Step by Step Tutorial for Detailing Airports

This tutorial is designed to assist you in getting started in airport detailing.  Many of the steps in this process will link you to the reference sections of the ASD tutorial for more detailed instructions on the individual tools and techniques used.

Topics in this section:

Creating an Airport

Detailing an Airport

Creating an Airport

In this section of the tutorial we will show you how to create a new airport from scratch.  We will show you the process of airport creation and setting up its default parameters.

The process of detailing your airport will be covered under the section Detailing an Airport, which uses an imported airport as an example, but the principles are the same.

Step 1 - Open a Map File

Use this command to open an existing map in a new window. You can also open multiple maps at once. Any map either created by coastline extraction, or existing *.scb map files from previous versions of ASD will be imported into the version. 2.1 format automatically. You can also copy maps from the ASD CD-ROM and open them through this menu.

Step 2 - Place your Airport

Select the Airport Tool  and left-click on your map, and you have taken the first step in creating an Airport. The Airport Properties Page will be displayed automatically.  Its a good idea to complete the basic information right away.

Step 3 - Fill out the Airport Properties Page

The information fields on the airport’s Properties Page must be filled out completely, or a compile error will occur when attempting to compile the Airport and Facility Directory (AFD) .bgl file. One thing to watch for here is how the location fields for your airports are filled out. The syntax for country and city must be exact. For example, if you are doing airports within the US, it must say "United States" exactly, not US, or Unitedstates", etc.

Another critical component of the airport properties page is the airport Elevation. This will determine the elevation command for the airport runway(s). If the runway elevation does not match the underlying terrain altitude exactly, your runways may not be visible in your scenery. The Elevated Surface box is designed for use with FS 98 elevated mesh terrain, and should not be necessary in FS 2000 scenery. It was used to place hard surfaces on top of the elevated mesh terrain that was sometimes used in previous versions of the simulator. 

You also want to visit the Visibility tab to set your default values for the airport, and also, go to the File\Preferences\Taxiways tab if you have not done so already, and set up your defaults there.

The ATIS tab is for creating ATIS messages for FS 98 and before, and has no function for FS 2000 scenery, since the newest version of the simulator no longer supports this in favor of the automated weather information messages.

Step 4 - Create your runways

Use the Runway tool      to create your runway(s). This process, and the many runway settings, is described in detail in the Runway Tool section of the tutorial.  Before creating your runways, you might want to go to the Internet and get some data on the airport, to use as a guideline.

Step 5 - Create your taxiways and aprons

Use the Taxiway Tool  to create your taxiways.  Use the Polygon Tool to create the apron polygons.  Detailed information on creating taxiways and apron polygons can be found in their respective sections of this tutorial.

Step 6 - Create your Airport Property polygon

Use the Polygon Tool to create the Airport Property polygon.  Its a good idea to draw this polygon after the runways, taxiways and apron polygons have been established.  You have a much better idea of what its size and shape should be.

You are now ready to start detailing your airport.

Detailing an Airport

We will be working with the airport we imported into our Louisiana ASD map, New Orleans International Airport.

Getting the default airport into our ASD project

Step 1 - Open the map file

If you have not done so already, open ASD and go to the File menu and select Open Map File, or use the file folder icon      . Select the Louisiana map.

Step 2 - Setup your project files

Create a new directory on your hard drive for this scenery project.  Let's use FS2000\Scenery\Louisiana. Make sure you have setup your ASD Preferences, and your Map Properties.

Step 3 - Create a blank map file

In this case, we are going to create just the airport, and the immediate surroundings.  Then we are going to compile this area of scenery, and exclude the default scenery, so that only our new project appears (no duplicate airport).

In order to do this, we must first eliminate the ASD regions, so that only the default scenery we are importing will be contained on our map.  Otherwise this whole process will be quite confusing.

To do this, go to the Select menu, and choose Select All.

Press your Delete key, and confirm the deletion of 1600 region, and 1 airport (if you already performed the import exercise from Importing Scenery). This will give you a blank Louisiana map.

