Terrascene for US/Mexico border

[zfehr 1]

I'm in the process of making scenery for San Diego, CA East to Yuma, AZ and have a question regarding using the Shapefiles generated by ArcExplorer2 to use for the Mexico side. In the Terrascene tutorial they mention only six files that you will need from ArcExplorer... these do not appear in the file generated for NW Mexico. The files that do appear are the following six: awriv3ml.shp, awriv3mp.shp, awsadmin.shp, awscitie.shp, awswrlda.shp and mdworld3.shp. Are these files usable and if so which attributes (using the wizard) would I assign so that Terrascene uses them correctly. If there is another source for these Mexico files please let me know... I'm always looking for an idiot safe method :).Zane

[Guest Colins2]

ZaneAs a rough guess, I would say that you didn't zoom in far enough.You should get a list of around 15 or so shapefiles.You should zoom in until you get the maximum detail and then choose the option to d/l 4 x the shown area.This normally will get you coverage for a globe tile, assuming your zoom point is somewhere near the centre of the globe tile.I use TS2 as a reference when using AecExplorer to d/l the shapefiles.With all the shapefiles that I have d/l in this way, the reference attribute is pretty much obvious.You don't need any points files, unless you want to see them in the ArcExplorer window. Also, you don't need the mdworld3 file.The names that you should see are:Dnetp - lakes, reservoirs etc. (polygons)Dnetl - rivers & streams (lines)Ponetp - Coastlines (polygon)(if applicable)Ponetl - coastline in a line formRRline - railroads (line)Rdline - Roads (line)Utline - Utility lines (line)TSline - connectors, bridges etc. (line)pppolyp - urban areas (polygon)Un-needed points files includeaepoint - airportspppoint - city pointsppanno - city annotationsIf you are not sure, then d/l the lot, they're not very big, and look at them all in ArcExplorer and then decide what you need.Hope this helpsColin

[zfehr 1]

Thanks Colin,I'll be checking it out later tonight. Didn't know that the zoom level would affect the information level... good advice.Zane

[zfehr 1]

Zooming in worked... next problem. I generated the scenery and just below the border there is a horizontal band of scenery that appears to be the texturing for deciduous forest but in the color grey not green. I can go through and individually paste in more of the same green texturing but it becomes difficult to keep the continuity of the roads that appear within those tiles. Are there any suggestions or ways to get Terrascene to use the correct texture within these grey areas?Zane

[Guest Colins2]

ZaneWithout knowing which area you are working on, it's difficult to know exactly.Which Globe Tile are you trying to TerraScene?It's probably a lack of data that's causing your problem, rather than TerraScene. The shapefiles generally wouldn't have any coverage for land types other than urban areas. You are probably getting the default texture in the band with no data.Colin

[zfehr 1]

I used Paintshop Pro to edit the offending areas, just took a short slew over San Diego out to Imperial Valley... looked alright. This may have been addressed in the past but the default textures (for areas without information) are very green. Works wonderful for up here in Oregon but Southern California, Arizona, Mexico have probably never been that green. If you select a different texture then you get a very discernable line that breaks into the next color on the adjacent globe tile. Is there a way to define regions to use desert so that you avoid these sharp lines?Zane

[Roger Mazengarb 0]

G'day Zane,> If there is another source for these Mexico files please let me know...>I'm always looking for an idiot safe method :).Why not make your own data.!!!!At least you'll know who to blame if it doesn't look good.! :-lolI'm not being flippant mate; time to give Terrashape a plug here. I don't think many people yet appreciate the true potential of Terrashape, especially for areas outside of USA where there is scant data available and the shapefile data that is available is very inaccurate.All you need is a good map of the area you wish to cover. For Sydney I used the Gregories Street directory which has a lot of detail when it comes to rivers, lakes, reservoirs, parklands, beaches, roads, railways etc. By all means download whatever data in the way of shapefiles that you can but then use Terrashape to convert the shapefiles to *.dxf files which you can then load into a cad program and add in your own data using a different layer for each feature. Terrashape will convert each layer into an individual shapefile that you can add to your project and map to a preset texture or even make your own texture. The finished result depends on just how much detail you are willing to enter in your data but it is virtually unlimited. It's up to the indivdual when to call it quits. I have attached a screenshot of the *.dxf file I'm using for Sydney. The really detailed stuff you can't see due to the fact that I've zoomed out a long way.Just a suggestion.Cheers,Roger @YSSY

[Guest Colins2]

G'day RogerLooking good there :)Colin

[Roger Mazengarb 0]

G'day Colin,Thanks Colin; you should see it when it's rendered! :-)I'm stoked!! :-jumpyI can't get over how easy you have made it for us to create our own data shapefiles for terrascene to use.I know it wasn't so easy for you to develop Terrashape :-) Thanks for the many hours of work and sweat.Cheers,Roger @YSSY