft so that's obviously why they used it

[@Conker1337]

why I should use crappy bing. bing sucks in every way. they should partner with google.

[@XMadAntzX]

Imagine if X Plane partnered with Google.

[@mcallisterwill]

@@Conker1337 people have been saying that since release but it was inevitable that they would use Bing, there's no way Google would sell their product to a competitor, not for a fair price at least and the result would probably be FS2020 being a subscription game.

[@mcallisterwill]

@@XMadAntzX They need to partner with Blackshark AI as well or else the world would be mostly flat and look very low resolution up close.

[@1tommymulligan]

Fantastic video after a few mistakes I eventually added the Scenery I wanted to MSFS. Thank you so much much easier than using Blender and RenderDoc

[@cowboylightning7245]

Ahhhh Cheers!! literally just finished my first project using blender and render docs. which all in all took close to probably 20-24 hours. Cant wait to give this a go, havent even watched full video yet. Hopefully can capture in high detail to as my scene i just did was close to 500MB. Bigger the better baby

[@skyemaster8802]

Google maps cities look better, whereas Bing maps is really good at landscapes

[@tananam9782]

@@jjnxyz4368 "Bing generally has better sat images..." Not at high latitudes. For about five minutes they were a bit ahead. Neither has seemed to bother with updating much of their image data above, oh, 62-64 degrees north latitude and up for several years now, especially in rural areas (most everything at that latitude is rural). Street views, even in major regional hubs, are also seriously out of date.

[@rayhughes]

I love your term "simple" - I lost my way after the first couple of minutes!! - however, I am really pleased you posted this video - and that someone far more capable and with a greater degree of time available, will tackle my city (Auckland) as Google photogrammetry is available for that and currently it looks rubbish with MS2020.!! Thanks again!!

[@MichaelRainabbaRichardson]

I will see about sharing a package for Auckland. Only visited once, but it was enough to start emigrating my family. Haven't made it yet thanks to some health issues and now covid-19 and DJT's narcissistic delusions though. Can't think of a better place to try this process with. What's the max size you want, where exactly do you want it focused, and if you have a preference, what LOD range?

[@rayhughes]

@@MichaelRainabbaRichardson wow..that would be brilliant if you can manage Auckland. I guess the city centre would be my preference..along with the harbour bridge. The boubdaries could be the motorways... If you get time and manage to post it..i am certain you will get some good take up of your work! Thanks even for the offer!!🙂🙂

[@glars37]

@@rayhughes Seen these? flightsim.to/file/574/microsoft-flight-simulator-2020-auckland-pack-1-0 and flightsim.to/file/522/auckland-airport-enhancement

[@mylordass8120]

@@glars37 Really good scenery, even has Sounds Air, Picton livery 😁

[@armhunter]

"and it really is that simple." - this made me laugh..

[@matt79hz]

As easy as shitt1ng the bed and kicking it out with your foot ! 🤣

[@Anthony-fd8mh]

1 minute in and I was like didn't he say this was going to be easy? And yes I know how to use a computer. lol

[@savagegaming4133]

Honestly I’m impressed this is such an easy to follow tutorial yes their may be a lot of steps involved but their easy to follow and if your playing Microsoft flight sim then you should already be somewhat familiar with installing packages and what makes it easier is that they already have the package installer for us as part of the game this is great thanks a lot

[@billbimson2408]

Don't know how many times I heard "and now all we need to do".

[@mro9466]

Yes it's easy, some people really need to be teleported back to 2006 when FSX came out

[@simonottewell7475]

Thank you for this great tutorial. Followed your steps and now I have my first imported Google town into MSFS!

[@AndrewDaniele87]

this tutorial laid out the steps so cleanly, really great job on this video!

[@dustin0133]

seems like i need to turn teraforming on and then push the MSFS data down a bit to show the google data. then the plane ends up spawning below the google data

[@skulimagnusson6375]

"..and now all we need to do.." :) Great video by the way! Thank you so much!

