New Feature Sitrec 2.1 New Features

[Kyle Ferriter]

Hmm, it seems like it would be WAY easier to just make that in Google Earth yourself.

Entirely possible

 

[jarlrmai]

How about being able to tell Sitrec a point in a video is a fixed (relatively) point like a star and have the camera match the movement?

 

[Mick West]

How about being able to tell Sitrec a point in a video is a fixed (relatively) point like a star and have the camera match the movement?

Do you have an example video where you would use this? I'm not entirely sure what you mean.

 

[jarlrmai]

I guess its just point tracking, but you probably can't do that in js easily.

Another thing i'd like that might be easier is the ability to point and size the FOV of the camera with information given by Astrometry ie:

Center (RA, Dec):	(290.159, 13.862)
Center (RA, hms):	19h​ 20m​ 38.122s​
Center (Dec, dms):	+13° 51' 43.229"
Size:	39.1 x 24.8 deg
Radius:	23.137 deg

 

[Mick West]

You can tell the Bot to point at an RA, Dec. Can you test this does what you expect?

You: point at ra,dec (290.159, 13.862)
Bot: To point the camera at the specified Right Ascension and Declination, I will convert the Right Ascension from degrees to hours.

Right Ascension in hours = 290.159° / 15 = 19.343933 hours

Now, I will issue the API call to point the camera at RA 19.343933 hours and Dec 13.862 degrees.

 

[flarkey]

@Mick West I deleted my post above because I though the bug had cleared, but the moon position is definitely playing up in sitrec. Moon position should noticeably change when changing the Time > Day slider, but it doesnt. The position that it appears in the sky seems to change on different loads.

 

[Mick West]

@Mick West I deleted my post above because I though the bug had cleared, but the moon position is definitely playing up in sitrec. Moon position should noticeably change when changing the Time > Day slider, but it doesnt. The position that it appears in the sky seems to change on different loads.

Yeah, I was just looking at that. The problem started when I tried to make the moon visible in the daytime. It's first on my list to fix

 

[Mick West]

Yeah, I was just looking at that. The problem started when I tried to make the moon visible in the daytime. It's first on my list to fix

It should be fixed now.

 

[flarkey]

Bug: Satellites not appearing in look view:

https://www.metabunk.org/sitrec/?cu...st-2.amazonaws.com/15857/x/20250920_120516.js

 

[Mick West]

Bug: Satellites not appearing in look view:

The flaring satellites are all below the horizon.

I think the others (that are in sunlight) are just too far away (1,600 miles)
Actually, none of the satellites in sunlight are visible; they are all below the horizon.

 

[jarlrmai]

Source: https://old.reddit.com/r/UFOs/comments/1nqqeqm/unknown_object_cheyenne_wy/


Should this Starlink train be visible on Sitrec or are the TLEs not there for recent launch trains?

 

[flarkey]

Source: https://old.reddit.com/r/UFOs/comments/1nqqeqm/unknown_object_cheyenne_wy/


Should this Starlink train be visible on Sitrec or are the TLEs not there for recent launch trains?

you normal need to download the pre-launch predicted TLE from Celestrak to get the first few orbits.

 

[jarlrmai]

you normal need to download the pre-launch predicted TLE from Celestrak to get the first few orbits.

Is that an "on request" thing?

 

[Mick West]

Should this Starlink train be visible on Sitrec or are the TLEs not there for recent launch trains?

Hmm, interesting, I just copied and past this into the assistant while in Starlink mode

Time: 9.25.25: 5:49am mountain time
Location: Cheyenne, WY
(I had to do it twice, sometimes it forgets to do what it said it was going to)
Zoomed out a bit, and there was the train:
https://www.metabunk.org/sitrec/?cu...ct Cheyenne_ WY _ Starlink/20250926_132442.js

But, when I do "Load LEO Satellites for Date", the train is missing:

The issue seems to be that the Starlink setup, by default, loads
https://celestrak.org/NORAD/elements/supplemental/sup-gp.php?FILE=starlink&FORMAT=tle

But the historical data comes from space-track.org, which might be lagging a bit in adding these.

The solution would be to add an option to load the current Starlink file. BRB.

 

[Mick West]

Fixed!

