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


and warning that this method wont be pixel perfect for now, because of the added pixel i will extend the tutorial to handle that later on. its not difficult.
4. Sculpt Terrain Mesh
- enter sculpt mode
- set transform locks
- sculpt
- enter object mode


# open up blender
5. setup camera
# delete the default cube nd the light, since they arent used
- select camera
# add a plane
- set position and rotation
# the plane is 2x2 units by default, so scale it up to the size you want.
- change to camera view
# before subdividing it get your camera organised
- set camera to ORTHO
# get your rendering settings organised
- set scale
# subdivide the plane to create the exact number of verts that you will see in game
# pull out the sculpt brush and set up the restriction to only transform on the Z Axis
# sculpt away
# change the render to cycles
# create the material node setup to render height to best prescision
# happy times!


move onto the shading tutorial to get some helper maps for making other texture maps.
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
[[File:Blender-node000.png|600px]]
 
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
[[File:Blender-node001.png|600px]]
* if your ram doesnt allow rendering large maps due to image dimensions, consider the render regions add on.
 
=== Examples ===
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]]

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