Ortho4xp master source list

[Captain Kitten 1,260]

UPDATED 18.07.2018

A master list of the best Ortho4XP sources for each country

THIS LIST IS COMPLETELY DEPENDENT ON YOUR FEEDBACK

 

THIS IS NOT A SUPPORT THREAD FOR ORTHO - PLEASE ONLY GIVE FEEDBACK ON COVERAGE AND READ THIS INTRO BEFORE COMMENTING

Some notifications
There may be several listings for each country and not every country will have full coverage per source and combinations may be needed.
Some sources need editing of the carnet_d_adress.py file in ortho or other modifications to work. See the bottom of this list for how to get the sources you won't find in the source list of ortho.
WARNING: Do NOT use these for airport creation or in any way distribute the downloaded tiles in any way. Even when making freeware or sharing them for no charge.
Doing so may violate the source providers terms of use. These are meant to be for personal use ONLY. As of why this is get approval of usage, consult the source provider in question.
There is a list at the bottom of this page with an (somewhat limited) explanation for each source.

For a short "how to guide" for Ortho and other x-plane related questions see the BEGINNERS GUIDE

Daikan from x-plane.org has some great advice:

Just a remark: Before embarking on the creation of orthophoto scenery for large areas (and potentially wasting a lot of time, bandwidth and disk space in the process) it is highly suggested to go check out the imagery online interactively before doing so.
Arc: https://server.arcgisonline.com/arcgis/rest/services/World_Imagery/MapServer?f=jsapi
GO2: https://maps.google.com
Bing: https://www.bing.com/maps/aerial
etc. (see carnet_d_adresses.py for more URL's)
Sampling different areas at your desired zoom level(s) should give you a good idea of the overall quality pretty quickly.

First lesson with Ortho4XP: Hold off from downloading terrabytes of data at once before you haven't done some sampling - either through the provider's website or using the custom zoomlevel function...

 

About this list:
.
Explenation of list parameters:
I follow an approximate satisfaction rate in percent (higher is better on all):
Clouds: 0-100% -there might be clouds in the ortho images. Example: 100%= NO clouds -95% Some clouds here and there but not interfering much with immersion.
Color match: 0-100% -the color matching between and within areas of tiles. Example: 100% NO difference at all between tiles or patches within tiles. 60%=big differences between tiles and some severe patches.
ZL coverage: 15-19 -Many sources may have less covered tiles in higher zoom levels resulting in black or white squares in the landscape (this parameter is mostly for what the info provider has tested)

When giving info - please do so in this format:

Country
[short name of the source]
Clouds: 100%
Color Match: 95%
ZL: all 15-17=100% 18-19=85%

All the parameters are made with the thought of having 100% as the most positive. That is why cloud coverage might seem somewhat counter intuitive. See it as 100% gone 

Check out ZonePhoto! It has good quality and covers most of Europe and some other areas (All ZL 16)
 

So, let the list begin 

 

 

_________________________________________________________________________________________________
 

Some sources mentioned are not listed in the native Ortho4xp and will need a "hack" to be enabled.

Might be worth testing:

 

EOX

Clouds: 100%
Color Match: 99%
ZL: 0-14=100%

Requires the following changes to Carnet_d_adresses.py:

https://github.com/d41k4n/Ortho4XP/commit/caac8e369bc90acb999c6ea7fdbcdd141326858a

Alternatively you can download the modified Carnet_d_adresses.py

DE
You will need to go "fish" for the session cookie and replace the value in line 338 of Carnet_d_adresses.py.
You can do that by opening the network tab of your browser debugger (i.e. press "CTRL+Shift+E" in Firefox) and got to this URL.
Then select any request and look for the "Cookie" header. Copy&Paste the value into Carnet_d_adresses.py as mentioned above.
Credit: Daikan from x-plane.org

GO2

https://github.com/d41k4n/Ortho4XP/commit/dbaa04b8c4f15e1fc144d3ea3411ee300ea9af32

Replaces the current GO/GO2 source definition with one that does not suffer from having to manually update the map version (which I think is the root cause for the problem described).

