19 replies to this topic

[Max Barrett]

Now I know my way around Course Forge I was hoping to build my local course. Problem is I cannot, for the life of me, find a way of identifying a small area of a large heightmap on which to accurately impose the course. I live in southern france and whilst I can get a heightmap from the "EarthExplorer" web site it is far too large for what I need.

I have tried and tried and tried to get the two layers to match but to no avail. The problem is that I cannot download from anywhere a map which matches the coordinates of the height map. Has anyone got a solution. 

I haven't much hair and I am rapidly running out of It!!

 

[Larrykuh]

Let me know what course you are trying to create along with the address, and I will try to get you a usable heightmap with overlay image.

[clubcaptain]

Let me know what course you are trying to create along with the address, and I will try to get you a usable heightmap with overlay image.

It would still be nice to know how it is done.

[Larrykuh]

I use a Unity asset called Terraland2 to create the heightmaps. It uses elevation data from Google, Bing, Mapquest, Mapbox or Yandex. There are a lot of options, but once you get some experience, it it fairly easy to use. The terrains do have to be adjusted using the Shimon Unity Tools located in a sticky of the CF forum.

 

I do wish Terrain Forge would be released as being able to easily use lidar data would make the terarin heightmaps far more accurate.

[Max Barrett]

Thank you for the offer, the golf course is "Luberon de Golf" Pierrevert, France. If you need the coordinates I can send those as well?

The clubhouse is situated at 43 47 58.07N 05 43 10.22E hope that helps and thanks again for the help

[Larrykuh]

Here is the heightmap for Luberon de Golf. There are some steps that will have to be smoothed, but it should give you a good starting point.

 

https://dl.dropboxus...al.unitypackage

 

Good Luck and looking forward to your course.

Larry

[scottpussehl]

I have been using VTBuilder. When you import your elevation file it will place in geographically where it should be. Then as long as you are downloading an orthoimage with geo referencing in the "exif" data of the file it place the image in the correct correlation to the terrain.

Once over eachother you can select an area, under the "area tools" tab you can have it sample imagery and also sample elevation to make both of those line up and have the same dimensions. 

[bortimus]

Do any of these heightmap creation tools indicate the quality of data while you are outlining an area, or do you have to create the heightmap first and then just see what it produces?    

[Larrykuh]

I can only speak about TerraLand2. You do not get an indication of the end product until it imports the elevation data and the overlay image. The only thing that provides any hint is when you preview the area to be captured. Some satellite images are much sharper than others, and that is a fairly sound indicator of the end result. Fortunately, it only takes a few minutes to create a terrain with the image overlay, so you can try various resolutions to get the best result possible.

 

Since it is all done within Unity, the terrain is created immediately after the elevation data and image is downloaded, so you can see what you have.

 

Also with Terraland2, you can grab heightmaps from several sources, so you can try different sources to see which one will provide the best result. For instance, sometimes Google has the best satellite image, while other times Bing or one of the others is better. This is probably the best of the options that I have seen for creating heightmaps. They aren't as accurate as using lidar data, but it's what we currently have to work with.

 

The downside of Terraland2 is it creates a terrain height of 8848 for all heightmaps which is totally unrealistic. I have to use Shimon tool "LowerTheRoof" (See sticky in the CF forum) to set a more realistic terrain height without messing up the elevations. It only takes a minute or so, but it is an additional step.

 

If you have any courses you want to try, let me know and I will see what I can do,

[bortimus]

I appreciate the offer Larrykuh.  I've already started another project but I'll keep you in mind if I need anything down the road.  

[johnmeyer]

I have been using VTBuilder. When you import your elevation file it will place in geographically where it should be. Then as long as you are downloading an orthoimage with geo referencing in the "exif" data of the file it place the image in the correct correlation to the terrain.

Once over eachother you can select an area, under the "area tools" tab you can have it sample imagery and also sample elevation to make both of those line up and have the same dimensions. 

World composer shows you the quality of the data pre import. Generally the best it can do is 7m per pixel, rangng up to 60m for a real poor area. 

 

You can increase the resolution and it will interpolate but obviously this causes a host of other issues.

 

i too have got VT builder but have had limited success with it. Would love to see a tutorial vid on how you go about your method with it Scott

[Max Barrett]

Here is the heightmap for Luberon de Golf. There are some steps that will have to be smoothed, but it should give you a good starting point.

 

https://dl.dropboxus...al.unitypackage

 

Good Luck and looking forward to your course.

Larry

Many, many thanks for the help. I'll let you know how I get on.

 

Max

[Max Barrett]

Sorry to ask this but I am no Unity expert!! I have imported the texture and the Pierrevert prefab but I am not sure how to turn this model into a terrain so I can modify it? Sorry to ask but can you help.

 

It all looks great and I know it is going to be just what I need, I just have to resolve this.

 

Many thanks

[Max Barrett]

I am an idiot, it was so easy once I realised how to do it. Larry many thanks for your help and I'll let you know when I finish it.

 

Regards

 

Rod

[buesch]

Hi

I'm also trying to get accurate terrain for my home course which is Golfclub Markgräflerland Kandern located in Kandern in Southern Germany.

https://www.google.c...871!4d7.6517093

Could you please help as well to get accurate terrain so I can start designing in CourseForge?

appreciate your help

cheers and thanks a lot in advance!

Marc

[johnmeyer]

For those interested in this please check out:

 

http://onlinegolftou...hp?f=305&t=2105

 

just in case the course terrain has already been created

 

Theres also plenty of discussion on there regarding either Larrys or my terrains that weve made for others etc. 

[Larrykuh]

Buesch, below is a heightmap for the course. It does have a some steps that will have to be smoothed, but It should give you a very good starting point.

 

https://dl.dropboxus...nd.unitypackage

[buesch]

Buesch, below is a heightmap for the course. It does have a some steps that will have to be smoothed, but It should give you a very good starting point.

 

https://dl.dropboxus...nd.unitypackage

Fantastic! Thanks a bunch, Larrykuh!

[Fairways_and_Greens]

Hello there guys. Does anyone know the status on "Terrain Forge"? I'm trying to get the terrain for my two home courses:

• Riverside Golf Club: 1451 NW Airport Road, Chehalis, WA 98532
• Harbour Pointe Golf Club: 11817 Harbour Pointe Blvd, Mukilteo, WA 98275

[theclubpro]

I have been using VTBuilder. When you import your elevation file it will place in geographically where it should be. Then as long as you are downloading an orthoimage with geo referencing in the "exif" data of the file it place the image in the correct correlation to the terrain.

Once over eachother you can select an area, under the "area tools" tab you can have it sample imagery and also sample elevation to make both of those line up and have the same dimensions. 

ive tried using your tutorial. i can  get lindar but it dont have the pic so i had to go get it from google. but i dont know how to put them into one pic so i could use photoshop..