New user - Stretch command

Hi. New to the community. Wanted to check that I have all the resources to learning the CC3, CC3+, DD3, 3+, CD3, 3+...programs. I'm trying to find out the conditions under which the "Stretch" command, under EDIT, works properly & I can't find it singled out in the manual.
In DD3+, will the Stretch command only work on the end of a rectangle or can it be used to stretch the long side of a rectangle-shaped wall? Or on one of the ends of a "L" shaped wall?

Also, I've loaded & traced - with the poly fractal tool - a previous world map I have, but can't seem to fill it with any color? It appears to be "closed" by my inspection?

Thx
Cavan

Comments

  • LoopysueLoopysue ProFantasy 🖼️ 40 images Cartographer
    Hello cpcunningham - welcome to the Profantasy Forum :)

    I have a terrible tendency to be a bit of an air-head when it comes to remembering 'how to do' things that I never do myself, so I can't really help with the stretch command, but I may be able to help with the polygon that won't fill itself.

    If you are certain the polygon is closed (as it should be if you used the fractal polygon tool), then it should be one of two things. Either the fill is set to hollow, or the line width is greater than 0 (which will cause the polygon to be hollow whatever the fill was supposed to be)

    To check the properties of your polygon use "Info/List" from the menu. If you need to change either the line width or the fill properties close the info box and use the properties button on the left to change the properties of the polygon so that the line width is zero and the right fill is selected.

    Hope that helps :)
  • MonsenMonsen Administrator 🖼️ 81 images Cartographer
    Stretch command can affect anything, but you must be able to enclose all the nodes to be moved inside a single rectangular selection window, which limits the possibilities when used on very complex shapes. It should be able to work in both the examples you provided.

    For the filling, Sue's answer should cover things.
  • Thanks. I'll try both examples & see what happens.
    cc
  • Stretch worked when I followed Monsen's advice, although I never went past 1 test as I have to figure out how to select 1 entity out of another.

    The fill issue - the program keeps crashing as I try to play with the nodes where I think I started & ended my tracing. SO nothing yet there.
    Cc
  • LoopysueLoopysue ProFantasy 🖼️ 40 images Cartographer
    Would it be possible for you to show us a picture of the problem with the fill - a close up screen shot perhaps of the point where you think the problem is?
  • Loopysue. If I can get it to stabilize at that level of maginification I will.
    If I select the vector lines/entity & there's no break in the outline showing (ie its all pink in colour after selected) would that mean it is continuous?
  • LoopysueLoopysue ProFantasy 🖼️ 40 images Cartographer
    I can't really say without seeing it.

    When you do the Info/List on it, is it called a "polygon" or a "path"?

    If its called a path, then there is at least one break in it somewhere, but not to worry - this can be remedied quite easily.

    You can join two or more paths together by right clicking the fractalize tool and choosing combine paths and following the instructions in the command line, reversing the directions if necessary to join them up in the right way.

    Once you have just one line (which it sounds like you do already if it all goes pink when you select it), you can right click the fractalize button again, and choose "path to poly" to convert it into a polygon.

    It is a bit odd, though, that it shouldn't already be a polygon when the drawing tool is set up to create a polygon.
  • LoopysueLoopysue ProFantasy 🖼️ 40 images Cartographer
    If nothing seems to work you could always upload the FCW file so we can have a better look at the problem. I'm in the UK, so I'm going off-line soon, but if no one else has beaten me to it by dawn I will have a look in a few hours time for you :)
  • It does say 2D: PATH, so I'll try your suggestion. If I can get the program to stay open. As sson as I try to work on it the program crashes. Attached is the file.
    Thx
    Cavan
  • I played with it a bit and crashed a few times. I also noticed a few loops in the path zoomed in quite a bit. Tried to break those apart and crashed a few more times.
  • MonsenMonsen Administrator 🖼️ 81 images Cartographer
    I am not sure exactly why your line is misbehaving, because even after converting it to a path (closing it), it doesn't behave properly. What I ended up doing is simply tracing it using the default land tool, then delete the original. This only takes a few seconds (Depending on the speed of your computer, your original entity has almost 9000 nodes, so things may slow down a bit when the tool traces those)
  • DogtagDogtag Moderator, Betatester Traveler
    And if you're not familiar with how to use the TRACE command, I humbly suggest you check out my video tutorial on how to use it. Hopefully, it will make the task easier.

    Cheers,
    ~Dogtag
  • There do appear to be an inordinate amount of nodes. Have you over fractalized?
  • LoopysueLoopysue ProFantasy 🖼️ 40 images Cartographer
    edited November 2016
    There's actually a duplicate line that's identical in every way, and which has become joined to the original line. Its like the original trace went twice around the continent, but I didn't think that was possible.

    I tried to separate the two of them out, but they are inextricably joined somewhere in all those nodes.

    I then tried to trace just once around the continent with the land tool myself, but the map crashed on me too.

    Not sure how to resolve this problem on a laptop or smaller machine (like mine).... do you have any idea, Remy... Dogtag?