You can also download the whole file which contains some other fixes from my GitHub repo here:

https://github.com/d41k4n/Ortho4XP/raw/dbaa04b8c4f15e1fc144d3ea3411ee300ea9af32/Carnet_d_adresses.py

Credit: Daikan from x-plane.org
OP disclaimer: My changes available on Github are still a work in progress and might not always work as they're only marginally tested, especially when used out of context (i.e. without cloning the repository and syncing to a branch)

NO
Download the edited ortho version here: https://github.com/d41k4n/Ortho4XP/tree/hacks/norway-source and copy only "carnet_d_adresses.py" and "Ortho4xp.py" to your ortho4xp folder.
Also make sure that the sources alias "NO" is listed in the list of  source codes (in the carnet_d_adresses file - open it in notepad). (Appears in the drop down list of sources in ortho)


NO2
Copy the following text and paste it between other source codes in your carnet_d_adress.py file (open and edit with notepad)
Also make sure that the sources alias "NO2" is listed in the list of  source codes

   

 ####################################################
    # National geographical institute of Norway
    # Unsure about copyright
    ####################################################
    elif website in ['NO2']:
        if not pyproj_loaded:
            return 'error'
        text_til_x_left=(til_x_left//16)*16
        text_til_y_top=(til_y_top//16)*16
        montx=0 if til_x_left%16==0 else 1
        monty=0 if til_y_top%16==0 else 1
        [latmax,lonmin]=gtile_to_wgs84(text_til_x_left,text_til_y_top,zoomlevel)
        [latmin,lonmax]=gtile_to_wgs84(text_til_x_left+16,text_til_y_top+16,zoomlevel)
        [ulx,uly]=pyproj.transform(epsg['4326'],epsg['32633'],lonmin,latmax)
        [urx,ury]=pyproj.transform(epsg['4326'],epsg['32633'],lonmax,latmax)
        [llx,lly]=pyproj.transform(epsg['4326'],epsg['32633'],lonmin,latmin)
        [lrx,lry]=pyproj.transform(epsg['4326'],epsg['32633'],lonmax,latmin)
        text_minx=min(ulx,llx)
        text_maxx=max(urx,lrx)
        text_miny=min(lly,lry)
        text_maxy=max(uly,ury)
        deltax=text_maxx-text_minx
        deltay=text_maxy-text_miny
        minx=text_minx+montx*deltax/2.0
        maxx=minx+deltax/2.0
        miny=text_miny+(1-monty)*deltay/2.0
        maxy=miny+deltay/2.0
        url="http://openwms.statkart.no/skwms1/wms.georef_nib?version=1.3.0&\
             service=WMS&request=GetMap&layer=Georef-omlopsfoto_orto50&format=image/jpeg&\
             STYLE=default&SRS=EPSG%3A32633&BBOX="+\
             str(minx)+','+str(miny)+','+str(maxx)+','+str(maxy)+\
             "&WIDTH=2048&HEIGHT=2048"
        fake_headers=fake_headers_generic

NO3
Copy the following text and paste it between other source codes in your carnet_d_adress.py file (open and edit with notepad)
Also make sure that the sources alias "NO3" is listed in the list of  source codes

    ####################################################
    # Norway Webatlas by twitch.tv/GiantUnicorn
    # Unsure about copyright
    ####################################################
    elif website=='NO3':
        url="https://waapi.webatlas.no/maptiles/tiles/webatlas-orto-newup/wa_grid/"+\
            str(zoomlevel)+"/"+str(til_x)+"/"+str(til_y_top)+".jpeg?APITOKEN=9da664c7-e5b9-4dc7-a093-7ef0f90563c0"
        fake_headers=fake_headers_generic

 

Some Explenations:
OSM = Open Street map - NOT to be used for ortho tiles creations!
BI              = bing.com
GO / GO2 = google.com
Here          = here.com
ARC          = arcgisonline.com
USA_1      = nationalmap.gov
USA_2      = arcgisonline.com
FR            = geoportail.fr
FR_sat     = geosud.fr (ZL17)
FR_sat2   = geosud.fr (ZL17)
FR_satP   = geosud.fr (ZL18)
TOP_25   = geosud.fr (ZL 16)
DE            = geodatenzentrum.de
SP            = ign.es
IT              = minabiente.it
SE2          = lantmateriet.se
Hitta / SE   = eniro.no
PL             = geoportal.gov.pl
BE_Wa      = geoservices.wallonie.be
NE             = gdsc.nlr.nl
NE2           = geodata1.nationaalgeoregister.nl
SLO          = gis.arso.gov.si
CRO          = geoportal.dgu.hr
OST          = wien.gov.at
CH             = map.geo.admin.ch
AU_1         = gov.au
NZ             = govt.nz
JP              = go.jp
FO             = kortal.fo
F44           = http://vuduciel.loire-atlantique.fr/#11/47.3435/-1.6788
GE            = ge.ch/sitg


Have I missed something? Something to add? Please drop me a note and I'll get right to it 

Have a nice day, happy landings and blue skies! 

