CompuServe Thread

#fractal landscape

11 messages in this thread
#9781From: norbert f. bayerFeb 25, 1992 1:26 PM
does anyone know if there is some sort of a good fractal landscape generator for the pc out there? i'd like to render some flythroughs. chaos offers a dxf-out, but its output is very poor. i've seen some stuff for the amiga- beautyful. so, if anyone has an idea please leave me a note. my current configuration: 486/33, 4167 weitek, 30megs ram, vista and spea framebuffer. acad11 plus ame, studio3d, dxf3dsw, lumena, windows-stuff ,…
#9785From: WAYNE J HOFMAN JR.Feb 25, 1992 3:08 PM
Norbert There is a fractal generator program in the Comart forum lib 14 called FRACINT, it is a freeware program. I personally have just started using it to generate landscapes, however, a freind of mine swear by it. It will output .tga and .gif files for definite. Hope the info is of some assistance. Wayne
#9789From: Aaron WeintraubFeb 25, 1992 4:15 PM
I'm currently working with flying over fractal landscapes, myself. I use Fractint from over in the COMART forum. Here's what to do once you get it: Create a plasma fractal, the higher resolution, the better. Then use GIF2DXF (available somewhere in the libs here) to turn the plasma gif into a dxf file. The dxf file is directly loadable into 3d Studio, except you'll have to apply smoothing (if you want it) and flip the normals. I recommend meshes of 100×100 or greater for realistic looking landscapes. In my opinion, fractint is a great program for making texture and bump maps as well (not to mention opacity and reflection too <g>). In fact, you may want to map a plasma bump map onto your landscape object to add even more detail. Aaron
#9828From: Mike MorrisonFeb 26, 1992 2:14 PM
Arron, I do the same thing for fractal landscapes, but I always get a couple of faces here and there with their normals flipped. It's a pain in the neck to try and figure our exactly which faces need to be flipped and do it. Could my problem be that I don't use DXF3DS? Do you use it? Who do you work for? I thought I was the only one smart enough to get paid to play with such silly things in 3DS… Mike Morrison << Support our profession, buy lifesavers >>
#9841From: Aaron WeintraubFeb 26, 1992 4:39 PM
I don't use DXF3DS at all. Just GIFDXF the plasma gif and load the dxf into 3d studio as a dxf file. Derive object names from entity, flip the normals, apply smoothing and off you go. I've never had any problem with one or two faces flipped over. You could always apply a two sided material to fix that though, as I doubt you'd ever want to fly underneath your landscapes. Aaron
#9875From: Rock RichardsonFeb 27, 1992 8:59 AM
Arron could you tell me where to find gif2dxf, i have looked hi and low and have yet to find it Thanks, Rock
#9976From: Aaron WeintraubFeb 28, 1992 7:47 PM
It's called GIFDXF.ZIP and it's in the Autodesk 3D Studio library. Aaron
#10097From: Rock RichardsonMar 3, 1992 3:08 PM
thanks aron, I was looking in the wrong area rock
#9811From: Keith SeifertFeb 26, 1992 3:15 AM
Norbert, You can download the QuickSurf ADS demo program to use with your Acad 11. The QuickSurf demo program has a terrain generator built-in. The program can be downloaded from: Happy Canyon BBS 303-759-3598 Keith Seifert P.S. Might want to check out the landscape GIF's on the board as well.
#9816From: SyndesisFeb 26, 1992 8:54 AM
Those Amiga fractal programs often save out true 3D data in several different formats. If you've got an Amiga, you can use our "InterChange" translation program to move from any Amiga 3D format to .DXF format. In the next few weeks, I'll be working on an article on "science software" for Compute magazine and I plan on talking about these 3D fractal programs, so ask again later, and I may know more. If you like, I can upload a few sample landscapes in 3DS format.
#10040From: norbert f. bayerMar 2, 1992 9:54 AM
thanks, it would be nice to see some samples of the amiga landscapes in 3ds or dxf format. if you're so kind an upload some. according your interchange programm i'm seriously interessted. thanks in advance, norbert