====== Tour by images ======
Welcome! This page will take you on a visual tour through the features of L3DT. Here we go...
L3DT lets you design the heightfield using a low-resolution 'design map', which you can edit using a brush tool (see below). The design map lays out the general shape of the heightfield, and also sets the strength and position of effects such as [[l3dt:algorithms:hf:volcano|volcanos]], [[l3dt:algorithms:hf:erosion|erosion]], etc. This approach allows you to easily design //extremely// large maps, up to 131,072x131,072 pixels in size.
| {{:l3dt:about:dmv1.png?400|:l3dt:about:dmv1.png}} | {{:l3dt:about:dmv2.png?400|:l3dt:about:dmv2.png}} |
The progress display whilst generating the heightfield is both pretty and bewildering...
{{ :l3dt:about:hfgen.png?400 |:l3dt:about:hfgen.png}}
And voi la! Here is the heightfield:
{{ :l3dt:about:hf.jpg?400 |:l3dt:about:hf.jpg}}
You can modify your heightfield using a range of [[bundywiki>plugins:sapphire:userguide:hf_edit|3D editing tools]]:
{{ :l3dt:about:hf_edit.jpg?400 |:l3dt:about:hf_edit.jpg}}
You can do some global operations, such as re-scale the altitudes (show below), resize the map, clip altitude ranges, etc.
{{ :l3dt:about:hfvscale.jpg?400 |:l3dt:about:hfvscale.jpg}}
L3DT also includes a range of water-mapping functions, including automatic and manual flooding of water bodies and the water table. Below you can see the flood water body mouse tool in operation:
{{ :l3dt:about:wmflood.jpg?400 |:l3dt:about:wmflood.jpg}}
The calculation queue wizard allows you to set several calculations to run automatically, allowing you to walk away and do more important things:
{{ :l3dt:about:calcqueue.jpg?400 |:l3dt:about:calcqueue.jpg}}
One such calculation is the normals map:
{{ :l3dt:about:tn.jpg?400 |:l3dt:about:tn.jpg}}
Another is the lightmap. L3DT performs fast shadow-casting and support bump-mapping, high-resolution light maps, and water absorption effects:
| {{:l3dt:about:lm.jpg?400|:l3dt:about:lm.jpg}} | {{:l3dt:about:lmhires.jpg?400|:l3dt:about:lmhires.jpg}} |
Here is a bit more eye-candy, which occurs when generating the texture map:
{{ :l3dt:about:tx_calc.jpg?400 |:l3dt:about:tx_calc.jpg}}
And here is the texture map:
{{ :l3dt:about:tx.jpg?400 |:l3dt:about:tx.jpg}}
L3DT can also calculate alpha maps, which are suitable for texture-splatting:
| {{:l3dt:about:alpha.jpg?400|:l3dt:about:alpha.jpg}} | {{:l3dt:about:alpha2.jpg?400|:l3dt:about:alpha2.jpg}} |
All of your maps can be saved as L3DT project files for later use. You can also export individual maps as separate files, or as tiled sets of files, using a wide variety of file formats:
{{ :l3dt:about:export.jpg?400 |:l3dt:about:export.jpg}}
L3DT includes a 3D rendering/editing plugin ([[bundywiki>plugins:sapphire|Sapphire]]). Here is a 3D render of the map shown above:
{{ :l3dt:about:3d2.jpg?400 |:l3dt:about:3d.jpg}}
Here is a render of a map I prepared earlier, using extremely high resolution textures and pre-baked bump-mapped lighting:
{{ http://www.bundysoft.com/L3DT/gallery/r24/27May06/16xtex1.jpg?400 }}
If you'd like to know more about L3DT you can find on this website an extensive [[:l3dt:userguide|user guide]] that explains in detail the operations, dialog boxes, and other aspects of using L3DT:
{{ :l3dt:about:docs.png?400 |:l3dt:about:docs.png}}
In addition to the 'official' documentation, there is a [[bundywiki>start|wiki site]] for user-submitted [[bundywiki>tutorials]], [[bundywiki>reviews]], and [[bundywiki>links|useful links to other sites]], as well as being the home for users' [[bundywiki>projects|project pages]], and the L3DT [[bundywiki>climates|climate]] and [[bundywiki>plugin]] repositories.
{{ :l3dt:about:wiki.png?400 |:l3dt:about:wiki.png}}
Finally, we have a lively [[http://www.bundysoft.com/phpBB2/|users' forum]] for support questions, feature requests, resource sharing, and general chit chat.
{{ :l3dt:about:forum.png?400 |:l3dt:about:forum.png}}
Well, that's it. I hope this has been informative.
* << [[:l3dt:about|back to about]]