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Alternate horizon line method

I understand how to create a custom horizon in SkySafari 5 Pro, using a panorama image (btw, it would be nice if the help page for that was updated to clarify the instructions about the resolution to use, since it now says 4096 x 2048 in one place and 2048 x 1024 in another). But when setting up somewhere new, it can take quite a while to go through the process of stitching together a panorama, processing via photoshop, and exporting to get a horizon that can be used for planning observations (or quickly evaluating whether to use a given location or move to somewhere else). For that, a crude approximation of the horizon that can be quickly created would be helpful. It's also harder to generate a panorama once it's dark. 

I'm imagining the transparent line and translucent area modes having an "edit" option that allows handle points to be added. These could then be dragged close to stars that are just rising or setting above obstructions. The horizon line would have a straight connection between the handle points. For example, if I have a building on the horizon, I might create four handles, two to anchor the base of the building and two to indicate the roofline. For a tree, I might start with three points, drag one up to the top of the tree, then add more along the sides of the resulting triangle and drag them out to approximate its shape. If I can then name and save that, move to a new location, and repeat the process, I could step through time, switching between them, and have a sense of whether one place is better in terms of rising objects of interest clearing obstructions earlier. For something like this, I don't need a precise or detailed horizon, or even a complete 360 degrees. 

5 comments

  • 0
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    Bill Tschumy

    As I explained earlier in this forum, the size of the image is really dependent on the device.  On Mac is has always been 4096 x 2048.  On early iOS and Android devices, they couldn't handle the larger images and we recommended 2048 x 1024.  I believe modern devices can all handle the larger images now.  You can always use the smaller images on Mac as well, but you might notice the lose in resolution.

    Where are you seeing we mention both sizes in the same document.

    We have had the idea to allow the user to draw their horizon profile for some time.  We just have not had time to implement it.  Hopefully some day.

  • 1
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    Weems

    Hi Bill,

    Yes, I saw the earlier note in the forum, which I understood (but I also teach iOS programming, so I have a good sense of what goes on with the scalable graphics). I was just noting that the documentation still says that it has to be exactly one size in one place, and exactly a different size in another. Below is the text in the Help for OS X SkySafari 5 Pro, under Horizon and Sky Help, with the two places highlighted. Obviously this is not something most people will stumble into, but for those who do, it could be confusing.

    Not knowing how the horizon is implemented, I can’t guess at what it would take to make it editable, although I assume it’s probably a fair bit of work, and maybe there are just a few of us who would use it. As you say, perhaps some day. 

    Regards,

    Chip

  • 0
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    Weems

    Here's the text I referred to in my previous comment:

     

    Creating Your Own Horizon Panorama

    You can create your own horizon panorama - for instance, an image of your own back yard, or your favorite observing site. You can then import it into SkySafari, to show the sky as it realistically appears from your location.

    To do this, first create a panorama using your digital camera, and a panorama-stitching program like Adobe Photoshop, Canon PhotoStitch, or DoubleTake for Mac OS X. Resize your panorama image to dimensions of exactly 4096 pixels wide x 2048 pixels tall.

    The vertical sweep of the image represents 180 degrees of altitude, from the zenith at +90° (top of the image), to the horizon at 0° (middle of the image) to the nadir at -90° (bottom).

    The horizontal direction on your image represents 360° of azimuth, starting with north (0°) at the left edge, east (90°) one quarter of the way across, south (180°) halfway across, west (270°) three fourths of the way across, and finally wrapping around again to north (360° or 0°) at the right edge.

    When you're done photoshopping, save your panorama as a 32-bit RGBA color image file in PNG format. Make sure your image contains an alpha or transparency layer that accurately indicates the parts of your panorama that are opaque (the ground, trees, buildings, etc.) versus the parts that are transparent (the sky).

    Finally, import your horizon panorama into SkySafari. To do this, click the + button to the right of the list of horizon panoramas. Use the "Open File" dialog to browse to your horizon panorama PNG image file and select it. You can use the - button to delete a horizon panorama that you've previously imported, but you cannot delete any of SkySafari's built-in panoramas.

    If everything works correctly, your image will then appear in the list of horizon panoramas in SkySafari. You can select and display it just like SkySafari's other built-in horizon panoramas.

    If your horizon panorama doesn't appear in SkySafari's list, make sure it's in PNG format, and that its name ends with ".png". Make sure its dimensions are 2048 x 1024, and that's a 32-bit RGBA color image with an alpha (transparency) layer. If all else fails, you can email your image to Simulation Curriculum technical support, and we can try to debug it for you.

  • 0
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    Bill Tschumy

    OK, I will get the Help text fixed.  Someone copied the iOS troubleshooting into the Mac help.

    What is important is that the dimensions are powers of 2 with the width = 2 * height.  The width must be less than or equal to the maximum OpenGL texture size on that platform.

  • 0
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    Jeffrey Herrera

    I second the vote for a configurable horizon via 'handle points'. 

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