[OBSOLETE?] GOOGLE EARTH DECODER Optimization Tools for Flight Simulator 2020

*November 2022*: I am not curating this channel anymore, thus my videos are not going to be updated and I won't be replying to comments. This tutorial might be obsolete and not work as intended.
At this link you will found the latest version of the tools by Thalixte (as of 2022.11):
flightsim.to/file/26245/googl...
Being an add-on for blender, it should be more user-friendly than the previous version.
-- -- --
19 November 2021 : The latest updates (version 1.21.13.0 and SDK 0.16.0) seem to have solved the issues with the package building procedures that was causing problems with the duplicated tiles and the glitchy polygons in 1.20.6.0).
ORIGINAL DESCRIPTION BELOW
In this video we learn how to import photogrammetry data from Google Earth into Flight Simulator 2020 even when using the most recent versions of the MSFS SDK (v14.0 was used for this guide).
This tutorial should help you in case you can not import any data using Google Earth Decoder (Earth2MSFS) because of the Unknown error.
If you like this content and find it useful, please consider supporting the author by buying him a cup of green tea: www.buymeacoffee.com/mr.ojo
VERSIONE ITALIANA: • [ITA - OBSOLETO?] Foto...
This tutorial uses the scripts made by Thalixte (link in the list below)
The video is based on a guide in portuguese published by Rodukao:
• TUTORIAL COMPLETO DE F...
PLEASE NOTE (September 1st):
Thalixte, the author of the scripts, told me he was able to use areas made with up to 15000 tiles.
In my video, I show what worked 99.9% of the times for me, but I was able to import bigger maps as well.
Feel free to experiment with different sizes and number of tiles. Different set-ups might give different results.
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FILES AND APPS USED FOR THIS TUTORIAL (last updated 11.2021)
Flight Simulator 2020
used: v 1.18.15.0
works with: v 1.21.13.0
SDK
used v 0.14.0
works with v 0.16.0
Google Earth Decoder
drive.google.com/file/d/18zdI...
GED Optimisation Tools by Thalixte
flightsim.to/file/4074/google...
Blender2msfs toolkit (0.40.0)
www.fsdeveloper.com/forum/res...
Node.js (any 14.xx.xx version should be fine - tested with 17.1.0)
nodejs.org
Blender (at least up to 2.83.16. Tested with 2.83.18. Not working with 2.9x.xx)
www.blender.org/download/lts/...
Lily Texture Packer (Optional - it costs $ 5. Version 1.1.x only)
gumroad.com/l/DFExj
-
Sample Values for the Color Correction panel in Google Earth Decoder (as suggested by Rodukao, the Brazilian youtuber whose video I've used as reference)
Red 1,05
Green 1,00
Blue 0,95
Brightness 0,90
Contrast 0,95
Saturation 1
Hue 10
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CHAPTERS
00:00 Intro
00:56 SDK and Samples Download
01:28 Preparing a folder for our project
03:11 Files and programs used in the tutorial
03:57 Google Earth Decoder
07:04 Other installations and Blender
08:12 How to edit the Optimization script
14:00 Placing our project in Flight Simulator
26:25 Gaps between the tiles?
29:24 Saving the Scenery
30:59 Moving the package in the Community folder
31:28 Let's fly!
--
OLDGAMESITALIA
web: www.oldgamesitalia.net
telegram: t.me/oldgamesitalia
facebook: / oldgamesitalia
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twitter: / oldgamesitalia (@oldgamesitalia)
steam curator: store.steampowered.com/curato...

[@Oldgamesitalia]

*November 2022*: I am not curating this channel anymore, thus my videos are not going to be updated and I won't be replying to comments. This tutorial might be obsolete and not work as intended. At this link you will found the latest version of the tools by Thalixte (as of 2022.11): flightsim.to/file/26245/google-earth-decoder-optimization-tools-gedot-blender-addon Being an add-on for blender, it should be more user-friendly than the previous version.

[@kosugimon]

What a fantastic tutorial. Thank you so much - could could not have explained that more clearly. I really appreciate the time you spent doing that.

[@johnboy5654]

Hi Signor Ojo Thank you so much for taking the time to explain how to use Google Earth Decoder Optimization tools for MSFS 2020, I have always wanted to use this method but to be honest it was a bit too confusing for me to use it, your video has made it so much easier to understand the application so I am finally going to be able to use this application. You are a star thank you once again :)

[@Oldgamesitalia]

Thank you for the feedback :)

[@johnlovell1640]

Great tutorial.. I been building google scenery since the beginning of time and have been meaning to make a tutorial, but glad you have done this for others....