[DragoB 26]

Hitta.se is TESTED and the best one for SWEDEN

[cobra66 0]

i have been tested with Spain and its more than perfect but at night there is no lights the scenery its too dark. is there any solution ? 

Edited August 28, 2018 by cobra66

[Shenherm 20]

The best source for Canada is GO2.

I believe it is better than the ARC source that was tested in Yellowknife.

GO2 has a few clouds scattered in remote locations, but they are unlikely to be noticeable when flying enroute.

[qwqaholic 12]

Hong Kong
[GO2]
Clouds: 100%
Color Match: 90%
ZL: Tested 17 100%

Don't even bother to try other sources, Google is the only good source for Hong Kong. 
I wasted 2 hours downloading from Bing just to realize all images are covered with white clouds

[Hrafninn 4]

Sweden
Hitta
Clouds: 100% (As far as I'm aware, have done most of central Sweden and along the coast up north to Kiruna)
Color Match: 95% (Mostly it's excellent, but this is prone to happen somewhat more often up north).
ZL: 15-18=100%

[fermonro 0]

Hi guys, http://map.eniro.no/ is an AWESOME source for Norway and Sweden. But I don't know how to make Ortho4xp use it. I use 1.30, but can downgrade to 1.20 if needed. Can you please help me?

 

I found this code, but I use 1.30, so not sure how to use it:

 

  ####################################################
    # Sweden Eniro karta (thanks to Durian)
    # Unsure about copyright
    ####################################################
    elif website=='SE':
        url="http://map04.eniro.no/geowebcache/service/tms1.0.0/aerial/"+\
            str(zoomlevel)+"/"+str(til_x)+"/"+str(2**zoomlevel-1-til_y)+".jpeg"
        fake_headers=fake_headers_generic    

Edited January 3, 2019 by fermonro

[Flyschool 0]

Hey ! 

 

Is it possible to add source in the new version of Orth4XP (1.30) ? I want to add FR for France and SP for Spain.

 

Thank you

[pilotandrei 2]

Bulgaria
Arc
Clouds: 95%
Color Match: 98%
ZL: 17

[SpoonyBoobah 0]

EOX is amazing, it only goes up to zoom level 14 but for rural areas, its amazing! So for tiles with no nearby airports that your never gonna fly at low altitudes, or if every other source is shocking...then EOX is amazing, i have covered most of eastern europe in EOX and done most of the Alps due to every other source just being a patchwork mess except for Innsbruck and other major cities (Geneva, Zurich etc.)

[Yuvalaboulafia 1]

Hi,

is it possible to test and add Israel official map?

has by far better updated and accurate maps compared to google or bing.

israel
https://www.govmap.gov.il/?c=204000,595000&z=0&b=1
Clouds: 100%
Color Match: 70%
ZL: 17 90%

Edited January 22, 2019 by Yuvalaboulafia

[pilotsanti 0]

Hey guys,

I´ve got a question about the SP source (Spain).

Is there any way I can ´´hack´´ SP too for Ortho4Xp 1.30 because there is not really a good source for Spain and when I use Ortho4Xp 1.20b, it gives me a bug at the coastlines.

I would appreciate it if somebody could help me out there because I really wanna fly to Ibiza.

Thank you,

Santi

Edited February 6, 2019 by pilotsanti

[doudoualexou 22]

On 2/6/2019 at 9:20 PM, pilotsanti said:

Hey guys,

I´ve got a question about the SP source (Spain).

Is there any way I can ´´hack´´ SP too for Ortho4Xp 1.30 because there is not really a good source for Spain and when I use Ortho4Xp 1.20b, it gives me a bug at the coastlines.

I would appreciate it if somebody could help me out there because I really wanna fly to Ibiza.

Thank you,

Santi

Sorry, I don't know. 

[Kamaku 0]

On 2/6/2019 at 9:20 PM, pilotsanti said:

Hey guys,

I´ve got a question about the SP source (Spain).

Is there any way I can ´´hack´´ SP too for Ortho4Xp 1.30 because there is not really a good source for Spain and when I use Ortho4Xp 1.20b, it gives me a bug at the coastlines.

I would appreciate it if somebody could help me out there because I really wanna fly to Ibiza.

Thank you,

Santi

Hello, Spain is all covered here: https://www.spainuhd.es/ , have a look

[Phoenix990 0]

For people who don’t have extra sources. For Netherlands use GO2 bing gives me white tiles all the time and airport regions are pixelated. With GO2 it’s clouds 99% Color match ca 90% tested all ZL16-19. very high quality pictures.

