Help trying to export

[Elite Lancer]

I work with 3D programs in my spare time and was wondering if there is any way to export the 3D terrain along with the textures on it? So far I've only managed to export the terrain but I can't seem to figure out how to get the texture and water back on it. Typically when it comes to terrains, I'm used to all these parts being packaged together when I export them.

[Aaron]

Hi Elite Lancer,

L3DT doesn't support many file formats with the textures packed in with the terrain. This is because these formats tend to be specialised and often proprietary, which means they can't be used with many programs, and may be subject to change without notice. Another problem is that these packed formats tend to have file size limits far below L3DT's map size limits, so they can't be used as a general-purpose format with L3DT.

The packed texture-and-terrain formats that L3DT does support include:

• Atlas2 (for TGEA, by GarageGames), and;
• SD7 (for Spring, by Swedish Yankspankers et al.)

Do you have any specific file formats or destination apps in mind?

So far I've only managed to export the terrain but I can't seem to figure out how to get the texture and water back on it.

This depends on what application you are using. The water map can be exported as a heightmap, and therefore should be able to be loaded in the same way as the heightmap. These tutorials show how to load the texture in some popular programs:

• L3DT to 3ds Max Tutorial
• Using L3DT with Blender

I hope this helps.

Best regards,
Aaron

[Elite Lancer]

Just common file formats like .3ds or .obj will do. I've tried using that tutorial to export it into Blender but it seems that the 3D file is too large for it to handle. I've managed to export the 3D file to a program called Bryce with no problems other than it taking about 10 minutes to do so. I may be able to use the Bryce program to convert it into another format to use on my other programs and see what I can do about applying the texture from there.

[Elite Lancer]

Well I managed to get it working on Blender although it seems as though the 3D mesh can't be as large as I wanted for it to work. However, now I'm facing a new problem where I try to convert the file from Blender into .3ds and the file becomes corrupted and I can't use it to import into any other programs. Seems rather odd to me. I'm not sure if it's something caused by Blender's converter or initially by L3DT's converter. I'll see if I can find different programs to try to convert but I've never had this problem before. Might just be because there are so many polygons. I'll investigate more.

[Aaron]

Hi Elite Lancer

However, now I'm facing a new problem where I try to convert the file from Blender into .3ds and the file becomes corrupted and I can't use it to import into any other programs. Seems rather odd to me.

Have you decimated the mesh? the 3DS format has a poly limit of 32k triangles, which equates to a 128 x 128 pixel heightmap. If your heightmap was larger than this in size, it cannot be stored in a 3DS file without decimation to reduce the polycount.

I'm working on a mesh decimator plugin presently. If all goes well, it should be ready later in the month.

Cheerio,
Aaron.

[Elite Lancer]

Ah, that would certainly help explain a lot. I don't know much about all the technicalities with 3D objects but I'm learning. The only reason I need to convert to .3ds is because it is the only file format this one editing program I use will import unless I upgrade it. The mesh decimator plugin sounds like it might help. I can tell by the terrain generator that you must have some pretty mad crazy programming skills.

[Aaron]

Hi Elite Lancer,

I've included a mesh decimator in the latest developmental build (v2.6 beta 3), which is on the downloads page now. In this version, when you export an X or OBJ file, you will be informed of the 'raw' heightfield triangle count and then asked whether you want to run the mesh decimator. If you select 'yes', the mesh decimator window will open and and you will be asked to select the maximum vertical error for the decimation. When you change the vertical error, the mesh decimator will automatically re-calculate the resulting triangle count and display it in the decimator window. When you click 'OK', the decimated mesh will be exported.

If you have any problems with it, please let me know.

Cheerio,
Aaron.

PS: The decimator will not run when you attempt to export the mesh as a mosaic of X/OBJ tiles. It only works on single-file exports.