just starting

[dak4482]

ok. i have isolated my sdts files, my marker files, my xyz files and just about everything else you mentioned above from my old MSTS route.I think I was able to convert the XYZ to a .str file but I'm not sure. I'm REALLY having trouble with the German translation so if you can walk me thru this a little at a time I would really appreciate it. All I would really like to do now is concentrate on importing the marker files onto just plain old flat terrain so that I can practice laying down track according to the marker files. Do I need to set up any properties in the two add-on programs first? If not then what is my first step in importing my marker files? Any help would be GREATLY appreciated and to keep from trying your patience Ill do this a little at a time.

[Christian Gründler]

I'm REALLY having trouble with the German translation

Hi,

you probably mean the German original .

The Route Editor (including the manual) is available in English. The necessary files are in the folder "Sprachen" inside your Zusi folder (some files must be moved manually). If you don't have them yet, please tell me your email address; I can send you everything that is translated up to now.

Regards,
Christian

[Oliver Lamm]

Christian,

I think he's got trouble using the "Ziegler-Tools" to create the raw route for use in the route editor.

@dak4482: At the moment there is no translation for the "Ziegler-Tools" as nobody has translated them so far. If you need help on that topic you may want to contact Roland Ziegler as he is the author of these programs.
Normally he is also reading in this forum so you may get an answer soon.

As I haven't worked with the marker files or any other material from the msts you might want to describe what you have done so far and what these marker files are for. Are that some kind of way points along the track ?

Oliver

[Carsten Hölscher]

I don't know anything about the MSTS-Files, so it's dificult for me to understand your problem.

Carsten

[Roland Ziegler]

Concerning marker files:

The tool for that is "Streckenkonverter" (Route Converter).

"Normal-Modus" (normal mode) is the default and correct.

"Import-Datei" (import file) is next. "Öffnen" (open). In the dialog for "Dateityp" (file type) pick "Marker (*.mkr)" and select first marker file.

You can load more than one marker file. Each marker file results in one polyline (consecutive track elements for Zusi). To add another marker file check "Hinzufügen" (add) below the "Öffnen" button.

Click okay to the popup dialog to confirm markers are in geographical coordinates.

UTM zone and lat/long ("Breite"/Länge") should appear in the main dialog.

You now have the option to set a UTM reference point for future editing. UTM coordinates - which str. data will be based upon - will be truncated to a 1000 meter grid offset. This might will be different for subsequent imports.

To set the reference point, click "UTM Referenz". In that dialog check "Referenzpunkt Vorgabe aktiv" (use reference point), accept the defaults and save by clicking "Speichern" (save).

In the main dialog again, go to "Export-Datei" (export file) and "Strecke" (route), click "Speichern unter" (save as). Accept the default file type .str and save your data. Accept the UTM hint in the popup dialog.

Done. You should now have created a basic (raw) Zusi route.

[dak4482]

Wow!!! That worked great. The only problem is some of the routes show up in the editor turned 90 degrees. Is there a way to correct this? It tried rotating then saving but it always went back to the original layout.

Dan

[Roland Ziegler]

Don't rotate them. The Zusi route editor points up East (!), so North is left there. This is just a visualisation issue, and terrain modelling - done properly - will fit.

An important aspect is the UTM offset. If you happen to see parts of your modules shifted in x and y direction compared to others, it will probably have to do with different UTM offsets. Always using the same UTM reference point in Streckenkonverter should prevent this.

[dak4482]

Hey, you guys are great. I might even be starting to get the hang of this !!! I have the raw route assembled now from my MSTS marker files using the route converter program. The one problem I see is that when I load the route into the route editor there are HUNDREDS of extra track lines that were created in the raw route by the route converter program. Is there a way to prevent the route converter from adding these extra track lines? Most of them appear to run at right angles to the actual track lines that should be there. It is taking forever to remove them one at a time. Any help would be appreciated. Thx again.

Dan
dak@en.com

[Roland Ziegler]

We could think of filtering automatically but I'm afraid such a filter not yet exists and would take a bit of time to implement. I may be wrong here and there is a slight chance that the Zusi Route Editor might be able to handle this. If not, I think such a filter is not such a bad idea and I will put it on my todo list for the next version of the raw route editor within TransDEM.

But let's look at these "artefacts". Markers define points, not line segments. Route Converter takes all markers in the file in the original order to create one multi-segmented line - a "polyline" - from that. The human creator of the original marker file may have intended to peg out a route or may have intended to identify important objects along the route. Route Converter does not know and does not care. So in the converted route we suddenly take a sidestep because our new route alignment decides to detour through that landmark oak tree a couple of hundred yards away and, oops, we have our unwanted artefact.

Now, do we need to delete those "side object markers"? Admittedly, they may not look nice. But the raw route needs to be elaborated anyway. For that task will these artefacts cause trouble? It depends. If the alignement is no longer recognizable due to those artefacts we should delete these points. If not - that is we can still clearly and easily identify the right-of-way - we just ignore them.

How to delete them, if necessary? No brilliant idea yet. It has to be done manually. The upcoming TransDEM raw route editor will still need 2 mouse clicks for each superfluous point.