Software to draw hole maps for course guide

[LarryLong]

Geeks of OzGolf,

I'm looking at putting together a hole-by hole course map for my club's website, and I'm wondering if there is an easy way to draw a little map of each hole? Not incredibly detailed, just something that would give visitors an idea of where the hole goes, bunkers, trees, the green - that sort of thing.

My current best guess would be to screenshot google maps and then draw something over the top of it with something like gimp of photoshop, but I thought I'd ask here first to see if somebody knows of an easier solution?

[MegaWatty]

Nearmap is better than Google Maps.

[LarryLong]

Nearmap is better than Google Maps.

Good point. I don't think I could get away with using a screenshot of either though.

Or could I? :)

[kpac]

Illustrator would be better if you go down the drawing over path. But just nearmap images cropped with photoshop would do the job as a quick fix.

[LarryLong]

Which course Lazza ?

Queenscliff in Victoria G69. Was hoping you would see this one... :)

Cheers kpac. Illustrator could be an option (we have licenses for it at work). I'm guessing nearmap might take issue with the copy and crop approach, but it could be worth asking them. Actually surprised that Nearmap is allowed to take detailed photos there - the course is on Swan Island right next to a military base.

[markTHEblake]

I have seen detailed tutorials on the Links LS course designer to convert google maps to a graphic. try looking up that website and going through the tutorials.

[Eldrick]

do some search on people making homemade yardage books
i imagine they would be doing the same thing

[kingslayer33]

Nearmap is worth its weight in gold to me.
I then save a snapshot and send it into my cad package as its easier to create curvy shapes and stuff on the top.
Not much use to you though as the cad stuff costs a bomb.

Have you tried downloading through the tile program Rich? You can then get a geo- referenced image to insert into cad package. (AutoCAD at least)

I have been mucking around doing a yardage book for myself of my home course. Can use the CAD to get distances to or from wherever I want.

[markTHEblake]

Isnt there an Open Source CAD application? Probably not for the professional but for someone to kick around its perfect.

Arnold Palmer Course Designer might also be a free download now.

[kpac]

Isnt there an Open Source CAD application?

Large gap between the open source and paid CAD still.
Sketch-Up will eventually bridge this gap. Already a seriously competitive modelling tool, the drafting side will come.
Cademia was sprooked a few years ago (pretty sure it's rubbish though)
One bloke here raves about ProgeCAD which is an apparent Clone of autoCAD.

I think you're going the wrong way, taking it to CAD unless you have a need to draw it accurately though. Some basic Illustrator and you'd have teh entire course done over a couple of beers. The first two here are both done with some Vector program (prob not illustrator) but same deal. Anyone could get them looking like that. The 3rd one (def illustrator) takes a little know how, but once you've done one you could punch them out in no time.
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[LarryLong]

Had a bit of a read up on that Arnold Palmer thing last night, but it's probably a bit advanced for what I'm looking for. Likewise with the CAD stuff, I have bad memories of wrestling with CAD software at uni and I never want to go there again. I'm nowhere near being practical enough to handle 3D design software. Even google sketchup does my head in.

I think kpac is hitting the nail on the head with those pics - in fact I think they're twice as good as what I hope to manage. Tracing with illustrator or similar sounds like the go. Any love for inkscape as the open source alternative? I might grab that and have a play when I get a bit of time.

[kpac]

Any love for inkscape as the open source alternative?
You'd be better off getting yourself illustrator from one of those illegitimate websites. But i'm not endorsing it.

[dan]

The 3rd one (def illustrator)
Looking at texture in the dark green area, i'd say it's more bitmap than vector. The first two are definitely vector.

[Courty]

I started doing exactly that some time ago (before Golf GPS' were common). There is still a thread somewhere with some of the holes I knocked up.

Edit: thread here (http://www.ozgolf.net/showthread.php/7633-Homemade-yardage-book?highlight=guide).

[kpac]

Looking at texture in the dark green area, i'd say it's more bitmap than vector. The first two are definitely vector.

