Accurate real world mountain

[Nickryan]

Hi

I am trying to create an accurate representation of K2 (Pakistan) and have gone through a variety of processes, none successful so far.

There is no real accurate DEM for the region (The K2 Section is actually missing a huge chunk).

My initial tests in Terragen have yielded fantastic looking results, however the mountains I have created to date are random and dont resemble K2 really.

I have a model created in XSI from topographical maps (1:100000), but needless to say, the detail is fine only if viewed from the equivalent of 40,000 feet! Is there anyway to use this as a 'cage' for Terragen to build upon?

Without Accurate DEM data to start, what would be the best way to start creating an accurate representation?

My final requirement would ideally be able to move from 50ft to 10,000 feet away....simple really!

Thanks in advance.

Nick

[cyphyr]

It would be not "too" hard to create something that "looked" right, but it would only be an approximation. If you can find some rough topo or contour maps of the area you can manually edit these, create new contour maps and then add fractal detail to break up the stepping artefacts. Its very do-able but the issue is going to be "accurate", its not going to be.
Good luck
Richard

[Oshyan]

You will be able to get as accurate as the source data you have, and fill in the rest with convincing procedural detail. It sounds like you already have a base model, what you need to do from there is get it into a heightfield format (GeoTIFF or TER preferably). It wouldn't be as effective trying to import geometry and displace it; terrain displacement works much better than object displacement at present.

So if you can get your existing data into a heightfield format, just load it with a Heightfield Load node, then start adding some procedural detail with various procedural shaders. There are some great rock surface clip files and other examples around the forums, particularly in the Files area.

- Oshyan

[Nickryan]

Many thanks for the replies.

I am under pressure to get a test done, so have kind of reverted back to an XSI solution for the minute, but will definitely be coming back to the Deep version of Terragen, if the project was to become real.

I did a quick test by creating a greyscale TGA from the model , and whilst it resembles the overall look of the mountain, the scales definitely look wrong (the peak section too steep, whilst the bulk of the mountain far too shallow...

What would your suggestions be to create the heightfield map in GeoTiff or .ter format?

Fantastic software which needs more time than I have at the minute!

best

Nick

[Oshyan]

If you were able to get it into TGA, you could convert to TIFF fairly easily. It would then simply be a matter of georeferencing it (maybe not so simple ). You could do this with a GIS app. I like Global Mapper quite a lot for this kind of thing.

Even with your original TGA data you may simply need to adjust the scaling with a Heightfield Adjust Vertical. If you know the max height the terrain should be, and the base should be at 0 (or a specific known height) you should be able to adjust it with a fair amount of precision. Certainly you could get it to "look right".

- Oshyan

[Hetzen]

Could some one clarify that by just adding a vertical linear gradient to a mesh with a top down camera and exported as a bitmap, does not take into consideration the gradient curve needed to give accurate linear heights, hence the 'bulging' effect you get. What is the best solution on matching gradients from two packages?