Ladies and Gentlemen:
I've been trying to work with free track design software and basically it isn't getting the job done (which really shouldn't be a surprise you get what you pay for), so I guess it is time to bite the bullet and buy some REAL model railroad designing software.
One feature that I have to have (otherwise it isn't worth my while) is the ability to trace a pre-existing plan that exists on paper, using the mouse, into the software and have the software tranlate it into a track plan.
Does that feature exist and if so, which software(s) have it.
Thanks in advance.
Bob
Bob SanduskyI've been trying to work with free track design software and basically it isn't getting the job done (which really shouldn't be a surprise you get what you pay for), so I guess it is time to bite the bullet and buy some REAL model railroad designing software.
I think the problem may be more with your expectations than with the software. There are no programs that will design layouts for you. Layouts must be designed by a human being.
There are programs that allow you to draw a track plan, and verify that what you want to will fit within the space you have available.
No program will tell you whether your design is good or bad. Again - that takes a human being.
One feature that I have to have (otherwise it isn't worth my while) is the ability to trace a pre-existing plan that exists on paper, using the mouse, into the software and have the software tranlate it into a track plan.Does that feature exist and if so, which software(s) have it.
You asked seemingly exactly the same question in January, and the answer is still the same:
http://cs.trains.com/trccs/forums/p/168033/1846025.aspx
There aren't any programs that "automagically" will convert pencil lines on a pieces of paper into track elements, but 3rd Planit allows you to import jpeg images, which may or may not allow you to overlay track elements over the drawing.
Always presuming that the image you scan in is reasonably to scale in the first place, of course ...
Smile, Stein
Bob Sandusky One feature that I have to have (otherwise it isn't worth my while) is the ability to trace a pre-existing plan that exists on paper, using the mouse, into the software and have the software tranlate it into a track plan. Does that feature exist
Does that feature exist
No.
And here's one reason why. It's possible to draw anything freehand (whether with a pencil or a computer drawing program) with no regard to radii, turnout dimensions, track-to-track spacing, grades, lines meeting squarely, etc.
Translating such a manually-drawn plan to real track components would be impossible in the same space, for a human or a machine. (Although it doesn't stop many of these unbuildable plans from being published, but that's another story.)
That's why it's so important to learn layout design principles before drawing a complex plan, no matter what the drawing tool, and why so many people fail by starting with model railroad CAD too soon in the layout design process.
John Armstrong's Track Planning for Realistic Operation is a great source for that layout design background.
Edit: And I see that your question was asked and answered before, based on the thread Stein posted.
Byron
Layout Design GalleryLayout Design Special Interest Group
Gentlemen:
Thank you for the input but one point I should have stated up front is that it is not a hand-drawn trackplan but the original 'Beer Belt Line' track plan as published by Kalambach so all the radii, etc are already 'correct' for an HO scale layout.
And does any of the software allow for jpgs to be modified. All the free software pretty much allows you input pictures but not to edit.
And yes I asked this question previously but in the computer world things change very quickly.
And thanks to my nephew the architect I have seen Cad software that scans in pictures (and even hand drawn objects) and translates them to diagrams that can be modified. Of course such software is WAYYYYYYY out of any of our price ranges but someday it won't be.
Thanks again.
I suggest a couple of possibilities that have worked for me in similar situations. I have a Mac, a basic drawing program and a model rr cad program, Empire Express by Haddon Software, that is also basic with few bells and whistles but very easy to use.
Option 1:
• Scan your original image into your PC either directly as a PDF (if you can) or as a JPG which then should be saved as a PDF once in the PC.
• Alter the size of the PDF to whatever scale you prefer.
• Copy the PDF and paste it onto the model rr cad program's layout document.
• Trace over the PDF's lines with your model rr cad program tools.
• Remove the original PDF from the model rr cad document (it should be in the form of a separate layer and easily selected and trashed).