I could be wrong, but i'm pretty confident it's just a "pencil" type effect. But even photoshop could get you similar results (just seems like hard work)

[LarryLong]

OK, first attempt. I grabbed a map from nearmap, drew some lines over it with Inkscape for the major features and put them all on layers so that I can put them in order. I was having all sorts of problems working out how to do trees, but then I found a nifty little tree generator on the Cartographers Guild web site. Popped it into Gimp for the trees and tee boxes, and saved it as a png:

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Still a bit of room for improvement:

- Not 100% sure of the colour scheme, but I'm not very good with colours, so I'm happy to get to something that is passable.
- Wouldn't mind a shadow type effect for the fairway/rough that would give the illusion of uneven ground, but that's all looking a bit hard for me. Also tinkered with the idea of stripey grass on the fairway or green, but I couldn't find a solution in inkscape that didn't involve painting the stripes individually.
- Lastly I need to work out how to draw a rough outline around the actual hole, crop to that and then fade out the edges. Can anybody who is gimp-savvy help me out with that one?
- Also thinking of putting yardages on the corners and fairway bunkers, but not likely to go overboard with that one

Any suggestions?

[MegaWatty]

Looking good. Yoss is Gimp-Savvy.

[Yossarian]

:roll:

[kpac]

you'll get there. There's endless ways to take it further. Not gimp smart, but it a clone of PS right?

[kpac]

Cant work with that little image, but basically you get the idea.

- use a new layer with some lines if you want mower lines. they 'overlay' and play with the blending
- use mask tool to select area you want to crop. Then delete the rest
- Have f'way on separate layer and the apply some 'emboss' in blending properties to give the edge of f'way some depth.

You'll get good result once you tinker with the blending's and layers. I think what you've got will easily get better than what i've attached. But that's just a quick play, to show some effects.

HOWEVER i stand by the fact you should have used a vector based program, as future 'tweaks' and editing (eg, colour changes, resolution, graphics) will be more time consuming. I'd be putting all 18 holes on the one file if you continue with Gimp... It'll make changing grass colour/trees/bunkers etc much quicker.
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[LarryLong]

Cheers kpac. That's an impressive. I'm finding that half the battle with learning this stuff is actually knowing what the terms mean, so being able to look for tutorials on overlays and blending will be a help for me. Actual graphic design flair would be good too, but I'm making do with plagiarism and google. :)

Inkscape is a vector based program, I think it is a substitute for Illustrator - I'm only using gimp for the tree layer. Everything else is a set of layers in Inkscape at the moment (one each for aerial, background, fairway, green, bunkers). I'll see if I can work out how to import my gimp layer back into inkscape so I can keep it all together - I can see your point about resizing, changing colours etc - particularly if I get the hang of the stripes.

I'm actually wondering if I should do the whole course as a vector image by joining up a whole bunch of aerial photos, that way I could do the complete course map for the front page as well. Not sure if file size or memory will be a problem with this approach though (and I need to work out how to crop out the other stuff from the individual files - will play with masking).

[kpac]

Bit busy to get into detail atm but you're on the right page if inkscape is vector - also file size wont be an issue if you stay in vector.
I agree google is handy, but tricky when you're googling term that you've not heard of.
If you're getting you tree/bushes from Gimp bring them into Inscape and save as a single vector file and scatter those about. Hard to believe there's not vector trees about... but regardless what you've got will work fine.
Layers/Blending/Masking google those and you'll be well on the way.

[markTHEblake]

Larry, when my boy was about 10 he taught himself how to use Gimp to do some stuff that I had no idea how to use even though i have been using it myself for years. When I asked him how he figured it all out he said he just Googled. He definitely does not take after his mother.

Whoever asked about Gimp. Yes it is exactly like photoshop. My boy also says that Gimp is much easier to use, and that makes me so proud !

[TheAwesom1]

I have seen detailed tutorials on the Links LS course designer to convert google maps to a graphic. try looking up that website and going through the tutorials.

Links 2003 was the best golf game ever