Pitney Bowes MapInfo Vertical Mapper - Manual (Page 206)

Making 3D Drape Files
204
Vertical Mapper 3.7
• Ensure proper registration in GridView; the grid file upon which the drape will be placed must be
present as one of the layers in the current MapInfo Map window. This layer does not have to be
visible.
• All of the MapInfo layers contained in the drape file must be in the current Map window and be
coincident with the geographic extents of the grid being draped. Only those map entities that fall
within the extents of the grid will be included in the drape.
• The grid on which the drape is to be placed must highlighted in the Grid Manager.
Note The process of creating a drape is similar to the Save Window As command from the File
menu in MapInfo Professional. In Vertical Mapper, however, you can specify the resolution
with the Create Drape File command.
1. In the Grid Manager, choose a grid from the list of open grids.
2. Click the 3D View button and choose the Make 3D Drape File command.
This process creates two files: a bitmap (.bmp) of the Map window and a drape file (.drp) that
contains the registration information needed by GridView.
3. Choose a grid from the Layer/Grid Height list in the Scene Properties dialog box.
4. Click the Load button and choose Drape Files (*.drp) from the Files of Type list.
5. Choose the desired drape file.
6. Click the Open button.
Exploring the Drape File Resolution Dialog Box
The Drape File Resolution dialog box contains the name of the grid file upon which the drape will be
created and the number of pixels of the drape file.
By default, the file name for the grid file is based on the name of the grid highlighted in the Grid
Manager, and the drape file is rasterized to 1 000 pixels in width. You may enter any value in the edit
box. Remember that large bitmap files can quickly consume hundreds of megabytes of disk space
and require significant memory to process efficiently. If you intend to use the drape file to create
promotional materials such as large scale maps or posters, a resolution of 2 000 pixels or more is
recommended.
Note The maximum width possible depends on system resources available. The greater the width,
the higher the resolution of the drape file and the more system resources required to create
it.