Can you turn a 3Ds mesh into a heightmap?

How do I turn a 3ds into a heightmap?

Reading a heightmap and converting it into 3D is obviously a lot simpler.

Here is an example:


(Bethesda Oblivion)

Do you have access to 3D Max?

Why don't you try to make your own media. Landscapes, at least, are pretty easy to make.

Nope, I haven't got 3DS Max.

I do have T.ED, but I cannot be bothered to make my own terrains. Oblivion's are nice as they just tile together like a big jigsaw puzzle.

Someone could write me a converter in B3D - I'm too busy.

I'd assume you just scan the mesh and build an array of the height then convert the results on a 0-255 basis and honk it to a texture.

Right, I'll wait here.

It's fairly easy puki -
export the mesh as 3ds/b3d whatever,
use the fitmesh command to scale it to whatever size you want - for example make it 256 wide, 256 deep and 256 high then simply do a linepick from above the mesh to below the mesh, get the pickedy() value at regular intervals across the width and depth of the mesh and write the value to an image using plot/writepixel and save the image.

Off you go then - I gave you enough help in my post.

I'll wait here.

Once you have written the program, I'll email the files to you - I have 75 of them. You should be able to do them all today.

> Once you have written the program, I'll email the
> files to you - I have 75 of them. You should be
> able to do them all today.

It's easy, you should be 'large'ing this up yourself you lazy arse :)

yeah! what a cheek ;)

How about you just turn the mesh... take a screen shot... turn the image black/white/gray and there you go!

Or, do the old camera fog trick :o)

Use the fitmesh command to make the mesh square and the appropriate height. Remember the height, and set up the camera fog, so it starts at the highest point and ends at the lowest point. Take a screen shot and you got heightmap. You'll need to fiddle about with camera zoom though. And color your mesh white and have black fog.

Although, why you would want to use blitz terrains to tile, i have no idea...

I won't be loading the heightmap into Blitz. I only want the heightmap so that I can shove it into T.ED - going to re-texture it in there - or at least a volunteer is.

http://mesh2hmap.sourceforge.net/

This could be just the ticket.

I've got important stuff to do so download it now "boomboom" and then let me know when you are comfortable using it. Shouldn't take you more than a week.

pfff

Can you do anything yourself? Seriously..

I do my own coding - everything else is someone else's problem.

If I need media then someone else needs to meet that demand.

Why should it be my problem?

Some people on these forums have proudly shown off their work only to have it ripped apart and laughed at.

Why should I take up the challenge of doing my own stuff from novice level?

No maggot around here is laughing at my graphics - basically due to them dripping with quality.

Puki,
If you look at easyTok, one of the functions is to make a collision mesh from a 3ds terrain map. All you would have to do, is rip this function, pass it your 3ds, and instead of it passing the array to the C Dll, you grab it and plot the data from it onto a image. And then save it

Be carefull though because the function as it stands makes the collition map of less desity than the terrain map. But this is easyly changed, because its only there as a limiter for vertices for the collition mesh

Wow..that's your excuse? Almost everyone around here finds a way around their artistic problems WITHOUT stealing. Buying media and using it is one thing; this is a whole different story.

Also, funny how you say:

"No maggot around here is laughing at my graphics - basically due to them dripping with quality."

You just called them your graphics. They're not yours! There you go again; just as bad as stealing someone else's work and calling it your own. If Bethesda knew what you were doing, you'd be shut down in a heartbeat.

I've not stolen anything.

I'm happy to fight (in person) anyone who feels so strongly about it.

So, who is going to be first - if any? Any takers?

I'll have a fight with you Puku, but I need to know what we're scrapping about first though, because otherwise my heart might not be totally in it.

@Enay.
You would be fighting about puki being a lazy stinkin' media copyin' cheat ;)

@Puki
Im with you up, until a point Puki. I will use other peoples media/functions left right and centre, but I will aways say that I intend to replace it with my own.
I thought we were supposed to be laughing at you, you always present these threads as jokes. Oh well

Hey Puki,
email me the 3ds file and I'll create a function to do that.

Have you tried the oblivion construction set yet ?

and I saw this:
http://obliviondownloads.com/Coming_Soon_DLC5.aspx