Step 4 - Open the Scenery Files

Now we are going to import the entire USSE (US Southeast) area from the default FS 2000 scenery, very much like we performed in the previous importing scenery exercise, but this time we are going to select: All Airports, VORS, ILS and NDBs, Transportation, Hydrography, 2D Polygons, and Flattening Polygons. Makes sure you also open the AFD BGL file, so that all of our airport information will be imported on our Airport Properties Page.

Step 5 - Find the Airport

Use the Find tool     from the toolbar, or open the Edit menu and select Find. Select the Airport radio button, and New Orleans Intl will be listed.  Double-click on it, and your map view will be centered directly over the airport.

Step 6 - Import the Airport

Now left mouse click on the Airport you want and select Import. Once an airport, or any map object is imported it becomes a permanent part of your ASD map file. Of course, you can always delete anything you don't want later.  But to make something part of your scenery you MUST import it.  Otherwise it is merely displayed as a reference.

Save your map file with the Save tool       or select Save Map from the File Menu. New Orleans International Airport is now imbedded into our ASD map project.

Do not close your map file yet.  if you do, you will loose the display of all of the default scenery that you have opened in the BGL viewer, but have not yet imported!

The process of importing this airport saves you from having to fill in all of the data fields on the Airport Properties Page.  All of the information from the default scenery is automatically transferred. Also, based on this, you will not have to compile an AFD BGL file.  The existing entry in the default scenery will not be excluded when you create your exclude file.

Establishing your ground layout and texturing

Step 1 - Open Airport View

Once centered over the airport, open Airport View by right mouse-click on the airport, and selecting Diagram from the pop-up menu. You can also double-clicking on the airport and select Diagram from the Airport Properties Page.

You can rotate the airport view by using the    Rotation tool.  Hold the shift key down while using this command to increase the increment to ten degrees. Note that this command does not rotate the geographic position of the airport, only the view of the airport diagram. It is useful for orienting objects horizontally or vertically when adding parallel components such as taxiways associated with runways.

Step 2 - Establish your airport polygon texturing

Double-click on the green airport polygon and bring up the polygon's Properties Page.

The polygon should already be marked as Airport Property.  The shape of this polygon will also determine the flatten polygon that ASD will generate for this airport.  You can change the texture of the polygon by going to the Texture tab and using a texture of your own creation, or you can just stay with the default grass texture.  If you make your own texture, make sure you create the seasonal variations and check the Season Adjust box. Also make sure you visit the Visibility tab, and make sure the range and scale factors are OK. 

If you create your own textures and seasonal variations, make sure you have them in your local scenery project directory, and that the ASD File Preferences specify this location.

Step 3 - Establish your apron and taxiway texturing

Use your Spyglass tool  and zoom in on the apron polygons. Double-click on the polygons to open the polygon's Properties Page. Make sure they are not declared as airport property. Then go to the Texture tab and take a look at the texturing.

You can change the texture of the polygon by going to the Texture tab and using a texture of your own creation, or you can just stay with the default grass texture.  Also make sure you visit the Visibility tab, and make sure the range and scale factors are OK. 

Step 4 - Check your taxiway parameters

Check your taxiway widths, whether or not they are  lighted, and their texturing. Use the radio buttons in the Render As box to indicate which type of drawing command is to be used to render the taxiway. If the Taxiway button is pressed, it will have blue edge lights at night. If the Road button is pressed, it will have moving orange lights at night. You also want to take a look at the Visibility tabs too, to make sure the parameters are what you need.

Step 5 - Specify your airport defaults

If you want to change your taxiway and apron texturing, now is the time to decide.  Go to your ASD Preferences and visit the Taxiways tab.  You can specify your texturing, taxiway width and lighting parameters. Setting up these preferences will allow you to add your airport objects with your preferred settings, and not have to make changes on each object's Properties Page when you create them.

Adding aprons and taxiways

Let's add some detail to the ground layout. If you have decided on your textures and other parameters for taxiways and aprons, this is a simple matter of drawing the objects in.  We will also use some cut and paste technique.

In addition to the zoom spyglass, you can also right-click anywhere on the screen and select Center on the pop-up menu.  You can use your keyboard number pad - + to control your zoom factor.

Drawing polygons

Use your Polygon tool   and draw a connecting polygon between two taxiways.

