Step-by-Step
Before you start...
Understand and accept the limitations implied by LiveTraffic's design approach...there won't be planes everywhere, especially not everywhere on the ground.
Verify requirements.
For Windows, this includes making sure latest Visual C++ redistributabls are installed. Download and install vc_redist.x64.exe.
For Mac OS here is a tip how to deal with security prompts if they happen.
Windows only: Do update the Visual C++ Redistributable!
If you don't see LiveTraffic in your Plugins menu, and your Log.txt contains
Code = 126 : The specified module could not be found.
then you have to
Download and install https://aka.ms/vs/16/release/vc_redist.x64.exe!
In the following, all actual actions are put into blue boxes like below. Impatient readers may just want to skip to the next blue box. The texts inbetween help validating the steps were successful and give background info. You want to read all text if you are new to the matter.
​Download LiveTraffic.zip,
unzip the archive, and
move the LiveTraffic folder under your existing <X-Plane>/Resources/plugins folder.
This is what the folder should look like afterwards:
In the further course of the installation we will fill the .../LiveTraffic/Resources/CSL folder. You may have noticed the ShippedCSL folder, which contains a ground vehicle courtesy of X-CSL.
The Bluebell CSL package installation comprises of 10 files if downloaded as ZIP from here, which is recommended and the basis for the following description:
(If you prefer X-Plane.org then there's a 15 RAR archive version of it available, which need to be combined for the same effect.)
In the end you will want all of these archives. But as a first step we will just install the Airbus package and give LiveTraffic a go so that you can quickly see something!
So download (rightclick, select "Download") BB_Airbus.zip and BB_IVAO_vert_offsets_1.2.4.zip and unpack them.
You should then have the following structure in your download folder:
(The red arrow indicates a file move we do in the next step below...just a second.)
The BB_Airbus folder holds all CSL models for many airbus models. The actual models and their livery live in the subfolders pictured above, one for each type from A306 through A388. (The subfolder name is just convention. Technically it could be anything, but this package is orderly organized by ICAO aircraft types.) For example A306:
The folder BB_IVAO_vert_offsets_1 only holds many xsb_aircraft.txt files in several subfolders, one also in a subfolder named BB_Airbus as pictured in the screenshot further above.
Move BB_IVAO_vert_offsets_1/BB_Airbus/xsb_aircraft.txt into BB_Airbus where it overwrites the existing file xsb_aircraft.txt as indicated by the red arrow in the previous screenshot.
Why that? The files from the folder BB_IVAO_vert_offsets_1 each include one more line per model, the VERT_OFFSET line.
Just have a look into BB_Airbus/xsb_aircrafts.txt, which is a plain text file you can open in your favorite editor, usually just by double-clicking. Now, after the move, its beginning should look like this:
BB_Airbus/xsb_aircrafts.txt (Beginning)EXPORT_NAME __Bluebell_Airbus​OBJ8_AIRCRAFT A306_AAWOBJ8 SOLID YES __Bluebell_Airbus/A306/A306_AAW.objVERT_OFFSET 4.6AIRLINE A306 AAW​OBJ8_AIRCRAFT A306_AHKOBJ8 SOLID YES __Bluebell_Airbus/A306/A306_AHK.objVERT_OFFSET 4.6AIRLINE A306 AHK
This file is basically a directory listing of all models, which reside in the current folder (here: BB_Airbus). They define an internal name and refer to the actual .obj file. (Don't get confused by the __Bluebell_Airbus in front of the further path /A306/A306_AAW.obj, that is just the technical export name defined in the very first line. Important is, that below the current folder there is a A306/A306_AAW.obj file. And that is there as the A306 screenshot above shows...no magic at all😉)
The important VERT_OFFSET line defines the vertical offset of the model compared to ground. If this line is missing, then your aircraft is likely sliding on its belly or even sliced open. If your models - later in LiveTraffic - look like this then VERT_OFFSET is missing:
Finally, some further lines define for which airline and ICAO type this model is a match.
Move the entire BB_Airbus folder, which holds all model subfolders and the updated xsb_aircrafts.txt file, into .../LiveTraffic/Resources/CSL.
The resulting folder structure shall look like this:
The installation is not yet complete...but we are good to go for a first test run, just to see if we did everything right up to here. If we did we have confidence for the repeating further steps.
Start X-Plane with LiveTraffic for the first time in KLAS, EDDM, or OMDB, and have LiveTraffic run for 2 minutes.
Depending on the time of day choose KLAS (USA), EDDM (Europe), or OMDB (Arabia) as a location as these are known to serve reasonably good tracking data. After X-Plane finished loading, LiveTraffic should welcome you in the top right corner with some messages.
