UE5 Real World Landscapes

[@demenzunmedia]

If you wish to retain the 1 meter spacing of the source digital elevation model for some reason, then you can crop the heightmap to 8129x8129 using the Crop device in TerreSculptor. However, for most video game use, the heightmap can be simply resampled to the lower valid Landscape resolution, as it is only about 18% difference to go from 10012 to 8129, which is fine. Alternately, if the terrain dimensions must be exact, then resample the 10012 heightmap to 8129 and set the Landscape Scale XY to 123.164 to stretch the Landscape to the full dimensions. If the terrain must be closer to the original 10012 1 meter size then World Composition or World Partition must be used, with the nearest WC resolution being 10081 and WP at 10201.

[@Blink-ut7uh]

Yes but whenever I stretch the landscape to the full dimensions by scaling xy, the textures keep messing up whenever I try to paint the landscape in unreal. Is it also stretching the textures?

[@demenzunmedia]

@@Blink-ut7uh- Are you referring to using the Landscape Scale XY? If so, why are you changing that? You shouldn't be. If you do change the Landscape Scale XY then of course any texture you have applied will also stretch, the Landscape UV's are from edge to edge, so changing Scale XY will change the UV's. In my comment I am talking about changing the heightmap size in TerreSculptor, not in Unreal.

[@arielshpitzer]

"filmed on location" lol

[@georgearida4144]

Thank you for everything you do to unreal community 🙏

[@manollobango]

Maybe you can help me out. I would appreciate it! I want to create a landmass by using a heightmap of the whole earth. The heightmap has a size of 21600 x 10800. I did some tests by manually resampling the heightmap and sliced it into several parts, each with a size of 4033 x 4033, via an image editor (Affinity Photo). I've taken care to use a 16Bit Greyscale format for import and export. I then tried to lower the exposure and I also tried to blur the image a little to reduce spikes, but without success. The terrain still looks very spikey, the heights not correct and using multiple landscapes on a map costs a lot of VRAM. So my questions: 1. Can TerreSculptor automatically slice heightmaps, which don't have a size by the power of two, into several parts with correct sizes? 2. Is there any way to achieve my goal without heavy impact on VRAM?

[@demenzunmedia]

1. Yes, TerreSculptor 3.0 can split heightmaps up to 1 million x 1 million (maximum size depending on computer memory) into any sizes and up to 26x26 tiles. Use the Unreal Landscape dialog to choose the correct heightmap resolution for the World mode. 2. I do not recommend using multiple Landscapes, that has a lot of issues that have to be taken into account. You should be using World Composition or World Partition for your terrain. If you are getting spikes in the heightmap data then I would venture to guess that you might have bad DEM data. Blurring the heightmap is the wrong approach as that removes detail. You should use a correct DEM data of the region that you want that requires little to no processing. If you are using World Partition with Unreal Engine 5.1+ then the largest heightmap size that can be imported is 16384x16384. Tiling makes no difference to the World Partition importer. You also should use a valid World Partition size to prevent terrain edge stretching and padding. If you are using World Composition then the valid tile sizes are 1009, 2017, 4033, 8129, etc. With World Partition you can also use the Brush Technique to create a large terrain. That requires brush tiles that are 2017 or 4033, see the World Partition Series Part 10 video on Massive Terrains.

[@cinematic_monkey]

Great! How would one go about using LDEM elevation data from Lunar orbiter?

[@demenzunmedia]

Both lunar and mars orbiter data is available in standard DEM file formats from various web sites. So they would be in DEM file formats such as GeoTIF or BIL or HGT etc. Simply import them into TerreSculptor just like any other digital elevation model file. I have heightmap data here on both the Moon and Mars and it is just as easy to use as earth data. It is significantly lower resolution though since it was captured by orbital satellites, so it really isn't good enough resolution for something like a first-person shooter or adventure game

[@elganzandere]

I paused 2 minutes in & purchased TerreSculptor 3.0. this man's work deserves your support.

[@demenzunmedia]

Thank you for your support!

[@eggZ663]

Great stuff, keep it up!

[@k12rising]

What if I want a height map from a specific location in the United States?

[@demenzunmedia]

There are many sites where you can get heightmaps of anywhere in the USA, such as Earth Explorer. Just navigate to the location on the provided user interface and download the tiles, usually you can pan and zoom the map to get to the location, or enter in the latitude and longitude coordinates. Most of the online sites though are 30 meter resolution data. If you are using it for a video game terrain in UE5 or Unity then you want 1 meter through 5 meter data for better detail. The DEM Sites dialog in TerreSculptor has a list of most of the current online sites and their tile resolution. TerreSculptor 3.0 has the built in Mapper Explorer for downloading 3 meter heightmaps anywhere in the world. See the Mapper videos on this channel.

