artpier wrote:Hey Barry.
I used that link you posted for the tutorial ( I seem to have lost the copy I had.) and it kept coming back "Not found" You had said you reposted, right?
Thought you had saved a copy as now made my site just collectables as it was a few years back.
Don't mind helping with posts on forum but the forum has become almost a deserted ship nowadays and a waste of space on my site for tutorials.
If you send private message mention your email address and will see if I can email the html page with images to you.
Also I can't refer to scenery designer as it does not open with Vista but all the relevant info is in a copy text tutorial following.
See if I can copy the text part here...............
TUTORIAL
MAKING SCENERIES FOR THE STENTEC
SAIL AND MOTORBOAT SIMULATORS
USING SRTM2 SATELLITE DATA
Satellite srtm2 Scenery Tutorial for the Stentec 4.2 sail simulator, and motorboat simulators
Will not work with Vista so only relevant if using Windows XP!
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If using the 3D models, or sceneries or details on this site - USE AT YOUR OWN RISK - NO LIABILITY ACCEPTED... as regards the simulator or your computer crashing, etc. However they all work OK on my own computer.
The Help Information for sceneries and Blender Information is simply my own experience, and may not be correct, or the best way to do things. So again at your own risk, no liablity accepted.
There may be occasional errors, etc, in the details, on the pages.
Perhaps always best to make a back up copy of the original before altering anything, then if it doesn't work out, just replace the original.
As far as I know....
Regarding the Scenery and Dem editor...If creating sceneries yourself, you may need to make the Dem Editor, compatible to Windows 95 or Windows 98 to save a Dem. map if using Windows XP.
Apparently Windows Vista needs file D3DRM.dll to run the sail and motorboat simulators.
This file can be downloaded from the Internet and is also in windows system 32 folder in XP.
Tutorial for Creating SRTM data, version 2. routes/Sceneries for the Stentec Sail and Motorboat Simulators.
http://www2.jpl.nasa.gov/srtm/index.html
Using 3DEM
http://www.visualizationsoftware.com/3dem/
Virtual Terrain in the Scenery Designer Folder or Download
http://www.vterrain.org/
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This tutorial explains the procedure using satellite data.
The complete scenery ready to sail took me just about one hour to make.
It is the North coast of Cyprus.
The depths were guessed at for the purpose of the tutorial.
Also the links and all the other necessary details are in the other tutorial so we will start off with the 3DEM part. This part is relatively simple so have not made images of it.
1. Open 3DEM. Click the appropriate file type and load your satellite data which you downloaded.
Hold down control to load several files adjacent to each other.
If you wish you can patch missing data. Click Operation - Patch mising data - Draw a box around map and press Enter.
Click Operation. Select smaller area, draw box around area required. Click Enter.
If water is not showing blue. click - Colour Scale - Modify Scale - and at the bottom make sure there is a zero 0 in the box for sea level. Tick - Island - Ocean or Lowlands - for the sea level box.
2. Click Operation - Change Projection - Convert to UTM Projection and click WGS84 and OK.
Also if you wish you can crop the map to a smaller size. Click Operation - Select Smaller Size - Draw a box around area require and press Enter on keyboard.
3. Finally we save it as USGS ASCII DEM and give it a file name.
~~~~~~~~~3DEM Section now finished with~~~~~~~~~~
Next Open Scenery Designer Toolkit and open VTBUILDER again this section is very easy.
1. Click Layer - Import Data - Elevation - OK ...open folder you saved the usgs ascii dem in, and open, and for my scenery I get the following, showing the part of the coast of Cyprus..
2. Click Export Area - Set to Extants and then click Elevation - Merge and Export Elevation.
3. Give it a name and it will save in the same folder you saved the usgs ascii dem in as a .bt file.
4. A Merge and Resample box opens with figures already entered in it.
This again is very simple. The measurements are of 2 sides of your scenery.