LiveTraffic doesn't start? Not listed in the plugins menu? See FAQ!
We won't go into details yet (see First Steps for more), but are just interested to see some aircraft displaying. So switch to tower view [Shift+5], look around and wait for about 2 minutes for the first planes to appear. As we only installed Airbus models everything looks like Airbus (plus maybe a few ground vehicles, which are shipped with the LiveTraffic package in the ShippedCSL folder).
Quit X-Plane.
Open Log.txt (in X-Planes main directory) with your favorite text editor, usually just a double-click is enough.
Search for 'LiveTraffic' ([Ctrl+F] usually does the trick) and verify the BB_Airbus package had been loaded.
If successful you should have seen some Airbus flying around (which is already pretty good a verification) and the Log.txt should contain lines very similar to the following (you may need to scroll the text box to the right to see all text):
Log.txt (Extract)0:00:00.000 LiveTraffic: LiveTraffic 2.00.20xxxxx starting up......0:00:00.000 LiveTraffic/XPMP2 21-Apr 21:14:48Z INFO XPMPMultiplayer.cpp:213/XPMPLoadCSLPackage: Loading CSL package from .../X-Plane 11/Resources/plugins/LiveTraffic/Resources/ShippedCSL0:00:00.000 LiveTraffic/XPMP2 21-Apr 21:14:48Z INFO CSLModels.cpp:609/CSLModelsProcessAcFile: Processing .../X-Plane 11/Resources/plugins/LiveTraffic/Resources/ShippedCSL/XCSL_CARS/xsb_aircraft.txt0:00:00.000 LiveTraffic/XPMP2 21-Apr 21:14:48Z WARN CSLModels.cpp:681/CSLModelsProcessAcFile: Following commands ignored: HASGEAR (1x)0:00:00.000 LiveTraffic/XPMP2 21-Apr 21:14:48Z INFO CSLModels.cpp:751/CSLModelsLoad: Total number of known models now is 10:00:00.000 LiveTraffic/XPMP2 21-Apr 21:14:48Z INFO XPMPMultiplayer.cpp:213/XPMPLoadCSLPackage: Loading CSL package from .../X-Plane 11/Resources/plugins/LiveTraffic/Resources/CSL0:00:00.000 LiveTraffic/XPMP2 21-Apr 21:14:48Z INFO CSLModels.cpp:609/CSLModelsProcessAcFile: Processing .../X-Plane 11/Resources/plugins/LiveTraffic/Resources/CSL/BB_Airbus/xsb_aircraft.txt0:00:00.000 LiveTraffic/XPMP2 21-Apr 21:14:48Z INFO CSLModels.cpp:751/CSLModelsLoad: Total number of known models now is 585
Especially important is line 8 above: It announces that the BB_Airbus package has been successfully loaded and its content (the .obj files the package requires) verified for existence.
You may find further lines starting with LiveTraffic in the log. Some warnings are quite common...tracking data is actually quite bad and sometimes LiveTraffic complains to tell you that it can't do any better than what you see.
If you were not successful please check the Log.txt for errors. LiveTraffic tries hard to output reasonable error message, which should indicate the right place to look to. Use the search here in the documentation (top right corner)...most likely your error is explained somewhere here.
If you were successful move on to the next packages.
Let's do one more package together.
​Download (rightclick, select "Download") BB_Boeing.zip and unpack it.
The resulting structure in your download folder should now look like this:
Move the BB_IVAO_vert_offsets_1/BB_Boeing/xsb_aircraft.txt file into the BB_Boeing folder as indicated by the red arrow above, where it overwrites the existing file.
Move the entire BB_Boeing folder into .../LiveTraffic/Resources/CSL.
