Import Heightmap
A heightmap is an image whose brightness is read as height: light becomes high, dark low. Import Heightmap… in the terrain editing tool window fills the selected terrain patch from it.
Where the image comes from
- Choose heightmap image… loads an image from your computer. Besides Greyscale, the dialog reads the two common color encodings for real elevation data, Mapbox Terrain-RGB and Mapzen Terrarium.
- Fetch from elevation data… cuts out a piece of real terrain: choose a place, set the extent. This needs you to be logged in.
The dimensions
| Field | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Peak height | for greyscale: what height white corresponds to |
| Ground width of the image | how wide the depicted terrain really is |
| Terrain width in the model | how wide it should become in the plan. Match plan scale calculates this |
| Vertical exaggeration × | stretches the heights. Real terrain often looks too flat in the model |
| Grid resolution X / Y | the fineness of the patch. Match image resolution sets it to fit |
Normalize sets the lowest point to zero, Set boundary heights to zero lets the terrain taper off at the edges. The preview shows the result before you apply it.
Image material
Compression artefacts in a JPG turn into bumps in the terrain; use PNG. An image that only uses mid grey tones results in flat terrain.
The result is a starting point: afterwards you cut in the trackbed with the brushes or a cut & fill annotation.