A Hands-on Tutorial For Terrain-building in Bryce ®
San Diego State University College of Sciences
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What you will need:
- A pc with an internet connection
- A web browser such as Netscape or Internet Explorer
- Metacreations' Bryce ®
- WinZip or PKUnzip
- Adobe Photoshop or other image editing program
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Step 1: Go to
http://www.truflite.com/,
scroll down near the bottom of the page, locate and
click the link to TFMAKE, or simply go to |
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tfmake.zip (403 kB)
32-bit console program system
wininet.zip (161 kB)
Microsoft's WININET.DLL to make TFMAKE work under Windows 95
Palette Files
palette.zip (12 kB)
4 palettes (960x16 pixel)
If you have problems downloading the files simply by clicking the links, try right-clicking and select "Save Link As...".
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Step 3: Locate the downloaded files on your local computer and "unpack" them all by right-clicking them and extracting them to a folder you create called "truflite".
Step 4: Create a grayscale palette in Adobe Photoshop by locating and opening the file "palette.tga" and using the gradient tool to create a black-to-white gradient from left to right. Save this file as "gray.tga". This new palette file will convert the "blue plateau'd" file to a grayscale file which Bryce ® can properly interpret.
Step 5: Open a DOS Prompt window, navigate using DOS commands to the "truflite" directory and issue the following command to download a sample DEM using TFMAKE's 3-arcsecond batch file:
tfmake_3arcsecond -116.500 33.000
Immediately, an internet connection is launched, and the TFMAKE program attempts to locate and download the DEM data file from a remote ftp site. If there are problems, they should be apparent almost immediately. One potential problem may be resolved by launching Internet Explorer before TFMAKE. The reasons for this are detailed on the Truflite web site.
Once the file has completely downloaded, the TFMAKE program launches a variety of executables to convert the file to a "final" version in Targa TGA format called "elevation.tga". This file has the "blue plateau's" look which is not quite appropriate for Bryce ®. Bryce ® requires a (normalized) grayscale file in either Photoshop, TIFF, or Bitmap format.
Step 6: Convert the "elevation.tga" file to grayscale by typing the following DOS command:
tga2col elevation.tga gray.tga demo.tga 0 1000
You should end up with a grayscale file called "demo.tga" in which the 0 meter elevation is pure black and the 1000 meter elevation is pure white, and intermediate elevations are intermediate values of gray.
Step 7: Open "demo.tga" in Photoshop and re-save as a TIFF format file called "demo.tif".
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Step : Click the "Create Terrain" object on the object palette along the top.
A terrain should appear similar to the terrain in the image in the previous step.
Step : You should notice a series of characters floating next to the terrain object, one of which should be an "E". Click this letter to launch the Terrain Editor. Familiarize yourself with the interface using the image below:
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Step : Click the "Picture" button on the left (not the "Pictures" tab along the top). A dialog box opens. Locate your file "demo.tif" and open it. Your terrain should change its appearance to a more realistic terrain. Click the check mark in the lower right to confirm and accept the change, and you should exit the Terrain Editor and return to the main Bryce ® screen. Click the large center white sphere in the Render Controls (see figure in Step ??) and your terrain should render.
Step : Add a Texture to your terrain. Click the hovering letter "M" next to your terrain, and the Materials Editor should launch. Familiarize yourself with the interface using the image below:
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Step : Add a realistic texture to your terrain. Click the little triangle next to the upper right corner of the Preview, and the Materials Selection window should open.
Select the "Planes & Terrains" option, and choose any one of the many terrains provided by Bryce ®. Click the check box in the lower right corner to confirm and accept your selection, and do the same to exit the the Materials Editor and return to the main Bryce ® screen. Click the render button to view your changes.