3D models of Venus, Mars, Earth with textures are ready

[GlobeMaker]

The Celestia Motherload now has all six models of planets that I made,
with texture mapping added by jestr.
http://www.celestiamotherlode.net/catal ... system.php
They can be downloaded from the Solar System page. They are called :
Venus 1x
Venus 200x
Earth 1x
Earth 200x
Mars 1x
Mars 200x
These 3D models come with two choices of vertical exaggeration of topographic elevations: 200 times and 1 time (no exaggeration).

Models are being donated to Celestia with no limitations. No copyrights will be enforced, no credit is needed. The donated .3ds models of Mars, Venus, and Earth have 200x exaggeration of elevations. The files being donated have the following names :

bonsai_mars-200x+uvw.3ds
bonsai_venus-200x+uvw.3ds
bonsai_earth-200x+uvw.3ds

The models were created by me, Alan Folmsbee, and were edited to allow textures to be attached by jestr, of Celestia fame. Pictures are shown at the end of this post. Each model is less than 2.7 megabytes. The Earth model was digitally designed using the ETOPO2 database. That uses the Globe Project, IBCAO, and the Smith Sandwell Report, as well as other sources on ETOPO2. The Mars Model used the MGS MOLA from NASA. The Venus model used the NASA Magellan radar altimeter data in the sinusoidal projection, plus gaps were filled by Soviet Venera data and USA's Pioneer data. I combined these databases into one spherical shape by re-sampling the sinusoidal and cylindrical databases. All three models use a data spacing of 1 degree of longitude and latitude. Therefore, each model has about 129,000 triangles that shape the surface.

You can see bigger pictures of the models with these links :
http://www.reliefglobe.com/earth_01.jpg
http://www.reliefglobe.com/mars_01.jpg
http://www.reliefglobe.com/venus_01.jpg

Here are small pictures :
Earth 200x

Venus 200x

Mars 200x


Please feel free to modify, use, copy, and distribute any of these files without giving credit and without any concerns. Total permission is given by me, Alan C. Folmsbee. If you want that in writing, send me a letter.

[Chuft-Captain]

Congratulations on your planetary repairs.

FYVP:
Bonsai with seismic map (yellow indicates earthquakes):


FYI: I still notice a certain minor flickering of the texture/model around the pole areas when it is rotating.

BTW:Did you intend for the sun to rise in the west?

Please feel free to modify, use, copy, and distribute any of these files without giving credit and without any concerns. Total permission is given by me, Alan C. Folmsbee. If you want that in writing, send me a letter.

Hope you've got lots of stamps.

[GlobeMaker]

Hello Chuft-Captain,

The seismic map is a useful application for this model. Thank you for posting
the images and critiques. The Sun rises in the west for this model, but I did
not intend that to happen. Someday I will publish a new model that corrects
the orientation and the polar flickering issues. Also, the textures can be
aligned better so the coastlines on the textures match each island and
escarpment. When those match, I will assume that gradual slopes will also
match textures better. The seismic activity for the mid-atlantic ridge would
then be expected to lie on the top of the ridge, not its east slope.

It took 1000 hours of engineering work to get this far. It may take a few more
hours to fix the minor issues at the poles and for the texture re-alignment.
This present version needs to be appraised by a few more Celestians before
I post the final versions on the Motherload. New versions may use 100x
exaggeration of elevations. Do you think the 200x elevation exaggeration
is too much?

[Chuft-Captain]

Also, the textures can be
aligned better ... The seismic activity for the mid-atlantic ridge would
then be expected to lie on the top of the ridge, not its east slope.

Depends on whether the model or the texture is in-accurate.
You prob. need to get your hands on a high-res texture which you know to be geographically accurate in order to fine-tune your models. I can't vouch for the accuracy of the texture I used.

New versions may use 100x
exaggeration of elevations. Do you think the 200x elevation exaggeration
is too much?

Prob. somewhere between 10x and 100x will be better. A smaller contour will also allow the option of adding atmosphere and clouds without looking too outrageous.



Good luck.

[GlobeMaker]

Response to Report of Flickering of Textures on Bonsai_Earth_200x

Chuft-Captain reported, "I still notice a certain minor flickering of the texture/model around the pole areas when it is rotating."