    [Image_6948]

    Shown here with the duplicate corner moved in from the top corner of the map. I tried to delete the duplicate, but when I selected it the whole thing turned pink.
  • LoopysueLoopysue ProFantasy 🖼️ 40 images Cartographer
    I just tried using the delete node tool to tease the double line out from the coast, and crashed again within seconds - so that doesn't work :(
  • LoopysueLoopysue ProFantasy 🖼️ 40 images Cartographer
    @ cpcunningham - This previous world map you had - what kind of file is it?

    I'm thinking along the lines of trying to work out how you ended up with a double outlined broken polygon in the first place (my name for what you have there), to see if we can't figure out what went wrong a bit earlier on in the process.

    I'm hoping to have an idea, or realise something about the process that will enable you to try extracting the coastline a second time, but this time without all this polygon trouble.
  • Geez I should have clued into that too! I pulled some nodes down and was like "How come there is still a line where I pulled the node from?" Yes quite baffling indeed.
  • LoopysueLoopysue ProFantasy 🖼️ 40 images Cartographer
    I'm completely baffled, too. So that makes at least two of us! LOL!
  • I suggest breaking the coast in several places, deleting the straight bits, then trying to work out whether you have sections with double lines. I will try to do that for you (yes, in the past, this has happened to me too)
  • You definitely had 2 outlines. I find the best is to select the coast of the big part of the map, then click on Edit Properties (the button below the Fractalize button). Next select Delete and press 'p', trhen do it. The top coast will go, leaving just 1 outline. You can check that you had 2 outlines very easily by either using the List command, or, as I often do, click on delete and selct the entity - if there is a duplicate, then Cancel the Delete command, and go to the instructions above. BTW, the program did not crash. I opened it in CC3+. Here is the revised version, with no duplicates.
  • Oh, and I gave it a hollow fill. By changing this to Solid, or another type of fill, you can get the land mass to fill with whatever you want.
  • And here it is with the Land_MS fill, and a coastline. I found I had to break the coastline at one of the corners, get rid of the duplicate path, then reclose the path to form a polygon. Interesting enough, it did not show a duplicate till i inserted a break (split)
  • LoopysueLoopysue ProFantasy 🖼️ 40 images Cartographer
    Hats off to you, qwalker :)
  • Can't believe you didn't crash. I crashed a number of times trying different things. Pretty decent laptop, though I had the performance turned down.

    Weird though I did a list and his map had couple hundred thousand entities less than other maps of mine.
    Mine crashed a few times until I found out I was trying to import too rough of climate settings, importing from Fractal Terrain.

    What I love about this forum and the users is learning a variety of different ways to go about doing things with the programs.
  • JimPJimP 🖼️ 280 images Cartographer
    edited November 2016
    The old select color was gray or light brown, I forget which, the selected item color in CC3+ is pink.
  • Thx everyone for your time trying to figure this out. In the end I spent about an hour redoing this in CC3+. My computer would crash at every instance of trying to untangle this entity.
    When I returned to this map the "bitmap" sheet I loaded this outline onto was gone & the outline was attached to the white background permanently - not sure how that happened or the doubling up of the outline? I only traced once.
    Anyways, not sure how closely I followed this method the first time:
    1) Reproduced the map as an outline on transparency background in GIMP. Saved as png file.
    2) Started with New project with the dimensions of my png map, created a "bitmap" sheet & loaded the outline onto that.
    3) Switched to "Land" sheet & began tracing the png outline with the fractal polygon tool (this time I started outside the frame - learned something). Checked via "Info" that it was a Polygon & not a Path I was creating.
    4) Done with that, I created a "Island" sheet & repeated the process with the islands - switching between the fractal polygon & the Smooth polygon tool.
    I also checked to see if I could change the fill, which worked.
    Overall, I decided I didn't have to be as careful about replicating everyone jagged bay & outcropping from the original. There's still a lot of nodes but nothing is doubled-up. Just checked & the "Bitmap" sheet is still there in the list, so everything went as planned this time.
    Thanks again for your efforts.

    qwalker - In your revision what is the entity/element that is the "coastline"? When I hide everything but the "coastline" sheet, everything is hidden?
  • The Coastline is the black edge around the land mass, which I changed to Coastline sheet and Coastline layer under Change Properties (not Edit Properties). I have just checked the version 2 map, and there is no problem there. Is your coastline layer also hidden?
  • qwalker - Yes it was. I see it now. Thx for your help.

    Although now I'm having issues with Moutain Background & the "T" Trace function. Map & mouse control go crazy...popping in & out of view, with very little control over where on the coastline I can end the trace?
    CC
  • The more nodes there are, the more this happens. Just click where you want the trace to end, and in time it will do what you want. (less trouble with CC3+)
  • To get over this, I copy the whole coast (ONCE!), press P, and change properties to Temporary, then I hide the coastline, and working in Temporary only, I break it into the sections I want, and use those to make whatever I want.
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