I'm trying to make a scene with a highway going through a landscape (hilly to mountainous) thats on a scale where I can put Poser-size figures in a car on the road.
I've tried playing with the terrain editor some (with pretty bad results so far), and even tried the Digital Carver Ground Control plugin (the scale must be way off because the resulting terrain was dotted with regularly-spaced rectangular bumps.
Any suggestions on the best way to accomplish this?  Ideally, I'd like to make the roadway separate from the terrain for texturing purposes.

For roads I use a simple terrain.  I create the terrain's bumpmap and texture in Paint Shop Pro.  I make the main shader map first, then I save it.  Next I change the image to a greyscale and use adjust  brightness and contrast so the surface level point is at 50% grey.  I then save this as the bumpmap.  Use the terrain shader for the color, then use the bumpmap as a displacement map.  If you do it right, you should end up with a smooth road surface amidst the mountains.

Since I've never created a bump map or displacement map, most of what you're telling me is greek.  I understand the concept and know what bump maps and displacement maps do, but creating them in an image program is something I've never tried and wouldn't know where to start.

I appreciate the response, but is there a tutorial somewhere that can help me out with what you're suggesting?
Thanks!

This can help you a lot...but its almost like Sparrow said:

http://www.shapemagic.com/roadmaker/

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 Do you have photoshop? There is great way to create one with that program. But I won't go into details unless it's something you can work with.

Mark

I have Photoshop Elements.  Is that good enough?  I also use Photoimpact quite a bit.

We will have a new video for this Mark??

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 Indeed. No if I can just finish the deadlines in front of me today!

Here's a relevent thread.[

http://forum.daz3d.com/viewtopic.php?t=95764](http://forum.daz3d.com/viewtopic.php?t=95764)

Looking forward to your tut, Mark!  ;)

For anyone interested in in-depth terrain creation,  GeoControl is very powerful. Here's a video tute on using the road tool.

http://cajomi.de/Forum/showthread.php?t=524

That looks like a very cool program!  Does it import into Carrara easily?

Works great with Carrara, I use it for all my terrains. The new version is very, very good.

http://www.tutengraphics.com/tblib.php?lib=Computer%20Artwork/Carrara%205%20Pro%20Images

I've been trying to figure this out using several different methods and keep butting up against a wall.  What I did here was export a terrain map from Carrara into Photoshop and create a road path using a path and the burn brush.  (This pic here is a much smaller resolution than my original).  Unfortunately, I have Photoshop at work and Carrara at home, so I can't test it out until tonight.  But I'd like some feedback from any in the know.  Does this look like it might work?  I don't want this to be a raised road bed, I'd prefer it to cut into the hillside where needed. I'm still fuzzy on if white is high and black is low...or vice-versa. Thanks for any input you might offer.

Of course, if it does work, texturing it is a whole other animal!

 That method sort-of works. The method I use does use photoshop but it's a little complex enough that it doesn't translate well in words. I just need to find time to finish it get it posted. Work - bleah. 

Thanks, Mark!  I'll keep playing with Photoshop and see what I can get to work.  If nothing else, it'll give me a chance to get better acquainted with Photoshop for when you get your tute posted.

Okay, I tried importing the above image as a terrain map into carrara and used an alpha in the shader room.  This is the result.  It was a standard green and rocky terrain before the alpha map. Obviously, I have no idea what I'm doing.  Help?

I think my main problem is understanding the terrain shader.  I've viewed Mark's tutorials several times, but still can't seem to get the hang of it.
Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

 For those interested in this thread, I've finally posted a tutorial about creating terrains and roads in the Carrara Dark Arts section. Hope it helps.