[@Henkerhaus]

I watched your 001 video and got many of my questions answered and issues resolved. Thank you, and thank you for all of your videos! I have read most of the comments for this video, searching for answers to many of my questions. I find the range of responses that you get quite interesting. Some people are polite and ask basic questions, but so many are rude, inconsiderate, and ungrateful. I understand that people become frustrated when things don't work as expected, but taking it out on you or blaming you, when you took the time and trouble to make this video, in an effort to share your knowledge so others can do it too is really unnecessary. Usually the issue is that they are doing something wrong (just as I was). Everything is hard and complicated when you don't understand. Rarely anything worthwhile in life is easy at first, but patience and persistence does bring great rewards.This process does become fairly easy once you get your head wrapped around it.I actually wrote out a procedure document based on this and other videos for my own reference. I tried (and failed) several times trying to learn how to this, and expended hours upon hours in frustration of not understanding why it wasn't working, but I kept trying and learning along the way until I finally achieved fairly consistent success. Thanks for making this possible.

[@dantheman7357]

I didn't know it was so damn easy! I will do it tomorrow during my coffee break. I could do this quickly with one Eye tied behind my back!

[@FLXBrasil]

It´s funny to hear you at the end asking for likes or dislikes etc... you´re a genius. A video tutorial like this one should never have a dislike. Even if the troll didn´t like, one should respect the time and knowledge put into this. I definitely will try to improve my city. Liked and subscribed. Good job.

[@IVAOpilot]

Hmm for some reason the obj did not get loaded into the Scenery editor Just checked> The Scene file does not get created. I only get the midellib folder Ignore my complaints. I was just a little too impatient, the tool was not ready

[@peterbetts1185]

I was battling through your other tutorial "Export from Google Maps...." and accidentally closed it! I opened this one thinking it was the same ! Huh? what is going on.... this method is just too awesome! Well done and thank you for sharing!

[@Seather2]

Great tutorial! I am a beginner when it comes to modding this game, but this sure sendt me a huge leap ahead. Im sure to check out all of your videos there

[@FR0ZENxTUNA]

This is seriously a game changer! Thank you for this tutorial.

[@ytwos1]

MadKad noooooeeeeeuuuuuhhh 😱 it is a SIM changer!

[@phillipzx3754]

@@ytwos1 The main advantage FS 2020 has over XP (at the moment) is there's no need to store huge imagery files on a local drive.

[@marklemire8757]

I tried this and the method worked great -- thanks!!! Question: Is there a way to add lighting to the buildings at night when using this method, perhaps with another tool? It's dark at night except for the street lights which appear like they're being generated outside the scenery project. Thanks again!

[@FriendsEyesOnly]

Superb guide and much needed for Stonehenge which looks like the aftermath scene of "Griswolds at Stonehenge". Thank You.

[@Sheza58]

Please accept my thumbs up for the Griswold comment

[@LieorDie24]

For people who try to capture whole cities thats not a good idea it takes ages but for small buildings wich are missing in the scenery its a great Methode

[@Calcearius]

You can also capture terrain elevation data from this. Not sure how you would import that in to flight sim but it would mean that it fits perfectly rather than having to change the height axis and losing some buildings. Would involve a lot more work though.

[@ParaGustosOlores]

3 years later... Have you found out how to do this?

[@LetsplayIndieGamesChannel]

thats an impressive tutorial ! Thank you for sharing the info ! *edit, i hope you dont mind too much, i have made a video, translating all the info in your video to spanish, for people who have trouble understanding english! in my video i mention that the all the info is from your channel. i mention your channel name 3 times, i put it in the description and on facebook on a fs2020 page for spanish speaking people, i also shared it and said "all credit goes to Flying Theston"

[@zacky5315]

This is the best tutorial about photogrametry for FS2020, in my opinion. Thanks.

[@muimuie]

Very cool tutorial !! Bring Flight simulator in a another level!! Many thanks! Maybe the next step is another tutorial for an easy way to add night textures and lights to this imported data ??

[@jippee1]

Finally a way to capture entire cities!!!!! The potential is huge! All the cities in Europe, east Europe Romania, Bulgaria, Serbia Latvia, Hong Kong, Macau south Africa, South America can now be brought into the sim from Google 3d😁😁

[@allugg7243]

What about night textures and seasons

[@SpecialistBR]

And you would need terabytes of disk space to store all that locally.

[@adam_matthews]

Not every city has 3D, at least in the UK. And a medium town can take 6B + storage, so you'd need to be selective!

[@jippee1]

@Mark Tyrrell have you even tried?? It works!!

