TransDEM Forum

Been trying to get G Earth imagery embedded into the terrain. I did this several weeks ago. But the pr cedure has evaded me again.

Anyhow, I subsequently lowered the UTM tile object value xxx above ground to match a value that would place it at ground level. I found the then setup to be a bit of a nuisance. After I lowered it, I tried creating a larger map, which as a result of the height being lowered took forever to export, and it caused the in-game memory (RAM) to max out, and crash. It was like this for a couple of weeks, before I realised this, and tried to address it by raising the height or something.

Now it's exporting in a relatively timely manner again. But I simply cannot get either the Bing Maps or G Earth imagery to load as an overlay for any reason. It seems to be near impossible.

This is what I did.

L ad the map tile servers. Select G maps (key), Set the desired height/zoom level, draw a line in the simple route editor, have it generate the DEM with an overlay. Load the DEM at some point, create the map (first of 4 purple buttons at the top right of TransDEM), endure the UTM tile process, and import into TRS19. There may be a couple of steps I've left out involuntarily. But every time I export, I cannot get any kind of imagery whatsoever engraved into the terrain. Admittedly I tend to try and do it by memory. But I often end up rewatching the video tutorial with the Canadian test route to refresh myself on various tasks.

I don't use track splines at this stage.

It would be great to be able to use aerial imagery in-game to place scenery. But it looks to be a thing of the past unless proven otherwise. Using version 2.6.4.2.

If you think you are no longer familiar with the export procedure, you can always refer to the TransDEM manual and its "Muengsten" tutorial (in the TransDEM Trainz manual). It doesn't feature ortho-images, but large scale raster maps which also need UTM tiles.

Furthermore there is this fairly new and easy to follow video tutorial by W.Flint, which also does UTM tiles.

There's another issue with the route.

For some reason, it won't generate the UTM overlays along the entirety of the marked route, which is about 220kms. It only generates them along a small edge of the baseboard in TRS19. Essentially the UTM tiles are at one point, above the terrain. Then the end of them is reached, and the standard terrain becomes visible.

The map tiles do cross a large patch of the ocean, and it does go via an dog leg shaped direction to the terminus. There are 4 different DEM areas. So obviously I have to load one, and then add 3. IE S3x.1xxx.

IE it goes north, northwest, southwest, northwest again, then south for about 20 kms.

There's always an error when I place the box around the DEM region. Consists of:

'Error writing file'
"(UTM overlay objects)"

No UTM tiles in mask or filter ranges.

So I then end up adding the UTM tiles with a rectangular box in the southern direction, then in a westerly direction with them slightly overlapping. It's the only halfway solution I can think of. This is what causes the tiny UTM catchment area.

And just noticed the error message implying it couldn't obtain maps for the area. They definitely exist in G Earth at a desirable zoom level. So why can they not be obtained through TransDEM? It says no UTM source for tile XXX (vast majority of tiles). Is there any work around at all for this? I've tried both G gle maps and Bing maps. There were no apparent issues obtaining images for a remote area 150+ kms east of the capital. Yet suburbia doesn't seem to have anything obtainable via TranSDEM which can be used as UTM overlays.

There is a built in limit to UTM tile generation per invocation, about 25 without a route filter and about 1000 with a route filter active. The lateral extension is defined by the filter setting in the export dialog. To anchor each UTM tile in the route, the corresponding baseboard must exist.

2D and 3D UTM tiles have slightly different policies regarding their vertical position when placed by TransDEM. It should all be in the manual.

The baseboards for the UTM tiles must exist in the route. It's not the DEM that's relevant here, it's the route previously generated.

Acquiring map tiles from a server and exporting UTM tiles to Trainz are two different and totally independent steps. You first need to download the map tiles from a server or manually create screenshots with Google Earth. Only those present and currently loaded in TransDEM can be exported as UTM tiles. Also note that neither the Map tile services, the WMS services or Google Earth screenshots will adhere to the UTM grid. Therefore we can activate the 1000m UTM grid to show the borders of potential UTM tiles, similar to the optional 720m grid for baseboards.

I believe the video tutorial by W. Flint illustrates the process quite well. I describe it in two separate tutorials, the map tile tutorial in the main manual and the UTM tile export chapter in the "Muengsten" tutorial in the TransDEM Trainz manual.

Well this is the route I intend to try. It indicates zone WGS84 in the program. But I presume that it crosses dozens of them, due to the number of tiles generated. The continuous black line indicates its direction.

IMG55

It starts at -34.921655 138.593336, and I intend for it to finish at roughly -34.066839 137.59438. I honestly have no idea how to generate the UTMs for this route, as I'm not familiar enough with your program.

I see. First of all, if that is your first route, it is far too big, honestly. Try with something very small instead to familiarize yourself with TransDEM. Also keep in mind that you have to fill each of those hundreds of baseboards in Trainz Surveyor later. It will easily take years to accomplish that.

And do the tutorials. It's the best way to start. In addition to those in the manuals, I again recommend the video tutorial by W. Flint.

Somebody I knew did a route which had over 600kms of track in MSTS, albeit without DEM as his first route. The first one I did that was actually released had about 300kms of scenery.

Railworks is hopeless for routes with dense scattered scenery, and I can't predict Simrail getting an editor anytime soon. So this only leaves one possibility.

I'm aware of needing to add scenery to these baseboards. The only other route that I'm considering would be the same one I attempted in Railworks, which is about 50kms long.

I appreciate your replies. But I still need to address the issue of the missing UTMs. Just so that the option exists in theory.

Make sure you understand the fundamentals of TransDEM. Geo data acquisition and exporting them to Trainz are independent of each other. Before you export UTM tiles, does your TransDEM window look similar to the image in the Muengsten tutorial, page 63, TransDEM Trainz manual: large scale map or ortho-images loaded on top of lower scale map (only one map in that example), route and rectangular mask in place? Or as in W. Flint's video tutorial at 00:16:30?

I haven't actually viewed the tutorial you've mentioned. Been stagnating for a while now, with this game. The UTM overlays have always ended up obstructed by a hill/rise in the terrain. Been testing on a cropped portion of the route I intend to create.

What I mean is there's a hill, and the relatively flat UTM tile is 50-75% buried. Trainz has its advantages over Railworks. But it also looks to have minor flaws. And if I can make out the UTM overlay, it's low resolution at best.

I am simply not accustomed to TRS19 at this stage, and it might be a while before this improves in any way.

Perhaps you should.

Are you aware of the difference between 2D and 3D UTM tiles? If not, you may want to read up on this in the manual: pp 19 in the TransDEM Trainz guide. And here is the development story for the 3D UTM tiles with a few more pictures: viewtopic.php?f=2&t=275&start=10