Jump to content
3DCoat Forums

[Solved] Heightmap Export for Terrain


TorQueMoD
 Share

Go to solution Solved by ajz3d,

Recommended Posts

  • Member

Hey all,

 

So I'm working on a new method for creating heightmaps using a combination of Mudbox, World Machine and 3D Coat. Inside mudbox, you can sculpt the basic shape for your terrain and then simply export a heightmap through the Extract Texture Maps option. I was wondering if there's a way to do this inside 3D coat when using Voxels?

 

Basically I want to sculpt in voxel mode and then do a projection of the voxel model onto a simple plane and save out a heightmap from that.

 

Thanks! 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Advanced Member

i think you should be able to do that. once you model your terrain.

 

got to the retopo room. using the quad tool draw a polygon ( put points at each corner of the terrain). then merge to paint roof for per pixel painting.

 

i think that will do it. haven't tried though.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Advanced Member

actually ok i got it. just when you merge to paint room pick the option that says displacement not NM.

 

will do a quick vid for you if you dont get it by the time i get back :)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Contributor
  • Solution
Carlosan
This post was recognized by Carlosan!

ajz3d was awarded the badge 'Helpful' and 1 points.

Hey all,

 

So I'm working on a new method for creating heightmaps using a combination of Mudbox, World Machine and 3D Coat. Inside mudbox, you can sculpt the basic shape for your terrain and then simply export a heightmap through the Extract Texture Maps option. I was wondering if there's a way to do this inside 3D coat when using Voxels?

There's a File->Export ->Export depth along Y function that I think you will find pretty handy for this kind of task. No need to go through Retopo Room.

Edited by ajz3d
  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Advanced Member

I did this, but never bothered with Mudbox.  I created a heightmap and then used it as a mask on a thin-ish box from the top down perspective:

 

http://3d-coat.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=11351&page=4#entry95901

 

This allowed me to get the affect I was after.  Certainly, there are many ways to do this, but this was an experiment for me with 3D Coat to see how well it would work.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 1 year later...
  • Contributor
On 1/4/2014 at 7:30 PM, ajz3d said:

There's a File->Export ->Export depth along Y function that I think you will find pretty handy for this kind of task. No need to go through Retopo Room.

hi there, I was looking for that in the new version of 3DCoat V 4.8.16 but doesn't seem to exist, has it been removed or renamed to something else? thanks

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 11 months later...
  • Advanced Member

I am looking for a way to get better heightmap data out of 3d-coat. The "Export Depth Along Y" creates an EXR file with the heightmap, but it is blurry and soft looking, and if you also generate the normalmap, you can see the rest of the detail goes in there.

Is there a way to get a pure heightmap out of 3d-coat, containing all the available height data?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Advanced Member

Thanks for that, I hadn't seen it. I did find a different tutorial on the sam etechnique for exporting Displacement maps, which I've tried, but the result is quite similar, the exported map is soft and blurred. 

To give you an idea, here is my sculpt room:

6FoGIw1.jpg

 

Then I create a retopo mesh and bake a displacement map, and I get this:

bp1YgTl.png

Now, although the contrast is very poor here, I think the detail has mostly been baked ok. For instance, the cracks in the 3 o clock position are still visible.

 

Then I export the displacement map and I get:

2HWnwJy.png

 

Those cracks and the fine details have all disappeared. It looks pretty low resolution to me, even though the filesize is 2k (bigger than first image above where there is plenty of detail).

Am I doing something wrong here? I was expecting the heightmap to look something like the first image..

 

 

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Advanced Member
9 hours ago, Carlosan said:

Are you exporting as 32bit file ?

There are no options related to bit depth when exporting Displacement maps. There's only the grey´/black level, normalization, and the choice of file format.

I've gone through each file format now, and exported with different normalization settings, and notice that each format is 8bit, apart from .tiff, which is 32bit. AND, with the tiff image, it looks much lighter/brighter than the others. The "Levels" tool in photoshop looks identical in each, so I am at a bit of a loss to explain that.

32bit greyscale tiff, zero is black, normalized: xe8HbnD.png

 

8bit RGB png, zero is black, normalized: kUWQ8k7.png

 

I do see a little bit more detail in the png, which maybe suggests its getting lost with bit depth.. I guess the next question is why the 32bit tiff doesn't look as normalized? Photoshop shows the output level to go to 255 in both, is that a PS limitation?   The EXR is also 32bit, and looks brighter like the tiff. I still can't see all the detail though... is it just possible that the detail is there and not visible to the naked eye without lighting effects?

 

I've tried transforming my object larger and smaller, which does not seem to make a difference. 

Does anyone know what the message on outputting means: "Depth factor for saved texture: 36,029"  ?

 

 

Edited by Innovine
Link to comment
Share on other sites

There are two specific ways you can get your maps out when done texturing/sculpting:

1) Go to File>Export. In the export prompt will be an option for displacement maps (with further options for displacement maps). Choose your options and hit export, save to disk.

2) Go to Textures>Export>(Choose your Displacement map option), you'll be prompted to save to disk.

Different formats allow for higher bit depths too. For example choosing TIF will save a 16-bit greyscale displacement map and EXR will be 32-bit.

That message on output is explained on this video

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Advanced Member
3 hours ago, Carlosan said:

There are two specific ways you can get your maps out when done texturing/sculpting:

1) Go to File>Export. In the export prompt will be an option for displacement maps (with further options for displacement maps). Choose your options and hit export, save to disk.

2) Go to Textures>Export>(Choose your Displacement map option), you'll be prompted to save to disk.

Different formats allow for higher bit depths too. For example choosing TIF will save a 16-bit greyscale displacement map and EXR will be 32-bit.

That message on output is explained on this video

 

Thanks. I'm doing this. Why are mine all blurry?

 

That message on output is explained on this video

I believe his exact words when this message came up were "blahblahblahblahblaah".  :)

Edited by Innovine
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

 Share

×
×
  • Create New...