Assignment #12 3-D Displacement Mapping with Terragen

This week we'll be exploring 3-D displacement mapping with Terragen, the 3-d landscape generator. Our assignment is to create a believable composite image, blending a custom terrain we create with another photograph using the skills we have previously developed this semester.

Custom 3-D displacement maps, also known as height fields, can be easily produced in Photoshop keeping these simple guidelines in mind:

1. Maps must be 257 x 257 pixels at 300 dpi.
2. Maps must be 8 bit.
3. Maps must be Photoshop Raw files.
4. Maps must be grayscale mode.
5. Anything white will rise up in your landscape, anything black will go down.

There are no other rules, so be creative with your terrains. Try making Skull Island and then add your own pirates. Or create your personal dream vacation spot with your name in the landscape.

Once you've got your custom height field created open up Terragen, click Render Preview in the Rendering Control dialogue box to begin your default terrain. Next go to File-Import-Terrain, and select your height field. Click Render Preview again to see the changes that you've made. Go ahead and play around with the Landscape, Cloudscape, Water, and Atmosphere controls in their individual dialogue boxes. You can also make use of the Atmospheres and Surface Maps that came free with your download of Terragen. Simply drag and drop them onto the Terragen program icon and then render preview to apply.

This program is one that you really need to explore on your own. There is no best way to do it. After you've created your landscape, and adjusted the camera angle in the 3-D preview to your liking, render your final image to screen or file and save. Save your file as a tiff and then you can take it into Photoshop and blend it with a real photo.