Something for track makers..

[mcm2boys]

This has been on test in TD for a while but i finally remembered to release it ..

It's a program to inject POV ray Disp maps directly into your MVA PROJECT files, so you can now use other terrain modelling programs (leveller, terragen) to create the terrain and then inject that terrain directly into the project.

It uses POV ray type Displacement maps (these usually look red and blue instead of grayscale) so you can use the higher resolution that gives you in the RBW editor without being restricted to just the RBW terrain tools.


You can grab it here:

POV Injector v1.0

It's pretty simple to use, just make sure you have the POV ray disp maps ready, in TGA format when you run it.


Have fun..
Laurie

[VRT_JPRLisbon_]

Thanks

[ElDiablo (Paul)]

FYI for those to whom this hasn't hit HOME yet. This allows you to get Hi Def displacement maps that beat the hell out of the 513 hi-def maps that Laurie has also made possible recently. It's noteworthy to mention that programs like World Machine and World Builder and any other terrain generating program are now possible to use for your displacement mapping thanks to this AWESOME little tool. In my opinion, this is probably the single coolest thing that has come out for MVA period!

Just to put things in perspective, the traditional Photoshop or Editor generated displacement maps are regular greyscale images that have colours ranging from 0,0,0 to 255,255,255...or 256 levels of detail possible IF you use both 0,0,0 AND 255,255,255 on your displacement map somewhere. With this tool you can have the full POV displacement range of detail which since it uses RGB colour maps is 65,536 (which equates to 256 times the detail of a traditional greyscale displacement map)! So if you want those finite details and ruts that look and ride like REAL...this is just the ticket for you!

[yFMX]

Is it possible to save as 257x257 in World Machine Basic Edition because I tried to resize the disp but I can resize it as 256x256 or 512x512 only?

[VMX_SKYmx99]

Thanks Laurie!

[SHANO]

This sounds just like what i was looking for.... Only thing though, could you give a short rundown as to how you will get this to work as far as setting up the 257x257tga from pov ray?  Do you have to use worldbuilder etc, or can you still build the disp in photoshop? Then do you render the image in pov ray?  I am  capable of figuring out how to do things usually, but i'm just not fully understanding how this works.  Thanks alot for your help guys.

  SHANO

[ElDiablo (Paul)]

the easiest thing to do (and the most productive and tweakable) is to use LEVELLER and save the terrain as a POV. If you do your map in PS or PSP then you won't notice much of a difference. PS and PSP (and any other prgram of the like) work in 257 steps of detail whereas Leveller uses 65.536. If you import your image from PS or PSP into POV ray or Leveller and save it...you'll have more detail but it will be in the form of jaggies. Think of it this way...if you upsize a picture (blow it up) and try to save it...you notice the loss in detail because the image now looks blurry and jaggie...well that's what you'll get if you do it that way here.

Here's what I do...I put my basic track together in PS and then once it's riding nicely in the game I flatten and save the map and import it into Leveller. From there I use the SMOOTH TOOL to smooth out all the jaggies and get a nice flowy track. THEN I take the raise and lower tools and go to work making ruts and breaking bumps, etc... and when I'm done I save it as a TER file AND as a POV file. Using this utility you then open your Project file and inject the POV map (red and blue one) for the regular map. Then you open your project in Unleashed Editor and generally you will have to adjust the height to get things back to normal because there is quite a bit more definition now and your height will almost certainly be too much now. Once it's riding right just save it out as normal.

[SHANO]

Perfect 

Thats exactly what i needed to know.

Thanks  Paul

SHANO

[SHANO]

Hey paul,

  I was wondering if you had any suggestions for a limited budget "free" lol.  I would really like to implement the high resolution dispmaps into my future tracks, but i currently can't spend 125 dollars on leveller.  Do you know of any alternates that would work?
  Thanks

SHANO

[suzuki98]

i to would like to know that. i have the demo of leveller and don't have 125 dollars to spend but i wish i did.  i like the demo alot.

[ElDiablo (Paul)]

I can't help you there unfortunately. I purchased Leveller way back at version 1.47 and have upgraded for free ever since (that's how they take care of the people who buy their software I guess). To my knowledge there is no editor like Leveller that is free. Your alternative would be POV and that doesn't have editing tools...you'd just import your PS disp and save it as a POV. The problem with that is that you won't have any better resolution (or marginal if at all) than just using the same disp straight from PS.

You can however make terrains with World Machine or World Builder (demo versions are available with limited functionality) and save those as POV's I believe...however once you import that image into PS to lay down a track path you loose the extra resolution.

SO...I guess there is no cheap way out of this. You MAY be able to find someone with an old 1.47 version that you can use...but that isn't exactly kosher and I can't really help you out with that. 

[SHANO]

Hey Paul... few more questions..

  I have my track built and riding good in ps.  Now i want to add realistic ruts.  Currently in ps i am working with a 30% grey background with a 6% black track path and 60% white for my highest jump.  In the editor i am using the 10 height field scale.   

  Basically my qestion is, what do i have to do to get very realistic ruts?  I've watched the tutorial you made in leveller (thanks) and were working on a 513x513 dispmap.  When we import it using the pov utility, it must be a 257x257 map.  When i change the grid size in leveller to this size, the resolution seems to go away?

Thanks alot Paul, / anyone else who helps.

SHANO

[ElDiablo (Paul)]

Just import the displacement to a 257 terrain and work from there. There is no reason to need a big terrain in Leveller. You can get awesome ruts on a 257. Just zoom in and use a small brush.

[SHANO]

Hey Paul,

  I've been messing with it some more, but when i import my map into leveller, and make ruts (using the lower tool, brush size 1) it really doesn't seem to make any thinner ruts then a 1px brush in ps.  Is there something i'm doing/not doing stopping me from getting the high resolution.......My track is premade in ps, does it have to be built in leveller to be hidef? 

  Thanks again

SHANO

[Fixer]

In order to be HI_Def you need to use 513x513 and make your *.trn file with the MCM2 editor and import the *.trn with Unleashed Too. A pretty complicated route but if your familiar with MCM2 and Hi-Def tracks it's not any harder than the rest of the hoops you have to jump through to make a custom track in MVA.

I think Paul is saying you can get good detail w/ 257x257 but you won't see it if there is any "smoothing" when you import your leveler file.