WorldComposer a tool to create real World AAA quality terrain

You have to wait with clicking the 'Combine Images' button until 'Export Images' is finished, as images need to be there before they can be combined into 1 image. I can disable the button though while export is active in the next update.

To stop the error you can control click the 'Stop' button of 'Export Images'.

Nathaniel

 

Hi Nathaniel,

I am struggling to get WorldComposer scaling correct for First Person Shooter.
A river which should be about 20meters wide gets created from WC as a few feet wide.

All help appreciated greatly, thanks.

 

The scale should be correct automatically. Can you show a screenshot from WorldComposer with your area? With 'Heightmap Export' and 'Image Export' and 'Create Terrain' tab active, then can you show another screenshot how it looks with fps in Unity?

Nathaniel

 

Hi Nathaniel. I will as soon as I get home and put the kids to bed

What zoom do you recommend using?

I sent you a personal email asking about your examples you used in the youtube video for WM to TC workflow. Is it ok?
Thanks.

 

Thanks for the reply ... I solved that one before your response..but thanks for the reply anyway ... I also ran into another issue ...when following the steps it filled up my primary C: drive when my project is on drive I: ...I found that rather odd... the reason it filled up my C: drive is because Unity Engine is installed there and your asset uses the C:\Users\...\AppData\LocalLow\Unity\Caches\GiCache folder ..

I got annoyed by this issue because it kept trying to write there to that folder even though the drive was completely full and its an SSD... it had 40 gigs left before I started ...I had it running while I was asleep expecting it to be finished only to find the drive full and repeatedly trying to write there..

That is an issue ...to solve it on my end I used a symbolic link ..to redirect that folder to another partition that has 200gigs of space...obviously I didn't realize that you can change the folder location in Unity ...but whatever ..my method still works..

I am wondering if there is another method you could use that lets you choose the temp folder ..instead of it automatically going to a drive that probably wont have the space ... like add a warning that you probably wont have the space..then let you pick a new location as the temporary folder... since the cache folder in that Unity path is just a temporary folder...

 

For fps I recommend to you a high zoom level, then for close up use RTP to mix the satellite images with splat textures.

Nathaniel

 

WorldComposer does not use that folder. Which folder WorldComposer exports to can be choosen for each area. What uses that folder is Enlighten lightmap baking (it can take many GB's). On default this is on automatic. For terrains it's best to turn it off in Unity Menu -> Window -> Lighting -> Disable 'Auto' before the build button. You can use custom settings for terrain as the resolution needs to be set low on large objects:

http://docs.unity3d.com/Manual/LightmapParameters.html

Nathaniel

 

Hi Nathaniel,

I installed new version of Unity 5 and did clean download of WC and TC. Imported and looked under the 'window' and the WC and TC are missing.

On Unity 4 they are both on the Windows menu.

Are there known issues with Unity 5?

Thanks,

 

Both TC/WC work fine in Unity5. You probably have some errors in your Unity console. If there is, Unity won't compile any other scripts. So they need to be fixed first before TC/WC show in window.

Nathaniel

 

Sorry ..I keep getting issues with the same multi-resolution video tutorial..

When shift clicking on export heightmaps it works perfect ...all 4 areas are exported just fine..and the log says they are done..

So I go to the next step and shift click export images making sure it says .raw ...that's when I run into another error...

How long an I supposed to wait for export heightmaps to be finished? ....each one said "done" in the log..

EDIT ..this issue ONLY happens when I use shift+export images ...if I do each area individually then its fine...

 

I tested and here it works fine. Maybe you have the raw image open in another program like photoshop? If not restarting Unity will free the file.

Nathaniel

 

Yeah I don't know ... the images should already be on the terrain right?...when its done?

This is my result: http://www.pasteall.org/pic/show.php?id=90199

 

Hi Nathaniel
We reviewed World Composer that is our favorite one, and will review soon Terrain Composer.
http://assetsreporter.com/2015/07/06/worldcomposer/
Thanks for the great work!

 

I have this error,

 

Hi, does export splatmap to use other textures? like grass, rock slopes,etc?

 

Hey Nathaniel

I am having no problems using world composer to create a base map, but I am having problems with applying new textures over the height. Even using the smallest brush size of 1, i have very little control over applying the new texture.

As you can see in the screenshot, the smallest brush size is very large square. Is there a work around for this, or have i done something in error in creating the height map?

 

Apologies about the double post. Further to the issue above, this does not occur when I import the raw height map from World Composer directly into the Unity editor. It only occurs when I try on the terrain created in the World Composer process.

 

Yes the image should be there in default mode. But then need to export only jpg images and in 'Create Terrain' make sure you have the 'Satellite Images' toggle active. If you export with Raw it's meant to use for shadow removal. I explain the process in the WC manual on page 13.

Thanks a lot for the review .

It might be that your bing key is not correct. There's should be no spaces in there. Was it working before?

WorldComposer only exports heightmaps and satellite images. For splat textures you need TerrainComposer.

That is because the splatmap resolution is low, you can put it higher in the terrain settings icon. Or if you have TerrainComposer in TC terrain list -> Resolutions.

