TempO Simulator - Event Preparation Instructions

What to do if you want to add a race to our Simulator:

1. Write to temposim@yq.cz. You might suggest a race identifier directly (see Organizational instructions).
2. Take pictures of stations. Especially beware of sharpness and distortion of the pictures.
3. Prepare image files for the race (find a suitable cut-out, check and adjust or add flags and possibly markers, etc.). In normal case, only the zoom format is needed.
4. Plan courses. Keep in mind that the race on a photo is something other than in real life.
5. Prepare maps. The most suitable tool is OCAD+TiM, or OrienteeringMapper+TOM. Check the readability carefully, sometimes it is necessary to modify the map.
6. Pack the files, send them using a form (see Organizational instructions) and test the race.

Instructions for taking pictures:

• It is necessary to take all pictures from (almost) exactly the same spot where real competitors solve the task.
• For the problems to be solvable at all, the pictures must include not only all the flags but also all surrounding objects that competitors may use for precisely locating flags or estimating distances. Keep in mind that real competitors know which way they came to the station, while a computer user has no idea about the position of the photographer.
• Carefully check that the images are sharp enough, especially around controls or important objects (tree, stone, building corner, etc.).
• If your camera has a wide-angle lens or a "panoramic picture" function, you can try to cover the entire scene with a single picture. However, in this case you should check the result thoroughly for undue distortion.
• If you can't cover the scene with a single image, you will need to take a series of pictures to be stitched together. We have good experiences with the program Hugin, but you should follow some guidelines:
  • Try to get about 30% overlap between shots, so we'll have enough details to stitch the images together. Some lenses (e.g. wide-angle ones) have blurry performance near the edges, so it may be best to overlap even more. It's an advantage if every flag is close to the center of some picture.
  • If your camera allows you to specify a "Manual" exposure mode, use it. Meter for the average or the brightest area of the cluster, and use the same metering for all images of the set. It is possible to take two series of pictures, one for depicting light areas, the other for shadows.
  • Even with automatic mode, the pictures can be acceptable, but the result can be much worse when part of the scene is light and another dark. Try to fix the exposure to a single point for all pictures — most cameras allow you to prepare the exposure by pressing the shutter button halfaway and then moving the view to the desired part of the scene.
  • When taking all pictures, hold the camera at the same angle from a horizontal level (using a tripod is recommended).

Instructions for image processing:

• We take a picture of a station, check visibility of the flags, check and erase any disturbing elements (a pedestrian in a red jacket :-) and select a proper cutout needed for solving all the tasks. For normal scenes, an ideal sides ratio is 4:1. For a regular photo, this means that the usually insignificant top of the photo, containing only the sky or treetops, needs to be cut off.
• We resize the picture so that surroundings of all flags are well visible and the target file has no more than two or three MB (choose JPG format for pictures, not PNG). A typical suitable size of the picture is 3–4Mpx (i.e. e.g. 4000x900 or 3000x1300). We save the picture to a file imgSTATz.EXT (STAT is a placeholder for a station number, EXT means extension – jpg). This will be our basic picture, so called zoom file.
• We carefully check the visibility of individual flags, sticks (if it is important for solving a task) and other important objects. If the visibility is poor somewhere, we must try to fix the image in some graphics editor (e.g. GIMP). We should also try to delete all distracting elements — a pedestrian in a red jacket, a red car, white posters, etc.
• We try to resize the picture so that it does not exceed a rectangle of 1120x295 px (in any size) and we check whether at this size, a visibility of flags is not dramatically worse.
  • If the flags are still well visible, the image is ready and you need not to make big and huge files.
  • If some flags are too vague, we take the original basic image and in a graphics editor we add vertical red or white bars or markers pointing to the flags onto the top of the picture. You can add letters as well. If the flags are clear after this fix, you're done.
  • If even after adding markers it's not easy to find some flags, you'll need to create separate files for lower resolutions:
    1. big file (imgSTATb.EXT) — max. size 1120x290 px !
    2. huge file (imgSTATh.EXT) — max. size 1520x400 px and 0,5 MB !
    In these file we made manually some improvements of depicted flags.
    Do not exceed the above sizes!
• By default, the Simulator checks the window size, splits the height in ratio 55:45 to a part for a picture and a map and tries to find a picture of a proper size. If a big or huge files exist, they are preferred; otherwise it resizes properly the zoom file. So uploading the latter is usually enough.
• If you take pictures without flags and add them there ex post, some additional principles need to be followed:
  • Use a suitable image (for example, this one given to us by Matthew Pickering)
  • Proportionally scale down more distant flags.
  • Pay attention to the most accurate placing of the stick foot!
  • If in the reality a flag or stick is partly covered (by a branch, bank, terrain etc.), we should cover or remove an appropriate part of the flag or stick accordingly.
  • If a real flag was in the shade, darken the artificial flag as well!
  • If you have the slightest doubt about the "real" position of a flag, we recommend showing the picture to an independent person and asking her or him about where the flag is.