[@Oldgamesitalia]

If you want to know how to merge two sceneries made with Google Earth Decoder, I made a tutorial about the merge_sceneries script (included in the Optimization Tools pack by Thalixte). You can watch the guide here: kzbin.info/www/bejne/r4OoZGqEdsyqn6M

[@Hainmede]

Hi Ojo Thank you very much for this great tutorial. Finally you could solve the problem with "unknown" scenes. I really appreciate. Grazie mille !!! For your info: I tried on Google Earth Decoder with an area of 30 km2 (approx 14'000 picks). Blender had to work 1.5h with this amount of data (with my i7-10700) ... but without any problem and the result in MSFS is perfect. Now i'm ready to create many sceneries. Thank you once again.

[@Oldgamesitalia]

Thank you for your feedback!

[@poopoo547]

Thanks you've made this seem so easy

[@Oldgamesitalia]

*July 2022* : I am no longer following the MSFS modding scene and I am also leaving this KZbin channel soon, thus I won't be updating the guide or the description anymore. This tutorial might become obsolete anytime. *19 November 2021 : The latest updates (version **1.21.13.0** and SDK 0.16.0) seem to have solved the issues* with the package building procedures that was causing problems with the duplicated tiles and the glitchy polygons in 1.20.6.0).

[@demotoken]

Good news!

[@Oldgamesitalia]

@Boris I hope you can see this: I saw your comment in my notifications, but I think KZbin deleted it (it happens quite a few times for no apparent reason, I reckon). I couldn't read half of it, but I think you wrote you had issues running the script: have you checked the blender console? It might be just a typo in one of the lines that you edited. The console should tell you exactly what went wrong. If you couldn't solve the issue, put a screenshot online showing both the script and the console after you tried to run the script and link it here. I'll try to see if I can help.

[@Tyrell63]

Hi. Just a question....when I'm using the "Texture Packer" by Lily (you set it to false in your tutorial).....and I want the settings as "true".....how/where the content of that packer must be located? Also in the GoogleEarth opti...folder? Or where?

[@Oldgamesitalia]

Hi, I've never used the Lily packer myself, but because there are no lines related to it in the main editable part of the script (apart the True/False one), my guess is that it's already set so that the texture ends up in the appropriate subfolder in PackageSources.

[@dmz3035]

Probably the best & latest tutorial for use this tool properly. Tons of people had problems with the famous Uknown problem, and this is the first video I see changing all folder & code lines with proper route and many details that no other one does. Without doubt, this is the right way to do the stuff. About questions... Could you explain how to delete properly the water? I'm from Barcelona (Spain) and I'm trying to do Badalona (very close, just going to the east, a lot of people thinks it's the same city also, but it's not. Import DATA it's fine, and terrain looks great but if I really want to update and recreate a nice beach, how we can do it? Excluding polygons doesn't do the work at all. Not many people explains how to edit & modify coast. Awesome! Bravisimo!

[@Oldgamesitalia]

Thanks for the nice words. I am happy that this guide is useful to the FS community! About your question: When you talk about water, I suppose you mean the blue "floor" that remains in tiles with coasts/sea in them. While I was working on this video, I was using the island of Capri as a testing ground and of course there was the issue with water tiles. Even though it's quite unpolished, I've published it so you can check it out here: www.flightsim.to/file/20260/capri-italy My "solution" for that add-on was just to lower the altitude of the tiles by a tiny amount so that the "floor" goes underwater and the FS beach/coastline comes out a little. By terraforming the area, any "bump" that was there in FS should disappear, so you don't risk having buildings or terrain popping out from your imported model. This is easy, but also quite sloppy (results may vary). The real solution would be to edit the tiles in Blender and remove the "blue floor" manually BEFORE running the script. This could be quite time consuming, because you have to edit the tiles for all the levels of detail that you selected when you used Google Earth Decoder). Also, because the models are quite big, you might have some difficulties seeing them in Blender. A suggestion I think I can give, is that it could be useful to import the tiles in FS and note the codes for the tiles that you need to edit and then loading them singularly in Blender. This is *very* time consuming, because the code shown in FS is related to the LOD 17. So you have to find also the "sub-tiles". It's quite difficult to explain it in a comment, and I admit I have not a perfect grasp on this concept, but I hope I'm putting you on the right track. My old tutorial about importing objects from Google Maps (without GED) shows the basics, but that one is in Italian and also contains some info that are not useful in this context. Anyway, if you want to check it out, here's the part where I edit the tiles in Blender. kzbin.info/www/bejne/l5eUmKdviaeAiNk I repeat: that video follows another procedure and even different kind of files (with only 1 LOD), but maybe you can get some info out of that. Also, I'm no 3D modeler, so I'm sure there are much better ways to do this kind of stuff.

