transDEM Tutorials

steamboateng

New member
Roland Ziegler, the master of TrainzDEM, has kindly agreed to host a series of tutorials on his site, which are written by myself. The tuorials are primarily aimed at the novice TrainzDEM user, and specifically apply to USGS resources.
The tutorials are planned to parallel those tutorials already posted on the various websites.
The first two units of the tutorial are available now, in down-loadable pdf format.
The first unit is actually a tutorial on accessing NED data from the USGS Seamless Server.
The second covers the implementation of that data by TransDEM, to generate DEM maps.
A third tutorial centers on the developement of routes from 'historic' USGS raster maps, which are just 'old topo maps'! It explains the procedure for georeferencing these maps to recently generated DEM maps. the tutorial will be available early next week.
The TransDem site is http://forum.transdem.de/index.php?sid=b5b3451e38a07bff988411f925cb8624

It pleases me to offer these tutorials to a generous Trainz community, which has offered so much to me, over the years.

regards
 
Brilliant.:clap: :clap: :Y:

I was looking at transDEM..and looked to youtube for advice ..but..not a thing ..so never took that route as to making my own route using transDEM,
but after watching you video ,i think i might just give it ago.

thankyou so much.
Brad
 
I am currently working on a 1/9 arc sec route of the CSX New River Sub. Might have to take a look and see what I can learn. TranzDem is an amazing product.
 
I just bought TransDem last week and haven't done anything with it yet. There appears to be a whole lot to learn, so the tutorial would be a welcome gift. Thanks for the offer!
 
I just bought TransDem last week and haven't done anything with it yet. There appears to be a whole lot to learn, so the tutorial would be a welcome gift. Thanks for the offer!

I would suggest reading, rereading, rereading once again Roland's manual and following EACH OF HIS tutorials, then use these tutorials, then follow the video tutorials over on the TransDem forum…

That should give you a good handle on what it's capable of. Then of course the rest of us are here to help as well…
 
I just bought TransDem last week and haven't done anything with it yet. There appears to be a whole lot to learn, so the tutorial would be a welcome gift. Thanks for the offer!

TransDEM, the program, is relatively simple. The catch is the terminology, and that means a bit of of research. Roland provides a glossary of terms with the program. The problem is, coming to terms with the the terms provided. The truth is that geo-data, and its definitions, is difficult to deal with because it's not part of our common language. I've no doubt you know the location of a woman's ankle, relative to her ears. but if her ankles are in Sierra Leonne, axactly wherre are her ears, or to narrow the agument, where the h**l is Sierra Leone?
Take heart, TransDEM can solve those questions?

Edit: TransDEM will tell you where in Sierra Leone her ankles are, and at what elevation her ears are located. mbk
 
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The problem is, coming to terms with the the terms provided. The truth is that geo-data, and its definitions, is difficult to deal with because it's not part of our common language. I've no doubt you know the location of a woman's ankle, relative to her ears. but if her ankles are in Sierra Leonne, axactly wherre are her ears, or to narrow the agument, where the h**l is Sierra Leone?

Yes, it's our our everyday understanding of maps. We know what maps are for: Find a place in relation to another place. It's that in relation to concept that causes headache once you dig deeper.

It was Claudius Ptolemy in the first century AD who is believed to have invented coordinates to describe the location of places. He also knew that the Earth was a sphere, not a disc. So he used longitude and latitude. And he defined the first Prime Meridian which later became known as Ferro, west of the Canary Islands. Ferro was in use until the late 19th century, for many years in competition with the Greenwich Prime Meridian.
 
Good morning geophil, (it's 7:45 am here in sunny Boston).
Thank you for explaining how the Geororeferencing dialog box estimates each point's coordinates. I have been wondering about that since TrainzDEM V.1.3!
Your discussion was a great help. It's also nice to learn that when georeferencing a series of maps, the process will be more accurate if the maps are georeferenced all at one time, as TransDEM uses previously entered data from the entire series to estimate the next point.
Regards
 
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hi everyone.

how much does transDEM cost in uk pounds..and is there any other programmes you need to buy ,or do you just need transDEM to do it all?

thanks
Brad
(England}
 
hi everyone.

how much does transDEM cost in uk pounds..and is there any other programmes you need to buy ,or do you just need transDEM to do it all?

thanks
Brad
(England}

It is €21.9 or about £19 give or take at least that's what it says here

Besides having a copy of Trainz you don't need any other programs. DEM data is free, pulling ortho photos and maps from Google is free, you just need TransDem, Trainz, a positive attitude, the ability to read and comprehend and follow tutorials, and it will be a breeze for you…
 
hi everyone.

how much does transDEM cost in uk pounds..and is there any other programmes you need to buy ,or do you just need transDEM to do it all?

thanks
Brad
(England}

TrainzDEM is well worth the investment. It can save you literally hundreds of hours when building terrain in Surveyor. It's a great tool to use when designing routes. It's quite accurate when laying routes, if used in conjuction with raster maps.

regards
 
Thanks Mrscsi,

I seem to be spending most of my money on trainz..(money well spent)
so ill give transDEM ago..im new to trainz ,but when i see something amazing i just have to have it lol.

I think i may be running before i can walk with trainz,but this game just hooks you and nothing gets in the way. (so much to learn)

Regards.
Brad
 
Brado99, build a practice route in Surveyor mode to get your feet wet. The tools are easy enough to use, and you can come up with a nice layout in a few days. The prctice route will come in handy to test locos and wagons. It can also serve as an area to try out various terrain and landscaping techniques.
If you find you like building routes, and want to get into more realistic terrain generation, and protype routes, then TrainzDEM is the right tool. I know the program has a good following amungst UK Trainzers.

regards
 
I purchased TransDEM some time ago now and by carefully going over the tutorials provided, and applying them with a little tweaking to Ordnance Survey data sources, I was able to produce a fairly large route which I am now in the process of 'colouring in'. If it wasn't for the tutorials, patience and numerous posts on the TransDEM forum, I'm not sure if I would have managed to work it out.

The first hurdle to overcome in my experience was the terminology. Once you know what you're reading about, it is far easier to understand exactly what it is you're trying to do.

I'm sure any additional tutorials will be of great benefit to novice users and quite possibly me...
 
My experience was similar. I originally purchased TriazDEM in V.1.3. It took several days of reading and researching to gain a rudimentary understanding of geo-speak! Once I had that under my hat, the tutorials came rather easy. I used the program quite a bit in TS06.
Computer problems, as well as TS06's inherent flaws drove me to distraction, at times. I abandoned TS06 until I could afford an new computer. My new computer arrived in January, and I purchased TS2010. My version of TrainzDEM was antiquated, and could't utilize the new 5 meter baseboard grid. So I upgraded to TrainzDEM 2.1 recently.
Being away from the program for about 9 months, I had to start from scratch, relearning the terminology. But it came back rather quickly, and the new TrainzDEM vesion wasn't that different, functionally, from the older version. Getting back into the program has prompted me to start a series of basic tutorials. Roland has been quite patient with my efforts.
regards
 
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