Hi all, long time no.... never mind. Where the heck did Mike get to? Anyone here use DEM files? Or want to, but were put off by the hassles? The world of DEMs has changed a lot over the past year. They're better than ever, and with the help of some tools, you can do amazing things with em. Easier than ever! Anyway, I'm planning to do an 'Interactive Tute' on DEMs, and since I'm a Vue'er, thought some folks here might be interested. Before I get it going, I'm wondering what folks might be interested in. Do you use DEMs? Do you want to use DEMs, but get fustrated? What do you like about em.. and what sucks? What scale of DEMs have you played with? What's an 'interactive tute'? That's where the steps are presented, one by one, and everyone is welcome to ask questions along the way. It's not 'live', just online. So you have some time to ask questions. You can post your questions and interests here (while I prepare), or at the site of the tute: http://forums.big-i.com/cgi-bin/dcforum/dcboard.cgi?az=show_thread&om=10&forum=DCForumID57&viewmode=all Okay, so some might ask.. What the bleep is a DEM? It's a digital elevation model. A terrain that's based on real world imaging. Do you want to render a scene that includes the lake to the east? Or the mountains to the north? Anyplace in the US is probably available as a DEM. For the US, these models are free.. already paid for by our tax dollars.

Hey, I'd definitely be interested in using dem's and understanding them better... :) Any info appreciated...

Guess I should add what Mike would say. DEMs are an easy way to put great lookin mountains and stuff in a scene. You don't need to be looking for a specific place. Keep a watch, Tradivoro. I'll make a new post when everything is ready.

Cool.. :)

Attached Link: http://www.big-i.com/tutorials/DEMs.html

Thanks DigReal for posting this message. I've been interested in using DEMs but was too dumb to figure out how to access them (especially for free!). I was able to take a brief look at your tutorial "them dem files" at big-i but I was unable to access the link you posted here. I did make it to the USGS site and thanks to your instructions I was able to get to the downloadable files there. It would be great if you could post and Vue specific tutorial for applying them in Vue. I'll try to see how far I can get for now and thanks for the tips in any event. I've taken the liberty of posting the link to your tutorial here.

Thanks for linking the tute, but it's getting to be obsolete. I was going to replace it with one that's current (and for Vue), but realized it might not work out. So much has changed for DEM files. New sources, new formats, updated utilities, improved DEM handling in Vue (and other apps), etc, etc. That's the reason for an interactive tute.. so folks can ask questions, or offer their own tips, as it goes along. About the link you couldn't access. You have to be signed up at Big-i in order to enter that forum. I forgot about that. Thanks for the reminder. And happy demming (or, something like that)!