[@perschistence2651]

Wooow, all my wet dreams are coming true with this! Tell me that I am dreaming! This is too epic!

[@Izzual31]

only one problem for me. I make my square but after in game, the place of the square does not correspond at all. I try to make my city in several times but the junctions are not good at all

[@gabrielsandstedt]

Please ping me if someone sucessfully converts Gothenburg or Stockholm in Sweden. I have tried both converting the entire cities and parts of them it it always freeze for hours during the build package phase.

[@paulofernando7858]

All I want is the entire earth converted and ready to put on community folder

[@hartigan1219]

Great Video but i have one Question. How do you mark all the scenery files at the same time at time Code <a href="#" class="seekto" data-time="388">6:28</a>. ?

[@deepredson]

I'm speechless. Thanks to infinity.. and beyond!

[@jairo.cabello]

Thank you so much!! Clear explanations and easy to follow, awesome!

[@mobias7]

Thanks for doing this. Got it working today after quite a bit of trial a error and tearing my hair out a bit. It is actually as simple as you make it seem in the tutorial but if you get the slightest little thing wrong setting up the file directories and editing the XML then obviously it won't work. One thing I would emphasise though is the point where you hit the 'build package' button. Depending on the power of your PC and the size of the area you're doing this can take a LONG time. Its easy to think the SDK has crashed or frozen when in actual fact its working away doing what it needs to do. It took my PC about 20 minutes to do the town I was mapping in the sim. I really wish Asobo would give us better tools though for blending in textures and working with the game terrain height. That was the bit I struggled getting right and seeing other peoples scenery efforts using this method it seems to be a common problem.

[@josephl1004]

what type of pc do you have and how big was your project? I have 32gb of ram, a 10700k, 3070 and im building a package of about 7.83gb and its been an hour now

[@mike309saa]

@@josephl1004 Ik it's been 2 years but did your project ever end up working? I'm trying to do my town but it "freezes" when building the package and I end up just closing msfs because I doubt it's going to work. Been longer than 30 mins I'm sure. If yours ended up working do you remember how long it took?

[@laforcem]

This is working really well on my end. However, this takes a lot of space by km² (1Gb to get the Sherbrooke university campus in Quebec). I really hope that Bing will get more cities with photogrametry since there is no way to store the whole planet on our PC.

[@biggles9604]

I mean we just need to get comunity server running with 30 peta bytes of storage so we can all stream world asets from google maps instead of ping lamo. That would take alot of effort and I doubt we would sell enough to make it worth it.

[@leonheart999]

Lower the level of detail on the download

[@dhnsh1843]

@@biggles9604 Google may find out

[@sduoqsoq7478]

im trying to get montreal with this

[@dustin0133]

this is amazing. I could probably do my entire state and not cost me much space. thank you!

[@js_filming7701]

Wow thats indeed very much simpler than the other method. Thanks!

[@chikokishi7030]

Amazing! The Japan update missed my entire prefecture. Ill be adding my local castles and other landmarks in!

[@Freezorgium]

Sadly Gifu doesn't have 3D mapping in Google either

[@byronmcduffy3485]

Any chance you could give us a PDF version of your procedures? This is a great video but daunting to try and follow. Something instructions we could print out would be very helpful. Keep up the stellar work.

[@armoffpleasehelp]

@Julian Moses You should have posted this as a video response

[@chikokishi7030]

Who prints shit to read it? Thats so 90s. lol. but yeah a pdf would be nice. Have at it :)

[@byronmcduffy3485]

@@chikokishi7030 Yeah but I'm 74 so it would be so 60's for me :) Maybe just an automated script where I just circle the area I want and it does it be itself world be better.

[@chikokishi7030]

@@byronmcduffy3485 lollll ive imported a few things with this method. i may just make a pdf. may not. Its not difficult: download and open program make a folder on your pc to save to copy sample scene delete 2 folders copy location address open program paste address select and download area open dev tools in fs load selection build packagr open game flight edit and safe

[@martinluther7436]

@@chikokishi7030 i did it but then there are just unknown ones do yo know what i have to do?

[@spooterify]

Legend! + 1 Sub, your workaround is a game changer for fs2020. Well done ;)

[@FlightSimmer7700]

Thank You sooooo much now I can finally import Google Earth photogrammetry easily!

