Shape files - how, what, where, why

[JimB]

Are you interested in using Shape files in TG2?
Yes. They came in very handy for my last big job, even though my experience with them is very limited.

Are you already using Shape files but importing them some other way (as rasters for example)?
I suppose could always render a raster from a polygonal conversion in XSI, but then, resolution issues arise with perhaps a scene that's viewed from multiple altitudes (as in my last job).

What are you interested in using Shape files for?
Roads, population distribution, water bodies, surface masking. It would be useful to be able to blur/feather/fade the boundaries, too.

What do you feel is the basic level of functionality you'd need to effectively work with Shape files in TG2?
Automatic geo location as an option, so they can be matched to real world terrain data.

How important is it for you to be able access attributes in TG2 itself, or would you be happy with setting up data for import in a more specialised GIS app?
Which attributes are you specifically referring to?

The same question as above but with regard to managing projections i.e. would you expect TG2 to work with all projections thrown at it or would you be happy to set up a projection in a more specialised app for importing as something TG2 understands?
Both. Sorry 

[JimB]

Are you already using Shape files but importing them some other way (as rasters for example)?[/quote]

Just to clarify, yes, I have done. It's a 'mare. The file sizes can get horrendous and loading a scene over the network alone could take a very long time. Shapefiles are small.

One thing that occured to me was, in the case of water features, it would be handy to be able to expand the contours outwards a bit to ensure that the water would go through the terrain. I just took a look at a USGS water shapefile in Merkaartor, and the boundaries are a bit smooth.

[rcallicotte]

Hope we can hear something about this sometime pretty soon.  Seems like a very useful capability.

[Kadri]

They are mostly absent here lately. Only Jo comes sometimes to post.
If it is not for holidays or so they may be cooking some new things for TG2 hopefully 

[rcallicotte]

Kadri, that's what I'm hoping -- cooking.   <-- I can taste it already. 

[Kadri]

[:)]

shapefiles work good for me in terra with just a little converting, but I like most to use geotiff

[jo]

Hi everyone,

Thanks very much for the feedback. That's thanks both to those who've added it recently and those who took the trouble some time ago as well. I have still been thinking about it all this time.

Unfortunately we haven't progressed with shape file support. I was looking at adding it as kind of a side project but all my time has been taken up by the "main project". However it's obvious that it would be a useful thing to have and I will continue with groundwork so that I can get stuck in when an opportunity presents itself.

If anyone has feedback on shape files and how they use them I'm still very keen to hear it.

Regards,

Jo

[cyphyr]

Isn't this the sort of thing that could go to a third party once the Plugin SDJK is released?

Richard

[JimB]

Sorry Jo, I don't think I'd ever seen this topic before. But back then I hadn't done anything with shapefiles either 

[rcallicotte]

Urban Pad uses shapefiles and my recent understanding is how useful these could be due to size (small) and extent (many geographical download sites).

[drongo]

Are there any news to that idea? I would really LOVE to have shape files in my scenes. It needs me gigabytes of memory to add some streets, rivers and populations, using masks. Each element needs another mask, because I can't select different shades of grey in my mask images or different colors. Because of the resolution I need for smaller pathes, I am really limited with using masks. But okay, having 64bit support was a huge step for Terragen.

[cyphyr]

You can use different shades of grey (or another colour) within a single image mask by using a "colour adjust" shader after your image shader. It can be a little fiddly but it works.
Richard

[drongo]

You can use different shades of grey (or another colour) within a single image mask by using a "colour adjust" shader after your image shader. It can be a little fiddly but it works.

fiddly, yes. but somehow it does work indeed - thanks for that. It would be nice to know HOW it works. Like often, the node reference only shows a screenshot without any explanation...