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Is transparency for layering?

Started by Indiangrass, May 21, 2014, 10:01:51 PM

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Indiangrass

I've downloaded My Trails maps by jbensman and assumed I could use it as an overlay of the topo maps that where factory loaded onto my Montana and are in BaseCamp.  But I haven't even gotten to the handheld yet... just noticed in BaseCamp that I can only use one map or the other.  Not very useful this way so I assume I'm missing something. I've tried "shift" and "ctrl", "fn", "alt" but I cannot load up two maps sets at once. Can someone explain?  Is there a set of YouTube tutorials?

jangeo67

it will overlay in the handheld. basecamp does not support overlay.
George Carey

Indiangrass

Thanks. Then this seriously lessens the usefulness of the trail maps.  Nice when you're out-n-about but, no planning, no saving with field-marked attributes, no printing to share ...

Anyone know of another Herculean effort to add all the hiking trails in the world? LOL But seriously folks, this sounded too awesome to be true ...and so it is.

Boyd

You cannot display two vector based maps (.img files) at the same time in Basecamp, however you can display a raster-based map with MyTrails. Examples of raster-based maps would be "Garmin Custom Maps" (.kmz files) or BirdsEye imagery.

There are a number of raster-based maps on this site - use the "Search by Map Features" option and check the box that says "Garmin Custom (Imagery) (Newer GPSs)".

Or if you want larger maps you could purchase satellite imagery or USGS topo maps from Garmin. You should be able to view either of these along with MyTrails on your computer.

https://buy.garmin.com/en-US/US/maps/on-the-trail-maps/birdseye-satellite-imagery-subscription/c452-c456-c606-p1.html

https://buy.garmin.com/en-US/US/maps/on-the-trail-maps/birdseye-topo-raster/c452-c456-c607-p1.html

jbensman

I agree its a royal pain.  Please complain to Garmin!  If enough people complain, maybe they will fix Basecamp.

Boyd

I don't think Garmin likes transparent maps anymore. I was playing around a few weeks ago and made a simple one that I installed on both a Nuvi 3550 and Dezl 760. You could enable it in the settings and search for map features, but I couldn't get it to appear on the screen. Maybe I did something wrong in the process, didn't do much troubleshooting, but it sure looked like it just wasn't compatible. Has anyone else tried transparent maps with recent nuvi models?

In Garmin's own Basecamp forum, the developers stated that support for the display of multiple maps was "on their list" but not a priority. This was, perhaps two years ago. If it's important to you, start a thread here and ask for a status update:

https://forums.garmin.com/forumdisplay.php?179-BaseCamp

Or use this forum if you have a Mac:

https://forums.garmin.com/forumdisplay.php?171-BaseCamp

jbensman

I've been thinking about doing this for a while and decided I will in the near future.  While right now it would violate My Trails copyright, there is a way to extract the data and import it into BaseCamp (and GoogleEarth) as tracks and waypoints.  That way you would be able to view tracks and waypoints from My Trails on top of other maps in BaseCamp.

Another reason I am going to do this is to deal with the desire by some for autorouting.  To make the maps routeable is a royal pain and a routable trail map is not as nice as following a track.  So with the tracks in BaseCamp, you will be able to go to gpsvisulize and get 24K elevation data added to the track and then load the track on your GPS to follow.  That works much better than following a routable trail on a map. 

Its pretty simple to do and can be done with freeware.  If anyone wants to beta test the directions for me, send me a personal message with your email address. 

I plan to modify the copyright on the next version of My Trails to allow this and provide the directions on how to do it.   

BobT

I make 4 maps of ATV Trails that I host on this site and I include my original tracks as an option during the install process.  I use Inno Setup which has a nice option for letting users check boxes for additional items they want to install.  By giving them the tracks they can show them on top of any basemap in Mapsource or Basecamp.
I would never think of making my tracks Routable for the simple reason they are color coded and patterned by difficulty.  I would be afraid to route a beginner on a expert level trail.
As far a Garmin goes in my hobby, I think they need to start making their software more flexible and providing better basemaps for free.  In the ATV and SxS world a lot of people are switching to phones and tablets.  I have converted all of my maps on here to work with Android BackCountry Navigator.  I my hobby most everyone is now getting tablets instead of GPS'rs.
People I ride with including myself now use 7-8" tablets.  The screens are very impressive, large and the waypoint Icons are many times nicer.  Obviously these only work when you have it protected like inside the cab of a SxS(side by side).
I got a Pantech Element 4100 8" waterproof refurb for $120.  It has 4g network also.  You can cache maps ahead of time for where you are riding.  Most App's used to have access to all of Google, Microsoft, and Yahoo maps but due to licensing issues (I assume) most of them are now using OS maps and other free basemaps.  You can also use the tablet for other purposes.
Just my 2 cents worth.

Red90

What I do with my trail map is include a detailed non-transparent tile that is meant to only be used on the computer.  This give you road and waterway reference behind the trails when on a computer.  You can then use whatever background map you choose on the GPS.

It is a pain as the user has to be careful not to upload the background map.  You used to be able to have a detailed preview map for the background, but that feature was broken a few years back when Basecamp came out.

Mine are routable and I offer non-routable options pre-made.  The routing is really nice as you can find out actual distance.