[@dmz3035]

@@Oldgamesitalia Thank you very very much for your kind and amazing words! I'll try all of that. Once again, thank you for your oustanding work and contribution to the community. Best

[@Oldgamesitalia]

To Kelvin: your comment was deleted by youtube, or maybe you found the solution by yourself, but in any case, the console window in Blender is brought out from the Window menu on the top left. You can see this at 8:08

[@joelfcp1]

hey i followed every steps but im still having this error when running the script in blender. any ideas? ImportError: cannot import name 'binary_path_python' from '' (unknown location)

[@Oldgamesitalia]

Hi, looks to me it could be a typo in one of the lines where you write the path to a directory, or something did not install in the right way. Cannot say for sure.

[@demotoken]

hello everyone I have a problem with the arrows that are far from the imported map, anyone know how to solve this? @

[@quentinperez-wahl]

Had the exact same issues as you. Look at my most recent comment (under the replies of my original post). I will try to figure out what's going wrong in the coming week or so, so just keep your eyes out.

[@unclealig]

is there a possibility to exclude just the trees from the google earth data? the trees there do not look natural, they look like bulps or baloons.

[@Oldgamesitalia]

Hi, no it is not possible because google sees them as any other object inside the scenario. You would have to delete them "by hand" in Blender before you process the scenery for MSFS, but it would be very time consuming.

[@toshie9813]

Can someone help? I know how to create scenes with the Decoder Blender etc. only when I have created a scene where there is water then the water is like frozen, how do I get the scene back with the right water :-( it says with Polygons, but if you don't know how to do that, it doesn't help at all

[@Oldgamesitalia]

Hi, if you are referring to the "water" that is included in the tiles that you have imported from Google, you have a couple of options (both not very optimal): 1) change the position of the tile so that the "fake" water gets "submerged" below the real one. 2) remove the fake water in blender before processing the scenery for MSFS. Long and difficult. Creating a polygon that has a "water" texture might be an option, but when I tried (a long time ago) the results were underwhelming. I don't remember what I did back then, though.

[@JoelFinkel]

I think that you can remove MSFS-generated vegetation as well as buildings.

[@stefanmardale8340]

Hello, while running the script I get an error saying that the SDK is not installed. Any ideas on how to overcome this?

[@Oldgamesitalia]

Hello, if you have the SDK installed, make sure that the directory that you write inside the script is the correct one. Regrettably, the tutorial (and my knowledge) don't cover the technical aspects of the procedure, and it's difficult to say if it's a bug or anything else.

[@stefanmardale8340]

@@Oldgamesitalia thanks!

[@rotomax9933]

Hello @Ojo, first of all, thanks a lot for explaining us how to import GE data into MSFS. Its really helpful to have people like you to spread knowledge in a way easy to understand. Unfortunately I have issues, and maybe you can help me to fix them. Upfront I want to say that I tried with a large amount of data ( the complete city of Munich, app. 75.000 units in the GEE tool), but I dont think that this is the issue. First I tried to do it the old way w/o the blender script. The GEE extract as well the built in MSFS went well ( took a few hours each), but aftwards I indeed had the "UNKNOWN" error you described. Second, I tried the way you described, based on my already downloaded GEE data. The script ran app. 24h till to the point of MSFS import call, then I stopped it by mistake, but I think this is not an issue (In any case, package files were generated). But during the runtime I observed plenty of warnings like : WARNING: tangent vector has zero lenght. What does this mean and is it a problem? Again I tried to build the package manually in MSFS, but MSFS crashes to desktop after a few hours, always exactly after having created 192.582 files in the textures folder. When I try to load it in Editor (Inspector window), the SceneryEditor says: "NetBingObj was not found, please load any ..." This happens with both MSFS versions SU6 and brand new SU7. I hope my description was good enough and you have some advice for me. Thank you in advance!

