Importing Altitude Data...

SandTigerUK

New member
Hi

I've just spent my day toying around with T:ANE as I'm new to to this whole train sim thingy. Anyway, I decided to try out Surveyor and build the beginnings of a wee line, which has gone fine. What I'm now looking at now is the feasibility of painlessly importing terrain data from other applications such as Google Earth. I've seen posts from about 5 years ago re, TransDEM, microDEM etc and was just wondering if there was now anything a bit more 'user friendly' for wacking in terrain data onto a board?

Also is it possible (I'm sure it is) to convert previous Trainz content to be usable in T:ANE? If someone could kindly point me to an article/post then that would be great. In particular, I have found a loco for the 2009 version and would like to be able to run it in the version that I'm using.

Thanks
 
I'm pretty sure that Transdem (although it works great) does not simply wack baseboards into terrain ... it takes PC knowledge, and file handling experience ... it does not simply slap terrain down, without allot of hard work ... then you have to trace all the track lines in by hand ... or by some other complex means. It is not a painless program ... but I am sure that once you conquer the big learning curve it is easy(er)
 
Hi

I've just spent my day toying around with T:ANE as I'm new to to this whole train sim thingy. Anyway, I decided to try out Surveyor and build the beginnings of a wee line, which has gone fine. What I'm now looking at now is the feasibility of painlessly importing terrain data from other applications such as Google Earth. I've seen posts from about 5 years ago re, TransDEM, microDEM etc and was just wondering if there was now anything a bit more 'user friendly' for wacking in terrain data onto a board?

Also is it possible (I'm sure it is) to convert previous Trainz content to be usable in T:ANE? If someone could kindly point me to an article/post then that would be great. In particular, I have found a loco for the 2009 version and would like to be able to run it in the version that I'm using.

Thanks

TransDEM will be the best solution and at 30 Euros it's not a bad deal, though there's a bit of a learning curve. It's not as difficult as it seems and there is an excellent user manual and tutorials. The current version also supports T:ANE directly now and has the capabilities of producing 3d-tiles, though I haven't tried that option.

http://rolandziegler.de/StreckeUndLandschaft/startseiteTransDEMEngl.htm

The program will also support 64-bit computing which means it can handle large data-files. The previous version, being 32-bit, choked when processing the larger datasets now available.

====

Assets from previous versions of Trainz can be imported into T:ANE. Some will require some repairs using the regular Trainz asset repairing tools, but mostly using PEVS Tools Images 2 TGA. Shane Turner has the links to the PEVS Tools including the latest version of Images2TGA which works with both the previous versions and T:ANE since the file formats have changed some in the recent Trainz version.


From Shane Turner
My Forum -- PevSoft Tools -- Tutorial List (inc DirectX) -- My Utilities --TrainzTutorials.com


And from TS2010....
http://forums.auran.com/trainz/showthread.php?56002-Listing-of-Errors-and-How-to-Fix-Them

The errors are mostly the same and the repair process is the same.

There will be some assets you can't fix, just be aware of that. This is due to incorrect use of LOD (Level of Detail) meshes, poor scripts, and basically because the assets are very old. There will be others that will look awful when importing no matter how new the latest version is, the older still will still look old and dated. It's like sprucing up an old automobile. No matter how much Bondo and fiberglass with some paint put on it, it'll still be old. :)

If you find yourself stuck on something, let us know and we can help.

====

As far as what can be done with TransDEM you might like these here:



==== and ====

 
Thanks, Jcitron. I really appreciate you taking the time to help me out with a few pointers.

From what I've read today, I'd pretty much decided TransDem was worth a punt at 20 quid. Just hope I'm not too dense when it comes to using it :o

I'll also take a proper look at Shane's page this evening.

Thanks again.
 
You are welcome, Sir.

If you need any assistance with anything, feel free to post and we'll help.

John
 
Rest assured, I shall no-doubt have plenty of noob questions to ask as I'm quite liking all the map editing, model building & skinning fun that can apparently be had in Trainz. I can certainly see this growing on me and am already working on replicating (read that as "very loosely replicating") the first 10 miles or so of line near to me.

Now back to reading all those handy links that you provided.
 
Just as JCitron said TransDem is a way to go. I just imported some dem for the NS Pocahontas Div. With a little reading and doing the tutorials you will have it in no time at all. I thank if I can do it anyone can. Have fun, and welcome to the form.
 
Hey Jayco-man

I sent an email to Roland this morning (8 hours, 23 minutes and 14 seconds ago, not that I'm counting) to place an order for TransDEM. I've read/watched the whole forum over there and just hope he gets back to me soon so I can buy it and start reading the manual before I have any more beers
smileys-beer-817053.gif
 
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I also have to mention, as a noob the brilliant tutorials that I've watched over the past two days by Ruud Boer - The guy is a total Legend and gives such laid back tutorials for anyone new to Trainz.
 
Oh, wow! I'm seriously impressed with TranzDEM and can see why it got all the glowing recommendations. And the thoughtfully laid out tuts make it a breeze to jump in with :)

Really looking forward to playing around with this over the weekend
draisine.gif
 
Yes, it's strongly recommended. I've just been using it again for the first time in a while and I've been trying out the 3D UTM tiles - absolutely terrific!

Paul

... it does not simply slap terrain down, without allot of hard work ... then you have to trace all the track lines in by hand ... or by some other complex means.
This is not the case - TransDEM employs a very user-friendly Route Editor which enables you to trace a route on a geo-referenced map and then export it, with the track of your choice, direct into the route.
 
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