Importing a heightfield

Heightfields can be imported into L3DT using the 'File→Import→Heightfield…' option in the menu.

At the time of writing¹⁾, L3DT supports the following import formats:

• '.bmp' - Windows / OS/2 compatible bitmap.
• '.bt' - Virtual terrain project.
• '.csv' - Comma Separated Value file.
• '.hff' - L3DT (old).
• '.hf2' / '.hfz' / '.hf2.gz' - L3DT.
• '.jpg' - Joint Picture Experts Group image.
• '.png' - Portable Network Graphic.
• '.pgm' - Portable Grey Map.
• '.pcx' - PC Paintbrush Exchange.
• '.raw' / '.r16' / '.r32' - Raw binary data file.
• '.ter' - Terragen.
• '.lbl' / '.img' - Mars Orbital Laser Altimeter (MOLA) data files.

Links to further format info may be found here.

When importing from image files you will be asked to input some values, including the altitude range and the horizontal scale:

If you are importing a RAW image, you also need to set some import options using the 'Options…' button (discussed next).

Because raw binary data files contain, in general, no useful header information, you must specify additional information when importing a RAW, including the width and height, mode (i.e. data type), and header size (if any). These settings may be reached by clicking on the 'Options…' button in the above wizard.