Procedural terrains

Daniel

Solo, how did you convert the GE jpeg to the 3D SU model?

kwistenbiebel

Solo, how did you convert the GE jpeg to the 3D SU model?

Indeed How does one do that? (Zbrush?)

solo

Daniel, I will do a kinda tutorial once I have all the kinks worked out and there are a few. The Google earth image gets changed into an extreme bump or better word a displacement map which is then used as a map on a flat mesh to create a physical relief. I want to see if I can map the actual image as a texture and then use it also as a displacement map in oder to give a better 3d representation.

Frederik

This is simply AMAZING, Pete..!!

Looking forward to learn more about this...

sepo

Fantastic stuff Solo...looking forward to see the way you do it.

kwistenbiebel

This is a cool progress to watch.
I can imagine using the displacement-to-mesh idea for lots of different things as well.

solo

St. Andrews golf course in Scotland.

sepo

Looks good. What happens with buildings. Do they come up accurately?

solo

reduced poly version.

The houses do not raise right due to google image had shadows that screw with the displacement.

fast render (20 seconds due to image being texture)

Still needs tweaking, but this could be a new way of doing terrains, may need a code expert to make this a ruby idea however.

princedragoncok

My god, this is amazing. Still don't understand how this is works though..

marked001

haha... me neither.. i understand how the bump maps or displacement maps work in the renders.. but how are you achieving that complex sketchup mesh?? awesome stuff.. i just recently saw someting on the maxwell forums where someone had just taken a google earth image and used it as a displacement map.. wasnt accurate at all, but was really cool and simple..

kwistenbiebel

[Off Topic]: I tried texturing a freeform in Vue...and didn't succeed .Seems as Vue doesn't really has real UV-mapping tools (only cilindrical,spherical, etc..which results in distorted soup). Next step: Zbrush?

Sorry for the OT. Now please continue with this nice landscaping process !

solo

I would also believe Z-brush to be the best option. Vue has more mapping tools than SU and others alike but by no means a true solution.

fossa

Just to chime in here and show there is some more interest in this process. We are doing stuff like this more and more and I for one would love to see a tutorial on this process. Time usually doesn't permit us to do the freeform thing and we end steping the contours from survey data or traced images.

I guess my real question is: Are you getting an accurate "dem" image from GE to use as a displacement map or is this more of an "artistic guess" at landscaping. Either way you are certainly on to something here. If someone could build a displacement map routine ruby for sketchup I'm not sure I would need autocad anymore.

solo

Fossa,

I would not say it's an artistic approximation but more of a primary image limitation, see the images I get from GE have shadows and the shadows are a very instrumental in getting the displacement map accurate. I have not yet tried using the new GE sun positioning feature yet and will in due coarse try different settings. ( I will continue with this in a few days , as soon as my current project completes).
I agree a terrain generator ruby would be awesome and another reason to not use those $$$ apps and keep the workflow down to a single app.

tomsdesk

Soooooo much to learn...nice work (again!), Pete. Will be watching close for that tut as well as I just today got a small house project where a stone outcrop is the prominent and center feature of the site. The architect wants to have it poke thru a deck and maybe a little of the floor structure to the inside (at a fireplace)...should be a fun model to build but it will have to look better than what I've done before: so perfect timing!

igor

excuse me a sec while i pick my jaw up off the floor.
that is the most amazing terrain model, or any organic model for that matter, i have ever seen.
that was a genius idea to use the terrain tool + subd and smooth. i never would have thought of that. you have, once again, succeded in making me feel like a begginer.

lapx

Have you done any experimenting with Heightfield ruby? Where displacement is done by a grey scale image. The darker areas are the lowest point and the highest point are light.

solo

lapx, I have not, sounds like the kinda thing I may be very interested in trying. got a link?

dudekracked

hi lapx

what is the height field ruby?