My way to create a terrain Exkurs

[+Gepard 11,522]

Exkurs: The 100% terrain.

 

As said previously in one of the lessons, the TE has the tendency to

make a terrain smaller as it is in reallity. So we will have a terrain that

is around 60% as large as in reality. What means that on a

600x600km square you will find all high data compressed which are

normaly to find on a 1000x1000km square.

 

How to make it (nearly) real size?

 

Lets say you want to make a terrain of the size 1000x1000km.

 

1. Open the TE

2. Click FILE, click NEW

A dialog box is opening

 

Enter Terrain Map size 1000

 

OK

 

3. Click EDIT, click IMPORT DEM

 

A dialog box is opening.

now enter the coordinates of the terrain.

 

OK

 

4. Open the Texurelist and then let autotexture the terrain

 

(EDIT/AUTOTEXTURE)

 

5. Save the terrain (Till now is nothing new!)

 

6. Click FILE, Click EDIT HEIGHTMAP as BITMAP

Save this bitmap file.

 

7. Open the saved bitmap file with a paint programm. (I use

PaintShopPro for it.)

You will see, that our 1000km terrain form a 2000 pixel picture.

1km = 2pixel.

8. Now we must enlarge the picture. The formula is simple

mathematics (x=2000pixel*100%/60% x= 3333)

Now you could resize the picture from 2000x2000 to 3333x3333.

BUT

There are always certain warp factors which cause failures. The

reason i dont know, but i guess it has to do with the shape of the

Longitudesintervalls (big at Equator and small at the polar areas). I

found that problem on my Deutschland terrain. While the distances in

south Germany were correct the distances in north Germany were to

big. Thatswhy i resize the picture not with 3333x3333 but only with

3200x3200.

This value, i think, is a good compromise.

 

9. Now we only must cut out a 2000x2000 pixel square from the

enlarged picture. The cutout now has the (nearly) correct size.

Paste the cutout into a new picture and save it.

 

10. Back to the TE

Click FILE, click IMPORT HEIGHTMAP as BITMAP

and import the new 2000x2000 pixel file.

 

11. Autotexture the terrain and save it.

 

12. Check out wheter the distances are correct. If not go back to step

8 and use a different resize factor till the result is satisfying for you.

 

 

This is my way to create a nearly correct scaled terrain. I know there

are other ways, perhaps there are better ways, but to above shown

way is the way i follow to create my 100% scaled terrains.

I hope this Exkurs is helpfull for you.