3DMars update

[Cham]

I gave up trying to place a model in the right place with a ssc file long ago. It was really frustrating and confusing. Fortunately for me I learned that by orienting the model correctly before exporting it to cmod, Celestia places it in the right place without ssc file adjustments.

cartrite,

there's a very simple way to place an object (properly oriented on a planet's surface) using an SSC definition, and without having to rotate the object in the modeler. This is a good thing, since some users may prefer to place that object on another body, to create another scene (I'm doing it very often with addons from other people). I already published the formula on the forum, a long time ago, so you may need to do a search on the forum (I'm at work right now, so I don't have access to my home ressources to give it back to you).

About the model's seams visible in Celestia, you may try Runar's trick : try to use a texture with some transparency at the model's edges, so the model may fit bettter with the background texture. I'm not sure this could be done with your models...

[cartrite]

I don't think welding them would work cause the lower res mesh doesn't have anything to weld to. There could be a hundred or so points, all with different z values but only two on the lower res mesh. I think the tool to do this in Blender is called "merge". When ever I tried that it created a real mess.

I may be able to decrease the number of points by a factor of 2 for every line of points that move away from the whole until the meshes even out, then modify the z values a second time in that area buy the average of the z values taken from a boxcar area of a yet to be determined size. And then repeat the process around the whole perimeter.

cartrite

[danielj]

Strange!My 3dmars.zip have only 3 files:mars.ssc,mars-mons-valley-131.cmod and the readme.No texture file at all...
It is THIS FILE that is in Motherlode.The more complete addon is too slow in my system!

The old version didn??t work at all.I unzip it to Extras in Celestia 1.5.0 pre3,but Mars was messed up.The planet become featurless,only with the Valle Marineris and the Tharsis Mons,and for most part,grey.And when I tried to change the texture to a 4k one from Don Edwards,Celestia simply crashed.I will try with Celestia 1.4.1!

danielj,
Assuming you got the 3dmars model from the Celestia Motherlode, I can't see that model getting anything less than 45 fps with a 7000 series card. True if you can't put more than a 4k texture on it then a planet wide 4k in not that good resolution. Version 2 of the model can be found here. I thought you had this model. If this model runs too slowly, it shouldn't, I was saying you could scale down the 4k textures that comes with it to 2k textures. Pixel for pixel thats still a lot bigger than a planet wide 4k for the areas covered.

PLEASE don't confuse the model at my site with the model in these last few pages. The model shown above that created the images on this page and page 4 is experimental and has not been released to the public yet.

cartrite

Here is a file list from 3dmars/textures/medres/

Code: Select all

mons0.jpg
mons1.jpg
mons2.jpg
mons3.jpg
mons-norm0.jpg
mons-norm1.jpg
mons-norm2.jpg
mons-norm3.jpg
spec.jpg
tex-spec.jpg
valles0.jpg
valles1.jpg
valles2.jpg
valles3.jpg


Celestia comes with a texture called mars.jpg
If you did not rename that file the model will use it.

Code: Select all

#celmodel__ascii



material

diffuse 0.878431 0.878431 0.878431

specular 0.498039 0.498039 0.54902

texture0 "mars.*"

normalmap "norm.*"

specularmap "spec.*"

end_material



Notice that the model looks for a file called norm.something.
That file used to be in the folder but I think I removed it to decrease the file size. I forgot to mention that in the instructions. If you have a normalmap of mars, copy it and rename the copy norm.something and replace something with whatever file format the normalmap is in. Example: If you have a normalmap of mars called mars-normalmap.png, name the copy norm.png. mars.* and norm.* do not have to be in the model directory. They will be found if they are in the celestia/textures/medres folder too. After you get that right, the features like the normalmap and specular highlights only work in ogl2. If you had a file in your Celestia folder called mars.png or mars.jpg or something, you should have seen it. Apparently you don't. As for Celestia 1.4.1. The model was not made for it so they will not work. It's enhanced features were meant for Celestia 1.5 and will only work with Celestia 1.5, or the cvs version.

cartrite

[cartrite]

Cham,
Would that really work on a submesh inside the model with it's own material definition? Would it be able to place the object below the planets radius? For what I'm doing now I don't think I could approach pixel for pixel accuracy with a ssc file. I'll give it a try though if I could find it.

At the resolutions I'm working in though, if there is a .001 degree error that translates into about a 10 to 50 pixel error which simply will not do. With the images I'm processing with ISIS, I sometimes spend hours recalibrating the camera model to correct the instrument pointing spice data so I can mosaic the images without seams. It would be a shame to go through all that only to place them inaccurately on the globe. This accuracy would also be needed when I try to place 2 ultra meshes side by side each sharing a common set of xyz coords along an edge.

cartrite

[cartrite]

Danielj,
The file list is from the model your calling too slow that is available at MY site. The model on the Motherlode has NO textures. It is set up to use the textures used by Celestia.
cartrite

[ElChristou]

I don't think welding them would work cause the lower res mesh doesn't have anything to weld to. There could be a hundred or so points, all with different z values but only two on the lower res mesh...

Ah yes, such merge need the same number of points on the edges of each pieces...

[cartrite]

Just to make sure that I'm on the same page with all who are reading this, the images I posted above where done on a fly to illustrate a point. I made no effort to correct any problems. But these same problems do affect my real efforts. I was only trying to show "How I orient models". A method that I came up with, developed, and improved as time went by over the last few years. I'm used to it and I'll probably stick with it. Anyhow, as soon as I closed Blender everything was discarded. Except that low res mesh that I call the coverage area that was highlighted in yellow. I used that to get minimum and maximum values for xyz so I could export the MEX dem properly.