[@Oldgamesitalia]

Hi, I have yet to test the tutorial with SU7. SU6 is currently giving some issues, but not of the kind you described. I think that you have too many tiles (or units). Thalixte, the great guy who made the scripts, told me he was able to optimize packages with up to 15.000 tiles (I'm much more cautious, suggesting 1500 tiles as a stable amount). Beyond that, it might not work at all, as you are probably experiencing. Such an amount of elements is also at risk of having Google ban you temporarily from its servers because you are downloading too much Google Earth data through the script in Blender. Also, it takes forever for MSFS to build such a huge package and I guess it ends up crashing the game and giving you an incomplete set of files that is unusable. I suggest selecting smaller areas. But now it's better to wait a few days so we can see if the tutorial works again or not.

[@rotomax9933]

@@Oldgamesitalia Hello, I followed your advise and now have an area >1000 tiles just for test. Furthermore, I ommited capital letters and underscores (_) in File and Folder names, MSFS seems to have an issue with this. The Thalixte script runs fine (no more "WARNING: tangent vector has zero lenght"), and later in MSFS I start a flight and built and load the package as you show it (first I did wrong order and received "NetBingObj " error , this also vanished). So far so good. But now again I have the UNKNOWN error in the scenrty editor. Any idea? Thanks in advance!

[@Oldgamesitalia]

@@rotomax9933 It's difficult to say. Even with buggy SDK 0.15 I've never encountered the Unknown error again after I started using Thalixte's scripts, so I've no clues regarding what could cause it in your system. Actually, I've never had issues with Capitalized words and underscores (and I specifically tested it on my system) either. i can only offer generic advice like making sure that you are using the correct versions for all the programs involved... Sorry but I've no better answer to give.

[@quentinperez-wahl]

Hello! I just found your tutorial on this, and wanted to try it out. I followed all of your steps in your video; I worked through to the blender script section, and the script was running for a while, up until blender and the script gave me an error. It told me that: "pip and Pillow installation failed in blender lib folder. Please consider running this script as an administrator" I have never used blender before, and so I don't know what it is talking about. I did run blender as an administrator, and so I don't see why it would be giving me this error, other than the fact that SDK 0.17.0 just came out. Is there some other way that I could get through this? Sorry for bugging. EDIT: I just downloaded a smaller sized area (2 sq km), and it got through blender. HOWEVER, it did manage to make all of my tiles placed on top of eachother, and spawned all of them on the opposite side of the world. Will edit again once that issue is solved. EDIT #2: In regards to SDK 0.17.0, the XML file within PackageDefinitions won't need the line stating the name (as shown in the video). There is also a new AssetGroup assigned to MarketplaceData, and I changed the lines under that code which listed the directories of "mycompany-scenery-simple" with my project folder name, as one would with the other lines shown in this video. As far as I see as of this edit no issues have been caused directly from the SDK update, however this will have to be confirmed.

[@Oldgamesitalia]

Hi, thank you for the lengthy and detailed comment. I see you managed to run the script so the issue now seems related to the fact that the tiles are all piled up. One reason for that is that Google might have given you a temporary ban, so it didn't let you download the position data, thus the spawning of the tiles all in the same location (at 0,0). Try again with a small area (as a test) in a couple of days. I'm currently unable to verify the compatibility with the new updates, but I'll come back ASAP.

[@quentinperez-wahl]

@@Oldgamesitalia I have waited a good couple days since downloading, and I just downloaded again. The area I chose was the same as before, and the LOD size was also limited to just 18. Going back to blender and finishing the script (as shown in the video), the script ran with seemingly little issues. In the console, under the "RETRIEVE OBJECTS POSITION" area of the script, things also seemed to be going nicely, as the console wrote out the precise coordinates of the location which I was downloading. However, when I reached the "UPDATE OBJECTS POSITION" area of the script (right under retrieve objects position), the console displayed that the location of these objects were being updated to (0,0) (latitude, longitude). The rest of the script ran as intended, but the data was still stacked upon itself. While writing this comment, I actually just saw that the google earth decoder optimisation tools blender addon listed in the description is the "older version." I will have to download this at some point in the next week, along with waiting another 7 days just for good measure to ensure that the data I'm getting from google earth isn't being temporarily banned. It also seems that nodejs, the msfs toolkit blender addon, and blender 2.83 aren't needed anymore (blender 2.83 or superior is required). flightsim.to/file/26245/google-earth-decoder-optimization-tools-gedot-blender-addon I will continue to update you on such progress hopefully around the 27th, or possibly earlier depending on my schedule.

