making a terrain model from Topo lines
 

Typically, when i want to make a terrain model, I already have topo lines supplied by a Civil Engineer or traced from a USGS map.

Form-Z is the only program I know of that lets you make a terratin model from actual Topo lines. Could i do this with a spine patch in Lightwave?

This is typically what i get from a Form-Z model. this is a 450 acre site (the "L" shape)

one more..
 

then I'll map our plan to the terrain model. this is a REAL pain in the a$$ with Form-Z when i can do in in minutes with a UV model.

Form-Z gives a nice clean render, but I cant animate and I need to "cel-shade" the model so it doesnt look "too real". Clients get scared if a project looks "too complete" too soon. the texture you see here is a 10"x10" 200 DPI hand-drawing mapped onto the property.

Any suggestions on how to make this tarrain model in ONLY lightwave?

Spline patching would work great, but you still need to know how high each spline needs to be. I suppose thats contained in the topo though. Just remember patches need to be composed of 3 or 4 splines. You could also paint a grayscale image over your topo lines in Photoshop or something like it to match the contours and use it as a displacement map. Either way sound like it might still be a pain.
Maybe you can find a DEM on the web of the area and just use that. I did that for a project very much like what your trying to do here.

Well i do agree that you can use photoshop and get the heightmap done and then displace in lightwave. There is a detail tutorial that really helped me to learn more about terrian and such. He goes on to create a simple map and then edit it in something he calls Battlefield heighmap editor. Maybe this might help. But the formz thing looks cool already, maybe you should export and then import to lightwave to cel shade.

Here is the link : http://www.lwg3d.com/forums/showthre...341#post160341

Hope this helps you,
Good Luck

Another LW forum! Schweet!

I wish I could just use Form-Z then LW. But I'm just evaluating it now. I cant justify to my boss shelling out the $$$ for another program we barely use. It is nice tho because you can enter the Contour interval to FZ and you make a pretty accurate terrain. Too bad about the rest of the program - BLEH!

I have yet to get into displacement maps. I do so little LW work at home. Its tough to get into with such a slow machine. I'll see how accurate i can get with Displacement maps.

Thanks again!