Again, moving the vertical offset version of xsb_aircrafts.txt provides you with a file specifying good vertical offsets. The last move finally puts the models into the reach of LiveTraffic, which should look like this:
If you want you could again verify your installation by firing up LiveTraffic. It should now correctly distinguish between Airbus and Boeing models. Your Log.txt should at least include these lines for LiveTraffic's initialization, mentioning both BB_Airbus and BB_Boeing:
Log.txt (Extract)0:00:00.000 LiveTraffic: LiveTraffic 2.00.xxxxxx starting up......0:00:00.000 LiveTraffic/XPMP2 21-Apr 21:14:48Z INFO XPMPMultiplayer.cpp:213/XPMPLoadCSLPackage: Loading CSL package from .../X-Plane 11/Resources/plugins/LiveTraffic/Resources/ShippedCSL0:00:00.000 LiveTraffic/XPMP2 21-Apr 21:14:48Z INFO CSLModels.cpp:609/CSLModelsProcessAcFile: Processing .../X-Plane 11/Resources/plugins/LiveTraffic/Resources/ShippedCSL/XCSL_CARS/xsb_aircraft.txt0:00:00.000 LiveTraffic/XPMP2 21-Apr 21:14:48Z WARN CSLModels.cpp:681/CSLModelsProcessAcFile: Following commands ignored: HASGEAR (1x)0:00:00.000 LiveTraffic/XPMP2 21-Apr 21:14:48Z INFO CSLModels.cpp:751/CSLModelsLoad: Total number of known models now is 10:00:00.000 LiveTraffic/XPMP2 21-Apr 21:14:48Z INFO XPMPMultiplayer.cpp:213/XPMPLoadCSLPackage: Loading CSL package from .../X-Plane 11/Resources/plugins/LiveTraffic/Resources/CSL0:00:00.000 LiveTraffic/XPMP2 21-Apr 21:14:48Z INFO CSLModels.cpp:609/CSLModelsProcessAcFile: Processing .../X-Plane 11/Resources/plugins/LiveTraffic/Resources/CSL/BB_Airbus/xsb_aircraft.txt0:00:00.000 LiveTraffic/XPMP2 21-Apr 21:14:48Z INFO CSLModels.cpp:609/CSLModelsProcessAcFile: Processing .../X-Plane 11/Resources/plugins/LiveTraffic/Resources/CSL/BB_Boeing/xsb_aircraft.txt0:00:00.000 LiveTraffic/XPMP2 21-Apr 21:14:48Z INFO CSLModels.cpp:751/CSLModelsLoad: Total number of known models now is 1318
...unfortunately are somewhat special...I don't know why...but the have an additional outer folder layer, which requires your attention:
​Download and unzip
BB_Heli.zipBB_GA.zip
resulting in:
Move the corresponding xsb_aircrafts.txt from the BB_IVAO_vert_offsets_1 folder into the inner BB_GA resp. BB_Heli folders where they replace existing files.
Move the inner BB_GA and inner BB_Heli folder to .../LiveTraffic/Resources/CSL.
resulting in
Watch out to move the inner and not the outer folders. As a result, as shown in the screenshot, there should be just one BB_GA folder and just one BB_Heli folder under .../LiveTraffic/Resources/CSL!
...are now fairly simple and work the same way as Airbus and Boeing above:
So go ahead, download and unzip
BB_Repaints.zipBB_Props.zipBB_Mil.zipBB_Leipzip_Air_VA.zipBB_Jets.zip
That should lead to a download folder which now looks like this:
There are some remainders (the outer BB_GA and BB_Heli folders, which nobody needs) but especially all the downloaded folders.
Move each remaining xsb_aircrafts.txt file from BB_IVAO_vert_offset_1 to the correct corresponging model folder (BB_Jets, BB_Leipzip_Air_VA, BB_Mil, BB_Props, BB_Repaints) where they overwrite existing files.
Finally, move the model folders BB_Jets, BB_Leipzip_Air_VA, BB_Mil, BB_Props, BB_Repaints to .../LiveTraffic/Resources/CSL.
resulting in (BB_Leizig_Air_VA just shown with details as an example):
As once or twice before, start up X-Plane,
maybe give LiveTraffic two minutes to show some planes,
quit X-Plane, and
check Log.txt.