Right-click on the new polygon and select Copy from the pop-up menu. This will copy the polygon to the clipboard, along with all its properties.

Right-click again on the screen and select Paste from the pop-up menu.  Position the copied polygon with your mouse, and then hold down the Shift key and take hold of one of the drawing handles with the mouse cursor.  You can use this technique to rotate the polygon.  Move it into position and then left-click anywhere (else) on the screen.  Your copied polygon is in position.

Drawing taxiways

Use your Taxiway tool   and use your mouse to draw a connecting taxiway. The direction of the line segment between vertices can be constrained to increments of 45 degrees. To do this, hold the shift key down when the first point of a segment is set. Taxiway creation is completed by double-clicking the left mouse button, or by holding the Ctrl key down when you set the last point.

Points may be removed from a taxiway by positioning the mouse pointer over the edit handle of the point to be deleted, holding down the "d" key, and clicking the left mouse button. Points may be inserted by holding down the "i" key, positioning the mouse pointer over an edit handle near the insertion point, and clicking the left mouse button. The new point will be inserted halfway between the edit handle and the previous one.

Continue drawing, copying and pasting apron polygons and taxiways until you are satisfied with the ground layout.  Of course, you can always make more changes later to suit the 3D objects you intend to add to the airport.

	Recommended reading:
	The ASD Polygon Tool	The ASD Taxiway Tool

Adding 3D Objects

We will add some 3D detail examples to get you started detailing the airport with objects.  There are over 200 macro objects that come with ASD, as well as the Building and Hangar toolbar creation tools.  Its your choice which selections to use, but we will get the process rolling here.

Getting some airport data

Now is a good time to get as much airport data as you can get your hands on. One of the best sources on the Internet is Airnav at: http://www.airnav.com/airports/ Just enter the airport identifier code and a wealth of information and links about that airport is immediately available.

Sometimes an airport will also have a web site listed.

Step 1 - Place a macro object

Use the Macro tool   and the cursor will change to the Lat/Lon position tool. Insert a macro by clicking the left mouse button at the location where you want it.

Step 2 - Select the macro

Once you left click on the screen, the initial position of the macro is established, and the Palette for the Macro Facility Directory automatically opens.  Select your macro here. In this case, we will select a fuel station to sit in front of the Fuel Box.

Step 3 - Position the macro

Once you have placed the macro in the position you want, you can use the Position and Rotation functions of ASD to move or orient the object as desired.

Note that the macro icon on the screen is represented with an M.  This tells you the orientation of the object, the way it was intended by the person that designed it.  In this case a hangar, where the door is considered the font. 

Do keep in mind that the more 3D objects you place, the more effect on frame rates there will be in your scenery.  You can place a healthy number of objects without causing any real degradation in performance, but you should monitor this in your scenery, and when performance seems to become an issue, the #D objects will be your most likely culprit.

One technique which is very important is to place your 3D objects using various levels of Area Complexity. You set this when you place each object on the Visibility tab on its Properties Page. Placing several of your objects at the higher settings, such as Dense or Very Dense will allow end users to turn down their complexity settings in Flight Simulator, to eliminate the drawing of some of the objects and kick up their frame rates. Choose the objects which are not really critical (eye candy) for the higher complexity, leaving the most important objects for the lower settings (spare, normal).

There are a variety of 3D objects which ASD can generate, as well as the pre-constructed macro objects.  You can detail your airport with as many of these objects as you like.  Its up to you as to just how many objects to place at this airport.

As macro objects (and all other types of objects) are added to the airport, they will appear on the Objects tab of the Airport Properties Page. You can delete or restore deleted objects easily with this menu. You can also change the drawing order of polygons. This can be a very useful tool, particularly when tracking down compile errors.  You can experiment with deleting certain macros or objects to see if it solves the problem.  Then restore them later.

	Recommended reading:
	Insert Control Tower	The FS Building Tool		The ASD Hangar Tool
	The ASD Beacon Tool	The ASD Windsock Tool	The ASD Sign Tool

Creating scenery around the airport vicinity

The advantage of adding 3D objects in Airport View is that you have proportionally sized icons, and you can place them very precisely in relation to the other scenery elements.  But of course, outside of the immediate airport, those other scenery elements are the regions found in Map View.