[@demenzunmedia]

TerreSculptor Mapper: kzbin.info/www/bejne/p5Klgamnq7qgpNU kzbin.info/www/bejne/nqXKaJl_dtZlnLc

[@Rocket62AL]

USGS_NED_one_meter_x40y400_NM_SantaFeCo_2014_IMG_2019 contains .IMG elevation data, not .TIF ... IMG not supported by TS

[@demenzunmedia]

You are looking in the wrong folder if you found the IMG Data. The website that I show in the video has both IMG and GeoTIF. You want the GeoTIF format folder. Additional formats are always being added to TerreSculptor. IMG will be added in the future.

[@leod86]

Hi, I use Global Mapper to export heightmaps from ALOSPALSAR (12.5 res) but I am having a hard time finding a formula to calculate the scale in Z, so with TerreSculptor could I solve this?

[@demenzunmedia]

Unreal Engine uses centimeters for scale. So a Landscape ScaleXY is 100 cm per meter. And the ScaleZ uses 512 heightmap elevation units per centimeter, so with a 16-bit PNG-16 or RAW-16, the 65536 values are divided by 512 and then scaled by ScaleZ (or one elevation unit is scaled by 100/512). So every 512 elevation units is 1 cm. This is why it is best to work with a normalized heightmap with Unreal Engine, if the file is not normalized, then it must be calculated as N elevation units per cm. Yes, if the DEM file contains proper header or tags for the scaling, then TerreSculptor 3.0 properly calculates and scales DEM files. Import the BIL, FLT, GTOPO, HGT, or GeoTIF file with header or tag information, check the Tools GIS panel to see if it can properly determine the DEM scale, the values for Meters will be shown, click on the Terrain GeoScale dialog and set the GIS Scaling for XYZ. Then the resulting Terrain Properties for Spacing XYZ values in TerreSculptor are exactly what you use in Unreal Engine Landscape for Scale XYZ values. Just note that TerreSculptor uses OpenGL axis, so Spacing XZ = Unreal Scale XY and Spacing Y = Unreal Scale Z.

[@demenzunmedia]

Any DEM file must also be in Meters for TerreSculptor. If your DEM files are in DD or some other metric, then they have to be reprojected in your GIS software to Meters.

[@demenzunmedia]

Also, if you want to make sure that your DEM files work correctly with TerreSculptor 3.0, you can download the zip, install it, and on the License dialog just click on Cancel, and the software will run in a 5 minute demo mode.

[@elitefuryz1847]

im trying to add in a height map that i have managed to get of my local area from our government website and have it as a TIF file but i still have a black void how do i get rid of this black void?

[@demenzunmedia]

If you have a Digital Elevation Model that has Voids in it, that basically makes it useless. Your only choices are: Crop the Void area out; try using the Void Fill feature in TerreSculptor, either with the Import Tiles function or the Void Fill modifier, but these are currently incomplete test functions that are not finished so the results may not work; or purchase some high-end GIS software that performs Void filling, which may require that you also find a non-Void version of the location to perform the fill.

[@Fafhrd42]

Wouldn't it be better to crop to the 8192x8192 size instead of resampling? Resampling the 10kmx10km data to 8kmx8km reduces the accuracy of the height map by rather a lot.

[@demenzunmedia]

You can crop if you want only a portion of the full heightmap region. If you want the full heightmap region then you would have to resample. Cropping will not give you the full heightmap region. Going from 10012 at 1 meter per pixel to 8129 would only result in a change of about 18.8%. Which is not a lot, and would not even be visually noticeable on a UE Landscape. It is virtually indistinguishable in a video game. No one playing your game or looking at your visualization is going to see any difference between the two. The majority of video games do not use precise real world measurements. And since DEM heightmaps do not come ready-made in Unreal Engine Landscape sizes, then you will always have to crop or resample or pad to get a valid Landscape size. You can also resample from 10012 to 8129 and then adjust the Landscape Scale XY to 123.164 to retain the original overall dimensions of the source heightmap. The other option is to create a World Composition or World Partition that was 10km. The nearest World Partition size would be 10201 x 10201 which is going to require a resample or edge padding as well since it is larger than 10012. See the World Composition or World Partition video series if you prefer the full 10km size. In video games the buildings are not up to actual real world building code and sizes either, nor is most of the other world assets, but if you want as close to real world as possible then you will have to adjust your workflow as required to retain source heightmap resolutions.

