MappSmith — Terrain & Depth

• Can I add depth or terrain bands by hand?

  Yes. On any layer use "+ add piece..." and choose "Water depth band" or "Terrain band". Depth bands offer the depths the lake was surveyed at. "Fit bands to this lake" spreads all your bands across the survey, and "snapped" means your depth was moved to the nearest surveyed one. Terrain bands lis...

• Can I change one sheet's material or thickness?

  Yes. In the layer list, click the Terrain or Water row to open the stack, then open any sheet. Sheet thickness in the Terrain & Depth panel sets all relief sheets at once.

• How does the frame work on a relief?

  Under Frame choose "Every layer" for solid walls from the base to the top, "Top layer only" for a ring on top with open layers below, or "No frame". The ring uses the frame band width and carries the place name.

• How do I glue up a stacked lake or terrain piece?

  Leave Glue guides on before you download. Cut every sheet. In Production files the sheets are numbered from the bottom: 1 is the bottom sheet. Lay them out in order: the base plate, then the water sheets from deepest to shallowest, then the waterline and the terrain sheets from low to high, then...

• How do I make a 3D terrain relief?

  Frame a hilly or mountain area and press Apply changes. Press "Build terrain & depth" on the Terrain & Depth card. Under "What to make" choose Terrain. Set Terrain layers and Sheet thickness. The panel shows how many layers you will cut and how tall the stack is. Press "Create N-level re...

• How do I set how deep a simulated lake is?

  Type the real depth in feet in "Deepest point" (5 to 2000 ft), or drag the slider. Without your figure the Studio guesses from the lake's size, and the panel says it is a guess. Area cannot tell a shallow reservoir from a deep glacial lake, so type the real number if you know it.

• How do I shape a simulated lake bed?

  Pick a starting shape such as Gentle bowl, Steep sides, Ledge and drop, Deep hole, Long trench, Dam end, Sandbars or Glacial grooves, or press "Surprise me". Then fine-tune Banks, Deepest part, Shoreline shelf, Shape, Deepest spot, Slope, Contours, Sandbars and Ridges. "New variation" keeps the s...

• How many layers can a relief have?

  Terrain alone: up to 24 terrain layers. Lake depth alone: up to 16 water layers. Both: up to 16 terrain and 12 water layers, set separately. The panel adds a base plate, a waterline sheet when there is a lake, and a frame ring when you have a frame.

• What are Preview colours?

  Colour ramps (Hypsometric, Woodgrain, Contour, Slate and Ember) that tint each sheet so you can tell them apart on screen. They do not change your files. The material is whatever each layer is set to.

• What do Edges, Smallest piece and Glue guides do?

  Edges sets how smooth the contour edges are: Smooth, Natural or Sharp. Smallest piece (0 to 15 mm) leaves out pieces and holes smaller than that, and shows how much ground that is at this scale. Glue guides puts a light line on each layer showing where the next one sits.

• What does "Detail lines per layer" do?

  It engraves 1, 2 or 3 extra contour lines on each terrain layer. You get more detail without cutting more wood. None means every contour you see is an edge you cut.

• What do the "Modelled" and "Estimated" badges mean?

  Modelled means some terrain heights were filled in between the levels the survey recorded. Estimated on a depth band means the lake has no published survey, so its depths are modelled from the shoreline and surface area.

• What happens to my street layers when I build a relief?

  Terrain and Both replace the map layers, because the hills would be hidden under a full-size street plate. Your map layers are set aside and saved with the project. Press Remove relief to take the relief away and put them back. Lake depth keeps your map on top.

• What is Terrain & Depth?

  It turns real ground and lake depth into stacked layers you cut and glue: hills built up, lakes cut down. Every control is in one panel that opens over the map, so the 2D and 3D stay in view and update as you go. Open it from the Terrain & Depth card under the layer list.

• What is the difference between Surveyed and Simulated lake beds?

  Surveyed uses real depth soundings from public lake surveys. Simulated shapes the lake bed from its shoreline. Pick a shape, set the deepest point, and adjust the dials. A lake with no survey is always simulated.

• What is the difference between Terrain, Lake depth and Both?

  Terrain builds the hills up in layers. Lake depth cuts the lake bed down in layers under your map, and your map stays on top unchanged. Both builds the ground up and cuts the lake down into it as one stack, with a waterline sheet where they meet.

• Why are heights in metres and depths in feet?

  That is how the sources publish them. Elevation comes from Copernicus DEM in metres. Lake surveys publish depth in feet. Both are labelled, and the terrain band menu shows feet in brackets.

• Why did my lake switch to Simulated on its own?

  Some surveys have depth contours that do not close into shapes, and those cannot be cut cleanly. When fewer than 60% of a lake's contours close, the Studio shapes the lake for you and tells you so. You can still adjust it.

• Why did some relief sheets disappear after I built it?

  A sheet with no ground inside the cut shape would be blank, and a blank sheet hides the ones under it. After the first render the Studio drops those sheets on its own. A wider frame gives a taller stack.

• Why does it say "No elevation or lake data here"?

  Neither elevation data nor a lake reaches the framed area. Move or widen the frame and press Apply.

• Why is one of the modes greyed out?

  The frame does not have the data for it. Terrain needs elevation data, Lake depth needs a lake in the frame, and Both needs both. Hover the button to see why.