[doudoualexou 22]

14 minutes ago, Phoenix990 said:

For people who don’t have extra sources. For Netherlands use GO2 bing gives me white tiles all the time and airport regions are pixelated. With GO2 it’s clouds 99% Color match ca 90% tested all ZL16-19. very high quality pictures.

Could you also give us the Zool Level accuracy? 

[zetterberg 0]

What is the name of provider called NO X?

[MediumRareBaku 0]

Not sure how closely this list is being maintained/will be maintained in the future, but I am in the middle of an Arc ZL 17 run in British Columbia, Canada and it is NOT 100% cloud free. Getting a good amount of clouds in my photos.

[doudoualexou 22]

3 hours ago, MediumRareBaku said:

Not sure how closely this list is being maintained/will be maintained in the future, but I am in the middle of an Arc ZL 17 run in British Columbia, Canada and it is NOT 100% cloud free. Getting a good amount of clouds in my photos.

Hi could you just fill up every criteria so that I can update the list? 

[Teddit 0]

Is anyone aware if ArcGIS updating their imagery? For example.  is it cycled every 6 or so months?

 

[maksimb 0]

okay well jp i would say is ab 50 color and 100% cloud but it is screwed up in many spots so its blue in hundreds of areas at zl 16 andbi is 80 cloud and 90 color

[HiFlyer99 1]

Hi,

since I compiled alot of areas over the last week, here are my findings (all August 2019):

first tip for everyone in general: Never compile without checking the tile with the Preview option in Ortho4XP at ZL13 (from ZL13 and above only the resolution of the tiles get better, errors/clouds colors and appearance of the tiles remains the same).

second tip is to save a lot of time: Arc, BI and USA2 using in most areas in the world all the same source! Arc and USA2 IS in fact the same source every time. I would suggest always to use Arc instead of USA2 since their servers are way faster... So if you have errors in one of those sources you should check GO2 first!

whole UK Island: Arc almost 99 % cloud free, and no errors, color match is alright. Dont use BING source as it has loads of errors in tiles, blue/white areas, clouds and everything) Tested zoom lvl 15 - higher.

for Japan: GO2 is the only "okay" source here. But here are lots of areas with errors, I would say Color match is alright, cloud free 90 % but errors are in like 70 % of the tiles, however mostly smaller ones, but before compile I would check the tiles with preview option and ZL13. Some have so many errors, you better stick with default scenery. I dont know what the source go.jp is, but this site is down. Tested ZL 15 - higher.

Western US + Rocky mountains (California, Colorado, Utah, Nevada, Arizona): You should use mostly GO2 here. In some areas where google tiles have stripes and other errors in tiles, mostly Arc is good enough. Cloud free 99 %, color match is alright and error rate is pretty low if you switch to Arc where google fails. Tested ZL 15 - higher.

Florida: GO2 once again, however color match is not so good in some areas, some clouds for the Florida Keys and southern Florida there is no good source in my opinion. All sources there looks brown and dead. But still GO2 is the best here by far. Tested ZL 15 - higher.

France: You have to switch between GO2 and Arc, there is no source which cover the whole land. Color match is alright, but mostly scan errors. So you might wanna check Arc then or the other way around. Tested ZL 15 - higher.

Southern Greenland: USA2 all the way, be aware that the general quality of the tiles are poor and very blurry, so you want to compile only 1-2 with ZL15 make a flight over it if its enough for you. I skipped it, to unsharp for me. Tested ZL 15 - higher.

Northern Greenland: all sources full of errors.

Canada: most of the country is full of errors. Even if you switch through, every source has lots of errors over the whole tile, so not usable in most cases.

Russia, Kazhakstan, Mongolia large parts of China: same as Canada, full of errors, no source avaiable. Even if you find a mostly error free source its incredibly unsharp.

Thailand, Vietnam, Laos general southeast asia: You have to switch from tile to tile and use the preview option on ZL13. Almost 100 % of the tiles have errors, some sources all over the place. However you wanna start with BI or BING here. Then go to GO2. In most cases Arc, BI and USA2 using the same source anyway.

Alps, Austria, Switzerland, northern italy, Germany: GO2 in the only sufficient source Color match close to 100 %, cloud free around 90 % and only a few errors compared to other sources.

Spain: GO2 mostly cloud free, color match close to 100 % and few to none errors.

Northern Carribean (Bahamas, Turks & Caicos): BI However lots of the island tiles have clouds and smaller errors, but from high altitude better than default scenery.

whole South America: Like most of those jungle / wet and hot areas, lots of errors and/or clouds over the tiles. Mostly you will find no good source here.

