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General => Terragen Discussion => Topic started by: WAS on March 08, 2018, 10:10:39 PM

Title: MOLA and Planet Wrapping
Post by: WAS on March 08, 2018, 10:10:39 PM
I'm still a little confused on MOLAs. I've given up several times. I'm wondering, I have a 463m (2gb) MOLA of Mars (https://astrogeology.usgs.gov/search/details/Mars/GlobalSurveyor/MOLA/Mars_MGS_MOLA_DEM_mosaic_global_463m/cub). Fairly complete and relatively accurate save for the poles. How would I set this up to adequately wrap the planet, or at least seam to from a face? I've tried all sorts of settings but can't even see any results on my planet. Any sort of example/help would be great.

Additionally it's a little slow of a process cause if I mess up settings, like a typo, all of TG crashes, probably due to the size of the MOLA. Just a shear CTD.
Title: Re: MOLA and Planet Wrapping
Post by: Oshyan on March 09, 2018, 12:12:21 AM
If you're using the MOLA shader itself, then it's a bit limited and tricky to work with. It is one of the oldest data loading shaders in Terragen and, unlike the DEM loaders and others, it has received minimal update since the early days. I suggest trying the same data files but with the Heightfield Load multiple DEM options in the Terrain layout.

- Oshyan
Title: Re: MOLA and Planet Wrapping
Post by: WAS on March 09, 2018, 01:45:11 AM
Quote from: Oshyan on March 09, 2018, 12:12:21 AM
If you're using the MOLA shader itself, then it's a bit limited and tricky to work with. It is one of the oldest data loading shaders in Terragen and, unlike the DEM loaders and others, it has received minimal update since the early days. I suggest trying the same data files but with the Heightfield Load multiple DEM options in the Terrain layout.

- Oshyan

Could you elaborate a little further on "multiple DEM options"? Do you mean split it up? Cause I just recovered from two windows crashes trying to load the image into a heightfield displacement. It gets about halfway through the progress of the load and than the PC locks up fully. I tried waiting for some time, seeing if task manager would come up, but nothing. I wasn't using the MOLA shader actually, like a derp I was using the Geog Image Map before, which was at least loading the file.

I've just seen so many Mars images and wanted to take  crack but have never been able to get a map onto a planet.
Title: Re: MOLA and Planet Wrapping
Post by: Oshyan on March 09, 2018, 03:06:36 AM
Hmm, well a couple of things. First and foremost, how much memory do you have? Because the size of the MOLA data set on disk isn't necessarily what it requires in memory. It could be larger, and if you have less than 16GB of memory (or even if you do), you may have memory issues if you're trying to load the largest data set in entirety.

If you're already using the Geog Image Map then you may already have tested what I would think should work. Are you using the "Load multiple geog image map shaders" option?

I'll also say that very likely a majority of the Mars images you see are *not* using MOLA data but in fact a single spherically mapped displacement image, a number of which are available for free online. That's by far the easiest way to get a quick, realistic Mars, and although it won't hold up to closer shots, for orbital views it's generally sufficient. You can also spot-load higher detail MOLA or even HiRISE data to supplement in specific areas.

- Oshyan
Title: Re: MOLA and Planet Wrapping
Post by: WAS on March 09, 2018, 05:19:38 AM
Quote from: Oshyan on March 09, 2018, 03:06:36 AM
Hmm, well a couple of things. First and foremost, how much memory do you have? Because the size of the MOLA data set on disk isn't necessarily what it requires in memory. It could be larger, and if you have less than 16GB of memory (or even if you do), you may have memory issues if you're trying to load the largest data set in entirety.

If you're already using the Geog Image Map then you may already have tested what I would think should work. Are you using the "Load multiple geog image map shaders" option?

I'll also say that very likely a majority of the Mars images you see are *not* using MOLA data but in fact a single spherically mapped displacement image, a number of which are available for free online. That's by far the easiest way to get a quick, realistic Mars, and although it won't hold up to closer shots, for orbital views it's generally sufficient. You can also spot-load higher detail MOLA or even HiRISE data to supplement in specific areas.

- Oshyan

I wasn't aware of the spherical images. Do you have a link available to any? That does seem like a much easier approach for orbital shots.
Title: Re: MOLA and Planet Wrapping
Post by: Oshyan on March 09, 2018, 04:35:20 PM
You can try one of these:
http://www.celestiamotherlode.net/catalog/marsbump.php
http://planetpixelemporium.com/mars.html

Or just do a web search for "Mars Displacement" or "Mars bump map"

- Oshyan
Title: Re: MOLA and Planet Wrapping
Post by: WAS on March 10, 2018, 07:37:55 PM
Quote from: Oshyan on March 09, 2018, 04:35:20 PM
You can try one of these:
http://www.celestiamotherlode.net/catalog/marsbump.php
http://planetpixelemporium.com/mars.html

Or just do a web search for "Mars Displacement" or "Mars bump map"

- Oshyan

Thanks a lot. I should have guessed. I found a couple with "Mars Textures" on google, little too small though. Those look like they may work.
Title: Re: MOLA and Planet Wrapping
Post by: Stormlord on May 02, 2018, 10:47:25 AM
I am collecting Maps from our solar system since more than 25 years and also tried to create a high resolution set of own true color maps.
Here is my last created true color map from mars as reference and as a sample to show you what I mean.

[attach=1]
TRUE COLOR REFERENCE FOR MY OWN TRUE COLOR MAP

[attach=2]
MY OWN TRUE COLOR MAP WITH REFERENCES FOR DIRECT COMPARISSON

[attach=3]
ANOTHER RENDERING WITH A MAP WHICH LOOKS LIKE THE GLOBAL SURVEYOR VIEWS
If you are looking for high resolution maps from mars, I recommend to look here...

Link Tips:
http://astrogeology.usgs.gov/search/details/Mars/Viking/MDIM21/Mars_Viking_MDIM21_ClrMosaic_global_232m/cub

http://www.mars.asu.edu/data/
http://www.mars.asu.edu/data/mola_color/
http://astrogeology.usgs.gov/search/results?k1=map_projection_name&v1=Simple+Cylindrical

STORMLORD