[@PedroPilotx]

Hey, just an ideia. Create a video creating a hangar on blender. Creating the texture, PBR, importing... 😉

[@jimhinkle7245]

Thanks for your videos!!!! They help alot!!! I saw that you had a lot of errors, but continued without addressing them. Is this OK?

[@DSP1337]

How do you deal with autogen if you download a Google Earth area that is larger than the photogrammetry data within? Because deleting all autogen within the rectangle removes more than there actually is...

[@augustinbouillard2253]

when i bulid up project scenery list does not appear like that and i don't have the squares. What should i do

[@michaelhughes4643]

thats one of the simplest tutorials so far, now all we need is for google to say "Yeah sure, help yourself" and we call go buy server farms ! My local town ( cambridge) looks wonderful in Sim now

[@LieorDie24]

I never created scenery or other mods but after doing the steps in the tourtorial i really have a good looking Stadium now in Stuttgart and not that houseblock from bing i never thought it would work so easy bit i guesd whenn the area gets bigger its much harder not to overlap

[@lloydbuck4155]

Sorry, but something isn't working here. I managed to create one tiny area showing an airport, and after moving it into my community file, I deleted the directory where I created the project. I then tried to do a larger area with LOD between 17-19, and whenever I load into the scenery editor, I just get all the objects named as 'unknown'. What am I doing wrong?

[@eddiemcgee8667]

Same here, it was working but now get 'unknown' every time. Wouldn't care, I've not changed the method in any way. Not sure if it's since the Japan update.

[@dawkinsm]

This is because this method only works once - you need to create a unique project for additional areas - Flying Theston has put a video to show you how. I've tried it - works every time :-) kzbin.info/www/bejne/aXyTiZt3m5WKj9k

[@dawkinsm]

@@majicknous1946 I can send you the files I have changed if that would help - You can then highlight the area you want and try it?

[@japp3playzz]

wow great tut and very nice idea to use the windows to remember the area to select with the polygon :) . Thanks Theston for all this. Have a nice day!

[@doncoleman4938]

I'm trying to do Wellcamp Airport (YBWW). In Google maps it shows up, but in this program it shows the empty land as per Bing maps.

[@onkelyogi3207]

my download starts with a ton of metadata, after it is done the tool stops at 0 data download ... nothing happens for hours ...

[@florianlauer3067]

same here :/

[@lucashurst4191]

@@florianlauer3067 Same here

[@googletoldme2666]

Same here anyone got a fix mine won't download it just says 1 remaining,0 Done...

[@selagrabs1369]

a question, if i may: when im upload the Package in the Editor after im fly over my designated city, i have only unknown tabs no numbers in my Scenery window, in Video at 6.26 .Does it mean Bern has no Photogrametry data or i did something wrong ...... : ( thanks alot for your time

[@FlyingTheston]

It either means there is no photogrammetry data in your area or you have a project already named the same as the project you're working on (or some other unknown bug)

[@kaloca]

same error, any fixes?

[@yuna5344]

Just check on google maps. You need to click the globe button in the bottom right and then the 3d button and if there is photogrammatry data available it should show up.

[@kaloca]

Actually, I managed to make it work simply by reducing the area

[@marceloroa9130]

@@kaloca @Flying Theston This happens to me when i try to add highly detailed areas, with standard ugly details it works... did you solved the "unknown" bug?

[@thefridge71]

Great job on this video! Well done Theston.

[@wrongwayfeldman3247]

Could you do an updated tutorial on this? I've tried following this exactly, but the scenery does not load in for me. Plus the windows look a bit different because I think the SDK has been updated a few times since this video.

[@Cralis1]

I assume you lose lighting effects and all that for night flying? Not sure how this would 'know' where the lights go?

[@FlyingTheston]

The night lights will not show up on the photogrammetry buildings. But if you place the roads just under the ground so it is using the flight sim roads then you'll get the night lights from them. You can also place manual lights in the scenery editor, using Light_Cold and Light_Warm objects.

[@GamingWithNick-ck5ck]

@@FlyingTheston Please reply to my query in the comments in relation to this method on airports.

[@Dany-gf9zu]

@@FlyingTheston could u show how it works?

[@christ3423]

@@FlyingTheston sorry dude but you then get half a building in height, scaling just lifts it back out the ground and brings the road back up..

