Often it is necessary to make graphic modifications to orienteering courses, e.g. because a course object covers important map information.
We have updated our OCAD Wiki page Make Graphic Modifications. The page describes in detail how to make and undo modifications and includes examples.
Often, an orienteering competition starts with a marked route to the start point. Nowadays, you also mark the Map Issue Point. It’s the place where you get the map and it is marked with a horizontal line.
There is a symbol 702.000 for the Map Issue Point. If your course setting project contains just one start, that’s all right. However, it get’s annoying if there are more than one start and Map Issue Points, as all of them will be show in Course Preview.
It’s better to include the Map Issue Point into the marked route, that leads to the start point. For that, you need to insert a Corner Vertex into the marked route.
Now, the Map Issue Points will only be displayed if the corresponding course is previewed/ exported.
Given the following example:
For a long distance orienteering race, the following courses and classes are offered.
– Long Course, Class WE, Scale 15’000
– Medium Course, Class W18, Scale 10’000
– Medium Course, Class M60, Scale 7’500
– Short Course, Class M80, Scale 7’500
Thanks to the Canvases function, all courses and/or classes can be automatically exported as PDF from a single course setting project in the specified scale and layout. Especially for larger events, this reduces the time required and potential sources of error.
In the OCAD Wiki, the Canvases function is described in detail and an example with demofiles is available.
Let’s take a look back at the three most important developments of the past year. Did you get them all?
#01: Sketch Layer
The Sketch Layer and it’s tools are designed for orienteering map field work with a tablet computer and a pen. The main approach is to make field work drawing as ergonomic as possible.
Learn more about it in our Video on YouTube and in the OCAD Wiki and and give it a try!
#02: Fill Bounded Area mode
Thanks to the Fill Bounded Area mode you can draw your map even more efficiently. This function fills empty areas that are bounded by various objects from line or area symbols.
#03: Improved Live Preview
The Live Preview of objects makes their dimension visible already during drawing. Live preview is no longer limited to line objects, but is now also available for point objects.
In addition, a so-called Legibility Halo can be displayed for point objects. The distance of this legibility halo is based on the IOF specifications for orienteering maps and supports the cartographer to draw objects with enough distance to each other.
These were the biggest milestones last year, but stay tuned: We have great innovations in the pipeline this year as well!
Take a chance and with a little luck get an OCAD license!
OCAD is sponsor of the following two contests:
Course of the Year by worldofo.com
There will be a voting process among the readers of the popular website
World of O in order to name The course of the year 2021 in each
category (Sprint, Middle and Long).
OCAD is one of the sponsors of this inspiring survey and you have the
chance to win a 3-Year OCAD Orienteering license.
There will be a prize for the first one suggesting the course which ends
up becoming The course of the Year 2021, and prizes drawn among the
ones suggesting and voting.
More information here.
Course Setting Contest by Swiss Orienteering
In the second contest there is even more to win: a 3-year license each
of OCAD Orienteering, OCAD Starter and OCAD Course Setting!
This time you have to set your own courses in the course setting contest
of the Swiss Orienteering Magazine. The task is to convince the jury
with a performance-oriented D20 and H75 long distance course.
More information here in Deutsch, French or Italiano.
Good luck!