Garmin BaseCamp 2.0.4 Released
Garmin has released the first public version of BaseCamp for the PC. BaseCamp is Garmin’s new outdoor-centric mapping software. Similar to Mapsource you can view your Garmin maps (as long as they include DEM) on your computer and do things like view 3D terrain, plot tracks, and analyze elevation profiles. I’ve downloaded BaseCamp to try it out with Topo USA 2008 and while the 3D views and elevation plots are interesting it is very slow on my laptop and I’ve managed to crash it several times. I haven’t tried the geocaching support, trackdraw and geotagging features which Garmin promised when BaseCamp was announced.
You can only use BaseCamp with maps that have built in DEM (digital elevation model). Note the mention of Topo Canada Version 4 below which looks like a full version of Topo Canada with DEM, previously only available on SD card and in the upcoming Oregon 400t Canada. Garmin’s release notes for BaseCamp 2.0.4:
- WARNING: This software will not work unless you already own a BaseCamp or MapSource product.
- BaseCamp will only recognize MapSource products that contain digital elevation model (DEM) data. Some examples of products that contain elevation data are Topo U.S. 24K, Topo U.S. 24K National Parks (version 3), Topo U.S. 100K (version 4 and later), Topo U.S. 2008, Topo Australia, Topo Canada (version 4), Topo Deutschland, Topo Great Britain, and Topo products produced by many Garmin distributors.
- BaseCamp requires Windows XP Service Pack 2 or later operating system.
- .NET framework 2.0 is required and will be installed if needed.
- A video card that supports OpenGL version 1.3 or later is needed to view 3D terrain.
Here’s a video of how the track log playback function works.
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- Import a gpx file with geocaches to view them and see cache details
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- Simplified view of track / route elevation profile
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- Very easy to visualize your location along a track and make measurements
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- Elevation detail and measurement tools are very nice in BaseCamp
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- Geotagging photos is easy in BaseCamp if you time sync your camera and GPS
Related posts:
March 31st, 2009 at 7:03 am
Basecamp for Mac has been updated to 2.0.0.7 Beta. No indication when release Mac version will be available. Haven’t had a chance yet to see if this latest beta resolves the occasional crashes…
March 31st, 2009 at 9:13 am
David, I didn’t see BaseCamp for Mac 2.0.0.7, can you post the link?
March 31st, 2009 at 9:32 am
I’m not seeing any Geocaching feature? Anybody else see it?
March 31st, 2009 at 9:38 am
Import a gpx file with geocaches and they’ll show up over on the left side — see my screen shots in the post above to see what it looks like (I added this after the original post).
March 31st, 2009 at 10:29 am
Basecamp looks cool, but my eyeballs went straight to that Topo Canada v4.0 line. Garmin just answered my prayers with that one! Please let this be the DEM DVD I’ve been waiting for
March 31st, 2009 at 10:57 am
Wow! This should be worth it just for the geotagging alone! But Canadian Topo DEM?!?! Can’t wait. I’d sworn of Garmin topo maps ever since Ibycus put his together, but the DEM might make it worth a second look, even if just to keep it as an underlay. Any idea when Garmin is going to open up their DEM platform, so third parties can include it too?
March 31st, 2009 at 11:32 am
Added some new screen shots in the post above of the detailed track / route tool and geotagging. All of it works pretty well. Performance is the biggest issue. On my laptop it is tolerable if I disable mini view and run in “2D only view”.
There does seem to be crash when you go from 3D only mode to 2D only mode.
Looks like custom Garmin maps will not work in BaseCamp until someone figures out how to add DEM to custom maps.
March 31st, 2009 at 1:58 pm
YouTube of track playback here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nXM4vvRBX48
March 31st, 2009 at 3:41 pm
Basecamp for Mac 2.0.0.7 Beta is only available via Basecamp for Mac beta internal updater. The Topo Australia DVD (and presumably the Topo US and other variants) contains the Basecamp for Mac software. After installation the software will immediately download the latest version.
March 31st, 2009 at 3:48 pm
Just found the Basecamp for Mac software on the Garmin web site:
http://www8.garmin.com/support/download_details.jsp?id=4449
This update may require that you already have Basecamp on your Mac…
March 31st, 2009 at 5:35 pm
Thanks David!
April 1st, 2009 at 11:19 pm
Topo Canada 4.0 has appeared for pre-order at gpscity:
http://www.gpscity.ca/item-garmin-topographic-canada-dvd-with-basecamp/cdtopocan2.htm
$139+taxes
April 2nd, 2009 at 12:02 am
Hey I just dloaded my version of BaseCamp and it’s running super slow with the 3D enabled. Any suggestions? I have an new computer running XP with NVidia graphics card…
April 2nd, 2009 at 5:52 am
[...] new versions will include a copy of BaseCamp (which is also available as a free download from Garmin) and the Topo Canada maps provided on DVD [...]
April 2nd, 2009 at 7:50 am
It is pretty slow. On my laptop if I enable 2D View only (no 3D view) and disable the mini view it works pretty well.
April 4th, 2009 at 8:30 am
I played around wih basecamp. Speed is ok for me (2D and 3D at the same time, Notebook with Intel T7200 2GHz, 2GByte RAM, NVIDIA Graphic Card, SwissTopo V2). First time touching a region in Bascamp creates cache tiles (similar to mapsource 6.15.x) so it speeds up over time.
I have the follwoing Questions:
Geotagging:
Is it possible to set a time offset (delta hour, minutes and seconds)? I have seen that in specialized geotagging software. Basecamp seems to be slow for geotagging.
Time Calculation:
Creating a route for pedestrians, Basecamp calculates only over distance but not elevation. In the mountains thats obviously not correct (Sample: Basecamp calulates 4 hours 20 Minutes for 20km, “Real Time” about 8 hours due to more than 1500 m going uphill.
Is it possible to change that?
Elevation Profile:
Clicking into the profile shows nice delta information.
Is there the possibility to get the overall up – down elevation?
Tracks / Routes display:
Is it possible to change the line “thickness”?
Is it possible to “hide” tracks or routes temporary?
May 17th, 2009 at 1:21 pm
How do I turn tracks into routes automatically and then get them back up into my GPS?
May 17th, 2009 at 8:39 pm
You can send tracks back to the GPS as tracks — why are you trying to convert them to routes?
-Scott
December 27th, 2009 at 9:04 pm
Please someone help me how to geotag photos in BaseCamp.
It can easily done with other program such as PhotoMapper.
Even the date and time of the photo is within the duration of the track, the BaseCamp doesn’t recognised it.
Thanks
January 27th, 2010 at 10:50 pm
Goto BaseCamp > Help > Contents > Working with Tracks > Adding Geo infomatin to photos.
Make sure “time zone setting of your computer must match the time zone setting of your camera at the time the photos were taken.”
I haven’t try it yet.