About Step by Step
Terrain Mapping
RenderCow
Indoor Radiosity
altTerrainBuilder
Creating a Gradient Material
Making a Tire- Part I: Text Model
Making a Tire- Part II: Textures
Mapping Notes
Fog and Haze
Adding DOF in Photoshop
Understanding Smoothing in Vue
VueTools
Terrain Mapping II
Creating an almost perfect curved height map for terrains in Photoshop.
Don't forget to visit the altTerrain Builder website and check out the tutorials and products there!
www.altuit.com/webs/altuit2/altTerrainBuilder/default.htm
Terrain Mapping
RenderCow
Indoor Radiosity
altTerrainBuilder
Creating a Gradient Material
Making a Tire- Part I: Text Model
Making a Tire- Part II: Textures
Mapping Notes
Fog and Haze
Adding DOF in Photoshop
Understanding Smoothing in Vue
VueTools
Terrain Mapping II
Creating an almost perfect curved height map for terrains in Photoshop.
Don't forget to visit the altTerrain Builder website and check out the tutorials and products there!
www.altuit.com/webs/altuit2/altTerrainBuilder/default.htm
Introduction
Many times I want to create a perfect curved surface in a terrain, or portion of a terrain. Here's how I do this using Photoshop to create a grayscale map which is then imported into the Terrain Editor.
Many times I want to create a perfect curved surface in a terrain, or portion of a terrain. Here's how I do this using Photoshop to create a grayscale map which is then imported into the Terrain Editor.
Step 1
Launch PShop and create a grayscale image roughly the size of the cylinder you want. In this case I wanted a cylinder 150 wide by 350 high. Create a new layer and name it 'Selection' and fill it with white. Now, choose Image>Canvas Size and add 33% to the width of the image making it now 200 pixels wide, and anchoring it in the center. Fill the background layer with black as well. Your image and layers should now look like this.
Launch PShop and create a grayscale image roughly the size of the cylinder you want. In this case I wanted a cylinder 150 wide by 350 high. Create a new layer and name it 'Selection' and fill it with white. Now, choose Image>Canvas Size and add 33% to the width of the image making it now 200 pixels wide, and anchoring it in the center. Fill the background layer with black as well. Your image and layers should now look like this.
Step 2
Now control-click on the layer 'Selection' (to select the transparency of that layer), then go into Quick Mask mode (the small dark rectangle with white circle under the color swatches in the floating tool palette). Once in Quick Mask Mode, you'll want to again control-click on the layer 'Selection' again. Your image should look like this.
Now control-click on the layer 'Selection' (to select the transparency of that layer), then go into Quick Mask mode (the small dark rectangle with white circle under the color swatches in the floating tool palette). Once in Quick Mask Mode, you'll want to again control-click on the layer 'Selection' again. Your image should look like this.
Step 3
Now with the white area selected, choose Gaussian Blur from the filter menu and enter 48 as the number.
Now with the white area selected, choose Gaussian Blur from the filter menu and enter 48 as the number.
Step 4
Repeat the Gaussian Blur 5 more times (control-alt F) with the following settings:
24,12,6,3,1.5
Note the progression. Each time is half of the time before. If you have larger images, you want to start off with a larger number, if you have smaller images, start off with a smaller number, but always go down to 1 or so.
When finished, exit Quick Mask mode (click on the light-rectangle with white circle under the color swatches), then select the background layer and fill the selection with white.
Make sure and TURN OFF the 'Selection' layer and it should look like this.
Repeat the Gaussian Blur 5 more times (control-alt F) with the following settings:24,12,6,3,1.5
Note the progression. Each time is half of the time before. If you have larger images, you want to start off with a larger number, if you have smaller images, start off with a smaller number, but always go down to 1 or so.
When finished, exit Quick Mask mode (click on the light-rectangle with white circle under the color swatches), then select the background layer and fill the selection with white.
Make sure and TURN OFF the 'Selection' layer and it should look like this.
Step 5
Now we need to crop it back to the original 150 pixels wide. Deselect All, then control-click on the 'Selection' layer to make a new selection. This selection is the same size as the original document (150 pixels wide). Now go to menu Image>Crop to resize the canvas to the selected area.
Do a Select All and Copy to the clipboard.
Now we need to crop it back to the original 150 pixels wide. Deselect All, then control-click on the 'Selection' layer to make a new selection. This selection is the same size as the original document (150 pixels wide). Now go to menu Image>Crop to resize the canvas to the selected area.Do a Select All and Copy to the clipboard.
Step 6
Launch Vue and create a new terrain. Double-click it to go into the terrain editor. Click on the Resize Terrain button and enter 150 x 350, then click the paste button to paste in the grayscale image you just copied to the clipboard.
Launch Vue and create a new terrain. Double-click it to go into the terrain editor. Click on the Resize Terrain button and enter 150 x 350, then click the paste button to paste in the grayscale image you just copied to the clipboard.
Step 7
Once you've applied the displacement image, you'll see the terrain object doesn't reflect the resolution settings. This is because the terrain defaults to square. To fix this, go into the Numerics tab in the top right requestor, and click on the 'Display true object's dimensions On/Off' button until you see the actual dimensions of the object. Then type in the dimensions of your displacement image, in this case X: 150, Y: 350, Z: leave as is or stretch to taste.
That's it you've just created a perfect curved surface as a terrain map!
Once you've applied the displacement image, you'll see the terrain object doesn't reflect the resolution settings. This is because the terrain defaults to square. To fix this, go into the Numerics tab in the top right requestor, and click on the 'Display true object's dimensions On/Off' button until you see the actual dimensions of the object. Then type in the dimensions of your displacement image, in this case X: 150, Y: 350, Z: leave as is or stretch to taste.That's it you've just created a perfect curved surface as a terrain map!
Finished!
If you like, you can create a symmetrical terrain and build other forms! I like to use this altitude texture map as part of other maps as well.
If you liked this tutorial and are interested in being notified when others become available, please let us know!
(* optional)
If you like, you can create a symmetrical terrain and build other forms! I like to use this altitude texture map as part of other maps as well.If you liked this tutorial and are interested in being notified when others become available, please let us know!
(* optional)
PDF version
Here's this same tutorial in PDF format.
Here's this same tutorial in PDF format.
