Trying to work with DEM's again after a few years.

Mohawk20 · April 25, 2016, 11:38:20 AM

I'm trying to find my way around the dem's, but it doesn't make sense anymore (getting old I guess).
I've downloaded a tile from here: http://www.ngdc.noaa.gov/mgg/topo/gltiles.html
I get either a .zip or .gz file, both containing the same file without extension. What do I need to get this to be able to import into TG3?

Oshyan · April 25, 2016, 02:34:51 PM

That's a pretty poor source of DEM data. I don't know what format it supplies the data in, but without an extension we won't know. Try one of these instead:
http://viewer.nationalmap.gov/basic/
http://terrain.party/

Try to download data in GeoTIFF, if available. BIN or ArcGrid may also work.

- Oshyan

Mohawk20 · April 28, 2016, 09:11:36 AM

Quote from: Oshyan on April 25, 2016, 02:34:51 PM
That's a pretty poor source of DEM data. I don't know what format it supplies the data in, but without an extension we won't know. Try one of these instead:
http://viewer.nationalmap.gov/basic/
http://terrain.party/

Try to download data in GeoTIFF, if available. BIN or ArcGrid may also work.

- Oshyan

Thanks Oshyan, terrain.party is a great source!

To bad the maximum area is 60 km.
I want the elevation data from the area around the Red Sea, for a revisit of my Parting Sea scene. But as you can see below, getting separate exported tiles to line up requires some time in Photoshop...

bobbystahr · April 28, 2016, 12:21:58 PM

doesn't TG automatically line up dem DEMs?

Mohawk20 · April 28, 2016, 05:13:59 PM

It does, but the colours are not lined up... I had to fix them in photoshop to match at the edges.

bobbystahr · April 28, 2016, 08:57:27 PM

Quote from: Mohawk20 on April 28, 2016, 05:13:59 PM
It does, but the colours are not lined up... I had to fix them in photoshop to match at the edges.

ah, gotcha

Mohawk20 · April 30, 2016, 03:25:24 AM

Hmmmm, these maps do seem to have an issue in small scale roughness...

Dune · April 30, 2016, 10:25:55 AM

Indeed and hard to get that out, unless smoothed in PS. You're probably better off making your own terrain from scratch.

bobbystahr · April 30, 2016, 10:33:48 AM

Agree with Ulco, tried once after I got the full version and reverted to playing mainly with in TG for alien planets...who's ever been there to contradict me, hee hee hee.

bla bla 2 · April 30, 2016, 02:23:14 PM

You can used world machine too. Unless if, you do not have this software.

Mohawk20 · May 01, 2016, 07:34:47 AM

Quote from: Dune on April 30, 2016, 10:25:55 AM
Indeed and hard to get that out, unless smoothed in PS. You're probably better off making your own terrain from scratch.

Sure, but i need the real-world elevation data for a good historic recreation.
I did manage to smooth it out in PS, and have an even smoother version rendering now...

Mohawk20 · May 01, 2016, 11:38:27 AM

Well, I got rid of the all the dents.
Still have some strata, but I think this is good enough.

Dune · May 02, 2016, 01:58:27 AM

But did you smooth and save in 16-bit?

Oshyan · May 02, 2016, 02:37:50 AM

If that's what the data looks like you should really just find better data. Harder to use, but better data: http://earthexplorer.usgs.gov/

- Oshyan

Mohawk20 · May 04, 2016, 02:26:27 AM

ASTER data from earthexplorer works.
It has some bright white spots in low areas, but I made them black while stitching the tiles, and now I have a nice big area of realistic accurate landscape.

Thanks for all the suggestions, and Oshyan for the sources, wouldn't have found earthexplorer on my own.