Use of files issued by Grand Designer

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Jeep35 | 8 years ago | 10 comments | 2.0K views

Hi Michiel
You told us you have used some parts from Ignishot software. While trying it, it generally outputs 3 main layers : Basecolor, Normalmap and water (if water exists). How do you arrange these files in BT to rebuild the original made in Grand Designer.
Jean-Pierre

All those texture types can be used, but what we used most for the Space pack are the colourmap and the displacementmap.

Grand designer calls the displacementmap "Height ground" and the colourmap "Albedo".

When you want to export those 2 texture types, the OPTIONS > CHANNELS dialog looks like the above screenshot.

ignishot.com...

michiel, 8 years ago

The AdvancedMaterials / ColourmapDisplacementmapReflectionmap effect works great for rendering a planet with a colour and a displacementmap.

outerspace-software.com...

michiel, 8 years ago

The displacementmaps generated by Grand designer are 24 bits. And when you mark the 16 bits checkbox they are 48 bits.

It's best to use your paint app to convert them to greyscales. This way they are correctly 8 or 16 bits.

michiel, 8 years ago

Which paint program and or settings are you using to convert the maps to 16bit grayscale from the grand designer maps. I can't seem it to work with Photoshop or Gimp. I get the terracing effect, in the properties details it says that the exported png are 48 bit.

Thanks in advance

komies, 8 years ago

I'm using Photoshop. Choose IMAGE > MODE > GRAYSCALE and save as PNG.

16 bits is only necessary for landscapes viewed at a low altitude. Like the moon landscape in template 26.

For planets in the background, 8 bits is enough.

michiel, 8 years ago

Thank you michiel, for your fast response.

The reason i ask is that I would like to use the Photoshop filter clouds for terrains for use in Blufftitler. I am thinking like a star wars tunnelrun animation through mountains, so that means the camera is close to the displacementmap, here is the terracing very visible.

Because it was now possible with 65000+ colors instead of 256 with the new displacementmap option I was keen to try it.

komies, 8 years ago

I think World machine is a better choice for generating your podrace circuit. World machine can also generate 16 bits displacementmaps.

world-machine.com

michiel, 8 years ago

I have downloaded the free basic world machine just to convert the 48bit grayscale to real 16 bit grayscale but as aspected the original has lost the info after export.

It is a wide issue known on many forums, i haven't found a free solution yet :), I will keep trying and to keep through this community any possible progress or solution.

komies, 8 years ago

I do not understand why both Grand designer and World machine export their displacementmaps in 48 bits. I also do not understand why it's so hard to convert a 48 bits picture to a 16 bits greyscale.

To get around both inconveniences, next version of BluffTitler will happily accept 48 bits pictures as 16 bits displacementmaps.

I still advise you to store your displacementmaps as 16 bits greyscales. Those files are smaller and load faster. Here's a comparison (2048 x 1024 PNG):
-48 bits RGB: 4.1 MB
-16 bits greyscale: 2.7 MB
-24 bits RGB: 800 KB
-8 bits greyscale: 600 KB

michiel, 8 years ago

Thank you very much,

I found that with a RAW export of the in modus 16 grayscale image in photoshop will import in World-machine and then be converted in to real 16 bit heightmap, since I'm using the basic version the resolution is max 512 +1, and non of the materials maybe commercial used.

This is much better, so thanks again I will try it with the next version to import direct from photoshop and gimp :)

Here is a down and dirty example with BIX:

komies, 8 years ago