The maximum resolution for clarity with the Stentec simulators is 2048 so we want this value for our longest side. The two figures shown in size at this density box is first the x side "horizontal" and Y the upright vertical side.
So in the very bottom 2 boxes. click "any size" above them, and the size for my map shown in the upper boxes is 3042 for X, the horizontal side, and 1249 for the upright, vertical Y side.
So I put 2048 in the x box. (maximum size allowed in Stentec dem editor) and the smaller side is the fraction of it. Just using the figures that are already shown in the upper box "size at this density". which are 1249/3042 multiplied by 2048. Use windows calculator, for me.. 1249 divided by 3042 multiplied by 2048 gives us 840.8 so call it 841 and I entered this in the vertical Y box.
Sounds a bit complex but once you see the panel you will understand.
Just basically put 2048 for your longest side, and the smaller side is the fraction shown of 2048.
These go in the bottom 2 boxes. You don't alter anything else.
Click Ok and we get a succesful written .bt file notice. This automatically goes in the same folder as the usgs ascii dem
VT builder doesn't seem to close on my computer and I have to close it with Windows Task Manager / Control - Alt - Del...find vtbuilder in the list to close if you have problems.
But again only takes a minute.
~~~~~~~~~VTBUILDER Section now finished with~~~~~~~~~~
At the time of writing 26 September 2006 - If using windows XP you may need to make the Scenery Designer and Dem Editor compatible to Windows 95 or windows 98 to be able save the DEM map - In Program Files open the Stentec Folder and dem editor folder - Right click on the icon that open the program - Properties - make compatible and click on windows 95.
Mine seems to work with windows 98 or ME in the box.
The .bt file actually made the terrain greyscale for us so we now open the Scenery Designer, and then the Dem Editor, and load the .bt file we made, and we get the Following grey-scale dem.
However if you remember the sea was 0 (zero) in 3DEM so we now need to clear this to enable us to place our depths. These are not made with the satellite file.
But this is again is very simple to do.
1. So Click dem/Set no data/Single Height/ put 0 in the box but probably already in.
I take the tick out of "set as new" as don't want a fresh map as just altering this one.
and we get
This map means that the land is all ready to generate but we need to lay some depths. If you run the mouse over the dark part you will see the height at each spot you look at. To make a map you would just like to sail on and admire the scenery it is not necesary to plot accurate depths and the simplest method is as follows.. that is if you are making a complete scenery within one hour as this one.
Click the line symbol at the bottom which you see in the image on the left side, the pencil is above it.
A height box opens at the right. Put say (minus) -5 in it. and run a line all around the coastline right next to the land. Use the magnifying glass symbol to enlarge.
Right click to release thread. Make sure all the land is surrounded. Make sure there are no single pixels without a thread around. One solitary pixel could make a spike or a whole land mass. You can remove any bits you don't want. set the depth to 0, and use the pencil icon and click TWICE on the unwanted pixel, set no date to zero and it will remove it.
You can draw a box around an area to work on sections. I use it to open up rivers. You can set "no data" to clear a range of height within the box, a solitary height, or the complete area. Keep backing up you file as you progress in my case cyprus01, cyprus02, cyprus03. You can always delete these when you finish.
But to continue run some more depths, working outwards to the deep sea, say minus -8, minus -12. minus -20, minus -30, or whatever you want. Also make sure you press Apply, at the right hand side for each depth as you lay it. It turns from pink to black lines and we get... (lines bit hard to see against the pink). When finished save with a name.
Good progress getting made. Easy to lay depths as just like using windows paint program drawing lines. You just set a value for each line in the box and click apply. Be careful if using the pencil. You can still run this along wherever you want, as the first time you click, it uses the depth used previously, CLICK TWICE to start with, each time you change the depth/height. Depths need a minus, e.g -7 before them in the box.
Anyway enough nattering from me.
Although we have the terrain already to generate we also must now get the depths ready.
