Category Archives: OCAD 2018

How to use OCAD and LiDAR to Calculate Climbing for Courses

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In order to indicate the climbing for courses, many course setters invest a lot of time to manually add up the climbing along the optimal route. If a terrain model (DEM) is available, this can be done easier with OCAD. With the following workflow, which is also possible in the OCAD Course Setting Edition, the climbing can be calculated automatically to a certain extent:

  1. Start a course setting project, open a background map and draw a course.

2. In your course setting project, go to menu DEM > Open and open your terrain model (* _DTM.ocdDem). This file is generated during the LiDAR processing.

3. Now draw a line with the optimal route from start to finish. This has to be done for each course. Use any line symbol in the symbol box or create a new one.

4. Select one of these optimal routes and go to menu DEM > Create Profile. You will get a Total ascent value, which you can enter into Course Setting > Courses > Climb used.

In the Courses dialogue, there is also a Climb calculated value, which is just calculated automatically by adding the net ascent from each control to the next one. The value that is entered in Climb used will show up in the control description.

How to process large amounts of LiDAR data

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LiDAR data are invaluable for mapping, as highly accurate contour lines and base maps can be created.

But when processing LiDAR data for larger areas, a computer can quickly become overloaded because not enough RAM is available and crashes.

To avoid this, you have to work with XML scripts for larger projects. This may seem complicated at first glance, but don’t worry: All you have to do is copy code and make some adjustments.

This is what you need to do:

  1. Download and unzip our folder structure in your chosen directory.
  2. Create a new OCAD File with the desired symbol set, map scale and georeferencing. The New Map Wizard can help you with that.
    Save this file as Template.ocd (means overwrite the Template.ocd file in the folder structure).
  3. Put your LiDAR files in the folder 0_LAZ.
  4. Open the XML_Script.xml file with a text editor and adjust the file pathes in the document.
  5. In the OCAD File menu, go to Execute XML Script and run the script.

The script imports LiDAR data and creates contour lines and a vegetation base map.
The single tiles are calculated separately and then cropped and merged together in the end.

The XML function for importing las/laz files and creating contour lines and vegetation map is also available in the OCAD Orienteering edition.

Find more about XML on our Wiki:
– XML Script an LiDAR
– XML Script in general

MapAnt Switzerland is Online

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MapAnt Switzerland is an automatically generated orienteering map that should cover the whole of Switzerland in the near future. As a pilot project, the region of north-western Switzerland was calculated. To map all parts of Switzerland, we depend on free and freely available LiDAR data, which are not yet available in all cantons. However, this should be the case in near future.

The map tiles were created in OCAD. Contour lines and a vegetation map were derived from LiDAR data. Also, data from the official cadastral survey were imported and converted into OCAD symbols. Afterwards, WMTS tiles were exported and made available on the web with leaflet.

More about the MapAnt Switzerland project can be found in our Wiki.

Credits: MapAnt Switzerland was inspired by various similar projects worldwide and got financial support by OL Gönnerclub. Thanks a lot!

Load Georeferenced Google Maps Aerial Images

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Would you like to quickly and easily load a georeferenced aerial image as background map?

Then this is best done with the function Online Map Services. The function loads a Google Maps image directly at the right place.

This is how easy it works (Video you YouTube):

– Open the Online Map Services in the OCAD Background Map menu.
– Move and zoom in Google Maps to the desired extent.
– Load the image correctly geo-referenced as background map.

If the map is not geo-referenced, you need to adjust the Background Map afterwards.

Updating Orienteering Maps in OCAD

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Not every map project covers unmapped terrain. Actually, it is quite likely that an older orienteering map of the same area already exists.

As our environment is constantly changing, sooner or later orienteering maps have to be updated. But how is this best done?

We have created a Wiki page about Updating Orienteering Maps in OCAD. It contains a possible workflow, as well as numerous tips and suitable functions.

Have fun reading it.

Updating_Orienteering_Maps