Spread Sheet to L3DT Design Map

[nicethugbert]

I'm not an art guy at all. But, I have managed to use L3DT to make a collection of 20 NWN2 area maps that make me look like an art guy: http://nwvault.ign.com/View.php?view=NW ... ail&id=406

I'm now working in the Design Map on a volcano island because it's very unlikely one can be produced randomly that fits all the criteria.

My problem is that's it's very tedious to massage this thing into existence one block at a time, 24x24 blocks is a lot of blocks. Typically, I play with the sliders until I get basically what I want. Then I keep hitting the new project button and saving all the interesting ones. Having to use the pen or clicker on these blocks and not those is a lot of wasteful work and quickly gets confusing, hard to keep track of, slow to change. I used a spread sheet to calculate my block heights then had to adjust each block individually. This procedure is not good for the experimental approach that best suits me.

The spread sheet is great because I can calculate all sorts of stuff in seconds. Obviously, calculations are a great time saver. It's kinda the point behind L3DT.

I know L3DT can import various file types. But, how to get spread sheet data into a L3DT Design Map is the problem.

Do we have any idea, any, how I might go about doing this? What third party software are we familiar with that will get me at least one step closer.

[Aaron]

Hi nicethugbert,

Thanks for the request. I'll add a CSV format plugin to my dev plan, which should enable you to work with most spreadsheet software (I'm thinking OpenOffice Calc and Microsoft Excel).

Best regards,
Aaron.

[Aaron]

Hi nicethugbert,

You can download the CSV plugin from this page:

http://www.bundysoft.com/wiki/doku.php? ... l3dtio_csv

For installation instructions, please see this page:

http://www.bundysoft.com/docs/doku.php? ... %3Ainstall

Please also note that this plugin requires L3DT v2.7 beta or later. It will not work with earlier versions. If you do not have L3DT v2.7 beta, please download and install it before installing the plugin.

Anyway, to import a spreadsheet as a design map:

1. Export it as a CSV file from your spreadsheet application
2. Open L3DT, and select the 'File->Import->Design map' option.
3. Select your file using the 'browse' button, and click 'next >>'.
4. Disable the 'Specify new vertical range' checkbox, set your desired heightfield scale (10m is default), and click 'next >>'.
5. Set 'File->DM down-sampling' to 1, and click 'next >>'.
6. Set your design map parameters to suit, and click 'OK'.

If you get into any problems in the wizards, please feel free to use the 'on-line help' link in the bottom-left corner of each wizard. This link will open the relevant page in the user-guide to explain the wizard options.

Cheerio,
Aaron.

[nicethugbert]

Wow, thx for the fast turn around!

But, I'm getting an error message:

ERROR! Plugin cannot be loaded:
- L3DTio_CSV.zeo uses Zeolite API v2.7.0, whereas;
- L3DT Std 2.6 build 9 supports up to Zeolite API v2.6.1.

Please upgrade your copy of L3DT to use this plugin.

I uninstalled 2.6 and installed 2.7 Beta 1. About L3DT says:

Large 3D Terrain (L3DT)

Version: Std 2.6 build 9
Build date: 03-Dec-08

Copyright 2003-2008 Aaron Torpy

[Aaron]

Hi nicethugbert.

I've updated the standard edition beta release, and it should now work for you. I apologise for the inconvenience caused.

Best regards,
Aaron.

[nicethugbert]

It works! This is awesome. Thx, Aaron.

My only surprise was when I went to save and it complained that my heightfield was in cvs format, etc. I putzed around with the ensuing menu and got it to save.

[Rummy]

This plugin has some potential uses beyond the design map. Is there anyway to extend this to allow for the CSV import of a heightfeid? Reason I ask is that LIDAR can come as as a .txt, .xyz or .las file structured like this:

Code: Select all

X,Y,Z
3014323.8300,779990.5900,1.6500
3014336.0900,779994.7500,1.5300
3014348.3500,779998.9100,1.3500
3014387.2800,779999.4100,0.8600
3014375.2300,779995.3500,1.6300
3014363.0800,779991.2000,1.8100
3014338.7000,779982.8300,1.4900
3014326.5300,779978.6500,1.3000
3014335.7600,779976.2000,1.5700
3014348.0100,779980.3500,1.3800
3014360.3700,779984.5900,1.6800
3014384.7900,779992.7900,0.4200
3014397.3400,779997.1400,1.2800
3014442.4100,779999.9300,1.1100
3014430.1300,779995.7300,1.1000
3014417.8900,779991.5400,1.1900
3014405.6000,779987.3100,0.9100
3014393.2500,779983.0300,0.2700

Here X and Y are geographic coordinates and Z is the elevation at that point. Any chance it is easy to change this to use xyz data to create a heightfield or is this perhaps too complicated? LIDAR datasets can be enormous but can be detailed. http://lidar.cr.usgs.gov/

[Aaron]

Hi Rummy,

Importing XYZ point data requires rasterisation and interpolation, which is a lot more complicated than importing normal heightfield data. I don't plan to include these calculations in L3DT in the foreseeable future. Hence, to use this LIDAR data in L3DT I would recommend you first find a program to convert the data to a heightmap.

Cheers,
Aaron.