What graphics file format should be used for "Height ma

semicolon · Post by **semicolon** » Mon Jun 06, 2005 2:28 pm

Hi There,

I have been busy working on a game for a while. But I still have a question about Height map. As the subject said, which graphics file format should I use that is best suited for the "Height map"? And if so, what are the technical reason or comparative advantage behind the chosen one?

So far I have seen a lot of 3D terrain generating softwares out there that are using RAW for height map. Is this the best format for this use?

Thank you very much,
Semicolon

Post by **:wumpus:** » Mon Jun 06, 2005 3:38 pm

png or tga, as those support 16 bit greyscale images

NeOmega · Post by **NeOmega** » Mon Jun 06, 2005 4:44 pm

Blender has a script called "truedisplace" that makes a heightmap on a mesh.

It requires a .tga grayscale image saved in uncompressed format. Can be saved correctly in the Gimp, but not Paint Shop Pro 9. (I don't know about Photoshop).

I only mention this because:

1) I think the heightmaps I have made in Blender would be directly transferrable to OGRE

and

2) They are required to be uncompressed. I think this has something to do with every pixel needing to be defined on it's own.

Occulis · Post by **Occulis** » Mon Jun 06, 2005 5:53 pm

NeOmega wrote:Blender has a script called "truedisplace" that makes a heightmap on a mesh.

Does this mean a heightmap is used in a manner similar to a bumpmap? Or are they synonymous in what you're saying?

NeOmega · Post by **NeOmega** » Mon Jun 06, 2005 7:38 pm

Occulis wrote:
NeOmega wrote:Blender has a script called "truedisplace" that makes a heightmap on a mesh.
Does this mean a heightmap is used in a manner similar to a bumpmap? Or are they synonymous in what you're saying?

No... it's not a bump map, it uses an uncompressed grayscale image in .tga format to actually deform the mesh. I have made an entire linkable hill (nearly seamless) hex-tile set with this tool. And probably could make a mountain set of 66 more tiles in about 3 hours with it, now that I have the workflow down.

The nice thing is, not only do I have the meshes, I also have heightmaps.

(allthough, unfortunately, I made them with black as ground level, so things like river beds or canyons would require re-doing them, which I am considering.)

Playing with normal maps, I can subsurface them, and make these tiles smooth out really well, and still maintain the 282 face count.... I think.

Occulis · Post by **Occulis** » Mon Jun 06, 2005 8:19 pm

Wow, that's what I was hoping you would say. I bet there are all sorts of interesting things you can do with this.

NeOmega · Post by **NeOmega** » Mon Jun 06, 2005 9:01 pm

Occulis wrote:Wow, that's what I was hoping you would say. I bet there are all sorts of interesting things you can do with this.

Most definitely. There is another script in the works for photoclinometry (converting a b/w photo to a raised mesh)

truedisplace:
http://www.dedalo-3d.com/index.php?file ... orial.html

I had to re-install the gimp, something I didn't want to do, but it was worth it.
There are lots of terrain generator, but none of them have actual control like this one... most are noise based.

semicolon · Post by **semicolon** » Mon Jun 06, 2005 11:07 pm

:wumpus: wrote:png or tga, as those support 16 bit greyscale images

Hi everyone,

Thanks a lot for giving me the information. By the way as :wumpus: said, it means 16-bit PNG or TGA is better than 8-bit in the same format, doesn't it? Well sorry for being too curious.

Thanks a lot,
Semicolon

Kentamanos · Post by **Kentamanos** » Tue Jun 07, 2005 12:00 am

semicolon wrote:By the way as :wumpus: said, it means 16-bit PNG or TGA is better than 8-bit in the same format, doesn't it?

Not sure if you're asking what I think you are, but just in case...

8-bit means you can only have 8-bits worth of data (256 shades of gray, or 256 elevations). 16-bit means you can have 16-bits worth of data (65536 shades of gray, or 65536 elevations).

This gives you more "resolution" essentially, which makes your landscape closer to representing reality.

semicolon · Post by **semicolon** » Tue Jun 07, 2005 10:38 pm

Thanks a lot for the clues. I couldn't create 16-bit grayscale Targa format, but I could do it with PNG format and RAW. (Using Photoshop

Then I think I will use 16-bit Grayscale PNG for the Heightmap for now. Well I saw 32-bit Grayscale of RAW format. If the bit-depth does matter, this format is supposed to do well also, isn't it?

Semicolon

Kentamanos · Post by **Kentamanos** » Tue Jun 07, 2005 10:44 pm

semicolon wrote:Thanks a lot for the clues. I couldn't create 16-bit grayscale Targa format, but I could do it with PNG format and RAW. (Using Photoshop Then I think I will use 16-bit Grayscale PNG for the Heightmap for now. Well I saw 32-bit Grayscale of RAW format. If the bit-depth does matter, this format is supposed to do well also, isn't it?

Semicolon

Whatever you're using would also have to support the 32-bit images as well. 32-bit is probably overkill though. 256 levels is probably not enough, but 4 billion (32-bit) might be more than you need

.

Post by **jacmoe** » Thu Jun 22, 2006 8:45 pm

I noticed that the download link for truedisplace is down.
If any of you have it sitting on your computer, I would appreciate if you sent it to me! Would be awesome if you did.