Learn how Microsoft Flight Simulator photogrammetry turns aerial photos into streamed 3D cities, where it works, and how to fix poor detail.
Photogrammetry in Microsoft Flight Simulator is 3D scenery reconstructed from overlapping real-world aerial photographs. Microsoft processes the images into textured terrain and building meshes, divides them into levels of detail, then streams the appropriate tiles to the simulator. It provides recognisable cities, but coverage and quality vary by location.
How Microsoft Flight Simulator photogrammetry works
Microsoft Flight Simulator turns source photography into renderable scenery before you fly, then delivers it in tiles while the flight is running.
- Aircraft photograph an area: the source normally consists of many overlapping aerial images rather than one satellite photograph.
- Software matches common points: features visible in several photographs are compared to calculate their position and depth.
- A 3D mesh is constructed: those calculated points become terrain, roofs, walls, bridges and other shapes. Imagery from the photographs is applied as the mesh's texture.
- The result is divided into tiles: each area is prepared at several levels of detail, often called LODs. Distant tiles use simpler geometry; closer tiles contain more detail.
- The simulator streams what it needs: nearby tiles are requested through Microsoft's online world-data system. Detail is swapped as the aircraft moves, while cached data may reduce repeat downloads.
This processing is why a photogrammetry city can reproduce individual blocks and irregular rooflines that procedural scenery misses. It also explains visible morphing or popping: the simulator is changing between tile and detail levels rather than displaying one enormous city model.
Is photogrammetry available everywhere in MSFS?
No: photogrammetry covers selected cities and regions, while much of the world uses aerial imagery, elevation data and procedurally generated buildings.
Handcrafted airports and landmarks are another layer again. A custom model may replace part of a photogrammetry mesh, so a famous tower can look precise even when the surrounding buildings are reconstructed automatically.
A common mistake is to visit an unsupported town and assume photogrammetry is broken because the houses look generic. Coverage can expand or be revised through simulator world and city updates, but enabling the setting does not convert every location into photographed 3D scenery.
What is the difference between photogrammetry and photoreal scenery?
Photogrammetry creates three-dimensional geometry, while an orthophoto is a corrected overhead image placed over terrain.
An orthophoto can make roads, fields and coastlines match the real location, but buildings may remain flat unless another system generates them. Our explanation of how orthophoto scenery is created and used covers that distinction in more detail.
- Photogrammetry: reconstructed 3D geometry with photographic textures.
- Aerial or satellite scenery: photographic ground textures, normally draped over elevation data.
- Procedural scenery: buildings and vegetation generated from rules, maps and other data.
- Handcrafted scenery: manually modelled airports, landmarks or local areas.
How do I enable photogrammetry?
Photogrammetry works only when the simulator's online world-data services are enabled and the connection can supply the scenery tiles.
- Open the data or online settings: the exact menu grouping differs between Microsoft Flight Simulator 2020, Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024 and their platforms.
- Enable online functionality: the simulator must be permitted to use streamed world data.
- Enable Bing world graphics and photogrammetry: look for settings with those names or their closest equivalents.
- Check data restrictions: confirm that an in-simulator bandwidth or data limit has not been reached.
- Test a supported city: return to the main menu or reload the flight if the scenery does not change after enabling the options.
The same cloud-streaming principle applies across supported PC and console versions, although cache controls and menu wording can differ. Offline mode generally falls back to installed or generated scenery rather than retaining the complete photogrammetry world.
Why does photogrammetry look melted or blurry?
Poor photogrammetry usually comes from incomplete streaming, low detail settings or limitations in the original source reconstruction.
| Symptom | Likely cause | What to check |
|---|---|---|
| Generic buildings replace the photographed city | Unsupported location, photogrammetry disabled or online data unavailable | Confirm coverage and check the online, Bing world-data and photogrammetry settings |
| Buildings start soft and sharpen during approach | Higher-detail tiles are still downloading or loading | Allow time for streaming and check connection stability |
| Buildings remain melted at close range | Errors or insufficient detail in the source imagery | Compare another part of the city; settings cannot repair a faulty source mesh |
| Scenery pops or changes shape | LOD transitions | Review terrain and object detail settings, subject to available performance |
| Missing tiles or repeated loading failures | Connection, online-service, data-limit or cache problem | Check online access first; rebuild the scenery cache only if the problem persists |
Photogrammetry algorithms struggle with glass, reflective roofs, cranes, thin structures, trees and moving vehicles. Cars may become coloured lumps, bridges can merge with the ground, and buildings may lean because the source photographs did not expose every surface clearly. Flying closer cannot recover detail that was never present in the reconstruction.
For scenery that loads but remains soft, use our checks for blurry or low-quality MSFS scenery. If complete areas are absent, follow the separate scenery-loading troubleshooting steps.
Does photogrammetry affect performance and data use?
Yes: photogrammetry consumes network data and requires the simulator to load, decode and render more irregular geometry than ordinary procedural scenery.
Use it for city VFR flying when recognisable streets and real building shapes matter and the connection is stable. Consider disabling it when using a metered connection, troubleshooting pauses or flying over an area whose source mesh looks worse than the cleaner procedural replacement.
Lower terrain or object detail can reduce how far high-detail scenery is drawn, but it may also make photogrammetry visibly soften or change shape sooner. A rolling cache can reduce repeated transfers over familiar routes where that feature is available; it cannot improve weak source imagery or add coverage to an unsupported place.
Is Microsoft Flight Simulator photogrammetry live?
No: photogrammetry is a processed snapshot assembled from photographs captured at an earlier date, not a live camera feed or real-time 3D scan.
Construction may be outdated, demolished buildings can remain, and captured vehicles or shadows may be baked into the texture. Live weather, lighting and traffic are rendered over that static base, but they do not update the underlying city mesh.