Instructions for map preparation:

• If you are an event organiser, the optimal approach is to make both the map and courses in OCAD for TiM.
  • Download the last version of TiM, for sure... :-)
  • If you haven't been working with TiM yet, read an excellent User Guide with OCAD sample files that have been prepared by Ari Tertsunen. Thanx!
  • On-line race Solution maps can be simpler then the printed-out versions, so only decision points and correct, false and missing flags positions are needed (unlike control numbers, flag letters and correct answers).
  • TiM has a special mode when it generates maps for the TempO Simulator. If you use it, it will be the easiest way for both sides. I use by default following settings:

            Target.Mode = WEB
            Target.DPI = 120
            MapSegment.Size = ~80 .. 100
            MapSegment.Bottom = ~25 .. 30
            MapSegment.Top = ~40 minus MapSegment.Bottom
            Descriptions.Size = 7
            Solutions.Scale = usually at least twice greater than the competition map scale
            Solutions.Task Numbers = No
            Solutions.Map Width = MapSegment.Size
            Solutions.Map Height = MapSegment.Bottom plus ~20

    and change the sizes a bit when needed. The MapSegment.Bottom parameter tells a map cutout height below the control circle center and it must be large enough so that the decision point would be on the map. The MapSegment.Top parameter tells a map cutout height above the control circle center, the sum of these values gives the map height and it should not be higher than 40.
  • Check a readability of the maps; you can open the SVG files in browser. Namely the green color sometimes needs to be modified in OCAD by adding 25 % of black to be distinctive enough.
  • If the maps are OK, you can make a conversion to the PNG format. If you make it using TiM, you will need the Inkscape program as well. Just be careful, making the images take some time (ca 1 min one image).
  • Check the result files whether the conversion to PNG is correct and your files are ready to upload. It will be the following files: map-STAT.TASKz.png (where TASK is a task number or 0 for cover sheets) and sol-STAT.png.
  • Add all map files, including cover sheets, to the upload package.
  • You can also send me all SVG and XML export files, or all OCAD files, so I can possibly make some changes by myself.
• If you are not using OCAD + TiM or are not an organizer and the data cannot be obtained from the organizers, we need some more material:
  • Competition maps enlarged to 150 % (control circle diameter 9 mm) with height max. 300 px depicting the entire necessary area (both the decision point and the most distant flag including a small vicinity around it), control description and a North arrow. The file name should be map-STAT.TASKz.EXT and usual size of 1000x300 px and max 200 kB.
  • Cover sheets for each station. Competitors greatly appreciate seeing a North arrow (and possibly the outline of a future map) even before the first task. So we recommend preparing files with the same size as maps and names map-STAT.0z.EXT.
  • Solution maps for each station in files sol-STAT.EXT; usual size of 400x400 px and max 200 kB. If you cut them from a "standard" solution map and there are two clusters very close togeher, you can make a common solution map for them.
  A suitable alternative to TiM is the program TOM.
• Pay attention to the scale of the map! If you enlarge it from a non-sprint foot-o map, you have two options:
  • Do not allow OCAD to enlarge symbols when changing the scale (there is a checkbox at the appropriate operation), or make the change and afterwards reduce the symbols on the map accordingly to match the map at the target scale. After resizing the symbols, it is necessary to check whether their relationships on the map have not been broken (namely distances and directions).
  • An alternative, albeit highly unrecommended approach is not only to indicate the final scale in the Map description in the race info, but also to emphasize the fact that the map has been enlarged without appropriate changes. In that case, however, it is necessary to check whether these deficiencies of the map do not affect the solvability of tasks. However, the control circles must still have the correct radius (3 mm).
• All map files must have the same extension.

