Therion Cave Mapping Software Help

[Downundercaver]

Hi all,

Just downloaded the newest version of Therion Cave Mapping Software and i'm after a bit of tips and how to's to use the software. I have a few caves that i have maps of and want to turn into 3D models etc. Can anyone tell me how to use the software??

[Martin Sluka]

Hi all,

Just downloaded the newest version of Therion Cave Mapping Software and i'm after a bit of tips and how to's to use the software. I have a few caves that i have maps of and want to turn into 3D models etc. Can anyone tell me how to use the software??

Please, first condition: be patient. Therion is very powerful and universal but "a bit" different from normal cave surveying packages. Don't start by reading of TherionBook. There is everything but in very abstract form. The best source is Therion's wiki. You may see there what is possible. Check "The projects made by Therion" list.

Second: start with very simple cave, several stations. Check what is possible to do, what are possibilities to define and modify point, line and area symbols - TherionBook may help, there are described all possibilities you may use with one kind of symbol and with particular symbol definition. How to define and modify export of maps or models. Start with model, it is quite simple, you need only surveying data (and walls).

The base philosophy of Therion is very simple:

1. Preserve data in form as they were achieved. Without any conversion. Conversions are made by Therion.
2. Save history of surveying of a cave. From hand made sketches up to recent surveying methods.
3. Create (define, draw) maps in the most universal form, which is possible to visualize (export) later in different ways (symbol sets), in different languages, different formats, models, etc., export only part of cave system, all area with all caves there, ...
4. There are three kinds of objects for maps only: point, line and area.

- point could be: special objects: station, section, dimensions; labels: label, remark, altitude, height, passage-height, station-name, date; symbolic passage fills: bedrock, sand, raft, clay, pebbles, debris, blocks, water, ice, guano, snow; speleothems: flowstone, moonmilk, stalactite, stalagmite, pillar, curtain, helictite, soda-straw, crystal, wall-calcite, popcorn, disk, gypsum, gypsumflower, aragonite, cave-pearl, rimstone-pool, rimstone-dam, anastomosis, karren, scallop, flute, raft-cone, clay-tree; equipment: anchor, rope, fixed-ladder, rope-ladder, steps, bridge, traverse, camp, no-equipment; passage ends: continuation, narrow-end, low-end, flowstone-choke, breakdown-choke, clay-choke, entrance; others: dig, archeo-material, paleo-material, vegetable-debris, root, water-flow, spring, sink, ice-stalactite, ice-stalagmite, ice-pillar, gradient, air-draught, map-connection, extra, u (user defined). - Point station could be: temporary (default), painted, natural, fixed; point air-draught: winter, summer, undefined (default); point water-flow: permanent (default), intermittent, paleo. Etc.
- line could be passages: wall, contour, slope, floor-step, pit, ceiling-step, chimney, overhang, ceiling-meander, floor-meander; passage fills: flowstone, moonmilk, rock-border, rock-edge, water-flow; labels: label; special: border, arrow, section, survey, map-connection, u (user defined). - Line wall could be: invisible, bedrock (default), sand, clay, pebbles, debris, blocks, ice, underlying, overlying, unsurveyed, presumed, pit, flowstone, moonmilk; Etc.
- area is one of following: water, sump, sand, debris, blocks, flowstone, moonmilk, snow, ice, clay, pebbles, bedrock, u (user defined).

So instead of to copy a symbol from a library one should insert point and define which kind of point symbol it is and which kind of attributes it has. It is not as simple as copy/paste, but it is much much more versatile. It is the reason way you may generate, for example, maps in different languages from one set of data without any additional modifications.

There are several tutorials:
http://cp.cavesurveying.org.uk/index.ph ... n-tutorial
http://marcocorvi.altervista.org/caving/tbe/index.htm

Please, don't hesitate to ask me directly by mail (martinsluka snake mac com) or ask in mailing conference of Therion. There is a special section of Cavechat/Surveying named Therion. So better will be discuss there ;o)

Martin