[@JBAviation]

Hey There! I have got a problem, once I've selected the area in the decoder I load up the simulator and build the package which works fine but when I load into the flight I open the project again then I click load in editor but when it loads the list in the scenery the editor says "Unknown" ? Any solutions would be awesome

[@JanStrojil]

Same here. :(

[@JanStrojil]

What helped was to choose a smaller area.

[@JBAviation]

@@JanStrojil It started working today I must have chosen smaller areas

[@b04sih]

I have the same problem. Always unknown. Size does not seem to matter. Happens even if I only choose a city block.

[@jonathanlambert7004]

Thanks for the video .Your definition of simple is my definition of mind blowing hard. I got lost from the off .But I'm downloading some of SE London near the woolwich ferry. It does take a bit of time in the decoder also my LOD options have three boxes I set the slider to the same as yours . Thanks for the video Im sure I will get the hang of it eventually .

[@ryotasim3301]

Thank you very much. The land was completed without any problems. What should I do if there is a sea nearby?

[@lukasrz1984]

I have "unknown" in scenery editor, any solution?

[@spacemarderdontaskme6452]

Me too and I dont know why.....its terrible for me

[@martinluther7436]

@@spacemarderdontaskme6452 did you find a solution?

[@cptairwolf]

@@martinluther7436 same here, I think maybe microsoft patched the game so that people can't load in google data?

[@martinluther7436]

Cpt.AirWolf could be of the version is not working any more

[@steffinor7751]

Hi, cool tutorial! - But in the sim, when I load the files it says "Unknown" on the scenery list. It looks like in your video, it does not say "Unknown"- thaks. Im I missing a step?

[@Mr.President]

@Mark Tyrrell why once? can´t you just make multiple projects, save multiple sceneries in the community folder and the load MSFS with all those?

[@marcpersoons9337]

Have the same issue: ´unknown’ list. Is this a memory issue in the tool ?

[@hans-peter5071]

I have the same problem. It usually works in cities, in landscapes only "Unknown" appears in the scenery editor.

[@BluFrost8888]

We don't understand what he means and isn't willing to explain for the past 6 months unfortunately. This answer isn't to explain him as I also don't have any idea what he's talking about, but it's my solution to the "unknowns". But on r/FS2020Creation there are some workarounds mentioned such as deleting the problem files shown if you check the errors console in the SDK after the first build package before loading into the game. For example, the text to look for should be something like: **GltfCompiler | Failed to reload saved model for verification, from file** F:\Microsoft Flight Simulator\Packages\Projects\(directory)\_PackageInt\_tempFiles\mycompany-scenery-simple\mymodellib\**20527140405061616264_LOD00.gltf** Then after removing the file types associated with the number 20527140405061616264 such as the .bin, .gtlf, .png, and .xml files of the same name, attempt to build again after cleaning the previous package and look for the manifest.json and layout.json to be generated to know it was successful. This is because Google does not have the specific LOD level data for a tile despite it rendering normally when importing into Blender. When one or a couple files is missing data then the whole game decides the entire scenery shouldn't be loaded which I guess is meant for safety from getting CTD but makes it more tedious remove them from the modellib. The biggest problem with it is that the developer completely abandoned this tool without response and no one else has ever really picked up and tried improving it. It was only uploaded on a subreddit but it really should be on Github for open support just like FBW, Salty, WorkingTitle, etc

[@joachimnoack3252]

The tool does not work! It never gets a job finished like the other users further below wrote. What can we do?

[@lawnmower425]

Apparently the Folder structure in FS2020 scenery editor has changed - the operations on the folders here don't seem to work any more

[@Krubarax]

Could you please take a moment to adress the "unknown" problem that more and more people are getting. I managed to make two sceneries, very small ones. But now , every time I click LOAD INTO EDITOR > all the assets come up as "unknown"

[@marcpersoons9337]

Just started using the tool and tutorial: indeed I succeeded to create one scenery... someone a tip ? E.g. Re-installing the tool each time you create a scenery ?

[@lucasmoreira2189]

Try renaming the default package name before building and loading into editor. It worked for me, just changing the 'simple' final word for something else.

