How to smooth the ground texture?

[itsdonjon 25]

hey there folks!

Im working on my first terrain, which is two small islands in a sea (whole map is 2048x2048). Now i want to have some different ground textures from time to time, and that works quite perfectly.

But my problem is, that the passage from one texture to another is quite horrible! It looks very...stupid and..unnatural. But of course i want my map to look as "real" as possible. Is there some setting i need to adjust? Or do you have any tips for me on how to coat the transitions?

And do you have some tips on how to make the mask better? Or is it a never ending game of trial & error?

Thanks for your help!

Don

[Cype_Revenge 651]

what is your overlap setting in TB?

can you show us a picture?

[itsdonjon 25]

Yes of course, right now i'm not at my desktop, thats why i haven't attached them yet, but they will come in about an hour!

Still thanks! :)

---------- Post added at 11:20 ---------- Previous post was at 10:48 ----------

Thanks to my professor it wasn't an hour. Here are all the pictures you need. At least i hope so:

And here are the settings..

I hope there is a way to do something. If not i'll have to handle with it

[1para{god-father} 105]

That is very normal , when you have ground clutter put on top when you pack it up it will hide those nasty things :)

You could instead of having a line where you change texture use a spray effect to it is now and again that might also help a little but like I said above you will not see much anyway

[itsdonjon 25]

Well, then thank you! Do you have any tips on how to make a better mask?

[And talking a bout clutter..is it possible to make a clutter with trees? Or do i need to set every tree myself in TB?] Yes it dows work, no you shouldnt try it. :D

Edited September 24, 2014 by ItsDonJon

[m1lkm8n 411]

If you working in Photoshop use the dithering effect which will give you that "spray can effect". And make the transition from one texture to another a little less noticeable.

[itsdonjon 25]

Thank you. I tried the spray can effect (definetly better) and with the clusters it gets WAY better! So thank you both! But i think i'm at the start of my project..and will annoy this forum very often ;) at least, i fear that. Thanks for the kind help :)

[1para{god-father} 105]

Well, then thank you! Do you have any tips on how to make a better mask?

[And talking a bout clutter..is it possible to make a clutter with trees? Or do i need to set every tree myself in TB?] Yes it dows work, no you shouldnt try it. :D

You need to set the Tress yourself in TB or use world tools : (is for A2 but does work with A3 with a little tinkering :))

http://www.armaholic.com/page.php?id=10508

[itsdonjon 25]

New post, new problem. I think its better to put it here, than to open a new thread for every error i find.

When i make some roads, i see them perfectly with bulldozer. But when i pack the terrain to see it in the editor, there are no roads :/ Anyone knows why?

NEVERMIND! Mikeros mighty tools fixed it. :)

Edited September 24, 2014 by ItsDonJon

[jakerod 254]

In addition to dithering I do the following because it is quicker and I think works just as well.

Essentially I take the layer of whatever I want to "dither" and magic wand everything in it. I then expand the selection by 1-3 pixels (depending on the material/texture). Then I fill it with a color, add noise, set my magic wand tolerance to low and select random pixels in it until my selection has the % of pixels I want selected. Then I drop back into my original layer and fill the selection with that color. The result is your original solid bordered shape with random pixels sticking out all around it. What's great is that you can do that to every "shape" on the map at once. You don't have to go around painting everything. If I get a chance sometime soon maybe I will do a mini-tutorial on it or something. I have found it quite useful.

[bushlurker 46]

If I get a chance sometime soon maybe I will do a mini-tutorial on it or something. I have found it quite useful.

Sounds Extremely Cunning... I think we'd all like to hear more about that technique sometime, when you have the time of course....

B

[1para{god-father} 105]

+1 to that sounds very interesting love to see a TUT

[hdchristopher 11]

Yes please do!

[jakerod 254]

Tattered Mask Edges Mini-Tutorial

Brought to you by Kolgujev. Kolgujev, come for the volcano, stay because the Soviets shot you.

Purpose: The intent of this tutorial is to demonstrate how to achieve tattered edges around the sides of your mask shapes in one easy motion.

Tools: This tutorial uses Photoshop but I believe there are similar options available in Gimp.

Scenario:

Pretend you have a forest but the borders are too smooth and you want to rough them up a bit. One way to go about this is to use a brush with "natural" features but if you have more forests or a very big forest this will take some time. Instead, try the "Noise Method".

1.) Magic wand the shape/area you want to "tatter". [if you want to do more than one select them all.]

2.) Go to Select > Modify > Expand

3.) The number you enter here will vary depending on what you're trying to do. Normally a value of 1 or 2 pixels will do it. [This determines how far out the tatter will go.]

4.) Choose a number and press OK [The selection of your shape should expand outward]

5.) Create a new layer and name it "Noise"

6.) Select the paint bucket and fill your selection

7.) Go to Filters > Noise > Add Noise

8.) Check the monochromatic and uniform box [i don't think these really matter but I have them checked]

9.) Choose your number and Press OK [i normally do about 5 but once again it doesn't really matter]

10.) De-select your selection (CTRL + D)

11.) Select your magic wand tool and set the tolerance low [This number determines the amount of tatter. I normally use a low number because I find it easier to add more to my selection than to subtract it. I normally do 1 or 2]

12.) Zoom in on the shape if you haven't already.

13.) Make sure the wand isn't set to Contiguous.

14.) Select one pixel in the scrambled color shape. [You can select more than one. Just get the selection coverage you want.]

15.) Make a new layer and call it "Expanded"

16.) Fill in your selection

The edges should be tattered.

*Remembers I was in the middle of writing this 2 hours ago*

....uh...

There are a number of ways to customize this depending on what you want. Expanding the selection out further will give you a larger "tatter" radius. *hopes that tatter isn't slang for something... regrets looking that up*

Setting the tolerance higher on the magic wand or selecting more colors with it when selecting the scrambled colors will make the tatter denser.

Please let me know if I missed a step or something I need to go to bed.

[bushlurker 46]

Jakerod kindly demonstrated this for me in person earlier today and it really works well for breaking up those pesky transition areas from one ground surface type to the next.

You can fool around with the precise settings to get a more or "less ragged edge", and its particularly useful where you have a clutter-bearing surface bordering onto a non-clutter one...

EG:

Grass/Beach border - if you apply the "ragged treatment" to the "Grass" colour you'll get a nice scattering of little clumps of grass texture with some grass clutter protruding out into the sandy area.

Rock/Grass border - apply the "treatment" to the "Rock" colour, so you get occasional little patches of "bare rock texture" showing among the grass clutter as you approach the transitional area.

You could do things the other way around, of course - and its worth experimenting to see what gives the most pleasing and natural-looking effect...

Great Stuff!, and thanks for taking the time to sit and type the detailed instructions Jakerod!

B

Edited October 2, 2014 by Bushlurker

[Cype_Revenge 651]

thanks Jakerod!

[hdchristopher 11]

Thanks so much.............going to play now :)

[Shizweak 1]

Please let me know if I missed a step or something I need to go to bed.

Very cool, I used a similar process previously (except, I reduced the selection from my texture mask) for creating object placement masks for World Tools (so the edge of a forest was much more varied for example) in a previous test terrain.

[icebreakr 3159]

If you're using PS this might be the quickest way to get realistic results:

 

Menu: Filter>Filter Gallery>Brush Strokes>Spatter

 

Experiment with that, it creates much more realistic passages of mask ;)

They get more blended, you'll see.

 

When working with mask file be sure to always have antialiasing disabled...