MTMG - Traxx

Terrain
(Terrain Bitmap)

Okay. This is all I could find in Traxx help about this topic:

Tip: Right-click and select Copy/Paste Terrain Bitmap and you can use any graphics program to edit the terrain.

The motives for using this feature have remained obscure until recently (Jan-Mar 2000). To date, the only way it's been used is to copy the terrain altitude from one track to another. Like this:

Access the copy terrain as bitmap feature by using one of the following methods:

At any time, select Edit/Copy Terrain as Bitmap from the Traxx main menu.	In terrain edit mode right click anywhere in the terrain and select Copy Terrain as Bitmap from the pop up menu

Following either of these procedures will copy the terrain bitmap to the windows clipboard.

Next, start a new track or open a track you have been working on and paste the new terrain by using one of these methods:

At any time, select Edit/Paste Terrain Bitmap from the Traxx main menu.	In terrain edit mode right click anywhere in the terrain and select Paste Terrain Bitmap from the pop up menu

Voila. The terrain for your track is exactly the same as the one you just copied from.

Note 1 : pasting the terrain does not effect model placement. They will remain where they were previously set.

Note 2 : If you are going to do this, please use stock tracks only. Track makers put in incredible hours editing altitudes. Don't steal their work. If you must do it, then get permission first.

Two additional techniques have been revealed that exploit the terrain bitmap in traxx.

The first is a way to reproduce exact portions of your track from one location to another. To do this, you would open the bitmap in a paint program and then copy and paste sections of it onto itself. Although I don't know anybody who's tried this trick, it might be an interesting shortcut that allows you to recreate a perfect curve without manually editing the terrain again and again. But, as I mention, I don't know of anyone who's had success doing this.

Update : Confession time : The straight-a-way track called Stealing Dudley's Horse was created entirely by using the bitmap feature. I simply copied the bitmap of four tracks and pasted them into psp. I then arranged the parts of the terrain I wanted onto another bitmap and pasted it back into Traxx. Can you name the four tracks I used to make Stealing Dudley's Horse? Here's a few hints.

The second trick allows you to place models perfectly on top of ground boxes or other places where you want them elevated over uneven terrain. The idea was first brought to light by ObeOne who suggested that copying the terrain to the clipboard (probably saving it in a paint program as backup) allows you to temporarily flatten the area you're working on so that you can place models with precision. Then, once that's done, you can paste the original back in place, the result being that the models are now suspended over the uneven terrain but with perfect placement. You can see ObeOne's original post here. where Winterkill adds notes about using this trick for better placement of extended courses too. These are probably the most useful applications for the bitmap feature. Thanks ObeOne and wk.

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