Installing Basemaps
- Thread starter Alxmac84
- Start date
They are a lot of work, but they are great for converting a model railroad to a Trainz route. I use plans from Atlas and old Model Railroader books I have scanned in. I then break up the images over several tiles and lay the track along the drawn ROW. I find you have to fiddle a few things here and there, but the overall affect is pretty good.
John
John
That's one way, Al.
I saved the jpg's to my hard drive then resized them to 1000 x 1000 to fit the basemap object. I cloned the basemaps and saved them to a new names so I wouldn't ruin the orginals.
When resizing the basemap images, you'll find that the tracks may be a bit more spread apart, and the images overlap parts of baseboards. What I do here is leave the wider track spread sometimes if it seems plausible as it makes for better curves, besides you can fudge the spacing anyway to allow for grades and other scenery. Where the basemap doesn't quite fit on a full baseboard, I place a baseboard there anyway and color the remaning part black or dark green. Lowering the baseboard down too and coloring it a dark color is effective as well. This is like a model trainset in so many ways like this.
John
I saved the jpg's to my hard drive then resized them to 1000 x 1000 to fit the basemap object. I cloned the basemaps and saved them to a new names so I wouldn't ruin the orginals.
When resizing the basemap images, you'll find that the tracks may be a bit more spread apart, and the images overlap parts of baseboards. What I do here is leave the wider track spread sometimes if it seems plausible as it makes for better curves, besides you can fudge the spacing anyway to allow for grades and other scenery. Where the basemap doesn't quite fit on a full baseboard, I place a baseboard there anyway and color the remaning part black or dark green. Lowering the baseboard down too and coloring it a dark color is effective as well. This is like a model trainset in so many ways like this.
John
I use maps, since they have a scale, and then put the map image into Photoimpact (a photoshop clone from correl) and slice it up into squares that are the right size for the basemap objects I use (720m, same size as a baseboard). (I was able to see the Pixels Per Inch, and could see from the map how far an inch was supposed to be. With a little math I converted it to pixels per kilometer, and then knew what size my sliced up tiles needed to be)
(NOTE: That would be pretty lousy resolution, and the maps I have are much better then that....)
I then export the sliced image as a webpage, and use irfan view to make TGA copies of the JPGs.
I then edited the html file to place the file name next to each image.
When I open the html file in firefox, I see the map all split up. I find the "tile" I want, note it's name, and then go get the TGA version.
I then replace the basemap1.tga file with the tile I want and presto, I have the tile as an object in Surveyor.
(NOTE: That would be pretty lousy resolution, and the maps I have are much better then that....)
I then export the sliced image as a webpage, and use irfan view to make TGA copies of the JPGs.
I then edited the html file to place the file name next to each image.
When I open the html file in firefox, I see the map all split up. I find the "tile" I want, note it's name, and then go get the TGA version.
I then replace the basemap1.tga file with the tile I want and presto, I have the tile as an object in Surveyor.
Also true. I only use it as a guide, and I don't use DEM because it doesn't seem to be accurate enough for right of way - I think it looks great on long views of background landscapes like mountains and such, but it seems entirely too hard to sort out elevations laying track is concerned.
mezzoprezzo
Content appreciator
Keep trying!
I, too, was unable to get the maps into Surveyor to begin with, but it was well worth persevering.
I use the 1 km square Basemaps, available from the DLS.
There are also 720m versions if you want to have one that fits a single Trainz baseboard, but the size is irrelevant. You can move them anywhere on a route which has several connected baseboards. In fact it is better to have more than one baseboard because, on a single board, the movement of the map will be restricted to the area within that isolated baseboard. You can get some overlap, but it will be restricted by the anchor point of the asset which cannot be placed in the void beyond the baseboard edge.
If you read the supporting advice in the config.txt files it tells you that you must use a 1024x1024 resolution image. I’ve experimented and have successfully used 2048x2048 .jpg images with no problems. I can then see much more detail in Surveyor without having to constantly reference the original maps.
I’m currently re-laying an old city centre siding which, in reality, is now a large car park and shopping centre. The only recognisable features on GE are two old river bridges and one building. The old sidings and industries have long gone. They were ripped up in the 1960s (I do remember them though!).
Old maps and basemaps have come to the rescue. In the UK, for some areas, we can get 1:500 scale town maps dated 1880, (which miraculously show a lot of fine detail - the tracks actually show both rails!). Accurate track-laying is a doddle.
