heightmaps from Google earth

[TrooperScooperMKII]

I came across a nifty Simutrains forum post on height map creation.

 

Basically, using a Google Earth Plugin (open Earth from the plugin file) to access the height map data that it uses, and then using an open source tool to read that file, one can make detailed greyscale elevation maps of virtually any location in the world; saving the file as a BMP (or RAW, possibly) allows another tool- tesannwyn- to convert this into an ESP.

 

I'm still experimenting (TESAnnwyn is rather... troublesome...) but I thought I'd put it out there; maybe it will save some time/effort.

 

So far:

 

the open source program- Microdem- is somewhat intimidating in appearance, but the chief concern is selecting the data

http://img826.imageshack.us/img826/9373/demselection.png

using the subset tool

http://img819.imageshack.us/img819/5966/demselecting.png

 

 

side note: the "full data set" button (highlighted in green above) allows you to zoom out fully; the image tends to resize/shrink with the zoom tools, so I just resize if I want to try again.

http://img857.imageshack.us/img857/9900/demsubset.png

 

 

...and scaling the map up to a better resolution. right click on the map, select modify map area and then set map pixel size;

 

http://img841.imageshack.us/img841/6390/resizingmenu.png

 

http://img196.imageshack.us/img196/3475/resizemenu.png

 

the smaller the number...

 

http://img268.imageshack.us/img268/7977/resizer.png

 

to...

 

http://img6.imageshack.us/img6/263/resizedc.png

 

the larger the map.

 

 

 

IMPORTANT: the data is HUGE. Be careful about zooming out (full data set) without scaling the map up to ~100 or so, unless you're confident that your rig can handle 100MB data at higher resolution...

 

Other side note: the program starts out with a grid and/or scale on all loaded maps; to remove these (as they show up in the exported image) right click and open the legends/marginalia section; clear the check boxes and click the grid button to select the "neither" option for gridding .You can also access that grid menu on the grid/graticule menu right above the marginalia menu, accessed via right clicking.

 

As the images above show, this change stays in place for loading/reloading maps.

When all is said and done, simply go file>save (or control+s, for windows folks.)

 

Next up: getting this into the GECK.

[TrickyVein]

Check out my tutorial for the next step (getting DEM data into the GECK).

 

You can get heightmap (DEM) information for free without using Google Earth and with greater specificity, as well as superior resolution than what Google Earth uses here.

Edited February 13, 2012 by TrickyVein

[TrooperScooperMKII]

:facepalm:

Thanks for that...