Airport lights

[binstream]

We are making a plugin for airport lights, please provide your feedback.

 

Total airport lights count: 1000+

 

Light types:

* PAPI

* VASI

* TDZ

* REIL

* Runway lights

* Taxi lights

* ???

 

For each light we need to know the following:

* Visibility distance?

* Does it have different colors?

* What are the angles for each color?

* Is it blinking or not?

 

Should these lights actually light up objects and cast shadows in the close-up views?

[peter.pirchl]

Hi Den,

we extracted the following requirements towards a lamp object (see below).

We could position and control each individual lamp within our database.

Any provided functionality in the light object, such as color changes in different sectors (e. g. PAPI lights), are highly appreciated, but could be solved by using 2 lamps with independent color values at the same position - at the end of the day, we need a system which runs stable at 60 Hz. Every calculation which can be simplified or outsourced to another CPU must be looked at.

************************************************
Lamp Object:
 

vector of center beam

range horizontal (-180 to +180)
range vertikal (-180 to +180)

light cone edge definition (wide beam vs spotlight)

Color (red / green / white / blue / yellow)
Color change: no transition required, only state change. Could be achieved by 2 lightpoints with different colors at the identical position

Intensity: 0 - 10'000 cd

configurable visibility ranges at daylight conditions: 0 - 16 km
configurable visibility ranges at night conditions: 0 - 32 km

correct behaviour in interaction with fog / visibility settings / haze / clouds

blinking: configurable blinking frequency (Hz) + duration (s)

rotation: conifgurable rotation speed (beacon light, lighthouse light), in Hz

Sequenced Flashing Lights ("running rabbit")  - linear group of lights with configurable spacing & sequence frequency

************************************************

 

additional notes:

• VASI / PAPI lights characteristics vary on different airports - they depend on the glideslope angle
• each airport will require the mentioned amount of 500-1000+ lights. The number of airports in our scenery should not be limited.
• to control the lightpoints we would require individual access to each lamp object and the associated characteristics by means of C++ API
• All parameters must be synchronized over multiple IG channels
• glare effect of light sources should be visible on clouds, haze, fog, objects. Cast shadows second priority
• in case more detailed characteristics are required towards each specific light type, we can provide loooong lists :unsure:

In case of questions, don't hesitate contacting us.

 

Viele Gruesse

Peter

[binstream]

That's very useful, thank you!

[ulf.schroeter]

Additionally - for usability in maritime simulations - configurable light on/off blinking sequences would be a very good feature

 

https://www.iho.int/iho_pubs/standard/S12_ENG.pdf

 

For maritime simulations also proper light visibility distance attenuation caused by local/global fog is extremely important (even though for local/patchy fog (fields) quite hard to implement...)

[binstream]

Ulf, thank you!

We'll see if the airfield lights system could be reused for maritime sims or maybe there will be the need for a separate add-on.

[ulf.schroeter]

I think it should be possible to have only one solution. Maritime lightpoints have more or less identical requirements as airport lights (color, sector, range,..), only flashing sequences used for specific buoy/lighthouse identification - are a little bit more complex (e.g. 1s on > 1s off > 2s on > 2s off > start of sequence)

[binstream]

Please check the new SimLights Add-on in UNIGINE Sim 2.2.

[philipp.almer]

I am trying to figure out how I can build a group of sequenced flashing lights for a "running rabbit" approach light for an airport as seen in the new SimLights addon.

 

Is there any further documentation on this?

 

I could make them blink, but they all blink in sync to each other, instead of a sequenced blinking.

[silent]

Hi Philipp,

 

Just check our sample after adding plugin to your project (located inside data/samples/plugins.sim_lights_00.world).

 

Basically, all you need to do is to set up Offset parameter in the Blinking section for each light:

 

Thanks!

[philipp.almer]

Thanks it is running now.

 

Duration was set to 1, after entering 1000 for each light it works...

 

But could you explain me the setting "Duration" any further?

I missunderstood the sense of this value, I guess.

[philipp.almer]

For a Running Rabbit Approach Lighting System, a "ball of light" runs towards the runway twice per second.

 

I would expect:

 

Frequency: 2 (twice per second)

Duration: 0.01

Offset: 0.01

 

But with those values the lights flash faster then 2 Hz.

This is what I don't understand...

 

I would like to achieve something like this:

 

[philipp.almer]

I assume something is incorrect with the duration value.

 

If I set the duration lower than half the frequency, the frequency value becomes useless.

The lights start to blink faster than the frequency value.

 

We would like to have the possibility to adjust the pulse width time of one blinking cycle.

 

Right now it is not possible to create a blinking flash light.

[philipp.almer]

Hi all

 

I used the new airport light plugin to equip an existing airport scenery with lights.