[@LieorDie24]

Okay if anyone is interested on how it looks ive created the Stadium in Stuttgart VFBthanks to you finaly not so good like yours but better than the default one im proud

[@havoc23]

I give up :( The first package worked after tweaking the XML files as suggested in the comments.. but everything since then fails with "unknown" no matter what I do... has this something to do with the new SDK?

[@wmayo44]

Is it simply because the target particular area does NOT have photogrammetry data? I was trying Roanoke, VA US and zooming in on my target map area downtown just looks fairly low rez.

[@Aerobix]

Anyone found out a sweetspot in lod options? "unknown" error all the time.

[@sneakprev1984]

in the editor within the game? yup, same here too... does that mean that there is no geodata?

[@marcpersoons9337]

Memory issue ,

[@paulmclaine6413]

Some kind person with time on their hands needs to do every city in England ........please.

[@vermin1970]

Now you know how to do it :-D

[@MorrisseysMonkey]

I have a feeling 'Orbx' will do it?

[@paulmclaine6413]

@Extraordinary I was trying to make someone smile , but as for time on my hands I work 6 days a week, 12 hour shifts but thanks for giving me your time and comment . I never cry you Extra Ordinary prick . Bet your happy you chose that name now Eh.

[@jorgeangulo9100]

<a href="#" class="seekto" data-time="206">3:26</a> in that part when i am downloading it only stays like this (downloading data 0/97577) and doesent move what do i do?

[@pfr2544]

Very good tutorial, thanks a lot! Just one question: how do you name the scenery? I am going to create a lot for my home region and am a bit confused, not to replace things from scenery to scenery. Is the scaling factor you used always the same or different due to zoom factor? Is there an simple way to create the "mask" not as an rectangle but as an polygon, to cut out more precisely? As you are the first one who created a video about this, which i can understand, i have to ask you a lot, sorry bout that. 😉

[@ICKY427]

so lets say i just select the whole planet, how many ice ages will the earth have gone through by the time its done downloading?

[@sought84]

Im downloading Hong Kong Map, about 40 square mils area, I'll come back to tell you how long it took, my net speed is about wired 900Mbps

[@mrsatchie]

@@sought84 any news? 😬

[@Acerkool]

Mick Golding still going I think 😆

[@lextacy2008]

and going...........

[@A_G420]

and going............

[@steveanderson6945]

I'm stuck with "unknown" imports no matter what I do :(

[@marcpersoons9337]

Me too...anyone with a hint...

[@likes2fly]

When I hit build package it locks up and have to use task manager to shut it down. the third box never opens up. I believe it is still working in the background it just takes a long time to process maybe. If I want the best look for the reverb 2 how high should I set the detail setting

[@RickOShay]

Thanks for this Would have been a lot better if you'd shown the quality comparison close up - I mean that's the whole point - we want to see how much better it is - to justify the use of the tool.

[@TypeRAguy]

I'm not convinced that this method is quite there yet. I have managed to import one project successfully but all further ones lead to the "unknown" error. I have changed the names of the .xmls, I've left them alone I've tried every variation that I can think of, all fail. The original method with Renderdoc is more involved but at least it works reliably. Great tutorial videos though, thanks for making them and making us aware of the possibilities.

[@Mrv1960]

That is because you are probably trying to capture areas with too high LOD. Lower your range and it should work.

[@marceloroa9130]

@@Mrv1960 And why is it not working with High LOD? keeping the details low makes no sense, the shapes are really ugly

[@louzed89]

i don't think it's the LOD, had 2 little parts working with 20 LOD, bigger part with 18 LOD didn't work. so annoying, you have to wait forever until the package is finished, just to find out it was a waste of time. would be awesome if there was a fix.

[@IchGlaubEsHacktWohl]

Same problem here. Changing LOD didnt change anything

[@dawkinsm]

This is because this method only works once - you need to create a unique project for additional areas - Flying Theston has put a video to show you how. I've tried it - works every time :-) kzbin.info/www/bejne/aXyTiZt3m5WKj9k

[@techadrenaline3164]

How about the transition points? (The edges) I'm worried about those mostly

[@buscemichael]

Thanks! great tool. I managed to import data for one city, but have an interesting problem. The city of Cali, Colombia has 3D buildings in Google Earth (with 3d buildings enabled as an overlay) but Google Maps doesn't have the same 3d objects... any idea how I could grab these and put them in MSFS? Thanks!