Africa: same as South America, mostly no bearable source, however:

parts of Africa  /especially dry regions: Use ARC! I compiled along a flight path from New York to Johannesburg in South Africa and used Arc. The Arc tiles in most of the areas are surprisingly error free and very good!

 

If you have questions let me know

 

Greets

HiFlyer

Edited August 9, 2019 by HiFlyer99

[doudoualexou 22]

6 hours ago, HiFlyer99 said:

Hi,

since I compiled alot of areas over the last week, here are my findings (all August 2019):

first tip for everyone in general: Never compile without checking the tile with the Preview option in Ortho4XP at ZL13 (from ZL13 and above only the resolution of the tiles get better, errors/clouds colors and appearance of the tiles remains the same).

second tip is to save a lot of time: Arc, BI and USA2 using in most areas in the world all the same source! Arc and USA2 IS in fact the same source every time. I would suggest always to use Arc instead of USA2 since their servers are way faster... So if you have errors in one of those sources you should check GO2 first!

whole UK Island: Arc almost 99 % cloud free, and no errors, color match is alright. Dont use BING source as it has loads of errors in tiles, blue/white areas, clouds and everything) Tested zoom lvl 15 - higher.

for Japan: GO2 is the only "okay" source here. But here are lots of areas with errors, I would say Color match is alright, cloud free 90 % but errors are in like 70 % of the tiles, however mostly smaller ones, but before compile I would check the tiles with preview option and ZL13. Some have so many errors, you better stick with default scenery. I dont know what the source go.jp is, but this site is down. Tested ZL 15 - higher.

Western US + Rocky mountains (California, Colorado, Utah, Nevada, Arizona): You should use mostly GO2 here. In some areas where google tiles have stripes and other errors in tiles, mostly Arc is good enough. Cloud free 99 %, color match is alright and error rate is pretty low if you switch to Arc where google fails. Tested ZL 15 - higher.

Florida: GO2 once again, however color match is not so good in some areas, some clouds for the Florida Keys and southern Florida there is no good source in my opinion. All sources there looks brown and dead. But still GO2 is the best here by far. Tested ZL 15 - higher.

France: You have to switch between GO2 and Arc, there is no source which cover the whole land. Color match is alright, but mostly scan errors. So you might wanna check Arc then or the other way around. Tested ZL 15 - higher.

Southern Greenland: USA2 all the way, be aware that the general quality of the tiles are poor and very blurry, so you want to compile only 1-2 with ZL15 make a flight over it if its enough for you. I skipped it, to unsharp for me. Tested ZL 15 - higher.

Northern Greenland: all sources full of errors.

Canada: most of the country is full of errors. Even if you switch through, every source has lots of errors over the whole tile, so not usable in most cases.

Russia, Kazhakstan, Mongolia large parts of China: same as Canada, full of errors, no source avaiable. Even if you find a mostly error free source its incredibly unsharp.

Thailand, Vietnam, Laos general southeast asia: You have to switch from tile to tile and use the preview option on ZL13. Almost 100 % of the tiles have errors, some sources all over the place. However you wanna start with BI or BING here. Then go to GO2. In most cases Arc, BI and USA2 using the same source anyway.

Alps, Austria, Switzerland, northern italy, Germany: GO2 in the only sufficient source Color match close to 100 %, cloud free around 90 % and only a few errors compared to other sources.

Spain: GO2 mostly cloud free, color match close to 100 % and few to none errors.

Northern Carribean (Bahamas, Turks & Caicos): BI However lots of the island tiles have clouds and smaller errors, but from high altitude better than default scenery.

whole South America: Like most of those jungle / wet and hot areas, lots of errors and/or clouds over the tiles. Mostly you will find no good source here.

Africa: same as South America, mostly no bearable source, however:

parts of Africa  /especially dry regions: Use ARC! I compiled along a flight path from New York to Johannesburg in South Africa and used Arc. The Arc tiles in most of the areas are surprisingly error free and very good!

 

If you have questions let me know

 

Greets

HiFlyer

Hi @HiFlyer, 

Thanks for your contribution, I will now complete the list.

 

[doudoualexou 22]

On 7/29/2019 at 2:08 AM, maksimb said:

okay well jp i would say is ab 50 color and 100% cloud but it is screwed up in many spots so its blue in hundreds of areas at zl 16 andbi is 80 cloud and 90 color

Thanks Maksim!

[doudoualexou 22]

On 7/29/2019 at 2:08 AM, maksimb said:

okay well jp i would say is ab 50 color and 100% cloud but it is screwed up in many spots so its blue in hundreds of areas at zl 16 andbi is 80 cloud and 90 color

Could you just provide the zml accuracy please?