hey all =D

i have a bit of an issue... i know alaska is considered the boondocks of the US, but honestly - this is insane.

I cannot find a free height map for alaska ANYWHERE.  this is like those danged .dem files - whatever option it is you need to get it into the lovely program that turns it into something vue can read - well, the options for ALASKA are so limited, that its NOT an option.
so, i can only import a .dem the equivalent of an acre of land.  and once again, the internet proves that alaska is one of the last places to come into the digital age.

ok... so, here's where i need help... i want to turn a height/elevation map into a grayscale, and use it to create a terrain in vue, where the brooks & alaska range all look nicely bumpy, you can see denali (mckinley), the coves & bays are there....

i dont need it in great detail, but close enough that the casual person (including myself) looks at it and IMMEDIATELY recognizes that it's alaska, and those are mountains - and there's the BIG'UN!!  LOL.

please please PLEASE help?  i need this ASAP... i have been ripping my hair out all day looking for something to use.  i dont know the topography of alaska (not originally from here) well enough to fake it.... and this will be used for a digital art competition for alaskan residents - so you see my problem?  LOL

thank you in advance, and may the universe smile upon you!
~meli
the alaskan chaotic kitty

Vue will actually read DEM files but I'll have a dig and see what I can come up with.  I used to use DEMs a lot when I used Terragen and I've got (or did have :) ) some sites squirrelled away

the problem is getting the files off that site... there's a tutorial somewhere that says how to get the ...

im sorry, im not having a good brain day.  im losing the words as fast as i try to think of them, and i cant find that tutorial now to look up the ... the file type that gets downloaded off the net, the program used to convert it to .dem....

there - managed that much =D

when you go to download the one for alaska, the options are completely different from what is in the tutorial, and it doesnt load into this converting program very well.

did that help?

i'll keep digging and hope i find that tutorial again... wasn't there a thread in here at some point about it?

Edit:  yay!  bless "rosity!

http://www.renderosity.com/mod/tutorial/index.php?tutorial_id=398&page=1

ahhh I don't use that site, I use geocomm.com which I'm a member of.  Which bit of Alaska are we looking for here ?

umm... the whole state?  it doesnt have to be very "big" or accurate to the nth degree... just so that major landmarks are easily recognizable.  im wanting to do an iso.. iso... crud.  remember my twilight romance entry?  that style image.  LOL... does that help?  i want the camera positioned somewhere towards the bottom/south of the state, hovering over the ocean there perhaps, looking north...

so really, only the stuff in the bottom half needs to be the most accurate...

thank you =D

yow!! I dunno if I can get that 'cos it'll be a huge download (and I'm not sure what the format is - I know it's TIF but I don't know if it's a proper heightmap.
I don't suppose you are on MSN are you ? it'd be quicker than this :) (once the new version finishes installing anyway grumble )

lol... nope, but check your messages in a few minutes...

I had this in my favorites. I'm not sure if it has the same content as the one from renderosity but I find this one easier to follow, due to the way how it is organized:

http://www.cornucopia3d.com/pub/tutorial/USGS_SDDS%20Tutorial.pdf

's looking a bit iffy actually - looks like you can only get DRG files which are effectively maps.  It's almost like there are no DEM files for Alaska which is a bit odd
[edit] just checked and there don't appear to be any DEM files according to the USGS - man, you do live out in the boonies ! :)

If you can find data in GeoTIFF format, there's a utility called 3DEM that can convert it to DEM format (it'll be a huge file though for the whole of Alaska)

this is frustrating LOL.

why couldnt i live in say... i dunno... a NORMAL PLACE????

answer:  cus i aint normal...

yeesh.

LOL

but see what i mean about alaska being neglected?  sighs

still lookin... but im thinkin this might be another image that gets shelved until proper tools are available.  =(

It would also end up as a fairly huge file to import into Vue mind.  I had a DEM set for Mt Rainier in Washington (I think that's where it is) and when I tried to import the converted DEM files into Vue, it ground to a screaming halt and crashed big time - something to be aware of

i dont want it as a .dem LOL - i just need something in grayscale jpg to use as a general terrain height map LOL.

  i'm fakin reality, not being completely realistic... major features such as mckinley need to be close to their actual shape & size, but most of the rest of it doesnt matter as much - most people couldnt tell you exactly what the alaska range looks like - but they know deep down when someone portrays denali (mckinley) wrong.  sighs

i cant even find something halfway similar to what i need, but i dont anticipate the file being more than a couple MB when all is done.

somehow, i'll get this figured out.... i'm stubborn grins

I didn't know Alaska had any wilds.   You may have to use the quadrangle maps for the area your wanting and resize them.  For instance Crater Lake National park exists on several  maps and they have to be joined to get one park.  Vue will import the maps.

grins at osper  thank you =D

and yep, alaska is mostly "wilds"... only a few scattered pockets of civilization.