[@demenzunmedia]

I pinned a comment regarding cropping versus resampling, and Landscape sizes versus World Composition and World Partition sizes, to hopefully clarify for other viewers.

[@bradybarlow2191]

Every time I upload the file into TerreSculptor its just a flat grey landscape. I did the exact one you chose. Any suggestions?

[@demenzunmedia]

Does it show that it is a zero elevation file? The Range value on the statusbar is 0? The digital elevation model file that you downloaded must not have any data in it. Or the file that you tried importing isn't an elevation file. The issue with all online DEM repositories is that their files are a mess. You could also try downloading a file from another location on the map. Also are you actually using the GeoTIF file type importer?

[@BejeweledInvasionNannies]

I ran into the same problem, make sure to select GeoTiff from the drop-down menu.

[@lewismorrell5774]

can you do this with terresculptor 2.0 as its free?

[@demenzunmedia]

Yes, you can use TS2.0 to create real-world heightmaps for Landscapes. You are limited to a maximum size of 32767x32767, and you will have to download a Digital Elevation Model file from a web site like USGS and import it into TS2.0, then prepare it for Unreal Engine, and export as PNG-16.

[@jonathanparlane1]

Great stuff... its just that having to browse for higher res landscapes by looking through text files makes it very slow and tedious...

[@demenzunmedia]

I agree. The online Digital Elevation Model repository sites are a terrible mess. Plus the number of sites with data that has voids is high, making the files useless for most people. I am looking at integrating the MapBox DEM system with full world browsing and file download directly in TerreSculptor in the near future. This will make retrieving DEM files of anywhere on the earth much easier and right within the software. This feature is high on my future to-do list.

[@jonathanparlane1]

@@demenzunmedia Cool. I was also trying to check out the app called "Equator" and ArcGis which I managed to use like a google Earth within Unreal. Both seem to have potential and detail but with few tutorials and a ton of settings I couldn't quite figure them out to make them work right.

[@demenzunmedia]

@@jonathanparlane1 - I haven't seen Equator but I am familiar with ArcGis.

[@_rufcut]

hi, just purchased 3.0...looks great! where did that foliage/grass come from? thanks

[@demenzunmedia]

Thank you! The grass in the Example Screenshots from UE5 on the website? That is from the Epic Kite Demo. You can download that demo free from Epic. If you can't find the demo download, let me know and I will make a project with the grass for you via Google Drive.

[@_rufcut]

@@demenzunmedia sweet thanks for the quick response! I mean, how is the foliage dressed to the terrain? is it procedurally scattered according to the material properties?

[@demenzunmedia]

@@_rufcut - In my AutoMaterial I am using a Landscape Grass Type to define the grass mesh placement and in the Material I am using a Landscape Grass Output Node. I can't post screenshots here but if you would like to join my Discord I can post screenshots of the grass components if you need them.

[@_rufcut]

@@demenzunmedia yeah that wd be great, what's the link to your server pls? Thanks!

[@demenzunmedia]

@@_rufcut - I'll see if KZbin deletes this comment, they usually delete my comments with links in them... discord.gg/7P29u5GW55

[@owen3796]

What did you do to add the collor to the greyscale in between importing and resampling?

[@demenzunmedia]

I would have to rewatch the video, but I probably just chose a Terrain Material for the viewport terrain mesh. The Material system lets you color the terrain using a number of styles.

[@owen3796]

@demenzunmedia I watched another one of your similar videos which showd you doing the colour/detail in UE5

[@demenzunmedia]

@@owen3796 - Are you referring to selecting an auto material in the UE Landscape Import dialog before clicking on the Import button? On many of my videos for UE Landscape I will use a fast auto material that I made, so that the Landscape is textured. Sorry, I am not sure what step you are referring to exactly.

[@untitleduntitled4309]

How do I add a texture to a heightmap?

[@demenzunmedia]

Look into Landscape Materials and Auto-Materials. The most basic type of texturing would be to create a new Material, add a Texture Sampler, assign a PNG texture file to that Texture Sampler, wire the Texture Sampler to the Diffuse output. Then assign that Material to all of the LandscapeStreamingProxies.

[@manuel.camelo]

RESAMPLING.. it's literally the function I was looking for. 👁️👁️👃👁️👁️🙏 Gonna purchase your program soon enough. 👍 Just out of pure curiosity, does UE5 support 32 bit png landscapes? Is it even recommended to desire such level of fidelity?