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How to measure an area and oceanic currents in Fractal Terrains?

ArnoudArnoud
in Mapping with ProFantasy's Software
Hi,

I'm new at Fractal terrains and have not even started in CC3 yet.

I'm building a world for my book and wanted to understand area different countries/continents cover so I can determine the population, urban vs. rural, number and size of cities, professions, etc. Together with the sea/ocean currents that would get me well on my way to make sure I'm representing a realistic world.

I tried to search the manual, the Tome and other materials, but other than licensing Google Earth Pro I see no way to measure the area. Ocean currents are of course a bit easier once you've established the equator, but I was hoping Fractal Terrains could offer some help like it does with rivers?

Thanks,

Arnoud.
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Comments

  • jslaytonjslayton Moderator, ProFantasy Mapmaker
    There isn't a tool for directly measuring area in FT, unfortunately. Such a tool has been on the wish list for longer than I'd like to admit to.

    FT's climate model doesn't include air or ocean currents, unfortunately.
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  • ArnoudArnoud
    edited November 2013
    Thanks for the info...

    Purchasing Google Earth for area calculations alone is excessive, but if I could use the FT altitude map and export borders, landmarks, roads and city maps from CC3 into Google Earth overlays... Hmmmm.

    Things to ponder...

    First get more experience in FT and CC3. I'll post here when/if I find a different solution.
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  • JimPJimP 🖼️ 280 images Cartographer
    There is an area tool in CC3. Just export your map from FT3 and load it into CC3.

    If you need a landmass a different size, adjust it in FT3. Then export again.

    Extra work, but it will work if you need continents or islands of a particular size.
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  • ArnoudArnoud
    edited November 2013
    Cool, just started to play with it. It doesn't seem to mention anywhere the units of measure. I assume it is miles and square miles for distance and area respectively, still too new with CC3 to know, will need to do the tutorial first... :)
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  • MonsenMonsen Administrator 🖼️ 81 images Cartographer
    edited November 2013
    When CC3 doesn't list the unit of measurement, it means that it is in map units, which is the internal measurement system in CC3. A map unit can be defined to mean anything really, but for overland maps, it does usually mean miles (while for city and floorplan level maps, it usually means feet, or meters if you create a map in the metric scale).

    However, when measuring areas in exported maps from FT, be aware of projection issues. CC3 doesn't know what a projection is, so if the area you measure in CC3 has been distorted due to a projection, the measurements will be too, since CC3 will measure what it "looks like" on the map, not the true undistorted size.
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  • ArnoudArnoud
    OK, learning lots of things here. Thank you all.

    As my measurements don't need to be that exact, I'm thinking I might use the Hammer projection in FT and sum "square-and-rectangle quilts" for each country I intend to use in my book. Then I can use whichever projection suits me best for CC3. Likely Mercator, as I want to keep the navigation clear, i.e. straight lines matching actual direction.
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