When the map is rendered, the designer can specify the amount of displacement for each unit of the height channel, which corresponds to the “contrast” of the image. A heightmap can be used in bump mapping to calculate where this 3D data would create shadow in a material, in displacement mapping to displace the actual geometric position of points over the textured surface, or for terrain where the heightmap is converted into a 3D mesh.Ī heightmap contains one channel interpreted as a distance of displacement or “height” from the “floor” of a surface and sometimes visualized as luma of a grayscale image, with black representing minimum height and white representing maximum height. In computer graphics, a heightmap or heightfield is a raster image used to store values, such as surface elevation data, for display in 3D computer graphics. Heightmaps are commonly used in geographic information systems, where they are called digital elevation models.įreebase Rate this definition: 5.0 / 1 vote Using only grey values, because the heights must be mapped to only 256 values, the rendered terrain appears flat, with "steps" in certain places. This technique is especially useful where height varies slightly over a large area. By using colors, a greater number of heights can be stored (for a 24-bit image, 2563 = 16,777,216 heights can be represented (2564 = 4,294,967,296 if the alpha channel is also used)). For example, a standard RGB 8-bit image can only show 256 values of grey and hence only 256 heights. One may also exploit the use of individual color channels to increase detail. Or in specialized file formats such as Daylon Leveller, GenesisIV and Terragen documents. Heightmaps can be stored by themselves in existing grayscale image formats, with or without specialized metadata, A heightmap can be used in bump mapping to calculate where this 3D data would create shadow in a material, in displacement mapping to displace the actual geometric position of points over the textured surface, or for terrain where the heightmap is converted into a 3D mesh.Ī heightmap contains one channel interpreted as a distance of displacement or "height" from the "floor" of a surface and sometimes visualized as luma of a grayscale image, with black representing minimum height and white representing maximum height. Each pixel stores values, such as surface elevation data, for display in 3D computer graphics. In computer graphics, a heightmap or heightfield is a raster image used mainly as Discrete Global Grid in secondary elevation modeling. I was unable to get mapsplitter to handle the RAW file directly.Wikipedia Rate this definition: 0.0 / 0 votes Without it, mapsplitter's processing of the input file resulted in useless flatness. The magic that finally got it in a form that mapsplitter could deal with was the "-type GrayScale" parameter. PLSM evidently does require an extremely correct form of a PNG file. Of course modify the size parameter to match the size of the RAW file you start with, and modify the depth parameter if you save a 16 bit RAW file instead of 8 bit. Use the convert tool as follows:Ĭonvert -size 4097x4097 -depth 8 gray:terrain.raw -type GrayScale terrain.pngArgument order is important. There are Win32 command prompt binaries available, and most Linux distributions include it prepackaged. RAW file and converted it to a PNG file using ImageMagick.
I started with a 4097x4097 8 bit Terragen. What should the export settings be, and what applications have people used successfully? Plus, 8-bit PNGs are really bad quality, and result in ugly 'peaks'. Nothing.ĭoes PLSM require some sort of pure PNG format? I know each of these apps probably adds a lot of jargon to the file, but I'm not sure.Ī while ago I did actually manage to do it with an 8-bit PNG, but I can't remember how exactly. I've tried all sorts - Photoshop, Fireworks, Paint.NET, The GIMP, 8-bit, 16-bit, 32-bit. However, when I use PNGs generated by other people, including the heightmap supplied with Ogre, it works perfectly. Whenever I try to export a PNG heightmap, it never works and the terrain is flat.
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