Click DEM - Interpolate and you will see the progress bar at the bottom. The more depth lines you placed the quicker it will interpolate. When finished save with a name.
Your version will look like a black blob, but if you press the water wavy symbol at the top, you can see it in the previous image, it shows how your scenery will look. If anything looks wrong you can go back and alter the appropriate bit, using no data to remove it, and putting the correct depth etc.
Post on forum if you have any questions.
Also as mentioned keep backing up and saving. You can always delete what you don't want.
Just one more small thing we must do before the terrain is ready to generate and that is change it to a "scene" file which the Scenery Designer uses. Just needs a few mouse clicks. So it's click DEM on top line of previous image - Convert Projection - Scene - WGS 1984 is probably already in the Preference Datum box, and we get a slightly tilted map with a pink surround of blank dem...You can just see the pink in the image. Use the magnifying glass symbol to keep a full clear view of the pink part showing on the screen.
All we have to do is crop the picture as we do with any other, so click the dashed square symbol on left side, third from bottom. Draw a box around the map so it clips off the pink part.
This is important as the map won't load in Scenery designer if you leave any on and you might have to redo it.
Then Click - Edit - Crop - and click OK in the box that pops up as below.
Save with a name you can recognise, as this is the final file to generate the terrain.
~~~~~~~~~DEM EDITOR Section now finished
Open the Scenery Designer. Click File - New - in your folder open the dem map you just saved. This will be complete with co-ordinates and spacing already entered so you don't need to make any alterations and we get .. This is a screenshot and only shows part of the scenery showing North Cyprus and ready to generate the scenery.
Click Ok and we get the terrain made . Your route may look lika a white blob at first as we need to put a texture on the terrain. 3rd button on right to load a texture. I use my own coloured one. Use mine if you wish out of the scenery folder Used in the last scenery or 2.
Default is Program Files/Common Files/Stentec Shared/Sceneries.
Use the slider to show the desired effect.
Next is colour bands. I just import them from my other sceneries.
Again use mine if you wish as with the texture.
You click on the scenery file to import colours or set your own.
Click clock symbol then use cursor position and click where you want to start on the scenery.
Set time etc. File save. I save to the default folder as detailed before. Also click File and then Register and save again.
Off for a sail around Cyprus
END OF TUTORIAL
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Microdem
An excellent program written by Professor Peter Guth of the Naval Academy
Microdem
http://www.usna.edu/Users/oceano/pguth/ ... crodem.htm
If using Microdem for any reason... some basics. I do not know if it will work with the Stentec Scenery Desigener as I used it in conjuction with Hog for Trainz.
But the notes below are also for my own reference and back-up, as perhaps may be usefull for SS5 new Scenery Designer when available..
I am using srtm2 (2nd version) files and for this short text tutorial tile N54W005 which has the Isle of Man on it.
You can use whatever tiles you choose but we need to keep the size fairly small.
Isle of Man is say 30 to 40 miles which makes a very large tga file.
Open Microdem.. but before starting set Microdem up so more tabs become visible Options then click Regular in the Menus Panel.
File/Open/Open Dem/ All files.. and go to where you saved your hgt file of your choice and open it. At the top of the window with the coloured map of the file you opened click the dotted square and draw a box around the Isle Of Man starting top left. Try and keep the square close to the area you want. The program will then automatically crop it. Before we start we could remove the clutter from the image as we will need to save it at the end as a tga file. Modify/Grid/then tick Neither. Also Map Marginalia/then take the ticks out of the boxes.
Also we need the Map as UTM so File/Save Dem/Reinterpolate UTM.
To open several maps to join automatically .
If you want to use a section from satellite data section that overlap you download the ajacent ones, before cropping by drawing box around required section.
So Data Manipulation/Merge/Dems/Dems-pick multiple/then give it a file name and save. Close this window. Then from the main microdem window File/Open/Open dem .
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