[@russellthorburn9297]

Excellent video. I can only see myself doing this for the area around my home airport, assuming Google maps has any photogrammetry data for that area, as there are so many steps involved and I'm assuming it takes a fairly gigantic amount of space on the hard drive.

[@cslevine]

So... Paris will soon be on end of construction ! Thanks to Google Earth !

[@acurisur]

Um France is World Update 4. No need to jump through a million hoops to put a bit of Google maps in the sim.

[@christophgoedde7724]

Hey, just a quick on, I can't add the polygon, how does that work? Apart from that, THANK YOU!!!!!! 5mins later, I got it... sorry...

[@epiccamguyproductions4930]

Can anyone help? When I click on "Build package" the sim freezes and crashes. I do not click on anything during the freeze but it crashes after like 30 seconds anyway. I tried big and small sceneries with no luck.

[@brip6039]

Can not get it to work with SDK v 0.7.1.0. All scenery listed is 'unknown'.

[@Kestral-85]

Hi ! You must rename different folders and files and Rebuild package in the game, it works for me ..

[@evangeloskoutalas6892]

@@Kestral-85 what files and folders need to be renamed or altered?

[@Kestral-85]

@@evangeloskoutalas6892 Scenery project.xml and in package définition : mycompagny-scenery-simple folder and file.xml ! You must replace those name by the name one for examole A and edit xml.file by replacing ( scenery project and my-compagny-scenery-simple) by A

[@Kestral-85]

Thus you don't need to build package before launching your area ! Just do it when you are already in game on your location ;)

[@evangeloskoutalas6892]

@@Kestral-85 thanks my friend!

[@bogdaniorgulescu1641]

I feel like the 3.1 K likes are from those who watched it and the 70 dislikes are from those who tried it themselves

[@selagrabs1369]

Thank you for this Tutorial ive been waiting for this, now i hope the Capital of Switzerland , Bern has Photogrametry Data

[@joshjenk1613]

How does it look at night? Are there extra steps needed to get the street/house lighting to look right?

[@Dany-gf9zu]

After I clicked build packe the Sim is stuck pls help

[@HortaRacing]

I thought I was stuck, but a quick check at task manager and windows explorer showed it is building the package. It's a fairly long process depending on how large the area is

[@Dany-gf9zu]

@@HortaRacing did it work on you?

[@HortaRacing]

@@Dany-gf9zu it's still going, 1 hour since I hit the build package already, but I can see the Packages folder being filled with textures. Given the size of the city I'm trying to do I assume it's around 60-70% now

[@Dany-gf9zu]

@@HortaRacing on minute 4:27 you can see assets group what do u have in there? bc when I click on mycompany-scenery-Simple there is no folder

[@HortaRacing]

@@Dany-gf9zu exactly what was showing in the video. I think it just finished building the package, around 2 hours total time. Gonna watch the remainder of the video now and hopefully in some time I'll let you know if it worked :)

[@SuperRealityKid]

"All you need to do"? You lost me at hello ! Great stuff but I know my head would be spinning after the first few instructions and I count myself as reasonably capable with IT. I need some more lessons, clearly. Ps. What I can do, is fly my real world aeroplane quite well :-)

[@lucianosantana5103]

For some reason I’m getting stuck in download data step (right after downloading metadata) and then nothing happens. I’m following every step detail, even though I’m getting stuck. Any solutions?

[@AT-kn2dc]

is there a possibility to rotate or tilt the map from Earth2msfs decoder ?

[@neeyotube]

This guy says "and finally" or "and now all you need to do" for every damn step. Confusing as hell when listening to that.

[@doubledroptinehunter]

"Easily"

[@fabiennamaste204]

Feel free to upload your own tutorial sharing your infinite knowledge of the sdk, with your own script anytime bud!

[@thefridge71]

I get the impression you get caught up on language use a bit?

[@Johnnysixpac]

Hhhhahah

[@derekbentley196]

Don't take it literally🤣

[@gabe7315]

When i try to build in msfs2020 it freezes pls help me

[@A_G420]

same here.

[@A_G420]

@MichaelKingsfordGray so your saying my nintendo switch is the weak point?

