Starting a New Project

A project’s model can either be: globe or planar. Globe projects use a latitude and longitude coordinate system based on the Earth’s dimensions to create a spherical terrain database. Planar projects use a variety of coordinate systems to create a flat terrain database.

At the start of a new project, it is important to define the type of project, the project’s coordinate system, and other properties that apply to the entire project.

To start a new project:

1.     Click the TerraBuilder button , and then click New (Ctrl +N). The New Project dialog box opens.

New Project Dialog Box

2.     In the Path field, enter the full path, or browse to the required directory.

3.     In the Name field, type the project name. The Path field automatically updates to include a directory by the project name.

4.     Select the Project model, Globe or Planar, and click Next.

Note:        Selecting the globe project model creates a project model which is spherical. The globe project is fixed on the Spherical Lat-Long WGS84 coordinate system.

5.     A dialog box is displayed asking you to confirm the creation of the new directory. Click Yes to confirm, or No to cancel.

Note:        If a project with the same name and path already exists, a TerraBuilder Error message is instead displayed, asking if you wish to overwrite the existing project. Click Yes to overwrite. TerraBuilder creates a new directory and project file (Name.tbp) according to the specifications. Additional files are automatically generated for the project and saved in this location.

The Project Settings dialog box opens.

Project Settings Dialog Box

6.     Under the General tab, from the Use drop-down list, select an output format. See “Setting Output Format” in this chapter for more information.

7.     Define the project settings as required. See “Defining Project Settings” in this chapter for more information.

8.     Click OK. The new project is created and opens on the TerraBuilder main screen.

Note:        For a globe project model, two default layers are automatically added to the project. These Base Globe image and elevation layers appear under the Base Globe Group on the Project Tree Layer List display. It is possible to change the default Base Globe layers setting before starting a new project by changing the System Options. See “Globe Tab” in the “System Preferences” chapter for more information.