Carlson Software Forum

why does drape image on surface only work with tif? not jpg

is there a workaround or fix?

Based on my understanding at the moment, I'd speculate that the TIFF file format (GeoTIFF to be precise) was selected because (according to http://www.remotesensing.org/geotiff/fa ... F%20Format?) the "GeoTIFF format is completely open, public domain, non-proprietary" raster file format.

Further, it is my understanding that the GeoTIFF file format allows each pixel in the file to be assigned a "Z" value (thereby allowing the draping effect when assigned to a surface model). I don't believe the JPG file format allows for this.

I've been experimenting with the "geotifcp" utility (http://www.remotesensing.org/geotiff/geotiff.html) to convert TIFF images into GeoTIFF images and have been getting decent results. Life would be easier if you can get GeoTIFF images directly but if you can't, image files can be converted and subsequently used for draping onto a surface.

I have downloaded a GeoTIFF from the USDA for a project I'm working on. The file comes in with a .TIF extension.

When I use the Geotiff command in Carlson, it is looking for a .TFW file.

I think this is telling me I need to create an image world file.

When I try to Extract From Image to create a world file, I get an error that it "Can not read scanlines from a tiled image."

When I try to Create by Image Alignment, I get an error Unknown Command "MAKE_WORLD_FILE".

I'm running Carlson Civil Suite 2009 on top of ACAD Map 2009.

Thanks.