Hi Calenmiriel,
Calenmiriel wrote:I took the heightmap into Gimp and followed Telarus' suggestions then imported the map into L3DT (can't save a raw file in gimp). In L3DT, the map was then saved as a raw file.
Last I checked, GIMP doesn't support 16-bit layer depth, so any blending/smoothing/resizing/etc you may have done will have had no effect on the stepping artefacts. You need to use an image editor with support for 16-bit layer depth (PhotoShop springs to mind), AND you need to use an image format throughout that is in 16-bit layer mode. This means bitmaps and JPEGs should never
ever be used for heightfield data, but PNG, TIFF and RAW are OK if
and only if you ensure they're saved in 16-bit depth mode.
By the way, another way to remove the stair stepping artefacts in L3DT (in 32-bit precision, no less) is to use the built-in smoothing operation at '
Operations→Heightfield→Smooth (curvature)' (
user guide here). Of course, L3DT doesn't generate stepping artefacts*, but this feature will allow you to 'clean' the artefacts out of a heightfield that has been wrecked by passing through a program or image file at 8 bit depth.
Anyway, can anyone confirm whether Unity supports non-square heightfields? If not, this would explain some of the odd behaviour described by Calenmiriel.
Best regards,
Aaron.
* Well, I suppose as a pedant I'll have to concede 32-bit floats still produce these quantisation effects, but at such an incredibly fine scale you'll never notice. In fact, they're 1 part in ~17 million, so for example at a height of 1 metre above sea-level, the stepping artefacts from 32-bit floats are about 60 nanometres high.