[@toshie9813]

Ciao, il video è stato davvero fantastico e sono stato in grado di creare scenari per me stesso. Ora sono cambiate molte cose, inclusa la struttura e le cartelle, purtroppo non funziona più con queste istruzioni :-( , se dovessi fare di nuovo un video come questo in modo che tutti possiamo farlo di nuovo, te ne saremmo molto grati

[@pleighto77]

I used the lilly optimizer etc and I am still getting all mine labeled as "unknown" in the scenery choosing..

[@pleighto77]

Also I seem to not be able to move my developer camera around either.

[@Oldgamesitalia]

@@pleighto77 Hi, I won't be able to test the procedure again for a while, but my first suggestion would be to try the procedure again without the lily optimizer (which I never tested). It is odd that you can't move the camera around. Bear in mind that I'm using a joypad to control it.

[@Tyrell63]

At 16:48.....how do you move the camera? I only have the view from top

[@Tyrell63]

Found it...it is left ALT plus left mouse button :-)

[@Oldgamesitalia]

I use a joypad to move the camera, but your message will be useful for other viewers :)

[@5bpde]

This is an excellent Tutorial. My first tries where stunning. But i have one question: - If you have the scenery, you have a lot of rubbish looking 3d photogrammetry trees. Do you know how i can get rid of the trees ? Thanks in advance BR Dirk from germany

[@Oldgamesitalia]

Hi Dirk. I'm glad this tutorial has been useful! The trees: the only way to remove them is to modify the tiles in blender before optimizing the scenery. There's no easy way around it, unfortunately.

[@5bpde]

@@Oldgamesitalia This should be not a problem, but how can i modify them in blender

[@Oldgamesitalia]

@@5bpde Google Earth Decoder creates many tiles when you export map data from the area of your choice. You find them in the PackageSources directory. Problem is, you have to edit them one by one, from what I know. My knowledge of Blender is very very basic, so there's not much I can tell you about the actual process.

[@patrickzeller8273]

You can even use the latest Version of Blender 3.0 if you delete Line 74 in the script, as the syntax changed and it`s no longer required. After that, the script runs fine!

[@Oldgamesitalia]

That's a useful tip, thanks! I'll keep it in mind should I make a new tutorial.

[@greathorton]

I tried to find a solution for solve the error on line 74 but nothing can be found on other web. Good to see your answers here. Thank you so much!

[@Tyrell63]

Hi. Just a "request":-), can you make some more explanation (and how to) about use the polygons and the terraforming. To add the tiles without any "jumps or gaps"into the MSFS terrain. This is not clear for me, and I cannot rebuild it based on your video Thank you

[@Oldgamesitalia]

This tutorial might be what you are looking for (it uses rectangles that are more precise when it comes to create slopes): kzbin.info/www/bejne/jpyuqWiYj7itbNU

[@Tyrell63]

@@Oldgamesitalia Thank you. I will give up :-(. I cannot change the height of the underground (msfs2020 terrain). There is a hill (which in original is NOT there) and my buildings will be covered by this. With the polygon I can remove the buildings inside, but the "terraform" has absolutely NO effect. Change e.g. heights....I cant see any differences

[@Oldgamesitalia]

@@Tyrell63 The fact that terraforming is not working is not normal. Try creating another polygon in another position and move it using the green arrow, to change the height of the terrain. As a last resort, try reinstalling the SDK because it could be a bug.

[@toshie9813]

Hello, the video was really great and I was able to create scenarios for myself. Now a lot has changed, including the structure and folders, unfortunately it no longer works with these instructions :-( , if you would make a video like this again so that we can all do it again, we would be very grateful to you

[@Oldgamesitalia]

Hi, regrettably I'm leaving this channel as of November 1st 2022. I will not be updating my tutorials anymore and I won't reply to comments. Please see the pinned comment for a link to the latest version of Thalixte's tools.

[@dusanpazitnaj3572]

After run optimalization tool script in blender show this error message "Configuration error found ! Node js script retrievepos.js not found. Please check the node_js_folder value Script aborted" anyone can help ?

