importing Digital Elevation Model in FT3

junelac · July 2020

Hello,

Is there a tutorial sowhere explaining how to import digital elevation model file formats in FT3 ? I find mainy file in the .IMG and .TIFF format. I know that I have to use new file -> binary file but I'm a bit lost on how to fill the parameters.

Example of files:

https://astrogeology.usgs.gov/search/map/Mars/Topography/HRSC_MOLA_Blend/Mars_HRSC_MOLA_BlendDEM_Global_200mp_v2
https://astrogeology.usgs.gov/search/map/Moon/LRO/LOLA/Lunar_LRO_LOLA_Global_LDEM_118m_Mar2014

thanks in advance

Loopysue · July 2020

Hi Junelac

First let me say that I'm not sure which file types FT3 will accept this way. I have only ever used .MDR files, which are heightmaps generated by both Wilbur and FT3. If you can't import your data directly into FT3 as it is, then the chances are that you can open it in Wilbur (a free app here: http://www.fracterra.com/wilbur.html ) and then export it as a .MDR file for FT3.

Here is a compiled screen shot of the process.

[Image_15045]

The only setup you have to worry about after you locate the file you want to import are the four little boxes ringed in red in the third dialog. That is where you need to specify the lat and long extent of your map. Since your maps are both entire worlds the settings will be as I have shown in this image.

Then hit OK, and your world should appear in front of you. But we aren't finished just yet.

Even though you can now see your map the data is not properly in the FT3 file until it is burned into it, because what you are seeing is FT3 showing the contents of the source file.

To burn the data into the file, first open the World Settings tab and set the editing resolution nice and high to maintain the details. The highest you can go is 8190, which produces a file that is nearly 1GB in size once it is saved. Then go to Tools->Actions->Burn in to surface and save your map.

junelac · July 2020

Thank you loopsiesue. unfortunately importing in wilbur doesn't work. I guess using the binary file import from FT3 could work with the correct per sample info, line width and header. I will try to find something to convert the file formats.

EDIT: Can't do anything for the IMG files but the TIFF can be converted with QGIS (and probably other software) to png and imported in wilbur

junelac · July 2020

I have another question if you don't mind: is it possible to use the wilbur colorscheme for altitude in FT3 ? I find it much nice than the default.

junelac · July 2020

and wilbur (reduced size)

Loopysue · July 2020

There are lots of alternative colour schemes in FT3. Click the World Coloring button next to the World Settings button and select a new colouring scheme. Then click Load, and Apply.

If you want to make your own you can by going to the Altitude tab. However, before you start messing with that make sure that you have opened FT3 by right clicking the icon and using "run as administrator" or you won't be able to save any of the settings.

There are ways of transferring Wilbur colour schemes into FT3, but I am not an expert with these things. In both FT3 and Wilbur I tend to do it the old fashioned way and make a new scheme one colour at a time.

jslayton · July 2020

The Wilbur land color scheme has five colors (In Wilbur, see Texture>Shader Setup : Altitude tab, click left-hand Color List button) and the sea color scheme has four colors (same tab, right-hand Color List button). You can create a color scheme in FT3 with those values without a huge amount of work. Unfortunately, you can't exactly get the Wilbur color scheme into FT3 because the default Wilbur sea coloring scheme is partly procedural (the lightness min/max values on the Wilbur Shader Altitude tab describe an offset to the RGB color value based on ocean depth: the default 0.3 value moves the shallowest color 30% of the way to white from whatever color is set in the color list and progressing toward the other offset at the deepest specified value). You can see what color scheme is easily achievable in FT3 by setting the lightness min/max values to 0.

You can approximate the color scheme by using more values in FT3, but you'll need to generate a ramp in Wilbur and manually sample the colors to as many places as you'd like. The attached image shows the default Wilbur shader color scheme.

junelac · July 2020

Thank you you were both very helful. I didn't manage to get exactely the same colors but I'm close enough for my taste

Peter Dube Jr · September 26

I also don't understand as FT3+ has a color scheme for every map, but the color scheme is not copying over to the CC3+ save. Mine turns all the land brown and the sea blue-purple. It is very discouraging.

I used to have a save set up, but then my hard drive crashed, had to get a new one, and after I reload everything I just can't find why it just doesn't work right. I am still doing it as I always have, same options, but seems it is missing some link to the color correction. The instructions are all written for someone far more software savvy, and I am just an artist trying to get a project completed. Very frustrating.

Loopysue · September 26

The easiest way to get a map in CC that looks exactly like the FT world is to export a bitmap from FT and insert the bitmap as a background to your CC map. The disadvantage is that you can't edit the image other than by editing the FT world and re-exporting the image.

Take care to save the exported bitmap in the same folder as your CC map, and to keep both files together forever after that. Bitmaps inserted into CC are only referenced there, and not actually stored in the FCW file.

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importing Digital Elevation Model in FT3

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