acoustic 82 Posted September 1, 2015 Which would be easier, giving terrain making another shot. I have L3DT pro, and aiming for a 15.4km by 15.4km @ a cell size of 5m. Pretty flat nevada esque desert scenario. Should I go with a real life sat image or L3DT made one? If using google earth (I guess that's the main program to use for real life maps). If so, how far up would I need to take the pics to splice em together? If someone could explain the mathematics behind that part I'd appreciate it. Any other tips will do! Thanks! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
NeoArmageddon 957 Posted September 1, 2015 Which would be easier, giving terrain making another shot. I have L3DT pro, and aiming for a 15.4km by 15.4km @ a cell size of 5m. Pretty flat nevada esque desert scenario. Should I go with a real life sat image or L3DT made one? Both! In my opinion the best looking sat maps are composed of an artificial image with real sat images blended in where needed. You basically use the L3DT Sat as texture and the real data as noise, so you can't see repeating patterns. You can also use the real sat data for some special places (forests, quarrys, etc). If using google earth (I guess that's the main program to use for real life maps). If so, how far up would I need to take the pics to splice em together? If someone could explain the mathematics behind that part I'd appreciate it. Any other tips will do! There are other programs and databases especially for grabbing sat images. screenshotting Google Earth and stitching everything together is not a good idea for quality sat images. For example there is GlobalMapper (there is a 30 day trail). But there are other programs for grabbing sat images. Just google a bit. If I remember correct, tools that use microsofts bing for getting sat images had quite a good quality. 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
sgtbarnes73 11 Posted September 1, 2015 I will suggest you use Terra Incognita in order to download your satmap. You can use it in conjunction with georeference programs like Global Mapper or even better QGIS that is totally free.Terra Incognita will allow you to export an OziExplorer calibrated map file from different sources (Google Mapsâ„¢, Bingâ„¢, Open street map...) and with the resolution you need (I used Bing for mine for example as on the zone I am mapping the quality is way much better than the Google ones).Once you have generater the map file, you can then import it inside Global Mapper or QGIS and obtain a perfect alignment of the satmap with the imported heightmap. 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
acoustic 82 Posted September 1, 2015 Ok, going with artificial. But a couple of questions about L3DT: When making the attributes map (which is used as a mask) what resolution should I make it in L3DT? Right now, its the same as the height map which is 5m per pixel. So 3072by3072. What would be a good size for it? Same for the satmap (which is the texture in L3DT)? L3DT has the option for custom climates, ie the texture thats used based on the attributes map to generate full texture map. Should I attempt to use custom climates in l3dt (have no knowledge on that) or just do like Neo said and blend it in with a real picture? I feel like there is huge potential in somehow using the ground texture from A3 and combining that with the custom climate aspect of L3DT but I can't put it together. Anyone ever done that? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
NeoArmageddon 957 Posted September 3, 2015 Ok, going with artificial. But a couple of questions about L3DT: When making the attributes map (which is used as a mask) what resolution should I make it in L3DT? Right now, its the same as the height map which is 5m per pixel. So 3072by3072. What would be a good size for it? Same for the satmap (which is the texture in L3DT)? 1m/px is a good sat resolution. L3DT has the option for custom climates, ie the texture thats used based on the attributes map to generate full texture map. Should I attempt to use custom climates in l3dt (have no knowledge on that) or just do like Neo said and blend it in with a real picture? Depends on what terrain you want to make. When you are going for temperate/tropic terrain, the climates already in L3DT are very nice. For Desert or even arctic/nordic you probably need to create your own climate with matching textures. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
acoustic 82 Posted September 6, 2015 Ok. Is there anyway I could use the ground textures I intend on using and then blur and lower the quality and use that as a custom climate. That woukd, in theory, match perfectly Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