You should see lines similar to the following, one for each BB model package:
0:00:00.000 LiveTraffic: LiveTraffic 2.00.xxxxxx starting up......0:00:00.000 LiveTraffic/XPMP2 21-Apr 21:14:48Z INFO XPMPMultiplayer.cpp:213/XPMPLoadCSLPackage: Loading CSL package from .../X-Plane 11/Resources/plugins/LiveTraffic/Resources/ShippedCSL0:00:00.000 LiveTraffic/XPMP2 21-Apr 21:14:48Z INFO CSLModels.cpp:609/CSLModelsProcessAcFile: Processing .../X-Plane 11/Resources/plugins/LiveTraffic/Resources/ShippedCSL/XCSL_CARS/xsb_aircraft.txt0:00:00.000 LiveTraffic/XPMP2 21-Apr 21:14:48Z WARN CSLModels.cpp:681/CSLModelsProcessAcFile: Following commands ignored: HASGEAR (1x)0:00:00.000 LiveTraffic/XPMP2 21-Apr 21:14:48Z INFO CSLModels.cpp:751/CSLModelsLoad: Total number of known models now is 10:00:00.000 LiveTraffic/XPMP2 21-Apr 21:14:48Z INFO XPMPMultiplayer.cpp:213/XPMPLoadCSLPackage: Loading CSL package from .../X-Plane 11/Resources/plugins/LiveTraffic/Resources/CSL0:00:00.000 LiveTraffic/XPMP2 21-Apr 21:14:48Z INFO CSLModels.cpp:609/CSLModelsProcessAcFile: Processing .../X-Plane 11/Resources/plugins/LiveTraffic/Resources/CSL/BB_Leipzig_Air_VA/xsb_aircraft.txt0:00:00.000 LiveTraffic/XPMP2 21-Apr 21:14:48Z INFO CSLModels.cpp:609/CSLModelsProcessAcFile: Processing .../X-Plane 11/Resources/plugins/LiveTraffic/Resources/CSL/BB_Mil/xsb_aircraft.txt0:00:00.000 LiveTraffic/XPMP2 21-Apr 21:14:48Z INFO CSLModels.cpp:609/CSLModelsProcessAcFile: Processing .../X-Plane 11/Resources/plugins/LiveTraffic/Resources/CSL/BB_Jets/xsb_aircraft.txt0:00:00.000 LiveTraffic/XPMP2 21-Apr 21:14:48Z ERROR CSLModels.cpp:369/CSLModelsConvPackagePath: Line 523: The file '__Bluebell_Jets/E145/E145_BMI_G-RJXI.obj' could not be found at .../X-Plane 11/Resources/plugins/LiveTraffic/Resources/CSL/BB_Jets/E145/E145_BMI_G-RJXI.obj0:00:00.000 LiveTraffic/XPMP2 21-Apr 21:14:48Z WARN CSLModels.cpp:386/CSLModelsAdd: Duplicate model 'E170_DAL', additional definitions ignored, originally defined in line 583 of .../X-Plane 11/Resources/plugins/LiveTraffic/Resources/CSL/BB_Jets0:00:00.000 LiveTraffic/XPMP2 21-Apr 21:14:48Z WARN CSLModels.cpp:386/CSLModelsAdd: Duplicate model 'E170_LOT', additional definitions ignored, originally defined in line 608 of .../X-Plane 11/Resources/plugins/LiveTraffic/Resources/CSL/BB_Jets0:00:00.000 LiveTraffic/XPMP2 21-Apr 21:14:48Z WARN CSLModels.cpp:386/CSLModelsAdd: Duplicate model 'E170_USA', additional definitions ignored, originally defined in line 648 of .../X-Plane 11/Resources/plugins/LiveTraffic/Resources/CSL/BB_Jets0:00:00.000 LiveTraffic/XPMP2 21-Apr 21:14:48Z INFO CSLModels.cpp:609/CSLModelsProcessAcFile: Processing .../X-Plane 11/Resources/plugins/LiveTraffic/Resources/CSL/BB_Heli/xsb_aircraft.txt0:00:00.000 LiveTraffic/XPMP2 21-Apr 21:14:48Z INFO CSLModels.cpp:609/CSLModelsProcessAcFile: Processing .../X-Plane 11/Resources/plugins/LiveTraffic/Resources/CSL/BB_Airbus/xsb_aircraft.txt0:00:00.000 LiveTraffic/XPMP2 21-Apr 21:14:48Z INFO CSLModels.cpp:609/CSLModelsProcessAcFile: Processing .../X-Plane 11/Resources/plugins/LiveTraffic/Resources/CSL/BB_Repaints/xsb_aircraft.txt0:00:00.000 LiveTraffic/XPMP2 21-Apr 21:14:48Z INFO CSLModels.cpp:609/CSLModelsProcessAcFile: Processing .../X-Plane 11/Resources/plugins/LiveTraffic/Resources/CSL/BB_GA/xsb_aircraft.txt0:00:00.000 LiveTraffic/XPMP2 21-Apr 21:14:48Z INFO CSLModels.cpp:609/CSLModelsProcessAcFile: Processing .../X-Plane 11/Resources/plugins/LiveTraffic/Resources/CSL/BB_Props/xsb_aircraft.txt0:00:00.000 LiveTraffic/XPMP2 21-Apr 21:14:48Z INFO CSLModels.cpp:609/CSLModelsProcessAcFile: Processing .../X-Plane 11/Resources/plugins/LiveTraffic/Resources/CSL/BB_Boeing/xsb_aircraft.txt0:00:00.000 LiveTraffic/XPMP2 21-Apr 21:14:48Z INFO CSLModels.cpp:751/CSLModelsLoad: Total number of known models now is 1823
You see them? Great!
Make sure some X-Plane settings are correct, especially number of AI aircraft.
And then go ahead and do your
If you require more help and support check for ways here:
