Course Setting in OCAD8

[David May]

Thanks for the importing symbols from a dummy file tip. This seems to have done the trick and I've just passed on the hint to the planner I'm working with.

All this certainly highlights the need to have a freely available OCAD "how to do it" manual. I raised this very issue at least a year ago in the BOF Rules Group and some very slow progress is being made in this direction - the problem is that everyone knows it should be done, but no one seems to know who should do it! Same old story ...

BTW Anyone have any experience with OCAD 9 yet?

David

[freaky_phil]

Ed: You could try doing an import symbols from... and then choose a file with the new symbol set in - it works for maps (bar one or two symbols), but I've never tried it for course-setting files.

Where can I get a file of the new symbol set from ? or am I right in thinking 8.13 has it already as there are new ones like tunnel, steps etc showing.

Thanks

[David May]

OCAD 8 from version 8.12 onwards supports the "new" (IOF 2004) control descriptions.

David

[Guest]

All this certainly highlights the need to have a freely available OCAD "how to do it" manual.

Roger Edwards of LEI has done a very useful 50+ page document on how to drive OCAD, which includes a lot of the tricks you need in order to get it to work.

[Paul Frost]

The new OCAD 9 demo version installs a "Getting started with OCAD" PDF.
The only problem is that it doesn't cover course planning.
EckO has just ordered a copy of OCAD 9, so I will add a video tutorial for course planning in OCAD 9 to the Resources page of the EckO website soon.

[SIman]

Paul
I would be interested in your independent review of version 9. What does it add/correct? Is it worth it?
I found that their website literature isn't very informative.
Thanks
R

[freaky_phil]

Thank you David, I am on 8.13.

Guest .. do you have a contact for Roger Edwards. I am still stuck on 2 things. How to get the Junior courses to have the IOF and Text control descriptions printed on the map. It seems to be one or the other and how can I get the Class numbers to show in the control descriptions and the Course number on the map. I can get Class Number in descriptions and on map, Course number on descriptions and map and Class/Course numbers on descriptions and map...but that is not what I want. I have defined the Classes to the Courses under the Classes tab and am using H12 and the Options button with the Course Title selections!!! Apart from this I think I am sorted.
Thanks

[NeilC]

Thank you David, I am on 8.13.

How to get the Junior courses to have the IOF and Text control descriptions printed on the map.

Easy - simply place two control description objects on your map. Specify one as text let the other default to pictorial.

[Safety]

A quick thought, maybe stupid though, why can't you use the map exchange that is built into the Ocad course setting? If neccesary, I'm sure you could import the templates into the same ocad course planning file one at a time and use the map exchange on the insert menu. Tried this the other day for a course that was to have a more traditional map exchange. ie. same area of land different set of controls for the second half and it seemed to work well once I had a play around with it. Just remember to include the new start or it messes up.

Another point, does any one know why Ocad haven't set it up so when you select pictorial descriptions the written description doesn't write it's self. I thought it would be quite a simple thing to d

[SYO Member]

Hope it’s not too late to reply, but for freaky-phil’s second query re. Course Name only on the map and Classes in the descriptions, there is a workaround, but it only applies to the Text descriptions and you’ll still get the Course Name showing.

Using a Regional event as an example where Course 11 is JM2, JW2 and Yellow and Text descriptions are required, set Course options to ‘Course name only’ so the H12 object on the map will just show ‘Course 11’. Change the text description of the Start object to ‘JM2/JW2/Yellow’.

As NeilC said, to get both Pictorial and Text descriptions for a single course (not something that’s usually done for a Regional event), just have a second inverted L object on the map with ‘Text’ specified. So on the map the H12 object would say ‘Course 11’ and the top left box of the Pictorials would also just say Course 11 but the Text decriptions’ first line would be ‘Course 11 2.450 km / 80m’ (length and climb) and the second line would be ‘JM2/JW2/Yellow’.

For Course 12, change the Start object’s description to ‘JM1/JW1/White’. Easy to do if you’re printing yourself, but if you’re using a commercial printer with OCAD, you must give full instructions.

Another workaround I had to use at 2 SYO events last year was when the Start is adjacent to an OOB. If the line to the first control goes right across the OOB and there’s no marked route, you can break it so it goes round, but you can’t rotate the Start triangle and this doesn’t look right. The solution is to export the course map and then you can rotate the Start triangle to point along the re-routed line, although this means more files to send to a commercial printer with OCAD.

Finally, if you want to add an extra line on Text descriptions e.g. ‘Cross railway by bridge’ but without a marked route showing on the map, do the following. Add a Marked Route object in the relevant place on the map, then make it so the line between controls covers it, and give it that description. Here, OCAD8 also calculates any extra length. For ‘Navigate to Finish’, just have a covered marked route slightly less than the distance between the last control and the Finish (otherwise the solid line covering the dashed line will not apply and the dashed line will show).

Safety, when you say “why can't you use the map exchange that is built into the OCAD course setting?�, do you mean the new (to me) Map Exchange object of a Square/Arrow/Square which shows in the sample courses in the OCAD9 demo but strangely doesn’t seem to show up in the table of selectable objects there? I can’t say I’ve ever seen this in OCAD8.13

Ray

[Safety]

I am not sure which exact version of Ocad I was using, but there was a symbol like that that I have used to do a map exchange before. I am not sure what it did with the course lengths though as these had already been printed up for me. It was just a thought and would be useful if it worked to move between maps of different areas.

Since the last post I have tried it out and the numbers for the controls work however I did get a random line between the last control on one map and the start on the second area. I got around that by simply deleting the line but there may be a better way to do it. To sort the lengths out, I then just added the 'extra length'.

This was all tested in the demo version of ocad 9. But I was sure I saw the same things when I checked out the Ocad 8 demo sometime last year.

[tokoloshe]

Course planning in OCAD 9 is improved. The ability to add narrative between controls and other things i am still learning about. The anti aliasing appears to make the print quality better - but does it?

[Paul Frost]

I have just added 2 video tutorials about using OCAD 9 for course planning to the EckO website.
One is basic course setting, the other deals with editing, cutting lines & circles etc.

I was about to do one on printing and found what I think is a bug. If the window size is less than 600 high the full set of print options is not visible. This means that you can't see the PRINT button or click it!

Can anyone confirm that it is not just me?
Update with response from OCAD here..

[Nails]

One is basic course setting, the other deals with editing, cutting lines & circles etc.

If thats the advanced?! whats in the basic??!!

[Paul Frost]

I don't understand what you mean:

If thats the advanced?! whats in the basic??!!

They are both basic as stated, not advanced.