creating environments

[rowe]

I definately know an easy way to make hills (I used this method for my 2005 animation).

• You're going to want to start with a plane making sure to bump up the segments.
• Next make a picture from black to white. I did this in Photoshop, but other programs will work as well. Just use a brush tool, turn down the opacity and soften the edges, then brush randomly, keeping in mind that the blackest areas are the lowest, and the whitest are the highest.
• Next, in 3dsmax, apply a Vol. Select Modifier to your plane. Change these settings: Stack Selection Level = Vertex, and Select By = Texture Map -> Bitmap -> the picture you just made.
• Apply a Displacement Modifier to your plane and bump up the displacement amount until it looks the way you like it.

I've attached a zip with both the .max file and the .jpg I'm using for the map.