 

After placing a SimLight in a 3d object I get this artifact rising through the light glow.

 

https://goo.gl/photos/kAEAkueq26SvAw4d7

 

My approach to make it look nicer was to set the texture of the bulb head to emit light.

Together with the SimLight it doesn't look so bad anymore, but the artifact still shines through.

 

https://goo.gl/photos/Qc5DQaeHmHEJ731Y9

 

Is this a feasible approach or are there other ways to make it look even nicer without having performance issues?

 

Is there a way to make a 3d objects texture translucent for the SimLights?

 

Phil

 

PS:

 

I tried to attach the pics but a message told me I am not allowed to use image extension...

[silent]

Hi Philipp,

 

Thank you for your feedback.

 

I assume something is incorrect with the duration value.

Btw, how would be better to control duration of blink (in percent from frequency or in seconds?). We can fix add-on and provide you updated *.dll this week.

 

After placing a SimLight in a 3d object I get this artifact rising through the light glow.

SimLights add-on internally using the ObjectBillboards object for performance reasons. That is the main reason why you are getting such artifacts. More likely we can improve visual quality by introducing the Soft Intercation option for ObjectBillboards (similar to ObjectParticles). Unfortunately, I can't give you exact ETA on this, sorry.

 

[renato.semadeni]

Hi Andrey

 

Some how Philipp can't upload any pictures... The forum forbid it. He can't upload any pictures formats such as png, jpeg, ...

 

BTW, we would like to have the period in [Hz] and the pulse width in [sec]. Please see the attached picture. The offset should also be in [sec]

 

 

 

Additionally a possibility to define different sizes would be very nice. I mean, if it would be possible to define the size and/or intensity of the object for different distances of the viewer.

 

Kind regards,

Renato

[silent]

Hi Renato,

 

Some how Philipp can't upload any pictures... The forum forbid it. He can't upload any pictures formats such as png, jpeg, ...

If Image URL is not ending with image extension (for example, google drive links that ends with "3ZGc2ZzZjhnZG1KNU9pSXJ3" forum will generate an error). It is better to use More Reply options and attach images as files to post.

 

BTW, we would like to have the period in [Hz] and the pulse width in [sec]. Please see the attached picture. The offset should also be in [sec]

Thanks for clarification, I've passed this information to the dev team. We will try to provide you modified add-on build ASAP.

 

Additionally a possibility to define different sizes would be very nice. I mean, if it would be possible to define the size and/or intensity of the object for different distances of the viewer.

I believe, we already have 2 tickets for this in our internal TODO list (DAS-339, DAS-353). Can't guarantee currently that these features will be implemented in 2.3, sorry.

 

Thanks!

[silent]

Hi Renato,

 

Please, check your PM - I've send you updated Sim Lights plugin build. Main changes:

• Reworked blinking controls:
  • Added Pulse Period (in seconds), Pulse Width (in seconds), Enabled / DIsabled Period (in seconds).
  • We do not recommend to use values lower than 0.05 for that fields to avoid any visual artifacts.
• Improved performance (update should take less time).

Sample is not yet migrated. You will need to update all your SimLight nodes (manually) in order to work with updated plugin, sorry.

[renato.semadeni]

Hi Andrey

 

Thanks a lot for the prompt update! =)

[renato.semadeni]

Hi Andrey

 

We are using the new sim light patch and are observing that a implemented rabbit light is not constantly blinking in its defined frequency and offset. I mean, if the camera is not showing all lights, those which are not visible start to blink differently. Secondly, if we let the lights blink for about half an hour the are not synchronized as in the beginning.

 

Please just create a new test scenery 'Airport Lights' and paste the zip file into its root.

 

Kind regards,

Renato

[silent]

Hi Renato,

 

Regarding first issue - you need to manually update rabbit light nodes (just check the sample - there are two groups of rabbit lights nodes that updated constantly).

 

I will also check the desynchronization issue with your test sample and report back.

 

Thanks!

[renato.semadeni]

Hi Andrey

 

Ah I see the update call in the world script!

 

Thanks a lot

[silent]

Hi Renato,

 

You removed test sample - is everything is working as expected after manual blinking nodes update?

Thanks!

[renato.semadeni]

Morning Andrey

 

Sorry this was not my intention...

 

Here it comes  :D

Airport Lights.zip

[silent]

Hi Renato,

 

Thanks for the test scene. I've slightly modified world script - added manual synchronization, changed color and size of the lights (so they will be more noticeable). Tried to run this couple of hours and it seems that I can't reproduce the de-synchronization issue.

 

Airport Lights.cpp

[renato.semadeni]

Hi Andrey

 

Thanks a lot for the help! I will pass it over to Phil.

 

Kind regards,

Renato