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hey there.

i'm currently using SimuTerra, but it's a bit unstable and not really precise, especially tesselation problems and undefined error messages.
http://www.compuneering.com/simuterra.php

i'm searching a stong solution for Terrains (even with NURBS ?) which lets insert roads via lines without having to draw every contour line.

precision is not perfectly needed but stability with «weird» topologies...

any idea ?

deadalvs wrote:hey there.

i'm currently using SimuTerra, but it's a bit unstable and not really precise, especially tesselation problems and undefined error messages.
http://www.compuneering.com/simuterra.php

i'm searching a stong solution for Terrains (even with NURBS ?) which lets insert roads via lines without having to draw every contour line.

precision is not perfectly needed but stability with «weird» topologies...

any idea ?

i'm using simuterra too, and i have to agree, it is a bit unstable and sometimes very picky with geometry, but i did not find any alternatives until now, at least on a mac. i was using formz before, which is doing an accurate job and is stable, but which has no easy way to implement roads - and takes ages to calculate a complex terrain.

i've heard that vectorworks landmark has the same simuterra engine and maybe is more stable, because up to date. of course, it's at a completely different price level, too.

markus

If you use archicad, Architerra is your solution.

holy horseshit that software is crap !!! fuck simuterra !

even getting an error message when deleting curves !

any why is that road information not kept ????????? MAN ! this simply sucks.

* * *

thanks guys for the replys.

Have a look at World Machine... I am one of the beta testers... the new version (which should be out soon) will permit you to create roads, roadbeds, whatever, through any kind of landscape. I think it will be out soon. Check the Developer's Notebook link on the homepage...

The new software will have the ability to output polymeshes as well as heightfields, etc.


http://www.world-machine.com/

...but this one is a procedural terrain generator, not based on iso lines, if i get it right?

markus

a very nice piece of software, but also not really usable to design in «realtime 3d».


sad... i guess i'll have to script some more in maya to get the desired results.

well...

mrcharles: you got any clue what the upgrade price will be from Standard to the new Pro version ?! i'd like to know so i can try to get ahold of some money asap.

/ Max

Maximus3d... I'm not sure what the price will be but I'm guessing $50 to $100... (remember, just a guess... you could email Stephen and he may have an idea)

It's gonna be good... Stephen has been working to implement multiprocessor support and has made significant process on that front... the next beta should be out soon and I look forward to running it on my new dual quad xeon w/s...

I was going to get simuterra but it looked like it hadnt been updated in ages so I was under the impression that it was pretty much dead.

I'd love a decent topo / road modeling tool

houdini has multiple avenues to acheive this effect.....

it can be modeled procedurally or via traditional methods


you could also import your terrain as an obj or dxf

you can ray, or creep or paste your roads to make the carves

houdini can do intersections of curves and surfaces if you use nurbs.....

houdini 9 has improved the modeling and editing speeds significantly

you can also paint your roads using the sculpt tool and bitmaps or by painting the road and displacing the points based on the color

curve clay would take the extruded curves and a grid and displace the grid
similar to simu terra

and houdini is stable( at least h8.x , h9 is getting better and bett er)......and soon will export to maxwell 1.5

there is a plugin for houdini 8.1.xx and maxwell v1.1

i would be more than happy to help you

with a price 'starting at' 2000 USD, houdini seems to be a cheap alternative...

i might be a bit buggy and not updated recently, but i have done some nice terrains and rather complex with simuterra. btw. you can test it for free for 30 days...

markus

sidenimjay wrote:houdini has multiple avenues to acheive this effect.....

it can be modeled procedurally or via traditional methods


you could also import your terrain as an obj or dxf

you can ray, or creep or paste your roads to make the carves

houdini can do intersections of curves and surfaces if you use nurbs.....

houdini 9 has improved the modeling and editing speeds significantly

you can also paint your roads using the sculpt tool and bitmaps or by painting the road and displacing the points based on the color

curve clay would take the extruded curves and a grid and displace the grid
similar to simu terra

and houdini is stable( at least h8.x , h9 is getting better and bett er)......and soon will export to maxwell 1.5

there is a plugin for houdini 8.1.xx and maxwell v1.1

i would be more than happy to help you

wow... houdini's getting more interesting each time i hear from it...
i took a glimpse at their homepage once and decided not to try houdini because of it's vast animation capabilities.

i just was «sentenced» to build a physical model in cardboard with deltasand.
my problem is the following:
we're designing a terrain which has to be controllable about slopes. so my approach was to create a few maya scripts to automatedly create contour lines (even in geometry as small tubes so they also render), calculate slopes. now we have also to add paths (roads) and all that has to be able to update «near realtime». my statement that updating 3d geometry as fast as the lines are drawn in a vector works plan is not as fast as needed and calls for automation was understood by my superiors, but is still a unsolved technical problem i want to fix for my workflow.

designing in 3d with a precision of 0.5 percent slope does take a lot of time... how do You guys solve this process of design ?

in the end i don't care in which software i work (though i know maya best) to find a full-speed and very accurate workflow that is open to realtime editing by my superiors. «could You move this line a little over here. could You put in a terrace here. .....»

i guess this is all unsolved yet for a professional approach towards landscape architecture. sadly. any good programmers around ?

--> open discussion... please...

* * *

well, sidenimjay.
could i send You a sample topography (2d contour lines) in like .dwg and You could post a few screenshots how that road tool looks like in hou ?

could You write a little about the specialties of houdini and it's unrivaled functions ? i love the word «procedural»...

mgroeteke wrote:with a price 'starting at' 2000 USD, houdini seems to be a cheap alternative...

i might be a bit buggy and not updated recently, but i have done some nice terrains and rather complex with simuterra. btw. you can test it for free for 30 days...

markus

hmm. i own my educational version of ST Pro. so i have access to all functions, but still it's unsatisfactory also because of the endless import-export stuff just to create new poly files for the viz.

also a problem with simuterra is «horizontal undercuts» with strongly bent S curves that lie next to a rather straight one. the mesh created then often has not the correct topology.

deadalvs,

sure pm me and i will take a look at your landscape curves and setup a quick hip file for you to look at

i will try to look at it today, but i have to work, so i will post something
as soon as i can

....btw houdini for that price tag of $2000 starting, you get all the character tools, 10 render licenses, vex language, Channel compositing, and image compositing, plus houdinis procedural paradigm......

show me another software in that price range that has all that