L3DT users' wiki
Large 3D terrain generator

Using L3DTio_Atlas2

To use L3DTio_Atlas2, select the menu option at 'File→Export→Export to Torque Atlas', as below:

:plugins:fileio:l3dtio_atlas2:atlasexportmenu.png

This will open the 'Export to TGEA Atlas' dialog box, shown below:

:plugins:fileio:l3dtio_atlas2:atlasdlg.png

The controls are explained below:

File name

This is the filename of the atlas file to be created. It must be in the same directory as the TGEA executable, or a subdirectory thereof.

Export profile

Either 'unique texture' if you want to use the texture map generated by L3DT, or 'blended textures' if you want to use the alpha maps generated by L3DT and blend the textures in TGEA.

If you want to make blended terrain, you must first generate an RGBA alpha map using the 'Operations→Alpha maps→Generate maps' menu option (see user-guide).

Max. Error (m)

This is the maximum allowable error that Atlas will allow when merging triangles together in the terrain level-of-detail algorithm. Smaller values will give more accurate terrain, but will be larger on disk, slower to render, and may crash TGEA during the generation process. Larger values will give less accurate terrain, but will be smaller on disk, faster to render, and less likely to crash TGEA during the generation process.

By default, L3DTio_Atlas2 sets the maximum height error for Atlas to 1/8th the horizontal resolution of your heightfield.

Tree depth

This is the depth of the level-of-detail tree that Atlas uses to render the terrain. As a general rule, the following values should be used:

Texture/light map size Tree depth
1024 2
2048 3
4096 4
8192 5

However, the TGEA console log will advise you if you're using a tree depth that is too large or too small.

Virt. tex. res.

For blended textures only.

This is the resolution of the 'virtual texture' map used in TGEA to render the blended terrain. Larger values give the impression of more detailed terrain textures, but may also give visible feature repeating artefacts. Smaller values will conceal these artefacts, but will give more blurry terrain textures.

TGEA path

This button allows you to choose the TGEA.exe executable that will be used to generate the Atlas2 terrain file.

Help!

This button will open this page in your default web browser.

OK

When you click on the OK button, L3DTio_Atlas2 will export the following maps:

  • The heightmap, as unsigned 16-bit RAW.
  • The texture map, as tiled mosaics of JPGs (for unique textures only).
  • The light map, as tiled mosaics of JPGs (for blended textures only).
  • The alpha/opacity map, as tiled mosaics of PNGs (for blended textures only).
  • The texture maps for the four opacity layers, as JPGs (for blended textures only).

After the maps have been exported, L3DTio_Atlas2 will write a console script file (called 'L3DTAtlasExport.cs') to the same directory as TGEA.exe, and finally call TGEA.exe to run the console script.

If there are any errors during the Atlas build process, please consult the 'console.log' file in the same directory as TGEA.exe.

Problems

TGEA crashes!

It is usually the case that TGEA will crash when the Max. Error (m) value is set too low. Increase this value, and try again.

 
plugins/fileio/l3dtio_atlas2/userguide.txt · Last modified: 2017/08/31 05:38 (external edit)
 
Except where otherwise noted, content on this wiki is licensed under the following license:CC Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported
Recent changes RSS feed Donate Powered by PHP Valid XHTML 1.0 Valid CSS Driven by DokuWiki