Compliment & a question

[tymbee]

Having purchased TF, I'm just beginning to get into the program to support our aerial photography business. I have to say, the feature set for the price is simply amazing. Great job!

My question is about track points. If I use the "Select point" tool to click on a particular track point, is there any way to get any info about that point-- such as what Pt# it is in the overall track?

Ideally one could click on a track point on the map and have that Pt# highlighted in the "Track Points" tab of the track properties window-- or the other way around-- click on a point in the "Track Points" tab and have the point highlighted on the map.

[Krein]

Awesome.  Thanks for the compliment.

The 'other way around' is possible, but unfortunately not what you first described.  Hopefully in future versions that capability will be there.

If you click on a file in the fileview and right click -> properties -> trackpoints, you can double click on any trackpoint to have the map re-center the view on that point.  It will also select that point.

[tymbee]

Quote (Krein @ June 01 2005,8:32)

If you click on a file in the fileview and right click -> properties -> trackpoints, you can double click on any trackpoint to have the map re-center the view on that point.  It will also select that point.

I discovered this after my original post-- it didn't appear to work that way, but I was looking at a zoomed out view and the point in use was obscured by a clump of camera icons. Great-- it works (now that I know what I'm doing).

A BIG frustration we had with Garmin's Mapsource was that the track point properties window was modal. That is, one could check a box to get any given point to display on the map, but the zoom view was fixed and you had to close the window (and loose the point!) to do anything. The flexibility with TF in this regard is infinitely better than MS.

Hopefully the ability to be able to view a track on a map then click on a given point and get some info about that point-- such as the track Pt# is something that could be incorporated in future versions.

Given the fact that tracks can be sliced/diced and track points moved about, I'm assuming that the initial placement of points is "pure math". If I double click on Pt# 200 for example, that point appears centered and highlighted. However if I move Pt# 200, double clicking that same point finds the Pt# in it's moved position. IOW, there's no real "trackpoint EXIF" going on here, no 2-way link once the point is laid down.

Which brings up another question in the idle curiosity category-- why would anyone want to _move_ a trackpoint? I can see wanting to cut a track or remove points, but move?

One final suggestion: Although sometimes for our own amusement we use, for example, a boat icon as the "User Type" having a boat cruising at 4k feet over a mountain top does look a bit silly. Think about adding a PLANE! '>

[tdcarter]

If the gps gets confused (foliage causing blackouts or tall bulidings causing blackouts and ghost signals) you could end up with errant track points. Deleting and moving the track points back into reality lets ya keep an accurate track of the track.

Now if your conversations or plans contain things like ILS or VFR, instead of your steed following the dirt path in front of you... it might not have such a problem.

[Krein]

Quote (tymbee @ June 02 2005,7:44)

Quote (Krein @ June 01 2005,8:32) If you click on a file in the fileview and right click -> properties -> trackpoints, you can double click on any trackpoint to have the map re-center the view on that point.  It will also select that point. I discovered this after my original post-- it didn't appear to work that way, but I was looking at a zoomed out view and the point in use was obscured by a clump of camera icons. Great-- it works (now that I know what I'm doing). A BIG frustration we had with Garmin's Mapsource was that the track point properties window was modal. That is, one could check a box to get any given point to display on the map, but the zoom view was fixed and you had to close the window (and loose the point!) to do anything. The flexibility with TF in this regard is infinitely better than MS. Hopefully the ability to be able to view a track on a map then click on a given point and get some info about that point-- such as the track Pt# is something that could be incorporated in future versions. Given the fact that tracks can be sliced/diced and track points moved about, I'm assuming that the initial placement of points is "pure math". If I double click on Pt# 200 for example, that point appears centered and highlighted. However if I move Pt# 200, double clicking that same point finds the Pt# in it's moved position. IOW, there's no real "trackpoint EXIF" going on here, no 2-way link once the point is laid down. Which brings up another question in the idle curiosity category-- why would anyone want to _move_ a trackpoint? I can see wanting to cut a track or remove points, but move? One final suggestion: Although sometimes for our own amusement we use, for example, a boat icon as the "User Type" having a boat cruising at 4k feet over a mountain top does look a bit silly. Think about adding a PLANE! '>

Hah, you're right that we forgot a plane!  I recently noticed that after I finally got my first aerial tracklog from a Cessna 4 seater.  We did some recon on a troublesome mountain range known as the Superstitions.  We were trying to find a passable route for us to bicycle through (i.e. carry our bikes through).  It was pretty cool to use the show 3D tracks feature to see the elevations we were circling at.

If you've got a good icon to use for the plane, please send it (or let me know where it is).

As for moving track points, it's often very useful to clean up tracks afterwards.  When the GPS is not always in an ideal position (running, hiking, etc), errant points are unavoidable.

[tymbee]

Quote (tdcarter @ June 02 2005,11:23)

If the gps gets confused (foliage causing blackouts or tall bulidings causing blackouts and ghost signals) you could end up with errant track points. Deleting and moving the track points back into reality lets ya keep an accurate track of the track.

Aha-- that makes sense.

Or I suppose one could "tweak" their track log for more deceptive purposes: "Oh yeah, we climbed that cliff. Went right up it-- no problem-- see?!"

[tymbee]

Quote (Krein @ June 02 2005,11:45)

Hah, you're right that we forgot a plane!  I recently noticed that after I finally got my first aerial tracklog from a Cessna 4 seater.  We did some recon on a troublesome mountain range known as the Superstitions.  We were trying to find a passable route for us to bicycle through (i.e. carry our bikes through).  It was pretty cool to use the show 3D tracks feature to see the elevations we were circling at. If you've got a good icon to use for the plane, please send it (or let me know where it is).

I'm sure you realize there's quite an irony in there somewhere-- using a plane to scout out a bike path?! '>

The colored elevation is indeed cool when viewing aerial tracks.

While it's easy to figure out, I haven't see an actual legend that shows which color corresponds to what altitude range?

I did a couple of quick searches for a plane icon of some kind-- thinking it would be easy-- but didn't really come up with anything much.

If you happen to have, or know someone who has a CorelDraw CD, there's a lot of plane clipart images there that I expect could be a good starting point. Just a thought...

[tdcarter]

Quote (tymbee @ June 02 2005,8:11)

The colored elevation is indeed cool when viewing aerial tracks. While it's easy to figure out, I haven't see an actual legend that shows which color corresponds to what altitude range?

Check under the [Window] drop-down.

Should see scale, and when you click on it, you should see a "___" (fill in the blank).

TC

[tymbee]

Quote (tdcarter @ June 03 2005,5:27)

Check under the [Window] drop-down. Should see scale, and when you click on it, you should see a "___" (fill in the blank). TC

Yep, I see it now-- thanks.