Step 1 - Open the Map Features display

ASD allows you to view and edit (but not create) these Map View regions while in Airport View, and add new scenery using the more powerful object placement capabilities. While in Airport View, open the Display menu and select Map Features.  You can select individual region types, or elect to display everything.

You will be able to view and manipulate all of those Map View regions, and add more scenery in relation to them very accurately.

Step 2 - Move any Airport View objects to better match the Map View scenery and add more buildings

Once you have the map features displayed, you will see the connecting roads and other scenery objects (regions) that surround the airport grounds. When you double-click on one of these objects you will be able to identify what they are. But of course, since we have not imported any of them yet, their Properties Page will appear grayed-out.

In the KMSY scenery we imported, there was already a standard FS Building directly outside of the airport grounds, but it was not oriented to the road we are now viewing from Map View. You may want to move and rotate it to look more like it belongs there.  Or you could just delete it an add your own object.  Its your choice.

You may also want to add some more buildings or macro objects here. Whatever you think is appropriate for the immediate area outside of the airport.  It could be a combination of macro objects, standard buildings, hangars, or of course, trees and vegetation.

Step 3 - Move farther away from the airport and add more objects

In airport view, a new scenery object is automatically associated with the airport or group closest to it. If one of these is not within a specific radius, the Object Dialog Box will appear, allowing you to specify which airport or group you want the object associated with. At this point, we will add a macro and create a new group by clicking on the New Group button in the Object dialog. This action will open the Group Properties Page.

The Group Properties Page is very similar to those of other objects, without Style or Texture/Color tabs.  Specify the name of the group, the latitude and longitude coordinates, and the default Visibility properties of objects that will be placed into it. The objects in the group will not be visible in map view, but can be seen within Airport View for any airport nearby. Groups are selected for compiling in Map View from the Select menu.

Once the group has been established, the Palette for the Macro Facility Directory will appear, so you can select the macro object. Of course, if you began the process by initiating another type of object, using the Building Tool, etc., the relevant Properties Page would appear instead of the Macro Palette.

Continue adding more objects around the airport, attached to the airport itself or your new group.  You can also add more groups as you like.  Just remember that when you compile, any groups you create must be selected from the Select menu, otherwise the objects you placed in that group will not appear.

Import the map regions surrounding the airport

Go into Map View and Import the map regions surrounding the immediate airport. Its up to you how far out you go, but of course, the farther you go, the more things you will have to import, one at a time.

You are going to be creating an Exclude BGL File around this airport in the next step, so if you do not import these immediately surrounding regions from the default scenery, they will not be visible when you add your scenery project.  So what you are doing basically is removing the scenery from the default, then adding it right back in.  This is necessary, since you need to create an exclude to avoid seeing double runways, etc. at your imported airport, and it is simply not possible to exclude just the airport that accurately.

Create your exclude area

Once you have imported the regions surrounding the airport, save your map and close it.  Then re-open it. This will remove all of the extra regions that were not imported, to unclutter the map. Now create your exclude area in exactly the size of  your imported airport and regions.  No more, no less. This will give you a scenery project with just exactly the objects you need, within the area that will be removed from the default scenery.

Compile your scenery

Make certain that you have your compiler properties set up correctly in the File\Preferences menu. Also, make sure you have setup your map properties with the path to your scenery project, and with the scenery file names you want.

Step 1 - Select your scenery objects

In Map View, go to the Select menu and choose All Features.

Step 2 - Go to the Compile menu

Go to the File menu and select Create Scenery Files.

Step 3 - Compile the scenery

Make sure the VOR, ILS, NDB and Markers, Static Scenery and Exclude boxes are all checked. Click the Compile button.

If you have the Compile Wizard box checked in your File\Preferences menu, the Progress dialog box will appear.

Your compiled scenery BGL files are automatically sent to the local scenery directory you have setup in your map properties. A second copy will appear with your source files in the ASDv2\ASDesign directory.

If you experience compile errors, the most likely cause is from 3D macro objects placed in your airports and groups.  If this is the case, you can go to the Objects tab on the Airport Properties Page to eliminate/restore objects one at a time, and find the likely culprit.

Recommended reading: Installing your scenery into FS 20000