Many of these old maps seem far more detailed than the modern ones. Here's part of one I'm using which shows some of the siding, points (turnouts) and wagon turntable. It also shows the wooden unloading piers where the workmen would offload the sacks of barley and carry them into the malt-houses.
I’ve placed my World Origin “birdbath” against the south west corner of a known remaining historic building. If (no, when!) the basemap get accidentally moved, a potential problem when not in wire-frame mode, then it’s easy to re-site it. I just drag the basemap back to the right place making sure the building corner is, once again, adjacent to the birdbath.
Once the birdbath has the correct co-ordinates set, you can use trig stations to place other features, identified on GE, which are beyond the area of the detailed basemap.
One other tip.
When you first lay your basemap in Surveyor, remember to make sure the map is orientated North up. It’s easy to overlook that point if you have the random rotate function selected and you’ve had to turn the basemap to realign it with the grid. It’s easy to line it up in the wrong direction. Check that compass!, or you could end up with a lot of re-building.
All in all, I find that basemaps, Google Earth, and Trainz Surveyor are a great combination for accurate route building when attempting small detailed, particularly historic, areas. I wouldn’t try it over a large area though. That’s where DEMs come into their own.
Here’s the bit I’ve been doing this afternoon (between getting sidetracked researching local rail history and writing this). It shows part of my 2048x2048 basemap of an historic map in wireframe mode. I've laid the track accurately amongst the shambles of various trial embankments and buildings.
I, too, was unable to get the maps into Surveyor to begin with, but it was well worth persevering.
I use the 1 km square Basemaps, available from the DLS.
There are also 720m versions if you want to have one that fits a single Trainz baseboard, but the size is irrelevant. You can move them anywhere on a route which has several connected baseboards. In fact it is better to have more than one baseboard because, on a single board, the movement of the map will be restricted to the area within that isolated baseboard. You can get some overlap, but it will be restricted by the anchor point of the asset which cannot be placed in the void beyond the baseboard edge.
If you read the supporting advice in the config.txt files it tells you that you must use a 1024x1024 resolution image. I’ve experimented and have successfully used 2048x2048 .jpg images with no problems. I can then see much more detail in Surveyor without having to constantly reference the original maps.
I’m currently re-laying an old city centre siding which, in reality, is now a large car park and shopping centre. The only recognisable features on GE are two old river bridges and one building. The old sidings and industries have long gone. They were ripped up in the 1960s (I do remember them though!).
Old maps and basemaps have come to the rescue. In the UK, for some areas, we can get 1:500 scale town maps dated 1880, (which miraculously show a lot of fine detail - the tracks actually show both rails!). Accurate track-laying is a doddle.
Many of these old maps seem far more detailed than the modern ones. Here's part of one I'm using which shows some of the siding, points (turnouts) and wagon turntable. It also shows the wooden unloading piers where the workmen would offload the sacks of barley and carry them into the malt-houses.
I’ve placed my World Origin “birdbath” against the south west corner of a known remaining historic building. If (no, when!) the basemap get accidentally moved, a potential problem when not in wire-frame mode, then it’s easy to re-site it. I just drag the basemap back to the right place making sure the building corner is, once again, adjacent to the birdbath.
Once the birdbath has the correct co-ordinates set, you can use trig stations to place other features, identified on GE, which are beyond the area of the detailed basemap.
One other tip.
When you first lay your basemap in Surveyor, remember to make sure the map is orientated North up. It’s easy to overlook that point if you have the random rotate function selected and you’ve had to turn the basemap to realign it with the grid. It’s easy to line it up in the wrong direction. Check that compass!, or you could end up with a lot of re-building.
All in all, I find that basemaps, Google Earth, and Trainz Surveyor are a great combination for accurate route building when attempting small detailed, particularly historic, areas. I wouldn’t try it over a large area though. That’s where DEMs come into their own.
Here’s the bit I’ve been doing this afternoon (between getting sidetracked researching local rail history and writing this). It shows part of my 2048x2048 basemap of an historic map in wireframe mode. I've laid the track accurately amongst the shambles of various trial embankments and buildings.
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Place the base map on it's own layer, and then lock the layer. you'll never move the base map again.
I find I can also make the layer invisible, for when I'm trying to "pick" an object and I keep getting "720m basemap1"
Moving the basemaps to their own layer makes life MUCH easier.
I find I can also make the layer invisible, for when I'm trying to "pick" an object and I keep getting "720m basemap1"
Moving the basemaps to their own layer makes life MUCH easier.