Using TerraScene and Autoasm?

[Guest cwright]

Hi, Victor, I've put out a temporary update with the latest program version. But be warned, the manual is very provisonal (I'm in the process of editing and re-writing it!). Some of the information may be missing or even out of date. But the most important part, that dealing with the Editor and associated tools, is complete and should be accurate. Here are the complete links:http:/www.kline.demon.co.uk/AutoAsmV05.zip (the original release last December)http:/www.kline.demon.co.uk/AutoAsm_Update_2.zip (update from the end of January)http:/www.kline.demon.co.uk/autoasm_temp_update.zip (the latest update added today) If the links don't work you may have to copy and paste them into your browser. Have fun. Best regards, Chris

[victorwest2 0]

Well I've managed to create a bitmap (Using a trial version of Konverter. When that expires, I'll have a go with the program you mentioned Chris) for loading into AutoASM. I reduced the size of the tga file to make processing more manageable.When I click "read data" everything appears to run ok with a list running up the main screen. However, when I click the tools menu, the bitmapdoesn't appear in the "input bitmap" box. I tried loading the "easy" bitmap and that appears fine.

[Guest cwright]

>Well I've managed to create a bitmap (Using a trial version>of Konverter. When that expires, I'll have a go with the>program you mentioned Chris) for loading into AutoASM. I>reduced the size of the tga file to make processing more>manageable.>When I click "read data" everything appears to run ok with a>list running up the main screen. However, when I click the>tools menu, the bitmapdoesn't appear in the "input bitmap">box.Hi, Victor, I assume you meant the Editor and not Tools! If you can load the 'easy' bitmap okay but not the TS bitmap, then there may be a problem with the bitmap. You need to enter the bitmap name into the box (without the .bmp extension). It should be 8 bit colour .bmp format. Can you load the bitmap into a paint program such as Paint Shop Pro? Maybe Konverter is doing something funny to the bitmap! Finally, the pixel size should be multiples of 4 and 2, but if it's not you'll get an error message suggesting the right size. If you don't have a paint program such as PSP the converter program must be able to convert to bmp and also convert to a different pixel size. If you still have a problem could you describe exactly what happens when you click on LOAD? I would suggest using the 'easy' bitmap to go through the whole process of correcting errors and finally making the scenery, as it will give you a good idea of how it works. Best regards, Chris

[boshar 6]

The best program for this is irfanview. I used TerraScene to generate Fly2 scenery and this program was recomended to me then. I used it ever since. It is freeware and you can download it at http://www.irfanview.com/

[Guest cwright]

Hi Victor, another thought occurred. After running the 'easy' project, you could try the 'TS-demo' project. This is a cut-down TS bitmap, size 3072*3072. There are no errors so you should be able to convert it to scenery without problems as follows:1. On the Main panel, browse and select TS_demo (or type it straight into the Project Name box).2. Go to the Editor and type 'TS_demo' into the Input Bitmap box.3. Click on Load to load the bitmap.4. If you don't see anything click on Frame to get a full-frame view (with it zoomed out drawing may be a little slow, so you can use the Quick Draw option, which draws the frame faster but at lower quality - as you zoom in for a closer look drawing gets much faster).4A. Click on SEARCH - this will scan the bitmap for errors. After about half a minute you should get a green banner informing you there are no errors. With any bitmap, once you get a green banner you should be able to convert it to scenery without problems.5. Go to the Main panel, optionally choose a different geographical location and click on Read Data. After ten or twenty seconds the bitmap will be read in and you will see the map. The lines should already have appropriate settings (left-click on a line and you will see the settings in the Status slot).6. Set up the three path slots at the top of the Main panel to match your system (after doing so you could save the Project settings - click on SAVE).7. Click on WRITE LWM to create the LWM bgl. When it's done click on WRITE VTP to create the VTP bgl.8. Click on LWMViewer to look at the scenery. It should be okay.9. Finally click on RUN FS to go flying. If you didn't select a point it will take you to the centre of the scenery, otherwise it will take you to the point that is selected. Good luck! Best regards, Chris

[Guest victorwest]

Hi Chris,Thanks for the advice. I'll try that when I get back home.Yes, I did mean the Tools. As per the guide which says"32. Go to the TOOLS panel and check that INPUT BITMAP shows

[Guest cwright]

>Hi Chris,>Thanks for the advice. I'll try that when I get back home.>Yes, I did mean the Tools. As per the guide which says>>"32. Go to the TOOLS panel and check that INPUT BITMAP shows>

[victorwest2 0]

Hi Chris,I don't seem to have an Editor button on my AutoASM. Where I think it should be the box is blank. I have version V6.9. I guess I may have made an error when installing!