[@Oldgamesitalia]

Hi, the retrievepos.js file is in the same directory as the script. You need to link the directory on line 37, as illustrated here: 9:24

[@dusanpazitnaj3572]

​@@Oldgamesitalia nope it wasnt that problem. Problem was if you have parent file name like \_test\. It dosent work with _ After fix file name to test it work fine

[@Oldgamesitalia]

I tried putting a _ in front of all my directories (the one that contains the project folder, the project folder itself, the folder containing retrievpos.js, and the folder that contains this latter folder as well) and couldn't replicate the issue.

[@2airvette3]

great video! what is the advantage of using Blender?

[@Oldgamesitalia]

Blender is needed in order to run the script that makes the tiles created by Google Earth Decoder work with newer versions of the Simulator. I think that recently somebody came out with a method that bypasses Blender, but I've been out of the loop and I don't have more details about that.

[@2airvette3]

@@Oldgamesitalia thank you so much for The clarification!

[@user-ki5cg3vp2p]

I want to do this for China , I hope Zhuhai, Guangzhou, Shenzhen Google 3D DATE TO FLIGHT SIMULATOR 2020, or you can do this scenery in MSFS2020??

[@Oldgamesitalia]

Hi! Regrettably Google Earth doesn't have any photogrammetry data (3d buildings) for the cities that you mentioned (not even Beijing is in 3D). This means that there is no 3D data to import to MSFS...

[@uweneumann9472]

While running the script I get following error message: Error: failed to locate the Steam installation path in the registry. Info: Deleted 1 object(s) removeMeshFromMemory:[30604250436343424_0]. removeMeshFromMemory: MESH [30604250436343424_0] removed from memory. MSFS SDK tools not installed I don't have the steam fs2020 version. I have the shop version. What can I do?

[@Oldgamesitalia]

This error seems to be about the script's code, so I do not have much familiarity with it. My uneducated guess would be to try and reinstall the SDK.

[@douglashenrique6092]

will it be possible to export the map from flight simulator to blender?

[@Oldgamesitalia]

I am not aware of a way to do so, I'm sorry

[@clausstark2001]

Hi Ojo, after starting the script in Blender, Blender is frozen, but no console is coming up. Please could you advise how to bring up the console.

[@Oldgamesitalia]

If you opened it before starting the script, you find it in the windows taskbar (at the bottom of the screen), stacked with the blender icon. If you pass the mouse over that icon, you'll find it.

[@clausstark2001]

@@Oldgamesitalia To which program the console is assigned to? Is this the Blender Python console "PYTHON INTERACTIVE CONSOLE 3.7.4"? Or is this something else? Thanks🙂

[@Oldgamesitalia]

@@clausstark2001 At 8:08 you see me making the console visible. It's a different window, so once you click back inside Blender, the console simply goes in the background. If you are confused, make Blender's window smaller than your screen and keep the console window to its side so that it doesn't "disappear".

[@clausstark2001]

@@Oldgamesitalia Hi Oyo, found ;-) Many thanks for your patience ;o) Claus

[@Oldgamesitalia]

@@clausstark2001 Happy modding :)

[@tonazzz]

Ciao! ma c'è un modo per togliere i brutti alberelli di google earth?

[@Oldgamesitalia]

Ciao. Per quanto ne so, l'unico modo è modificare i tasselli in Blender, uno per uno. E va fatto prima ancora di ottimizzare i file tramite script. Un lavoraccio. Purtroppo gli alberi importati da Google sono riconosciuti come elementi 3D dalla fotogrammetria, quindi hanno la stessa struttura degli edifici. Non c'è un programma che possa toglierli automaticamente.

[@torancult5111]

When I optimise the tiles then open the project in MSFS all the tiles are stacked on top of each other instead of in the correct position. It used to work fine for me. The only thing I can think of is I upgraded to the 14.1 SDK. Does anyone know if this is the cause and also where I can get an older SDK?

[@Oldgamesitalia]

It could mean that during the optimization Google blocked the script from downloading the position of each tile. It happened to me when I was trying to import very large areas. Try checking the console during the optimization process. Also, make sure you are not banned (temporarily) from accessing the google servers (it happened to me as well); this can be checked by trying to use GED. When you press download, it shouldn't work.

[@torancult5111]

@@Oldgamesitalia Thanks for the reply and for such a helpful video. Google Earth Decoder is still working fine oddly. Its only after optimise with the blender scripts that its messed up. What message should I be looking for in the console to indicate I am banned? How long does a ban usually last? Do you have it working with SDK 0.14.1 OldGamesItalia?

