I am currently working on a project which will be imported to MSFS2020/-24. The model includes objects/roads which needs to follow the terrain, but I do not necessarily need the terrain to be displayed at the end since that can be adjusted more naturally within the sim.
I have used the Sandbox tool to make a coarse representation of the surrounding terrain but I need some tips on how to maybe better approach the different problems that arise:
1: On the left side following the road towards the right side of the building there will be a fence. My current approach to this is to make a line which then the fence will be placed on top of. I think this is a sufficient approach, but if you have another take please let me know.
2: On the left side, following the road to the east there will be a raised walkway between the fence and the road. The walkway needs to bend both in a horizontal and vertical small curve. I need some suggestions on how to do this.
3: On the right side of the building there is a walkway leading up to a platou which is higher. There needs to be a small vertical curve from the ground to 3ms height. I believe the approach needs to be similar to nbr. 2, but any suggestions appreciated.
That wouldnât be helpfull in SketchUp Free, but that might be an error in @vetle27 's forum profileâŚ
I would agree that this would be much easier in Pro with the help of some extensions.
That would imply you are using the free web-based version. What version are you actually using? Are you using a cracked version of SketchUp for desktop?
Why didnât you put that in your forum profile for the SketchUp version?
So presumably you are using this in a hobby capacity. If you are having trouble with Drape from the Sandbox tools, use can extrude the face of your road through the terrain and use Intersect Faces to create the outline of the road on the terrain.
I thought I did. I could not find any sections specifying further, but I will change it now.
I am using it as a hobby, yes.
I have looked into the drape tool, but that seems to introduce other issues. I agree that the drape tool is sufficient where the road is straight, but in my case the road is curved with a tilt, resulting the road also becoming tilted to one side. I want to make a road which is curved but also horizontally aligned.
Just to be clear, I do not necessarily want accurate terrain. But I want the objects on top of the terrain in MSFS (roads, walkways, parking, fences and so on) to be relatively accurate since the terrain in msfs can be adjusted through the sim developer kit. But each object needs to smoothly follow the terrain, and not have abrupt edges, so that is more on point in regards to the issue.
How would you make roads âin the airâ without terrain, or would/should you?
Typically, when dealing with terrain, you want to begin in 2DâŚideally located above the terrain lined up along the blue/Z axis. When ready, you can âprojectâ downward in several ways:
Proposed vs Existing Grading boundary: You want to identify the extent of the grade change, giving yourself some extra âwiggle roomâ and use Drape tool to essentially âclipâ out terrain to be modified from the larger mesh. Pro Tip: assign the existing terrain to a tag so it can be frozen as A. you never know if you need it again and B. you can show the before/after conditions easily via Tag+Scene visibility.
Objects on terrain: Again, working in 2D above the site, you can âDropâ objects onto the surface and theyâll âstopâ when they hit the ground. 3. Linear objects following terrain: Thereâs different ways to do this depending on what you want to create. See this thread for ideas.. Also you can use Path Copy to align objects to an undulating path.
Roads, sidewalks, parking: This can be trickyâŚIdeally, youâd have a grading plan that youâd be working towards so that you know where existing and proposed grades come together. Then it would essential âbuild itselfâ in place of the existing terrain area you clipped out (see above). You may want to invest in Vali Architects Instant Extensions - specifically Instant Roads.
Within Microsoft Flight Simulator 2020 there is a Software Development Kit (SDK) which is able to manipulate the scenery, for example through terraforming which adjusts the terrain. In other words: If I can place objects withing Sketchup relatively close to their actual position, I can manipulate the terrain within the sim to make it look as if the objects are actually placed on the ground.