Summary
I examined this issue and my conclusion is that there is no flickering of textures anywhere on the Bonsai_Earth_200x. However, there are "staircase movements" visible, especially at the poles. Please consider the following discussion of these movements, which are potentially noticeable on every object on your computer monitor. These are not caused by textures, they are caused by edges of objects drawn with digital imprecision.

Discussion
The motions reported I call "staircase movements". These are most noticeable on the Bonsai_Earth_200x because of the fine level of precision of the .3ds model. The fineness of detailing causes very small 3D edges to be rendered by your 2D monitor with a rough level of detailing. My monitor uses 1280 by 900 pixels. The Bonsai_Earth_200x uses a 1 degree grid of triangles, arrayed across all latitudes and longitudes. In the South Pole region, the spacing between triangle edges can be much smaller than that which can be resolved by a 1280 by 900 array of pixels. The CRT monitor screen displays a squared-off approximation of the details. This rectilinear array produces a "staircase" of pixels for one edge in front of any background shapes. When the background shapes also are spaced closer than can be resolved by a computer monitor, multiple staircases are put in motion next to each other. These adjacent motions are generally not related to each other. This gives a perception of random flickering. This is not an error, it is a perception.


Evaluations of Several Objects in the Solar System

Earth (standard sphere) : The standard Earth was placed in front of the Sun to make a partial eclipse. The edge of the Earth was zoomed in upon until the horizon looked flat. Staircase motion was seen.

Deimos (.cmod) : The moon of Mars called Deimos was observed so that an edge of a bulge was seen in front of a depression on Deimos. Staircase motion was seen.

ISS (.3ds) : major flickering was seen on two solar panels. Textures are suspected to cause this glaring mistake.

Bonsai_Earth_200x (.3ds) : Staircase motion was seen, and not just at the poles. Look near the equator in South America using earth.jpg texturing. Notice there is a valley high in the Andes called tha Altiplano. In this valley enjoy Lake Titicaca and its environs. Staircase motion was seen where tall peaks eclipse the blue lake, which has plentiful fresh-water fish and friendly, welcoming residents.

Bonsai_Mars_200x (.3ds) : Staircase motion was seen, and not just at the poles. The dry, radioactive, partial vacuum is not suitable for human life. The soil could kill a cockroach.

Bonsai_Venus_200x (.3ds) : Staircase motion was seen, and not just at the poles. This planet has surface features that are less steep than those on Earth and Mars. The warm atmosphere is easily habitable by flying creatures, as well as by balloon dwellers. The long days are legend. The long nights are full of a rich variety of acids, fluids, and energy differentials. Venus is highly recommended to the human traveler who is well heeled. Immigrants will not even notice the simulated staircase motion.


Solutions
One solution is to make the shapes at the poles not represent the available geographical facts, but to be smoothed over. Another solution is for you to tape wax paper sheets over your monitor to blur these unpleasant details. One alternative is to wear eye-glasses that blur everything on the monitor to a small degree. Another choice is to use a monitor and computer that render using a "vector display". With this vector display system, edges will be painted as curves, not staircases.

[NoXion]

Holy crap! Those look good! I can't wait to give that Bonsai Earth an atmosphere...

[GlobeMaker]

The Celestia Motherload now has all six models of planets that I made,
with texture mapping added by jestr.
http://www.celestiamotherlode.net/catal ... system.php
They can be downloaded from the Solar System page. They are called :
Venus 1x
Venus 200x
Earth 1x
Earth 200x
Mars 1x
Mars 200x
These 3D models come with two choices of vertical exaggeration of topographic elevations: 200 times and 1 time (no exaggeration).

[Liar]

BTW:Did you intend for the sun to rise in the west?

Chuft-Captain - which model are you refferring to in wich the sun rises in the west?

If it's the Earth model that you're talking about, please ignore this message

If it's the Venus model, were you aware that Venus actually *does* see the sun rising in the west? It's the only planet in the solar system that rotates in the opposite direction to Earth.

(Apart from Uranus, which 'rolls' on an axis that lies along the plane of the solar system...)

[GlobeMaker]

Hello Liar, if that is your real name,

The old models had the rotation directions wrong, so that is what Chufty
was talking about. THe present models have this corrected so Mars and Earth
both have the Sun rising in the East. Venus rotates in the correct
retrograde direction for the .cmod model you downloaded.
Thank you for your interest in terrestrial planets.

The Globe Maker