creating coastlines

[Holger 0]

Hi Luis,I fully agree with your points about potential issues with the accuracy. Keep in mind, though, that many topographic maps are not nearly as accurate as one would like to believe either ;-)It seems that the SRTM ocean and lake data are actually a new product derived from semi-automated analyses of satellite and other data. Those water data are available separately (Rhumbaflappy first pointed out the website a while back) but not for free: http://edcsns17.cr.usgs.gov/srtmdted/If you follow the link to the SRTM Water Body Data Set you'll find the technical docs that describe the process and average accuracy. I haven't had much time to peruse them in detail but noticed that they talk about 20-m horizontal and 16-m vertical accuracy with a 90% confidence interval (DTED-2 standards). Thats' not bad at all, if they in fact achieved that.In any case, I am a firm believer that manual approaches to FS landscape design will almost always trump automatic or semiautomatic procedures. Compiling an island with Slarti may be much quicker but without manual editing it won't look as good as something that was created entirely by hand. Fortunately, the design tools we have available (big kudos again to the programmers!) allow us to integrate both types of approaches to give us the best of both worlds.Cheers, Holger

[Guest Horst]

Hello,I will agree to Holgers post for accuracy.Even products done for GPS navigation have failures (sometimes in big areas).Or maybe have a look to the georeferencing from Google:http://maps.google.com/maps?ll=44.641002,-...06238&t=k&hl=enhttp://maps.google.com/maps?ll=-34.389267,...99804&t=k&hl=en(ca.500m)Automatic and semiautomatic approaches do not dismiss you, to rework the data.e.g. Colourisation for photo or shifting vector points using maybe landsat or photo as background.Most of this can be done with expensive professional software.Parts of it, with incredible design tools. (Raster: Slarti and AutoAsm and vector:Ground2k and Sbuilder)For example: You can colour all 0m points from the mesh map in Sbuilder and draw very easy a line. And when you draw you can think about: progressive lines, different wave effects and different textures.What is the faster approach for a small island? (and the learning curve?)Automatic and semiautomatic save time, but please use the time for rework!(not for you, only for designers, who want to change the whole world! Quote Popper:

[PanosG 2]

Have you heard about "AutoCoast"? (Automatic Coastline Scenery Generator) by Takuya Muakami http://autocoast.sourceforge.jpGive it a try, check these screen shots bellow.Panos GeorgotasAthens-Greecehttp://www.precisionmanuals.com/images/forum/supporter.jpg