Nathaniel

 

No there is no problem with my bingkey
I've just seen maps for once but that time I had this error too

 

I have same error. Map will not open....


Ooops, solved....i was in WebPlayer mode.

 

Maybe we can do a skype screenshare to see what is wrong. My account is Nathaniel.Doldersum

Nathaniel

 

Thank you Nathaniel, I thought it was something simple, and it was. Thanks for the great post purchase participation in the forum. Reading through previous posts and responses has really helped.

 

Hi Nathaniel,

Firstly, thanks for an awesome product.... Worldcomposer rocks!

I have tried the "Export World File" option on the Image Export tab, as expected, I see that it has created a .jgw file for each map image - from the data in the file, I can deduce what some of the lines mean :

1.07288360595703E-05
0
0
-6.68344663857373E-06
-0.301602363586424
51.4600473787442​

Is there any documentation on the data items in the file, I am interested in extracting the From / To co-ordinates, the tile coverage and any other pertinent data for use in my application.

Thanks a million.

 

Thanks . You can read about World files here:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_file

Nathaniel

 

Thanks Nathaniel, I did not realise .JGW was a industry standard format file, thought it was your own format that's great... much appreciated!

 

Hi Nathaniel,

I'm really impressed with what you've achieved with this, well done , but is there any way to increase the resolution of heighmaps without getting the blockey effect?

I want to refine the detail of the maps produced and would need a higher resolution heightmap to get a brush small enough...

...or is that what RTP is for??

 

Why it looks like this after export?

 

RTP is a shader + scripts that gives you a AAA quality terrain, for sure you can achieve what you want

https://www.assetstore.unity3d.com/en/#!/content/5664

 

Hello Amazing work !! I have a question that i hope you can help with. Is it possible after createing a terrain with objects/trees to be able to export the trees and objects as a mesh either with the terrain or without but hopefully including the textures?

 

I answer this in the troubleshooting page:
http://www.terraincomposer.com/troubleshooting/
The heightmap of the created terrain is looking blockery.

What is the location of the area? It looks like the quality coverage is bad here. Not all coverage is the same and the best quality is in the USA and Europe.

It's possible with TerrainComposer to convert a terrain to a mesh, which can be helpfull to use it for mobile. However Unity is improving the terrain since Unity5, and I think Unity terrain runs quite well on mobile now. With meshes there's no level of detail (LOD) system for the heightmap or the trees.

Nathaniel

 

I am working with WC and I am getting corrupted images.

I export the image files to raw format, load them in image editor to remove shadows, then split the image into jpgs. The top 2/3rds of the jpegs are fine, but the bottom 1/3rd is corrupted. The image is being broken into 4x6. The top 4x4 is fine and the bottom 4x2 is corrupted.

Is there any known bugs in the current version with this? I am under 15K for image size.

Also, I am on a Mac, but don't have (or plan on buying) Photoshop. I have tried several RAW viewers, including Gimp, but they all complain that the files are corrupted. I am new to this, but aren't there different RAW formats or only one? What other program can read the RAW images generated by WC on a Mac?

====UPDATE====

When I switch to a 6x6 area, things seem to be working fine. Do need to use a square area for the image editor to work properly?

 

Hi, I am new to Worldcomposer.

I need to export the created tiles terrains to one mesh or a heightmap I can reimport inside Unity3D.

Where do I start ?

 

I took a look and indeed it doesn't work if there more tiles on y then x, the way around does work. So 6x4 works. I will look into it and fix it in the next update.

For reading raw's you have to use the correct settings, I explain this in the WC manual. It's a 3 channel 8 bit, interleaved format. You could try Picasa:
http://www.popphoto.com/gear/2013/10/free-photography-software-guide

WorldComposer can split the raw image into JPG with the 'Slice Image' button.

You can convert Unity terrains to meshes with TerrainComposer or use the terrain to obj exporter from wiki:
http://wiki.unity3d.com/index.php?title=TerrainObjExporter

Nathaniel

 

It comes out like this because I have RTP in my project ...

It seems RTP wants the terrain mesh to be combined...not individual tiles ...and the combined global satellite image supposedly has to be in rtp/global maps/global colormap (even though it appears to be there already..)

 

It should work with tiles. RTP is probably not active on the terrains. You need to click on a terrain and in the terrain script -> Settings (icon) -> Material -> Set to 'Custom'. I will ask Tom if he can make it do this on default as soon as RTP script is added to a terrain.

Nathaniel

 

@eagle555 What do you suggest as a workaround when Bing doesn't have the coverage I desire for an area? In this case I get imagery up to zoom level 13, but I really need at least 16, maybe 17.

 

A workaround would be to either choose another area that has higher resolution. Or get the imagery from another source. I have planned to build more sources into WorldComposer, at the moment I'm working on TerrainComposer 2 though and after the release I will work on WorldComposer.

Nathaniel

 

I will grab imagery from another source. Does WC or TC display the lat/lon of the individual terrains somewhere? Otherwise how do I determine how to properly display an image from another source?

