CompuServe Messages

Nathan – Another approach which I really like is the one Digital Arts created. You build a 2-D mesh for whatever level of detail you think you'll need and then apply a B/W or Color image to it, (its based on grayscale contrast) and depending on the values you set, the vertices are deformed. Its very efficient in that it does not contstruct monsterous meshes (you define the size of the mesh), and the vertices are pulled almost like a spline in continuity. This means for instance you can create a large rough shaped cirlce or outline like on a contour map of lets say 40% white and a second inner circle on the inside (no gradient needed) with say 60% white and a third inner circle of 80% white and you've got a smooth shaped mountain. If your image does have a gradient it will follow it as closely as the detail of your mesh allows. Of course if you set the parameters extreme and you don't have enough vertices you can get sharp peaks, but if this happens you just subdivide the mesh a little more, reapply the map and you're good to go. Typically this is not a problem and the smooth shaders take care of the rest. FWIW -JE