Fractal Terrains Scale

brendanv

Hi, i am having a scaling issue with fractal terrains 3. When i measure distances in FT3 i get value X, after exporting, the distances i get at 1.3 times larger and the y are about 1.05. The proportions look about the same. When i scale xy to account for this, the changes still don't accurately portray the distances given in FT3. I tried searching google and the forums but have only found that the scale should export correctly. What could i be doing wrong?

JimP

The scale between FT3 and CC3+ don't match.

Easiest way to handle it I have found is to load up a template in CC3+ of the size you want, import the png export from FT3. Then use the import as a guide to making the new map.

I have used this method to take continents in FT3 and use them as islands in CC3+.

jslayton

FT3 measures distances across the surface of a globe. CC3 measures distances on a plane. Unless you have chosen an equidistant projection and are measuring along the appropriate lines for that projection, the distances measured by the two programs will be different (often radically so).
Consider the equirectangular projection near the pole: in ft3, horizontal distances will small because ft3 is measuring the distance on the globe. That same measurent done in CC3 can give distances almost as long as the distance around the equator due to distance scaling effects of the projection that are unaccounted for by CC3.

brendanv

Is it possible to convert a map to a planer projection (even if i have attempt to edit in similar features)?

JimP

This is a FT3 export I heavily modified in CC3. Its a planet map that I used as a hemisphere map. I imported the png into a template and edited/traced it. Most of the smaller island groups are copy and paste from other maps.

Just import the ft3 png export into a CC3+ template and trace/edit it.

jslayton

To get a planar world in FT3, use Map>>World Settings and select "Planar Function Evaluation" on the Fractal Function tab. The world will look different, but it will measure the same in every direction (the circumference on the primary tab will be the distance across the map; half of this value will be the distance up and down).

For planar worlds, always use the Equirectangular projection to display the data. Other projections are meaningless on a planar world (truly, "Equirectangular" is a bit of a misnomer for a planar world as well, but all editing data is defined internally as images that map easily to that projection, so it's the natural format for editing data).

If you'd like to keep the equirectangular data in the planar case, use Tools>>Actions>>Burn In To Surface when your world is a globe and then switch the planar function evaluation flag. Your data will be there as planar data.