 

You can export World Files in the 'Image Export' tab in WorldComposer to see what lat/long are used.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_file

Nathaniel

 

thanks Nathaniel for your amazing work on this tool and your tireless support of the community. i have a few questions before buying WC and maybe TC since i think i'll need that too.

i'm interested in creating a terrain that accurately models an area of Yosemite valley, about 8km high (NS) by 16km wide (EW). is seems that WC should have no problem with this right? and then TC to add trees right?

so my questions:
1) when you download sat images of forested areas, you get the top down view of the trees (obviously) but is seems to me what you really want on your terrain is the ground under the trees (usually rocks, dirt and grass) and then 3d trees placed on top. isn't this a problem using sat images for your terrains? i guess that's where TC comes in right? to paint over the sat image and make it look nicer.
2) does WC use normal maps? i don't think it does right but wouldn't they be useful on rocky areas? i guess TC or build in texture paint tools to the resure again?
3) how does WC (and unity) handle very steep terrain, specifically El Capitan and the face of Half Dome are almost vertical and as a consequence, there is nothing to see from a sat image. i guess i'm need to cover that with a 3d mesh made to map closely onto the heightmap (maybe in blender) and then i can paint textures vertically (or any angle) onto it right?
4) WC creates multiple 4096x4096 textures right? one per tile. is this maybe inefficient for rendering. would it be not more efficient to use smaller seamless textures for say grass, dirt, rocks, etc and use use over and over again? i realize this would produce a terrain that isn't technically 100% accurate but i doubt most people care if that rock is the actual rock from a sat image vs. a rock from a library file.
5) how would i add moving waterfalls and flowing rivers?
6) i want to place a tunnel where there is a real life tunnel (wawona road tunnel view) . to do this i think i'd need to modify the heightmap to the level of the road for the real terrain and then add a mesh on top to rebuild the mountain side to its real level, leaving a tunnel in the void created. how would i do that in WC?

thx steve

 

Hello Steve,

Yes the Yosemite valley area is very detailed, with 10m per pixel heightmap resolution and 0.25m per pixel satellite images.

1). The issue here is more the shadows that the trees cast. But you can remove it with WC's shadow removal algorithm. Then use TerrainComposer to place the trees on the greenisch colors:
Help Video for placement based on image colors (New)
2). There's 2 types of normal maps you can use. For the splat textures and a global normal map. A global normal map can be made with TC from a heightmap. You need a terrain shader like RTP or Ats colormap to use a global normal map, as Unity's default terrain shader doesn't have it build in.
3). Yes the satellite images has stretching there, you can use photoshop to blend it with another area. Yes with a mesh that would work or use a triplanar terrain shader like RTP.
4). WC exports 0.5 to 8k images. Actually that is how a terrain shader works with splat mapping. So if you have a terrain shader like RTP or Ats colormap you can use the satellite image as a global colormap and do splat texturing on top.
5). This has to be done with meshes + water shader. Waterfalls can be particles.
6). This is only possible in Unity terrain + RTP terrain shader because you need to cut a hole in the terrain and blend it with a mesh. TC/WC generate standard Unity terrain and the terrain can't have overhangs or tunnels by itself.

Nathaniel

 

Does anyone know how long the shadow tool should take for a 8k image (tree covered valley -radius=300 Repeat =2) ?

I tried doing shadow removal on a 32k image but it got stuck at 20% after around 50 hours.

I downsized the image to 8k in Photoshop but its stuck at 3% now. (I have watched around 4 movies on Netflix while waiting for it to go to 4%)

I am using an AMD 8 Cores@4Gz with AMD R9 295X 4GB Video card and 32GB RAM /Unity 5.13 and latest TC

Just wondering how long if this is normal or if there is a problem with my project or hardware.

Could opening the combined.raw file in Photoshop and downsizing be causing the problem?

 

Never mind - Everything works fine again in a new project. I think I may of been having the problem because I copied the whole project folder and renamed the folder. Shadow removal speed is back to its normal good speed.

 

It might have to do with the color range you selected. The more shadow pixels in an image the longer it takes. It doesn't run well if there's a lot of water in the image as water pixel are seen as shadows. It's better to remove the water first in photoshop and replace it by a white pixel, after shadow removal the water can be put back, or replaced by sand texture since in 3d you want the water/ocean bottom to be sand and use a water mesh on top.

Nathaniel

 

Hello there, I am interested in knowing if it is possible to make biomes like a desert in one place with different objects and a forest with like trees. Is this possible if so please let me know! Thank you.

 

That is not something World Composer can do. That is not its purpose. It's purpose is to make terrain based of the planet Earth. It uses real world data. It is not like World Machine.

However, you could use the other produce, Terrain Composer, with some perlin noise to generate fictional terrain as such.

 

Oops sorry I replied on the wrong post. I was thinking of doing it with TerrainComposer

 

Yes as Tinjaw says you can use TerrainComposer for this.

Nathaniel

 

Assets/TerrainComposer/Editor/Map_tc.js(7445,82): BCE0005: Unknown identifier 'rtp_functions'.

 

What version of WorldComposer are you using? And do you have an invoice id?

Nathaniel