Terrain

[Ky Lane]

Hey guys,

 

Client has given me another revit DWG 3d model to work from. In the model they have some terrain - they have it as a modelled surface with a normal map, which looks terrible and "bitsy", however they also have the contour splines still in place.

 

So, its not a particularly complex model, nor is the rendering meant to be amazingly accurate. The terrain is pretty gentle, nothing featurewise anyway.

 

So, my question... do I bother with the terrain map (as I need to extend it for roads/landscaping anyway), and if so, how do I re-create it in max using the contour splines ... or ... should I just lay out a nice big plane, convert it to poly and just raise/lower the vertexes to closely match the terrain already generated?

[Tommy L]

Hey guys,

 

lay out a nice big plane, convert it to poly and just raise/lower the vertexes to closely match the terrain already generated?

 

Thats what I would do. Push/pull with soft select then turbosmooth.

[Claudio Branch]

You might try using Surface Tools and perhaps just draw up the major contour lines. I posted a work flow for surface modeling awhile back. You can look in Max's User Help as well. I learned it on the fly.

 

It is pretty straightforward, powerful and flexible.

 

I like to avoid pushing and pulling massive amounts of vertices whenever possible. Let me know how it goes. I'll be back on later...

[Stephen Thomas]

I've had to do a few large (6km x 6km) site models recently for some masterplan schemes and my preferred workflow after trying many different approaches is this:

 

1. Draw the contour lines as splines, move them all to correct heights then attach them all together.

2. Add normalize spline modifier with whatever gives you a reasonable spacing between vertices.

3. Create a 'terrain' compound object from splines.

4. Draw plane the same size as your terrain in top view and give it lots of subdivisions (100 in my case).

5. Make sure the plane is sitting above your terrain then use 'conform' tool under compound objects and set it to 'move' rather than 'instance'. This will move each vertice down till it hits the terrain underneath.

6. Delete or hide your original terrain model.

 

You can lose a slight bit of definition in sharp crevasses etc. but it's pretty damn close, much cleaner and looks cool as a wireframe to boot! You can also add a meshsmooth modifier if need be.

[Ky Lane]

I've had to do a few large (6km x 6km) site models recently for some masterplan schemes and my preferred workflow after trying many different approaches is this:

 

1. Draw the contour lines as splines, move them all to correct heights then attach them all together.

2. Add normalize spline modifier with whatever gives you a reasonable spacing between vertices.

3. Create a 'terrain' compound object from splines.

4. Draw plane the same size as your terrain in top view and give it lots of subdivisions (100 in my case).

5. Make sure the plane is sitting above your terrain then use 'conform' tool under compound objects and set it to 'move' rather than 'instance'. This will move each vertice down till it hits the terrain underneath.

6. Delete or hide your original terrain model.

 

You can lose a slight bit of definition in sharp crevasses etc. but it's pretty damn close, much cleaner and looks cool as a wireframe to boot! You can also add a meshsmooth modifier if need be.

 

Brilliant method - worked well. Thanks heaps.

[Claudio Branch]

Brilliant method - worked well. Thanks heaps.

 

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