[victorwest2 0]

>Hi Chris,>I don't seem to have an Editor button on my AutoASM. Where I>think it should be the box is blank. I have version V6.9. I>guess I may have made an error when installing! I've sorted out that problem and I'm now editing the bitmap. However, I seem to have a problem with a line that finishes at the edge of the bitmap. AutoAsm keeps wanting me to add new points to it and is saying there is a break in the line. As far as I can see it's only a break because it's the edge of the bitmap.

[nudata 10]

Just SKIP that line.... Later when you do the edge process it Editor will stop there and you can clean it up along with any wrong bit addiotions from the edging function.Dick Boley @KLBE

[victorwest2 0]

Many thanks for the answers.

[Guest Slacktide]

Whoa!!!! Just read the docs... We can now import Polish format files! That's awesome!For those of you who don't know what I am babbling about, this gives us the much pined for ability to use Shapefiles without having to convert them to raster through Terrascene. You can use GPSMapEdit http://www.geopainting.com/en/ to import shapefiles (or Mapinfo files) and save them as Polish text format. Then, coastlines, here we come.I'm going to go try it out now...Dan

[Guest cwright]

>>Hi Chris,>>I don't seem to have an Editor button on my AutoASM. Where I>>think it should be the box is blank. I have version V6.9. I>>guess I may have made an error when installing! >>I've sorted out that problem and I'm now editing the bitmap.>However, I seem to have a problem with a line that finishes at>the edge of the bitmap. AutoAsm keeps wanting me to add new>points to it and is saying there is a break in the line. As>far as I can see it's only a break because it's the edge of>the bitmap.>Hi Victor, Just be sure you're using the latest version that came with the temporary update. I assume that the line on the edge was part of a LWM polygon - AutoAsm only finds errors with LWM polygons currently. Very often lakes and coastlines will be cut off by the bitmap edge, thus forming a break in the polygon. You could use the editor to manually complete any broken polygons (pick the colour of the polygon and then use the line tool to complete the polygon). The better way is to use the BITMAP EDGES tool to do this automatically. If you do this before using SEARCH, you won't get those annoying errors. I think this was described in the temporary manual update and it should be correct. In fact, if I remember correctly, the 'Using the Editor' section covers the complete procedure for fixing bitmap errors in reasonable detail. As I think Dick suggested, if you start doing the search before fixing the bitmap edges you can click on SKIP to ignore them for now. Then fix the bitmap edges. Finally do another search or searches until you get the green banner. When you get your first green banner on a brand new TS bitmap then you'll know you're doing really well! Have fun. Best regards, Chris

[Guest cwright]

Hi, Dan, I hope you find this useful. Just one word of warning: very often these data sources have errors and artifacts that need to be fixed. The import process creates a bitmap that you can examine, either with your paint program or with the AutoAsm editor. Before you can reliably create scenery you will need to fix any errors. Therefore, I would suggest that you spend some time familiarising yourself with the Editor and tools that can be used to fix the errors. The 'Using the Editor' section gives quite a bit of information on this. Good luck! Best regards, Chris

[Guest Slacktide]

Thanks.. I am having a bit of difficulty importing my .mp file. I set the O/P Bitmap to 1024X1024, select the .mp in the File Name box, enter the center point, and click Set Bounds, and Set Main. The message window says it is importing a bunch of points, then fills in the Size boxes. These values are correct, I checked them against the bounds of my .mp. Then I check Load All, and click Load. It says Importing Data, and again says it is importing a bunch of points. If I then click Goto X/Y, I see the outer boundary for my map area, but no polys inside it. Any idea what I am doing wrong? I'll put my .mp here: http://slacktide.org:88/~dan/southsound.zip if you want to take a look at it. The center is N 47.74432 E -122.516455. It should contain several polygons of tye 0x28 in RGN80.Dan