Mapdev:howto height blender: Difference between revisions

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= preparation =
= Creating a Heightmap in Blender =
things to decide before beginning
= [http://www.youtube.com/embed/7f2tYgyF0W8 Video] =
* how large do you want the map to be?
== Video Script ==
1. Delete Cube and Light


blender can render images as large as your ram allows.. ive found that on a system with 4 gig of ram i can render easily and reliably a 2049x2049 height map, transalted into game units thats a 32x32 map size. more ram would allow larger maps, not sure what Spring's upper limit is.
2. Create Terrain Mesh
- add plane
- enter edit mode
- scale plane to size you want
- subdivide plane to match grid
- enter object mode


rendering the texture map is a different story, its pretty difficult to render a 16384 pixels square map so i will leave that for another tutorial. It's Doable, but needs to be done in segments and stitched together later.. anyway.
3. Add Multires Modifyer
- set subdivision to simple
- subdivide until level 6
- set preview level to 6


== Begin ==
4. Sculpt Terrain Mesh
# open up blender
- enter sculpt mode
# delete the default cube and the light, since they arent used
- set transform locks
- sculpt
- enter object mode


== Add a Plane ==
5. setup camera
The plane is 2x2 units by default, so scale it up to the size you want.
- select camera
lets make an 8x8 map 8x64 = 512 units. 2*256 = 512.
- set position and rotation
- change to camera view
- set camera to ORTHO
- set scale


== Render Settings ==
6. Setup Render
FIXME- need discussion on non square maps, pretty sure the largest dimension wins. anyway...
- set render dimensions
# change the render to cycles
The height map resolution is defined as SMU * 64 + 1, see [[Mapdev:height]]
# change render resolution to 513 and the percentage to 100%


== Camera Settings ==
7. Setup compositor
# move camera to 0,0,10, and rotation to 0,0,0
- change space type to node editor
# change camera to orthographic
- select compositor nodes
# Set orthographic scale to 512
- check use nodes
- redirect Z
- add normalise
- add invert
- render
[[File:Blender-node000.png|600px]]


== Shading ==
8. Colour Management
# Select default new material
- set display device to none
# change it to nodes
# change type from diffuse BSDF to emmission
=== Height ===
The image below shows the node setup I use to render a height map.


Once you are finished sculpting you will modify the add value and the divide value based on your completed terrain.
9. Save
- set type to tiff
- set BW
- set depth to 16bpp


* The Add node is used to raise the terrain height values to compensate for being negative z values or under water in this setup. it will have to be manually set
==Additional Information==
* The Divide node is used to give maximum precision of black and white values and should be the maximum z dimension of your terrain, found in its transform properties.
* Need discussion on non square maps, camera settings for altering which dimension gets priority when rendering.
[[File:Blender-node000.png]]
* Consider using this type of material to help understand your sculpting
[[File:Blender-node001.png|600px]]
* if your ram doesnt allow rendering large maps due to image dimensions, consider the render regions add on.


=== Incline Map ===
=== Examples ===
setup nodes like this: SHOW IMAGE
Height map [[File:Blender-screen-000.png]] Visual of build/walk [[File:Blender-screen-001.png]] Detail distribution [[File:Blender-screen-002.png]]
 
[[Category:Map Dev]]
== Sculpting ==
# subdivide the plane to create the exact number of verts that you will see in game
w+enter 9 times
2,4,8,16,32,64, 128, 256, 512
# pull out the sculpt mode and set up the restriction to only transform on the Z Axis
# sculpt away
 
== Render ==
# happy times!
 
== FIXME ==
* make the height map node properties driven by the terrain values.. so no manual adjustment is needed after the fact.

Latest revision as of 01:31, 22 February 2014

Creating a Heightmap in Blender

Video

Video Script

1. Delete Cube and Light

2. Create Terrain Mesh 

- add plane
- enter edit mode
- scale plane to size you want
- subdivide plane to match grid
- enter object mode

3. Add Multires Modifyer 

- set subdivision to simple
- subdivide until level 6
- set preview level to 6

4. Sculpt Terrain Mesh 

- enter sculpt mode
- set transform locks
- sculpt
- enter object mode

5. setup camera 

- select camera
- set position and rotation
- change to camera view
- set camera to ORTHO
- set scale

6. Setup Render 

- set render dimensions

The height map resolution is defined as SMU * 64 + 1, see Mapdev:height

7. Setup compositor 

- change space type to node editor
- select compositor nodes
- check use nodes
- redirect Z
- add normalise
- add invert
- render

8. Colour Management 

- set display device to none

9. Save 

- set type to tiff
- set BW
- set depth to 16bpp

Additional Information

  • Need discussion on non square maps, camera settings for altering which dimension gets priority when rendering.
  • Consider using this type of material to help understand your sculpting

  • if your ram doesnt allow rendering large maps due to image dimensions, consider the render regions add on.

Examples

Height map Visual of build/walk Detail distribution

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