A couple months ago it was brought up by someone (I think bloodsong?) that Vue 4 wouldn't allow for the re-import of a terrain, after it had been exported and used in a Poser scene. I tried it, and sure enough, it didn't work, and if I remember, Guitta also tried it and had the same results. But on a whim, I just tried it again, using a 512x512 terrain exported as 3DS, and it worked. shrug Was there a fix for this problem in the 4.02b patch? For anyone who wants to try it, there are a few things...Vue will not load the file format selection in the second export window. All you get is "All Files", so you have to select the SAME format that you chose in the first window, where you select your export format, and file size. Also, to save the procedural mats as (faked)image textures, you have to select the "generate material file" option. Again, you have to specify the format...Also, Vue will attempt to put your terain 0object in a different folder form your textures, so remember that you might want to create a new folder for both. Lastly, you will be told that you're overwiting your terrain , as well as your image files. Just ignore that. Vue funny sometime. how could you possibly be overwriting something that hasn't yet been saved? ;)

In case I wasn't clear, the problem wasn't in the actual export, but rather in RE-importing it afterwards.

'Morning MikeJ . . . 8^) Very interesting & invaluable information! Although I am still new to & learning Vue 4, I always appreciate any advanced tips & tuts for mastering the program, that I pick up at this forum. Thanks a lot & have a good one . . . Mark. ;^)

Haven't tried this yet myself. When you do the "generate material" thing, do you get a bitmap of whatever material you've applied to the terrain, or do you get a bitmap of the height-colors from the terrain editor?

'Evening, Mark, no problem. :) Varian, you do in fact get an actual bitmap of tthe "faked" procedural textural, as well as a "faked" bump to go along with it. The process for exporting it all is annoying, but it works, and not badly at all, really. This was imported into 3DS Max 4 (demo), and all I did was render it. I could have improved on the bump, I guess, and the atmosphere probably , as well, but then again, I have absolutely no idea what I'm doing in Max as far as rendering goes, as all I've really been playing with is the modeling stuff. I'm sure Max' renderer can get great results, but I hear people are using things other than the Max renderer to get the effects. *shrug* But, what a modeler it is!!! and the animation possibilities...whew!!! Anyhow, again, no... it's a "real" texture, and not just a heightfield. This particular one was rather low-res, too...about 400x400, IIRC, and the terrain was also quite low-res. I still have another day and a half left with the demo, so I'll try before then to see just how good Vue's export can get. i do know that this looks far worse in Vue, for some reason...in Vue, the proceduals are most definitely the way to go when it comes to terrains... plus, this is, after all, now a mesh, and not a terrain...

That's just the "Grass and Rock" material, anyway, with the altitude depencance messed with a little...

See, now, In Vue, it reimports decently as a terrain, but the textures (tex and bump) don't look so hot. I'll spare you another large picture though, and just let it suffice to say that with the original procedural applied, it looks just fine again, in Vue.

hmmm...kinda looks like Bryce 3...... ;)

Thanks for the samples, Mike. It's much more clear to me now. And hey, don't feel badly about getting lost in Max. I don't work with it enough myself, so each time I go in, I end up spending most of my time trying to find stuff I found previously. I'm sure it comes more easily once one gets more accustomed to it, though. :)