How to model a River help please

[Coaltrain1]

I'am trying to model the Ohio River, from the PA state line south to Stubenville Oh. My question is what tools does one need to use to model the terrain to make an accurate representation of a River. I have experminted with most of the tools in the left flyout but when lowering the terrain, and then placing the water decals on the terrain it does not even look close to realistic. Not sure how to do what I am trying to do. Any help will be greatly Appricated.

[Bananarama]

ReDem and USGS.

You'll need to download the required DEM files for the area, and also make a marker file that ReDem can read. Instructions for using either can be found on the above sites and by using the search feature here on the forum. Good luck.

[Coaltrain1]

Thanks, for the links Hack.

[gurugordon]

If you are using the lake tiles for your river, then two of the most important settings can be found on the right flyout. Double click on the tile and pull out the panel. Look for the water color and murk depth. The color settings are in the form of RGB decimal - each color has a number from 0 to 99 to indicate its intensity. (These can be converted to hexadecimal if you want the more familiar 6 digit reading as used on the Web - white is 99 99 99 which converts to ffffff.)

The tiles already have a built-in blue tint, which modifies whatever color you enter on the panel. I found that using a turquoise green such as 28 41 28 reduces the blue to a more acceptable color. If you want a dirty brown color, then try using a mustard yellow in the flyout, or for a much darker blue effect try using a gray.

The other setting is the murk depth which defaults to 25m or crystal clear water - not the sort of thing you often find in US rivers. I prefer a setting of 1, which gives a slight transparency to the surface. For this to work you need to have your actual depth set to around 2m.

If you are in pursuit of realism, the other thing you can experiment with is a high setting for the murk depth, a relatively shallow water depth and painting the river bed in different tints to influence the appearance, but I did not get too far down that particular route.

Hope this might help.

Gordon

[glenn68]

I'am trying to model the Ohio River, from the PA state line south to Stubenville Oh. My question is what tools does one need to use to model the terrain to make an accurate representation of a River. I have experminted with most of the tools in the left flyout but when lowering the terrain, and then placing the water decals on the terrain it does not even look close to realistic. Not sure how to do what I am trying to do. Any help will be greatly Appricated.

PRR Panhandle route?


Glenn

[Coaltrain1]

Gordon Thank you, This will very helpfull. I have been expermenting and was just to the point where i was looking for this type of information to continue. Again Thank You Sir.

[gurugordon]

You are most welcome. I got a lot of help when I was trying to figure this stuff out, especially from Otto over on the other forum. Now if only Railworks would make it possible to change the direction of flow on generic river tiles I would be most happy. Everything flows east to west no matter which way you orientate the tile.

[Coaltrain1]

Sorry Glenn, I didn't see your question, actualy the PRR's Fort Wayne Main line from Rochester tower Pa, to Mansfield Ohio. Then Hopefully all the way to Ft Wayne.
I grew up along the Tracks just south of the PA state line.

[NDORFN]

You are most welcome. I got a lot of help when I was trying to figure this stuff out, especially from Otto over on the other forum. Now if only Railworks would make it possible to change the direction of flow on generic river tiles I would be most happy. Everything flows east to west no matter which way you orientate the tile.

That would be awesome.