TransDEM Forum

On the front page of the TransDem Trainz Edition manual is a picture that shows all the detail as sharp, clear and readable. If I pull up one of the .tga files in PhotoShop is clear and legible.

However, my map that I exported to is hardly legible. It's hard to identify roads, streets and even colors. It's just a blur. The mini-map is the same way.

Apparantly I missed something in creating my DEM.

Will I be able to create a better map without losing everything I have?

Please explain the steps I must take, even if it means starting all over again.

Thanks,

Roy

Dear RWarren, are you exporting the map as ground textures, or base maps? If you put even the sharpest texture on the 5m texture grid it becomes blurry. You should export your route's surroundings as basemap tiles. I am no good at the terms myself. Perhaps dear Geophil could explain more. It would also help if you describe your export process, with pictures.

Kind Regards

Damien

G'day rwarren,

Indeed, Roy, as Damien_Zhar has attempted to explain, you have 'fallen foul' of the "dreaded" Trainz resolution (or rather, lack there-of) issue. This is the bane of everyone who uses this method to reproduce topographic maps as textures on the Trainz 'terrainz'...

...this resolution dictates that each pixel of the topographic map gets allocated one 10 meter square of the Trainz grid (one 5 meter square, if the 5 meter grid is 'set')...

...it doesn't matter how SHARP the image of the topographic map appears in TransDEM (or any other program you may use), once it gets into Trainz, it gets "messed up" something shocking...

...and there is absolutely NOTHING WE can do about this...

...as Damien suggests, the only alternative we have is to use the Basemap or UTM Tiles (as TransDEM calls them) workaround, which allows one to place high resolution *.jpg images onto the surface of 'special' planes that exist in the Trainz environment, which can be used in conjunction with the Trainz Terrain to locate the various assets one needs on one's route..

Jerker {:)}

Thanks Damien and Jerker for your response.

I am trying to replicate the Lancaster & Chester exactly as it is, so if a trainman from the L & C would use it he would know exacltly where he is.

A sharp image map would greatly help in placing roads, streams, buildings, etc., but it seems this is not possible. So, I guess I will print out .tga maps and use Google Maps and Earth to get everything as close as possible.

I still wonder how the picture on the first page of the TransDEM Trainz Edition manual was created. If this picture is real how was it created. Also, my Mini-Map looks nothing like the one pictured there.

If anyone knows, please let me know because it would save me hours and hours of time creating this route.


Thanks again for all the help,

Roy

As the others have indicated, it's a UTM tile, which makes up the foreground of the Trainz Surveyor screenshot. If you look closely, you will recognise its borders. If I remember correctly, this UTM tile carries the 1:10,000 Polish topographic map, acquired via WMS.

As a rule of thumb for ground textures, maximum scale for standard topographic maps is 1:50,000 for the Trainz 10m grid and 1:25,000 for the 5m grid.

For Britain a popular map source is the O/S 1:25,000 "Explorer" series. It is available online from different sources. The easiest way is via Bing maps. This source lack some sharpness, though. Streetmap.UK has the better quality, but georeferencing is a manual task. See this thread for details: http://forum.transdem.de/viewtopic.php?f=8&t=5

O/S VectorMap District is another 1:25,000 option, but not as detailed, available the O/S OpenData site.

Is it possible to just export the Raster map to Trainz without the DEM?

When I look at my map of the whole area an area not covered by the DEM is clear and sharp.

If this is possible, I could put in all the roads, railroads, textures, etc. from the map, but the route would be flat.

If so, would it be possible to export the DEM data after the above is completed?

I don't know much about the interworkings of TransDem but I'm just trying to think of some way to come up with a clear map.


Thanks,

Roy

Dear Rwarren, the images need to be bound in coordinates to some form of terrain and cannot be exported by themselves. Perhaps you should read the tutorial and manual provided with the program?

Damien

It seems you missed the intent of my post. I can assure you that I have studied the manuals and tutorials numerous times, but the answer seems to be that it is impossible to get a crisp, sharp image of the raster file the way that TransDem presently works.

My post was to suggest that if the process could be reversed so you could export the raster file without the DEM, then you could place all your objects at their exact locations. Since the baseboard would be flat, all intrsections of rails and roads would fit together properly. Then you could import the DEM file to get the proper elevations.

I know this is not possible now, but maybe someone could figure out how to do it.

If not possible. So be it. I was just throwing it out as food for thought.

I may try to do an area such as the Bonneville Salt Flats in the USA which is perfectly flat to see what happens.

Thanks,

Roy

If I understand correctly, you would like a minimap to be as detailed as this: (excuse the color blocks, they're the NEC by Neuman)




The area is 30th st. station in Philly. Tile lowered way down for asset placement. Apologies for the small picture, I'm not great with fraps. Getting a map as detailed as that requires finding the correct zoom of the information you want to use. That was done using Open Street map at zoom 13. As you can see, the ground textures will look nothing like that. To get the detailed pictures you want for placing assets, you need to export your raster map as utm tiles. Finding the correct zoom for what you want is most important. This was zoom 17, Open Street map. I like OSM because it labels which train belongs on which tracks. The picture: (wireframe mode to best see the tiles)



It takes some trail and error (at least it has for me) to figure out what works best for you. I strongly advise to do the tutorials provided in the manual until you are comfortable and are getting the same results shown in the manual. I am by far no where near being an expert with Transdem, it's been 6 months for me now and I still find myself scrapping a layout when I learn to do something else new with Transdem. I hope this can be of help and good luck!

Sorry for the late reply. I was away since Tuesday.

In addition to scale, the optimal result you can achieve with raster maps and ground textures also depend on the raster map source and its features. As T8DaGr8 has pointed out, for tile maps, the zoom level plays a role as well.

Roy, what map source did you use? Did you play with TransDEM UTM tiles, too?