[@torancult5111]

Starting to think more and more its the latest SDK. When I build straight from google earth decoder MSFS freezes. Anyone have SDK 0.14.0 they can send me?

[@Oldgamesitalia]

​@@torancult5111 How many tiles is your area? I need to see if I still have the 14.0 installer, but I don't think it's that. If it is a huge project, MSFS can remain frozen for a long time while it tries to build it. A quick way to check if your are banned from google, is to start downloading from Google Earth Decoder (the one with the map): If the message below the DOWNLOAD button remains Downloading Metadata: 0 Ready; 1 Remains, then you are probably banned or there is a connection issue. The ban, in my experience, lasted no longer than 24 hours. You can try using a vpn or change your IP and restart GED again if you want to continue working while your original ban is still in effect. In Blender, I don't remember the exact message that appears in the console, but it should be something like Unable to download (or connect). I remember it being pretty self explanatory, but because it runs so fast, you might want to scroll the window a little to try and see. This message appears (multiple times) when the original script is running, not when MSFS starts building the package in the background. I'm re-doing all the steps with 14.1 on an area of about 2x2km. I'll report back later.

[@torancult5111]

@@Oldgamesitalia Everything downloads fine in Google Earth Decoder. Before I could download huge chunks of land several kilometres square with no problem. Now with even a small 3 by 3 tiles area I fail. Even if dont use the blender optimise tools and just try to build in MSFS it opens the console like normal but then the screen goes grey and doesnt respond. I never used to have this issue. Thank you so much for checking in to this.

[@annal3870]

Can you help me? 😩 I did everything and it works great in game with the project editor! However when I put the folder in my community folder and restart the game, the scenery doesn't show up!! :( Wtf am I doing wrong it's so frustrating!!!

[@Oldgamesitalia]

It looks like it might be a problem with the saving the scenery part. Make sure that you save the scenery in PackageSources/scene folder and then you build the package afterwards. This is shown in the video from 29:24. I tried with a new scenery and it worked for me.

[@annal3870]

@@Oldgamesitalia Yea I did that! What should be in the folder? mine is called "mycompany" and inside is the files: (texture, CVX0001.bgl, modelLib.BGL, & objects.bgl)! Also if I made a mistake do I have to delete my scenery and redo the entire process or can I fix it to work?! Because I tried saving and building the package multiple times after it didn't work and nothing happens! 😭

[@Oldgamesitalia]

@@annal3870 hmmm... the only difference between yours and mine is that your modelLib.bgl doesn't have the name of your main folder before it. In my case my main folder was ojo-tut, so the file is ojo-tut-modelLib.bgl. Look like something went wrong during the optimization phase, because this is when the script changes a certain line inside one of the xml files in order to have -modelLib as the modelLib folder (which then becomes the name for that bgl file) in PackageSources. Try checking Packagesources to see what you have there. You should have two folders -modelLib and scene.

[@annal3870]

@@Oldgamesitalia Yea modelLIB and scene but no project name its just called "modelLib"!

[@Oldgamesitalia]

@@annal3870 Then something must have gone wrong somewhere down the process, because the very first thing that the scenery-optimization script does is to rename that folder. It would be difficult for me to point out where exactly things went wrong... Unfortunately, even the tiniest typo can make the whole process useless, so I think that starting from scratch is the best course of action, maybe by first doing a test on a very small area, so that the whole optimization and package building are very quick.

[@frankelfert7537]

By far the best tuturial i found till date about importing Google data! Thank you! Almost everything worked, however all my imported data is flat :( There is google earth data available on the spot i selected, and i only imported for 500 meter. What should i do to fix it? I now only have flat terrein. Also in Dev mode i don't the the blue dots you have in the tutorial. All the data and cubes are there, but not the blue dots.

[@Oldgamesitalia]

Hi, about the flat tiles. Please make sure that the google data has photogrammetry data too. I can check for you if you give me the name of the city/area you wanted to import. I'm not sure about the blue dots you are referring to? Which minute?

[@frankelfert7537]

@@Oldgamesitalia thank you for the reply. The city is alphen aan den rijn in the Netherlands. How can I check if it has those photographs information?

[@Oldgamesitalia]

@@frankelfert7537 If you find the city in Google Maps, you have to activate the Satellite View and then click on the 3D button that appears in the bottom right corner of the screen (if you are using a computer). If you see 3D buildings, then you can extract the data you need as shown in my tutorial. Regrettably, it looks like that Alphen aan den Rijn has no photogrammetry...

