What actually happens if I resize a terrain?

Started by TheElectroKangaroo, August 04, 2012, 04:26:51 PM

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TheElectroKangaroo

Like, if I get a large terrain from the internet, and resize it and have TG change the point spacing and whatnot, apart from a smaller terrain and faster 3d preview, is there anything else I lose from this process? If not, then I'll just resize all my big terrains to 513x513 and have done with it.

Oshyan

Resizing will lose some of the detail of your terrain. The point spacing changes to maintain the same relative area representation of the terrain, but the actual number of points of detail is reduced. So essentially, lower resolution terrains will give you faster 3D preview and rendering, but at the cost of detail.

- Oshyan

TheElectroKangaroo

Does the reverse happen if I up-size a terrain then? Do I get more detail?

Oshyan

Not really, no. It's the same thing that happens when you resize a normal image in an image editor to a larger size - you get a "fuzzy" larger image. There's no way for an algorithm to create more "real" detail that isn't there in the original image or heightfield. Unless your intention is to add procedural detail on top of the enlarged terrain, and you fully understand the limitations of that approach, then it's not a good idea to resize a terrain to a higher resolution.

- Oshyan