With the last OCAD update there was a small improvement of the OCAD Route Analyzer. The route length, climb and time for each variant is now displayed in the txt file for relay courses.
The txt file will be created in the same folder, where your course setting project is saved when you click on Analyze routes (current course) or Analyze routes (all courses). The txt file contains a summary of all routes, as well as a summary for each course and variant separately.
The values can be added to the Courses dialog, e.g. add Extra length for sprint courses or add Climb used.
Not yet tried the OCAD Route Analyzer? Try it yourself with our demo data.
In the latest OCAD Update, the option Create Feature Map was added to the DEM Wizard to gain even more information from LiDAR data.
The Feature Map can be used to recognize objects close to the ground such as stones, walls, tree trunks, fences, or cars which were previously not or only poorly recognizable on background maps that can be created with the DEM Wizard in OCAD.
How the creation of Feature Maps works
In a LiDAR file, each point is typically assigned to a class based on the reflection of the laser pulse, such as ground, vegetation, buildings or water. Only ground points are used to generate the Hill Shading and Slope Gradient map. This means that a lot of information is lost that is available in points classified differently.
To generate the Feature Map, OCAD reclassifies the LiDAR points so that not only ground points but all points are used for the calculation. You can further define from and up to which height points are taken into account.
Example stone detection Pontresina, Switzerland LiDAR data from 2022, 29 points per square meter, 0.5m cell size, 0.0-2.0m threshold.
Orienteering Map of stony terrain.Slope Gradient Map. Most stones are not visible. The stones that are visible are probably overgrown and therefore classified as ground points.Feature Map. Some stones becomes clearly visible.
Example stone wall detection Jura, Switzerland LiDAR data from 2020, 25 points per square meter, 0.5m cell size, 0.0-1.5m threshold.
Slope Gradient Map. The stone walls are only partially visible.Feature Map. The stone walls become clearly visible.
Example tree trunks detection S-chanf, Switzerland LiDAR data from 2022, 25 points per square meter, 0.5m cell size, 0.0-0.5m threshold.
Slope Gradient Map.Feature Map. Tree trunks are visible and can help to determine the exact position.
Example urban area Zeiningen, Switzerland LiDAR data from 2020, 13 points per square meter, 0.5m cell size, 0.0-2.0m threshold.
Slope Gradient Map.Feature Map. Hedges, walls, cars and bridges becomes visible.Vegetation Height Map. Most of the objects on the Feature Map are also visible on this map.
Example without satisfactory result Lillehammer, Norway LiDAR data from 2017, 10 points per square meter, 0.75m cell size, 0.0-2.0m threshold.
Slope Gradient Map.Feature Map. In this area there are many small trees and bushes with branches down to the ground. It is difficult to distinguish, for example, large stones from trees or knolls from this data.Vegetation Height Map of the same area.
Conclusion:
The information content of the feature map depends on the terrain type, the settings you choose in the dialog and the quality of the LiDAR data, in particular the point density. With good data quality, the feature map can be a useful addition to the existing background maps, to detect objects and help the cartographer to determine the exact position in the terrain.
Credit goes to Jeff Teutsch and his Lidar Case Study – Using simple ground reclassification to see features in data.
Livelox is a very popular web-based application for viewing and analyzing routes and maps from orienteering events.
In OCAD, you can upload courses and maps directly from OCAD to Livelox to let spectators follow the competitors in real time, and to let participants analyze their route choices post-race.
The Canvas function allows you to export PDF’s of the same course setting project in different scales and layouts.
What is it good for?
Well, you probably have a course setting project and need to export maps in different scales (e.g. 15’000, 10’000 and 7’500), different layouts (e.g. text control description and symbol control description) and paper size (e.g. A4 and A3). Not an easy task, especially when last minute changes come in and you have to re-export the course maps.
With the Canvas function, you can set up your layouts and settings in a quiet minute and only hit one button to export all course maps again in the correct way.
Demo video available
In this demo video (available in English or German), we give you an introduction to the Canvas function and show you how it can be used with practical examples such as…
Exporting course maps where some courses have a symbol control description and some courses have a text control description
Exporting course maps where some courses have a marked route
Exporting course maps at different scales and layouts, e.g. 1:15,000, 1:10,000 and 1:7,500