[@frankelfert7537]

@@Oldgamesitalia ahh, okay I was under the impression that street view was enough, which alphen has...

[@kimmossige263]

"Error: Python script failed, check message in system console", what does this mean? This is the system console, no?

[@Oldgamesitalia]

I'm using the latest versions and the script runs smoothly. There are other issues and I'm investigating, but I can get to the end of the script. While I check the new issues I'm finding, make sure you are using Blender 2.83.XX, launched in administration mode. Also make sure that all the lines in the script don't contain any typo.

[@kimmossige263]

@@Oldgamesitalia Hey man! Thanks, you were right, I got the script to run to the end, but we still get unknown error now with sdk 0.15, its just not working anymore :(

[@Oldgamesitalia]

@@kimmossige263 If you ran the script again over the scenery that you already tried to optimize, that might be the issue. In this case you should try to follow the process from step one (new directory, new GED import, etc.). I tried myself and my tiles get loaded in MSFS without the Unknown erro. However, I'm having other issues like a duplicate of the tiles that can not be moved (basically, there's one set of tiles that can be moved around as usual, but also a set that can not be selected at all but appears in the simulator). Also the polygon is not working as usual. Looks like the new SDK has some major issues. I'll see if I can get in touch with Thalixte.

[@kimmossige263]

@@Oldgamesitalia Thanks, I will try again. One question, did you set the script to build package true now, or did you build it with the sdk 0.15 manually?

[@Oldgamesitalia]

@@kimmossige263 I have tried with the build_package as True, but the behaviour seems different from before: there should be a second console window opening (showing the processes made by MSFS's package builder), but it doesn't show up (even though it's actually running - I checked it in my task manager). This doesn't prevent the script to complete its job, though. From what I've read, it looks like SDK 15 has quite a few bugs (polygons' terraforming not working well, for example)... I'll see if I can revert to 0.14.1 somehow and see if the issues disappear. Otherwise, we need to wait for 15.1 and hope the squashed the bug. I'll be running some tests later in the day. I'll post the updates here.

[@FU2Max]

fantastic tutorial. One thing though. Use lower case letters only or it will fail.

[@Oldgamesitalia]

You mean in the name of the project (and its folder)?

[@FU2Max]

@@Oldgamesitalia Yeah, as i found out :)

[@Oldgamesitalia]

Hmmm... I tried with Ojo-Tut2 as the name of both the folder and the project, and everything worked as intended. Another user had a problem with a directory named /_test/ but I couldn't replicate the issue. It worked even if the folder name had a _ in it.

[@cbcdesign001]

I wish somebody would create a better Google decoder, one where we can draw precisely around the areas/objects we want to import rather than being limited to a vague rectangle.

[@Oldgamesitalia]

Not being limited to a rectangle would be a step in the right direction, but the main issue still lies in the source: Google maps (both 2D and 3D) are made by tiles of different sizes (based on the resolution). Isolating a single object is very unlikely to not involve stuff coming from other tiles. Cleaning that mess up, might still prove quite difficult. Still, it's a pity that no one (as far as I know) looks interested in working on a better program than the one we have now.

[@GTRNTEKDSE]

somehow my tiles are all in one place above each other

[@Oldgamesitalia]

Ciao! The most common cause is an issue with downloading the coordinates from Google. If their servers think that you are making too many requests, they will ban you for up to 24 hours, preventing the script from downloading the necessary data. One way to confirm this, is to check the "positions" folder inside your project. If it's empty or it has less .pos files than the tiles you have imported with GED, then the script didn't download them as expected. Another way to check, is to watch the console while the script is running. If you see messages like "ERROR ! Google has blocked the request ..." them your IP has been banned for a few hours. It might be due to the number of tiles that you are importing from Google, or from an unstable connection. How many tiles is your project? It's difficult to say what actually triggers this. Try changing your IP or using a free VPN and then try again on a smaller area. Be aware that even this method might not work (as reported by at least another user on flightsim.to).

[@lalalala3968]

Waste of time. Just enjoy the game.

[@michaelhughes3293]

Its probably more of a waste of time commenting on a video you dont care about ! If you are not using community generated content then you are missing out on 90% of the "game"

[@atos7718]

Fuck thx u so much ! 😀