Organizing data for major project

Former Member over 8 years ago

Hi: I am attempting something much more involved than what I typically do in Basecamp, and am running into some questions. First of all, what is the proper location for .kmz files? These are custom maps made from MotorVehicle Use Maps (MVUMs). I am using them to make a track by hand on trails. I need them visible in order to lay down my waypoints (which I will then turn into a track), and have discovered that if the .kmz custom maps are in a list folder with all my waypoints for the trip, every time I add a waypoint the waypoint has to go into a dedicated sub folder, which is OK, I have one for each day of the trip, but in that process the main folder gets un-selected and the custom maps disappear. I can get them back by re-selecting the main folder after completing the steps required to make each waypoint, but this means there are a half-dozen steps required to make each waypoint. There's got to be a better way, and I suspect half of my problem is where the custom maps are located. Where should I be putting them?

Also, is there a way to lay down a whole sequence of waypoints and treat them all as a group, so I don't have to specify a name and location for each one as I go? I am picturing being able to move along a trail on the map, putting a waypoint each place I need it, and then saving all 50 points (or however many it turns out to be) under the same name with ascending numbers. It seems so likely . . . is there a way to do this?

0 Former Member over 8 years ago

Hello 500EXC,
I make maps and tracks for horse endurance races on back country trails and often fill in trails using KMZ files made using Google Earth. When importing KMZ files into BaseCamp they automatically become tracks. My question is why not just connect whatever pieces of those tracks you need to make the final track? Waypoints can only be used to make routes on maps that have "auto routing properties" and those maps have very few trails that will auto route and every different map even different years of the same map will auto route differently so you will never know what kind of route each rider will get on his device when using waypoints. OR....am I not understanding what you are trying to do??

0 SUSSAMB over 8 years ago

There's got to be a better way, and I suspect half of my problem is where the custom maps are located. Where should I be putting them?

You can put custom maps in more than one folder or list so put them in the same folder or list that contains the data you want to use with them.

0 Former Member over 8 years ago

You can put custom maps in more than one folder or list so put them in the same folder or list that contains the data you want to use with them.

This is what I have done, I've placed the maps in a folder with the other data I want to use with them but what happens is I place a waypoint, using data visible on the custom map to determine where I want it. Then, after placing the waypoint, Basecamp first asks where I want it stored and tells me I can't have it in a folder, which is where I have placed all my data and the custom maps for this project, but instead must "choose an existing list" or make a new one. This is OK, as I have a list for each day of the trip, so I select that list. When I do that though the main folder I was working in becomes un-selected in the background, and when I am done with the placement and naming step for each waypoint I then need to re-select the main folder to get the custom map to show again so I can repeat all these steps for the next waypoint. I will be creating perhaps a couple hundred waypoints for this project, so I'd really like to streamline the process by having the custom maps remain visible all the time.

0 Former Member over 8 years ago

Hello 500EXC,
I make maps and tracks for horse endurance races on back country trails and often fill in trails using KMZ files made using Google Earth. When importing KMZ files into BaseCamp they automatically become tracks. My question is why not just connect whatever pieces of those tracks you need to make the final track? Waypoints can only be used to make routes on maps that have "auto routing properties" and those maps have very few trails that will auto route and every different map even different years of the same map will auto route differently so you will never know what kind of route each rider will get on his device when using waypoints. OR....am I not understanding what you are trying to do??

Sounds like you are doing something similar. What I am doing is creating tracks I intend to ride on an extended motorcycle trip. These tracks need to follow trails which are not visible on routable maps. I am using routable maps to create routes on roads between the trail sections, then converting the routes to tracks and merging them with tracks created by placing waypoints manually along the trail sections visible on my custom MVUM maps.

I don't follow your statement about .kmz files becoming tracks when imported into Basecamp though; certainly they aren't tracks, they are visual overlays. Do you mean they are treated as tracks in some regard as to how Basecamp files them? If so, can you explain to me how I can get them filed in some way that allows them to remain visible all the time while I am creating my waypoints so I don't have to turn them back on by re-selecting the folder they are in each time I return to the map to place another waypoint?

0 SUSSAMB over 8 years ago

When I do that though the main folder I was working in becomes un-selected in the background, and when I am done with the placement and naming step for each waypoint I then need to re-select the main folder to get the custom map to show again ...

Place the custom map in your lists then, as well as the folder, or am I misunderstanding what you're doing?

0 SUSSAMB over 8 years ago

I don't follow your statement about .kmz files becoming tracks when imported into Basecamp though; certainly they aren't tracks, they are visual overlays. Do you mean they are treated as tracks in some regard as to how Basecamp files them?

BaseCamp converts them to tracks.

0 Former Member over 8 years ago

Place the custom map in your lists then, as well as the folder, or am I misunderstanding what you're doing?

I don't seem to be allowed to do that. When I drag the custom map .kmz file within my main folder and try to drop it into the list for my first day with all the waypoints for that day, I am not allowed to put the custom map in the list; the list won't highlight, I can only drop it above or below the list, not in it. IF, as an alternative method of placing the custom map into the first day's list, I select the list and choose "import to (selected list)" from the File menu, I am allowed to execute the command, but what happens is the custom map gets placed in the main folder for my project, NOT in the specified list.

Additionally, when I tried that, I lost all the other custom maps. The one I was trying to re-import into a list replaced all the others I already had in my project folder. I had to re-import all my custom maps to the folder to get back to where I was before trying this.

0 SUSSAMB over 8 years ago

Not sure why that doesn't work. Try right clicking and select Send to.

0 Former Member over 8 years ago

Not sure why that doesn't work. Try right clicking and select Send to.

"send to" is grayed out on the list of options that come up when I control-click on the custom map I want to move. Even in gray, the only option there is "send to device", and since my GPS unit isn't connected right now, there is no "send to" option available to me.

0 SUSSAMB over 8 years ago

Sounds like a bug in the mac version then, as in the Win version I can copy/move/send custom maps without issue.