 

[jarlrmai]

• Left Drag is like dragging the world around. The camera is what actually moves.
• Right Drag tilts the viewpoint without moving the camera

Left drag does the same as Right Drag as far as I can tell

I just want to move the camera with keyboard keys like WASD and up and down

 

[jarlrmai]

When you rotate the camera the labels for planets etc move around a lot, away from the the dots they represent.

to

 

[Mick West]

• Left Drag is like dragging the world around. The camera is what actually moves.
• Right Drag tilts the viewpoint without moving the camera

Left drag does the same as Right Drag as far as I can tell

They look the same when you are overhead at a medium altitude, but they are actually very different (unless there's a bug)

 

[jarlrmai]

The camera's position does not change ie "The camera is what actually moves."

Does not occur

 

[jarlrmai]

Oh you are talking about the camera showing the view, I want to move the camera that is placed in scene.

 

[jarlrmai]

You basically have no fine control of the camera position

 

[Mick West]

When you rotate the camera the labels for planets etc move around a lot, away from the the dots they represent.

View attachment 84458

to

View attachment 84459

I can't duplicate that. Can you post a screenshot showing everything, with the camera menu open?

And can you save a sitch in that position, and post the link?

 

[jarlrmai]

https://www.metabunk.org/sitrec/?cu...com/11433/Copenhagen metro/20250926_160607.js

 

[Mick West]

You basically have no fine control of the camera position

Aha, yes, good point. I did have a WASD controller implemented at some point. I'll see if I can get it back in.

 

[jarlrmai]

Oh and also the colours of exported Google Earth images don't change with the sliders

 

[Mick West]

https://www.metabunk.org/sitrec/?custom=https://sitrec.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/11433/Copenhagen metro/20250926_160607.js
View attachment 84465

Aha. It's because you have video zoom set to 81. Set it back to 100 and the labels will line up

I'll fix the bug (star labels don't respect video zoom) at some point. We also need a better indicator that video zoom is active.

 

[Mick West]

I'll fix the bug (star labels don't respect video zoom) at some point.

Fixed! You can now zoom in and out on the video, and the positions of the labels stay with the stars.

 

[jarlrmai]

Fixed! You can now zoom in and out on the video, and the positions of the labels stay with the stars.

View attachment 84467

Thanks Mick, this is an incredible tool

 

[Mick West]

Oh and also the colours of exported Google Earth images don't change with the sliders

Fixed!

 

[Kyle Ferriter]

The lights look great

 

[flarkey]

The lights look great

View attachment 84562

Nice, but these are all static lights, are there any plans to have red or white strobes?

 

[Mick West]

The lights look great

View attachment 84562

Thanks, it's a work in progress.

Nice, but these are all static lights, are there any plans to have red or white strobes?

Working on it right now!

 

[jarlrmai]

I've noticed recently that if I share a Sitrec link with a video, while the video is downloading Sitrec shows a view that isn't what it ends up showing when the full thing loads, this might confuse some people. Perhaps a loading screen might be appropriate..

 

[jarlrmai]

Does sitrec have a limit on polygon draw distance, does it only draw polygons that are within tile radius?

 

[Kyle Ferriter]

Does sitrec have a limit on polygon draw distance, does it only draw polygons that are within tile radius?

I have a polygon for that Olympiaturm tower in Munich which is rendering in Sitrec even though it's outside the tile distance. It does make them look like they're floating in the air though. Maybe if the distance is really far it's best to reduce the zoom level a little bit? Or move the center of the terrain tiles in the direction of the line of sight a bit.

zoom 15, 6 tiles:

zoom 12, 6 tiles:

(https://www.metabunk.org/sitrec/?cu...panoramacam_20251003T2040Z/20251003_235425.js)

 

[Mick West]

Does sitrec have a limit on polygon draw distance, does it only draw polygons that are within tile radius?

It does not have a draw limit, but if it's outside of a tile then it's going to be at the wrong elevation, because they are relative to the ground, and there is no ground.

 

[Mick West]

I've noticed recently that if I share a Sitrec link with a video, while the video is downloading Sitrec shows a view that isn't what it ends up showing when the full thing loads, this might confuse some people. Perhaps a loading screen might be appropriate..

Yeah, that's probably something I notice less, as I have very fast internet. Can you share a link that demonstrates this?

 

[Mick West]

You can now right-click on things like objects and tracks to edit them.

 

[jarlrmai]

Yeah, that's probably something I notice less, as I have very fast internet. Can you share a link that demonstrates this?

This one

https://www.metabunk.org/sitrec/?cu...Reddit Copenhagen 23_39_02/20251002_111409.js

 

[GM4AJK]

This one

https://www.metabunk.org/sitrec/?custom=https://sitrec.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/11433/Reddit Copenhagen 23_39_02/20251002_111409.js

Sorry, this loads fine and fast for me also. Like Mick, I have a good internet connection (fibre).