A little TransDEM help needed

[steamboateng]

Congrats, HiBaller. You made it over t6he 'hump'. The rest should come much easier now. I have been using TransDEM, in its various iterations for years, and I couldn't recommend a more useful program to compliment Trainz. I only use the program perhaps once a year, now; sorry couldn't be more help in the more detailed processes.
TransDEM has garnered many a smile and compliment, when its generated terrain has become the star of a route. I am several years into the 'Hoosac Project', a work in progress (TANE), in conjunction with John Citron. Several weeks ago we were invited to show off our work at a recent public show featuring 'Peppersass', and ancient tea kettle of a loco, which ran for many years hauling sightseers up Mount Washington's cog railway (New Hampshire). Many historical organizations were present and viewed our efforts, with a pleasant result. My notes on the weekend are located here:

http://forums.auran.com/trainz/show...f-the-B-amp-M-Hoosac-Tunnel-East-Portal/page3

Geophil and his TransDEM stole the show, as noted in my commentary.
Good luck with your project.
regards
Mike

 

[HiBaller]

Thanks, Mike. I'm going to put my notes in order and make another complete run-through of route generation using GE images as overlays for terrain before I call it finished. I have a couple of "disconnects" where I have made a leap from here to there without benefit of making notes. That has to be recorded before I can produce anything meaningful for anyone.

I've also learned that I should create the route a bit bigger than I think I'll ever use, do the tiling, and then reduce the route (if desired) by deleting baseboards. If one creates the route too tightly in the initial steps, then there will be problems later because you can't include the outside tiles because you can't make the "bounding box" encompass those outlying tiles.

Live and learn. I'll get it soon.

Bill

 

[steamboateng]

You are definitely correct in making a larger selection of baseboards on either side of your route. I'm modeling vey hilly terrain, so I go out to 4 baseboards and I also use the route creation tools to mark high points (high ground) which I want to include in the route. This can lead to a lot of trimming of the final route, but it's worth the trouble. If you leave out higher areas, you may find it just doesn't look right. There is no remedy other than re-creating the whole shebang.

 

[HiBaller]

The very same problem we had creating the DHR route. If we left off baseboards at or near the summit of peaks, they looked foreshortened and "funny". Where the line curved back on itself, to avoid seeing the "base" of a baseboard, you had to leave the intervening boards. Still, it did take a lot of trimming to get it right. If a person starts off by trimming to the bone, it just won't look right. I found that out today.

Bill

 

[steamboateng]

Generally, I fill out with detail (trees, bushes, buildings, etc.) an area before trimming. I use the old carpenters rule; measure twice, cut once. That, along with the mechanic's maxim "If it works, don't fix it!" has worked well for me.

 

[HiBaller]

Can't argue with that.

Bill

 

[kin3]

You bet, Kurt. I know all about the importance of documentation, having written computer programs since 1964. Once I get it down, I'll probably create some sort of PDF Tutorial that details what I did from start to finish.

Bill

Yes please do.