Instructions for course setting:

• When preparing an online race, it is necessary to keep in mind that compared to real races, competitors have a difficult position:
  • They know nothing about the surroundings of the decision point.
  • They do not have a plastic view (feeling a picture depth), so it is not able to recognize a Zero based on the fact that at the 70 m task, the flag is moved forward by 3 m.
  • If possible, avoid "in front of a fence" / "behind a fence" tasks, which can be solved very hardly from a photo.
  • The wider the picture range we use, the greater the distortion at the edges is, and this can lead to unsolvability of problems.
  • If a control is close to the edge of a picture, carefully check that there are enough clues in the photo to solve it.
• Avoid "dirty" tricks like using some false shadows. If you use a trick where one object is hidden behind another or out of picture, carefully check whether competitors have a chance to reveal the trick (they see well object shapes, surrounding objects, there is no picture distortion, etc.).
• Because you usually take a photo before making a competition map, you don't know the exact angle at which the map will be rotated. Therefore, make sure that the direction of rotation of the map does not differ too much from the direction in which the photo was taken. The most common cause of a large deviation is the placement of flags A or F too close to the decision point. If the map rotation differs significantly, you need to adjust the map rotation angle. If you use TiM, you will find the rotation calculated and used by him for each station in the information window. If the rotation needs to be changed, enter the calculated rotation with a minus sign in the Station/MinAngle configuration for the given station and adjust the value accordingly.
• Try to solve tasks on a smaller monitor (1200 px) to make sure that competitors with such a monitor do not have a decisive disadvantage.

Organizational instructions:

• If you want to prepare a new Simulator race, you must suggest an identifier. The ideal one is a combination of a place and a year, e.g. Honolulu_2020. After recieving the identifier we can create a race for you.
• We made a totally simple HTML form using which you can upload the files and other data directly to the server and test them immediately in the Simulator. We recommend to make first just a single station and test the whole procedure prior to working on other stations.
• The form also allows to add and modify other data about the race like authors, instructions, correct answers etc.
• The files are to be uploaded in a ZIP or RAR package that contains all above mentioned files. When you repeat an upload, only new and changed files should be included in the package.
• This package can contain also a logo that will be drawn on the first page of the event and in the list of events. If you want just a single logo, its name will be logob.EXT, if you want two logos (left and right) then the names will be logol.EXT and logor.EXT. If you want to avoid browser to resize automatically your logo in the list of events, you can prepare also a logo with height 32 px named logoi.EXT. All these files must have the same extension.

Sample package content:

• Suppose a small race with two stations. What should ideally be the content of the uploaded package:

  -rw-rw-r--  1 www    ant   815168 Jan 13 22:43 img1z.jpg
  -rw-rw-r--  1 www    ant   769111 Jan 12 22:38 img2z.jpg
  -rw-rw-r--  1 www    ant     9972 Jan 12 15:27 logol.png
  -rw-rw-r--  1 www    ant    21716 Jan 12 15:27 logor.png
  -rw-rw-r--  1 www    ant    25870 Jan 13 22:36 map-1.0z.png
  -rw-rw-r--  1 www    ant   115700 Jan 13 22:36 map-1.1z.png
  -rw-rw-r--  1 www    ant   101594 Jan 13 22:36 map-1.2z.png
  -rw-rw-r--  1 www    ant   121148 Jan 13 22:36 map-1.3z.png
  -rw-rw-r--  1 www    ant   110596 Jan 13 22:36 map-1.4z.png
  -rw-rw-r--  1 www    ant   108103 Jan 13 22:36 map-1.5z.png
  -rw-rw-r--  1 www    ant    26006 Jan 13 22:36 map-2.0z.png
  -rw-rw-r--  1 www    ant    81457 Jan 13 22:36 map-2.1z.png
  -rw-rw-r--  1 www    ant    98205 Jan 13 22:36 map-2.2z.png
  -rw-rw-r--  1 www    ant    91142 Jan 13 22:36 map-2.3z.png
  -rw-rw-r--  1 www    ant   110156 Jan 13 22:36 map-2.4z.png
  -rw-rw-r--  1 www    ant    96758 Jan 13 22:36 map-2.5z.png
  -rw-rw-r--  1 www    ant    98016 Jan 14 00:03 sol-1.png
  -rw-rw-r--  1 www    ant    83998 Jan 13 22:36 sol-2.png
  

• When repeating an upload, only new and changed files need to be included in the package.