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I have a top view line of a race track and a height map like this: http://www.gpsies.com/map.do?fileId=nhpgbnphafassllb&language=en
Is it possible to create a curve of the track and plot the height map automatically on the track so I get a result like this:
Image from this article
There is an addon that allows you to do this, you can download it here:
Import GPX. You will also need to download the .gpx file from the website you linked in your question (select Download as > GPX Track).
Install the addon and activate it.
Go to File > Import > GPX (.gpx)
Select the .gpx file you downloaded, make sure that Use elevation for Z-coordinate option is checked, and clickImport GPX.
It may seem that nothing was added to the scene but you'll notice a new object in the Outliner (with the same name as your .gpx file). You can't see it in the scene because the track is very big (it's 2 km wide). Unless you want to keep it the original size, select the object, press N to open Properties panel, and change scale to something like 0.005. You should be able to see the whole track now. Apply the scale by pressing Ctrl + A > Scale.
Press 3 to view the track from the right side (ortho) and Tab to Edit Mode. Select all vertices (A) and extrude them (E) down on Z axis (Z).
Press S > Z > 0 to align vertices on Z axis.
Go back to Object Mode (Tab), press N to open Tool shelf and enable smooth shading on the object.
Enable Auto smooth option in the Object Data panel, and set the Angle to 80°.
Add Solidify modifier and set preferred Thickness (3 cm look nice).
Add a ground plane, add a white diffuse material to both the track and the ground plane, add lights to the scene (only sun lamp in my scene) - and render.