[@gabe7315]

@MichaelKingsfordGray my computer has 12 gb gpu and ryzrn 9

[@GamerSamo]

Good day I would like to ask that if I have a 2D scenery, how can I give it in 3D. Thank you in advance for answer.

[@irishbloke99]

Thanks so much for posting this! Great tutorials.

[@showmoke]

I just wish that MS had utilised Google Maps from the beginning instead of the lesser quality Bing Maps. They would then have a superb flight simulator without the need for users to spend anything extra in scenery 'enhancements' in order to get the accuracy.

[@miranda.cooper]

Gotta love competitiveness, eh? *eyeroll at them*

[@JAYZ999]

Bing maps is free for them. Google maps will cost a shit load of money, It’s not an easy choice.

[@kamho3089]

let xplane do it

[@oliverek7]

showmoke they already have a superb flight simulator. What more do you want. Greedy and spoilt now are we?? Think about what you’re getting for default with bing maps anyway. Always complaints 🙄

[@showmoke]

Oli Lewis - nothing wrong with striving for excellence. They’re getting there, but not there yet. By ‘getting there’ I’m referring to 100% scenery accuracy worldwide.

[@js_filming7701]

Everything "Unknown" in the Scenery Editor

[@kreiskrappen_sim]

same here

[@js_filming7701]

@@kreiskrappen_sim Package is just to big as i noticed

[@tonitakomo6225]

i got the unknown problem solved by reloading the project.xml in scenery editor

[@theodoreking8605]

@@tonitakomo6225 really, how??

[@LieorDie24]

I tried it but it whont match with the map the hight and i dont know how to put the default buildings down if i pull it over the existing one everything is flickery and looks whorse than before

[@santiagoluib3]

Awesome! Just awesome! Thank you!

[@Sir_vAce]

It's not working... I have empty tiles, it says "unknown" on all tiles

[@FlyingTheston]

Ask the dev of the tool over in the sub-reddit link posted in the description

[@andresvillenero]

+1

[@b757cb1]

I had this issue at first as well. It’s cause I had the folder incorrectly labeled in the .xml inside the definitions folder. If you copy over the simple scenery folder and don’t change any .xml, it should work. That’s the only thing I changed and it worked properly in terms of naming.

[@b757cb1]

Bjorn Collins you have to go and recapture it then. I know it took me a few tries to get it correct. Not sure what else to tell you. I’m def not a developer. Lol

[@logspace_prod]

You have to build the project before opening it in the scenery editor. Open project. Modify your company and package info. Save project. Build project. Close project. Reopen project. Now you can use the scenery editor.

[@Mrv1960]

For those of you having problems when building scene and it says Unkown in scenery editor, this is what you have to do. You have to edit your files in Simple Scenery like this and then it will work. Thanks to Medarctan from r/FS2020 Creation. @Flying Theston this should be pinned because everyone is running into this problem here. In SimpleScenery, there is a xml file named "SceneryProject" change the name to whatever you like. In PackageDefinitions, there is a xml file and a folder that have the same name. Change the name of these two to whatever you named the SceneryProject file. open what used to be "SceneryProject" in notepad or notepad++, find "PackageDefinitions\--------.xml" change the ---part to the name you gave the files in step1. Open the xml file in PackageDefinitions the same way, edit the ----part "" and "PackageDefinitions\-------\ContentInfo\

[@FlyingTheston]

this only the case if you have a project already with that name, as you can see in the video I don't rename anything and it works fine for me because I don't have any other project named the same

[@IchGlaubEsHacktWohl]

That solved it. Thanks

[@toshie9813]

Your videos are really super good thanks for that, how do you remove the water that turns to ice with the decoder afterwards? that looks terrible every body of water turns to ice with the decoder 😞

[@nils169]

Awesome. Gonna try this out. Is there a easy way to import Google Sketchup 3D Models to MSFS? I try one thim with blender but I failed...

[@derstein98]

<a href="#" class="seekto" data-time="273">4:33</a> How long did to take to "Build Packages"?

[@iamitscrizzy]

Would also like to know. Seems like it wants to take days lol

[@23100Battlefield]

If anyone is reading this and not going to bother since the commenter above says it took 12 hours, I did it just now at a 6x6 km area and it took about 5 minutes, so i have no f-ing idea wtf kind of area they are trying to download lol

[@gjmcgee]

Around 15 min