#VistaPro
12 messages in this thread
I have VistaPro 3 for DOS. Since it's clearly a native Amiga program,
I thought I might get some answers here. I've downloaded some DEM
files from Internet, but I've discovered there's DEM and then there's
Vista DEM. What's the difference? Where can I get documentation on
the DEM format? Is there a DEM-to-VistaDEM converter? Is there a
way to create your own DEM files? I live in a mountainous community
and I'd like to render the surrounding terrain … any suggestions.
Try the VRLI section of Graphics Vendor A forum. (Go GRAPHVENDA) The
programmers are on-line offering quick and courteous tech support.
There is a converter for DEM to VistDEM, probably available in the
VRLI LIB. You can use a paint program to create a color map for
conversion to DEM, or convert data matrices. I grew up in
Breckenridge, though I'm currently sweltering in SoCal. I really
miss the high country, especially during the hot months.
I don't stop by Amiga Arts much these days but I happened to pop my
head in and saw your message. For future reference, VRLI maintains a
section in the Graphics A Vender Forum, GO VRLI or GO GRAPHAVEN. Both
Clint and I check messages there a few times a day so you'll
generally get quicker response if you leave messages regarding
Vistapro there.
There _is_ a program for converting the USGS ascii DEM files into
Vistapro format. It's available in VRLI's library section of
GraphAVen. It may be there in the form of a self extracting archive
as MCNV.EXE, or it may be MCNV.LZH or MCNV.ZIP.
The USGS format is ASCII text and is very verbose, 5 to 10 bytes per
data point. Vistapro's format is binary and is much more compact,
about 1 byte per data point.
One thing you should also be aware of: many ASCII DEM files that you
can get from the internet have been compressed with the unix
"compress" program. You may need to uncompress the files before
loading them into MCNV. You can find a DOS utility for this in the
unix forums. You can often recognize a compressed file by a .Z
extension.
Yes, Vistapro was originally an Amiga program. Since version 3.0 I do
the development on the DOS version and Clint Woeltjen ports the new
features back to the Amiga platform.
John.
John:
Actually, I check messages starting at about 5:00pm until about
7:00am the next day. I don't get on much during my sleeping hours. <grin>
Clint <VRLI>
Clint,
I just jumped in here as I have recently bought VistaPro. Is there an area
on CIS that provides DEMs on Amiga side?
Andrew Letchford, Plymouth, UK
Andrew:
Here in AmigaArts, there are several DEM's in the 3-D library. Over
in CalForum, there are California DEMs scattered about in several
libraries. Browse with DEM as a keyword. VistaPro DEMs are compatible
between the Mac, PC and the Amiga.
Clint <VRLI>
Clint,
Thanks for the info. I will get browsing.
Andrew Letchford, Plymouth, UK
Rick:
There is a program, MCNV.EXE over in the VRLI library in
GraphAVend, which will convert USGS format into VistaPro format. GO
VRLI will get you to the forum, and it's Lib 15. Currently, on the
Amiga, there is a program called TerraForm for creating your own
DEMs, however it is not yet available on the PC. The VistaPro header
information is also in the Library, however I can't remember the
filename off hand. Browse with VISTAPRO and you will find it after
wading through a few GIFs.
There's a third-party product for the Amiga version of Vista that will
convert an Amiga IFF graphic into a Vista DEM. Scapemaker is its name, I
think. I don't think it's available in a PC version. In any case, if you
had an Amiga and an aerial photo of your region, you could digitize it
into an IFF image, then convert the image via Scapemaker into a DEM and
you'd be set. Maybe you could get someone with an Amiga to do this for
you, of course.
Scapemaker is not yet available on the PC. Dan has considered
having it ported, but doesn't have that many PC programmers readily
available. Yes, ScapeMaker could be used for creating DEMs, though
I'm not sure that an ariel photo would work, as the photo has to be
colored in such a way that the colors relate directly to the
elevations. Scanning a topo map and coloring it with a paint program
would work better, then use ScapeMaker to turn it into a DEM.
ScapeMaker is published by MegageM. Dan Wolf frequents CompuServe and
his ppn is [70250,626].
Thanks for clarifying the Scapemaker situation. I've seen some intriguing
renders using the product. Even valuable for doing organic-looking titles.
It's a useful tool. Used in conjunction with a morphing program, some
rather interesting effects can be created.