I don't understand DEM data
- Thread starter CoolMatty
- Start date
GreatEastern
Tug builder
What do you want to know about it? I might be able to help.
Andy
Andy
GreatEastern
Tug builder
Yes DEM will create the landscape for this, you could try buying TranzDem for Trainz - give it a search here or on the UK Trainz forum - or using hog from trainz.luvr.net
Not sure where there tutorials for HOG but I do know that they exist somewhere.
Andy
Not sure where there tutorials for HOG but I do know that they exist somewhere.
Andy
Wewain's excellent HOG/DEM tute is here.
It includes links to all the utilities and data you need to get started and simple to follow step-by-step instructions to bring it all together.
Have a go, and if you get stuck, post back for specific help, there are lots of HOG-literate forumees happy to help....
Andy
It includes links to all the utilities and data you need to get started and simple to follow step-by-step instructions to bring it all together.
Have a go, and if you get stuck, post back for specific help, there are lots of HOG-literate forumees happy to help....
Andy
The Hog/MicroDEM approach makes some sense for the US where you can overlay TIGER data (rails, roads and water), georeferenced (i.e. correctly positioned) automatically. In the UK where there is no such thing like TIGER you will presumably want to use OS topographic maps, bearing much more detail than TIGER anyway. While still possible, processing OS maps with the Hog/MicroDEM approach will require several error prone manual steps before you obtain your DEM- and map-based Trainz terrain. Another manual approach for overlaying topogr. maps are Basemaps, map texture carrier objects which hover above the ground. And there is also MapMaker, another freeware tool.
TransDEM, already mentioned above, is a payware tool with a bit more of built-in automation than with the other approaches. See TransDEM thread in the payware forum (http://forums.auran.com/trainz/showthread.php?t=2085) or links in signature below for more information.
geophil
TransDEM, already mentioned above, is a payware tool with a bit more of built-in automation than with the other approaches. See TransDEM thread in the payware forum (http://forums.auran.com/trainz/showthread.php?t=2085) or links in signature below for more information.
geophil
There is also "Mapmaker", freeware DEM processor available from trainzluvr site. Its german, but has full English instructions. Its freeware, and needs careful pre-processing, so TranzDEM may be easier to use, but then thats Payware... I've used Mapmaker quite sucesfully to generate realworld terrain, together with basemaps to trace over railway lines, roads, buildings etc...
chuck.umbreit
New member
I have been looking all over for a complete tutorial on how-to use TIGER data with HOG. Although I was only browsing your reply to COOLMATTY, I appreciate your sharing the address of the “wewain Trainz Fan Site”.Wewain's excellent HOG/DEM tute is here.
It includes links to all the utilities and data you need to get started and simple to follow step-by-step instructions to bring it all together.
Have a go, and if you get stuck, post back for specific help, there are lots of HOG-literate forumees happy to help....
Andy
chuck.umbreit
New member
Where to find how to use DEM data
It has taken some time for me to ferret out how to use DEM data in Trainz, but once I put all the pieces together, it turns out to be quite straight forward. However, you will not think so until you have traveled the learning curve. Here are some sources of information (You will find the source for all the required software included in the text I reference below):
The best tutorials I found is available at http://freepages.misc.rootsweb.com/~wewain/trainz/homepage.htm. The information was created back in 2004 for Trainz 2004. I don’t think it as ever been updated, but the tutorial includes a step-by-step walk through HOG which I have never seen anywhere else.
Study Bill Slack’s articles in Virtual Railroader, http://www.virtualrailroader.com/. Note that the steps he includes to convert the images from MicroDem to tga files by using Photoshop are no longer necessary. The latest version of MicroDem allows saving the images in tga format.
Bill suggests getting the DEM data from MapMart. I have found http://seamless.usgs.gov/ excellent for DEM data. However, seamless.usgs can be problematic. I have never really been able to determine why, but if is available to you through your ISP and browser, it has a great advantage. You can download the DEM data for input to MicroDem as one contiguous map for the area you wish to model. Charley Whitedog and Roger Dunn published a fine tutorial on using www.seamless.usgs.gov a few years ago, “Making Moutainz”. The approach they outlined was for creating custom displacements maps, and these are pretty limited in value for real modeling, but the article provides an excellent tutorial on the use of www.seamless.gov.
HOG and TIGER data is the secret to using the DEM data. You can input a full DEM data file of the area you wish to model, TIGER data for an even greater area, and HOG will generate a Trainz route cut down to Trainz boards with in 1 or 2 boards of the railroad lines. I could never get HOG to work for Trainz 2006, but the rail routes and waterways map fine for TC.
There is also a new development tool called. “TransDEM Trainz” by Dr. Roland Ziegler in Germany that does all the functions of MicroDem and HOG, and a good deal more. You can Google for “TransDEM Trainz”. There has also been a posting in this forum on the product. TransDEM is not free. The cost is about $30 US. I have not tried the product yet, but intend to do so. Because I have a good years work ahead to complete projects started using MicroDem and HOG it is more a matter of curiosity than need at this point. If this product works as advertised, it’s well worth the cost. If you figure your time is worth fifty cents and hour, you will soon use up the $30 in the MicroDem – HOG learning curve.
Good luck.
It has taken some time for me to ferret out how to use DEM data in Trainz, but once I put all the pieces together, it turns out to be quite straight forward. However, you will not think so until you have traveled the learning curve. Here are some sources of information (You will find the source for all the required software included in the text I reference below):
The best tutorials I found is available at http://freepages.misc.rootsweb.com/~wewain/trainz/homepage.htm. The information was created back in 2004 for Trainz 2004. I don’t think it as ever been updated, but the tutorial includes a step-by-step walk through HOG which I have never seen anywhere else.
Study Bill Slack’s articles in Virtual Railroader, http://www.virtualrailroader.com/. Note that the steps he includes to convert the images from MicroDem to tga files by using Photoshop are no longer necessary. The latest version of MicroDem allows saving the images in tga format.
Bill suggests getting the DEM data from MapMart. I have found http://seamless.usgs.gov/ excellent for DEM data. However, seamless.usgs can be problematic. I have never really been able to determine why, but if is available to you through your ISP and browser, it has a great advantage. You can download the DEM data for input to MicroDem as one contiguous map for the area you wish to model. Charley Whitedog and Roger Dunn published a fine tutorial on using www.seamless.usgs.gov a few years ago, “Making Moutainz”. The approach they outlined was for creating custom displacements maps, and these are pretty limited in value for real modeling, but the article provides an excellent tutorial on the use of www.seamless.gov.
HOG and TIGER data is the secret to using the DEM data. You can input a full DEM data file of the area you wish to model, TIGER data for an even greater area, and HOG will generate a Trainz route cut down to Trainz boards with in 1 or 2 boards of the railroad lines. I could never get HOG to work for Trainz 2006, but the rail routes and waterways map fine for TC.
There is also a new development tool called. “TransDEM Trainz” by Dr. Roland Ziegler in Germany that does all the functions of MicroDem and HOG, and a good deal more. You can Google for “TransDEM Trainz”. There has also been a posting in this forum on the product. TransDEM is not free. The cost is about $30 US. I have not tried the product yet, but intend to do so. Because I have a good years work ahead to complete projects started using MicroDem and HOG it is more a matter of curiosity than need at this point. If this product works as advertised, it’s well worth the cost. If you figure your time is worth fifty cents and hour, you will soon use up the $30 in the MicroDem – HOG learning curve.
Good luck.