Height Map Terrain

The Height map terrains inside iClone5 are 9 times larger, and have faster loading times than in previous versions. With the enhanced Detail maps, you may now enjoy high quality visual performances while zooming in and out. You may find these terrain templates in the Set >> Terrain >> Content Manager.

The Benefit of Height Map Terrain

• The Height map terrain size is 9 times larger than the mesh terrains of iClone 4.0 or earlier.

  Height map terrain	Traditional mesh terrain

• It is created with multiple texture tiles instead of one big texture image, which saves a lot of memory space.
• The real-time rendering performance is also better with the LOD (Level of Detail) on (Shortcut: Ctrl + L).

  Height map terrain - The details on far surfaces are rendered slightly in order to get faster real-time playback and editing.	Traditional mesh terrain - All details are rendered during real-time playback, which increases the system loading.

• It is now easier to apply vegetation (grass, tree), snap or walk on terrains and apply terrain physics collision.
• The self-cast shadow quality has significantly improved.

  Height map terrain casts and receives more shadow details when turning on the Self Cast Shadow feature.	Traditional mesh terrain - Shadows have jagged edges.

• You can see exquisite texture details even in close up shots.

  Height map terrain is applicable to any close shot without any texture artifacts.	Traditional mesh terrain - The textures appear rough during close shots.

• It maintains perfect texture details on vertical surfaces, such as cliffs.

  Perfect texture details on the cliff of a height map terrain.	Traditional mesh terrain - Poor texture quality on vertical surfaces.