Option 2:
• There is an app called Windowshade by Unsanity that among other things allows you to make a page transparent (there may be other such programs). Install the app on your PC.
• Open the model rr cad's layout document and using the above app, make the document transparent (degree of transparency can be controlled).
• Move the model rr cad transparent document over the original JPG/PDF and trace over it using your rr cad program tools.
Dante
A correction to my last:
Important omission to Option 1; corrected version:Option 1:• Scan your original image into your PC either directly as a PDF (if you can) or as a JPG which then should be saved as a PDF once in the PC. • Alter the size of the PDF to whatever scale you prefer. • Copy the PDF and paste it onto a draw program's new document.• Copy the draw program's new document (with the PDF image) and paste it onto the model rr cad program's layout document.• Trace over the image's lines with your model rr cad program tools.• Remove the original image from the model rr cad document (it should be in the form of a separate layer and easily selected and trashed).
Bob SanduskyAnd does any of the software allow for jpgs to be modified. All the free software pretty much allows you input pictures but not to edit.
I think that is the key observation. You apparently do not understand the difference between a pixel based image and working with track elements (like turnouts) in a track planning program. For you a track plan is a picture.
If what you want to do is simply to edit a pixel based image, just scan the image, open it in e.g. MS paint, erase what you don't want and add what you want.
Or use a photo copier and make several copies of the plan from the magazine, use correction fluid to paint over the stuff you don't want, and draw in your changes with a pen on top of the drawing.
Either way, it may or may not fit when you try to lay it out with actual turnouts on the layout.
A much easier way of laying out this track plan is to simply buy a couple of turnouts of the desired type(s), make quite a few photo copies of them and lay things out on the table.
Just draw grid lines one foot apart on the foam or plywood to help you position the elements more or less as in the plan in the magazine.
The core measurements for the Beer Line plan is having the track centers at 3 3/4" and 6" in from the edge where they cross the module boundaries, and watching out for the turnouts used in the end curves (Two Atlas code 83 snap switches and a Peco code 100 RH curved). The rest can be improvised as you go.
Besides the fact that images are "bitmaps" and layout software uses mathematical vectors, there is a more compelling reason to take the time to learn how to use the software (XtrkCAD has an excellent tutorial.)
Unless you know the exact turnouts (Peco #5's, Walther's #6) used in the mentioned plans, the track plan will not work exactly like you expect it to. To make the plan work the way you want it to, you must specify to the software the turnouts you plan use and rework the plan. This also allows you to see how the plan can be modified to fit your given and druthers.
I hate to tell you this, but you probably just need to knuckle down and do it (and it is not as hard as you are thinking it is.)
Chip
Building the Rock Ridge Railroad with the slowest construction crew west of the Pecos.
Amen, SpaceMouse!
As usual, Spacemouse has it right.
There isn't a whole lot you can do with a scanned image. As you pointed out, compouters can manipulate scanned images into manipulatable objects, but that would be a far higher price tag than you're willing to pay. We have such a tool at Electric Boat, but it's price and licensing run in the hundreds of thousands of dollars a year, never mind the high-end workstations at $10K a pop or the mainframe it actually runs on. In short, I think you've set your sights way too high.
The program I use (AnyRail) will let you sketch out a basic 4x8 layout in about an hour, if you have already designed it first. If you have a materials list and know how to use the program, you can do it in about 15 minutes. It really isn't that time consuming, and it's fun, anyway.
My current layout began life as an MR track plan, too, but I started playing with it as I entered it into AnyRail, and I like the results much better.
AnyRail will only set you back about $60.
Connecticut Valley Railroad A Branch of the New York, New Haven, and Hartford
"If you think you can do a thing or think you can't do a thing, you're right." -- Henry Ford
The OP was looking for a tool to re-draw MR´s Beer Line layout. Well, I did that - some time ago. Re-enacting track plans from a drawing is a tedious task, whatever tool you use.
The plan has been drawn using WinRail, which is essentially RTS, but with an extended track library.