My goal here is to write my own software to create and render these models. Hopefully, when I reach this goal, I'll be able to integrate this software with Celestia somehow.
cartrite

[danielj]

ALMOST there.Actually I get about 36 fps.Maybe the CPU doesn??t help or even the driver is not optimal...I??m using Forceware 162.18.Here??s the pictures:

http://img100.imageshack.us/my.php?imag ... respy6.jpg
http://img100.imageshack.us/my.php?image=3dmars2te6.jpg


It??s interesting but without self textures,Ctrl+G becomes useless.You CAN??T go very near.

danielj,
Assuming you got the 3dmars model from the Celestia Motherlode, I can't see that model getting anything less than 45 fps with a 7000 series card. True if you can't put more than a 4k texture on it then a planet wide 4k in not that good resolution. Version 2 of the model can be found here. I thought you had this model. If this model runs too slowly, it shouldn't, I was saying you could scale down the 4k textures that comes with it to 2k textures. Pixel for pixel thats still a lot bigger than a planet wide 4k for the areas covered.

PLEASE don't confuse the model at my site with the model in these last few pages. The model shown above that created the images on this page and page 4 is experimental and has not been released to the public yet.

cartrite

[cartrite]

Danielj,
In case you don't know already, the model in the image you showed is not 3dmars. It is the grand canyon of mars. Two totally different models. The grand canyon model has 3 sized textures. You should be able to switch between them by typing "R".
cartrite

[danielj]

The problem is that no Mars2 was generated;so it appears that the 3dMars didn??t work at all.Worse than that,Celestia 1.5.0 pre 3 was automatically translated to Portuguese(or Spanish);so it can??t recognize the Mars2 model.Do you have any idea what can I do?

Danielj,
In case you don't know already, the model in the image you showed is not 3dmars. It is the grand canyon of mars. Two totally different models. The grand canyon model has 3 sized textures. You should be able to switch between them by typing "R".
cartrite

[cartrite]

Danielj,
1st. I need to know what model, models you actually have. List all the different versions of the models you have and where you downloaded them from. I need actual .zip file names here.
Translations, I don't know anything about that. Someone else will have to help you there.
cartrite

[danielj]

Ok,i??m using 3dMars lores in Celestia 1.5.0 pre3.
The model is mars-mons-valles-131.cmod and I??m using Don Edwards??texture "Mars_4k-050104.dds"

Here are some pictures of the actual thing:
http://img215.imageshack.us/my.php?imag ... resdb6.jpg
http://img215.imageshack.us/my.php?imag ... es2gb1.jpg

As you can see,I can get frame rate between 25-45 fps.But it is the actual Mars that is modified and when I have 3dMars,I can??t use the high resolution texture MDMI21 anymore.

Danielj,
1st. I need to know what model, models you actually have. List all the different versions of the models you have and where you downloaded them from. I need actual .zip file names here.
Translations, I don't know anything about that. Someone else will have to help you there.
cartrite

[cartrite]

Danielj,
I try this one more time.
The 3dmars.zip from the motherlode uses a planet texture called mars.*. mars.png, mars.dds etc.
Those files can be in the folder Celestia/textures/hires,medres,lores or Celestia/extras/3dmars/textures/medres. The file mars.* can not be called anything else unless you modify the model or the ssc file.Depending on what version of Celestia you are using, you may or may not be able to modify the ssc file. The safest thing to do is copy the Mars_4k-050104.dds file and name it mars.dds. You will still not see much at the distance you were in your images with the model at the motherlode. You'll need the model at my site for that.
cartrite

[danielj]

But in the site,you say that EVEN your video card displays the model at around 20 fps.So it wouldn??t be very useful.I know I can resize,but to resize a VT texture is very difficult!

Danielj,
I try this one more time.
The 3dmars.zip from the motherlode uses a planet texture called mars.*. mars.png, mars.dds etc.
Those files can be in the folder Celestia/textures/hires,medres,lores or Celestia/extras/3dmars/textures/medres. The file mars.* can not be called anything else unless you modify the model or the ssc file.Depending on what version of Celestia you are using, you may or may not be able to modify the ssc file. The safest thing to do is copy the Mars_4k-050104.dds file and name it mars.dds. You will still not see much at the distance you were in your images with the model at the motherlode. You'll need the model at my site for that.
cartrite

[danielj]

Things finnaly improve a little.I think it is the extra 1 GB of RAM.I can get reasonable frame rates at around 20-21 fps( a 5fps incerase over previous configuration).Look:

http://img403.imageshack.us/my.php?imag ... ainqc6.jpg
http://img61.imageshack.us/my.php?image ... litef1.jpg

I used Basic Rendering.Now, everything is OK.I have NO MORE complains!

But in the site,you say that EVEN your video card displays the model at around 20 fps.So it wouldn??t be very useful.I know I can resize,but to resize a VT texture is very difficult!

Danielj,
I try this one more time.
The 3dmars.zip from the motherlode uses a planet texture called mars.*. mars.png, mars.dds etc.
Those files can be in the folder Celestia/textures/hires,medres,lores or Celestia/extras/3dmars/textures/medres. The file mars.* can not be called anything else unless you modify the model or the ssc file.Depending on what version of Celestia you are using, you may or may not be able to modify the ssc file. The safest thing to do is copy the Mars_4k-050104.dds file and name it mars.dds. You will still not see much at the distance you were in your images with the model at the motherlode. You'll need the model at my site for that.
cartrite

[bh]

I have NO MORE complains! ... :lol:

[fsgregs]

Cartrite:

I've tried to download your latest revised version of 3D mars, but the links don't seem to work.

Could you post the link to your 4K full-color 3D Mars add-on again?

Thanks

Frank

[cartrite]

The host site "sitesled.com" that I use is having problems. I couldn't connect to the site since last Saturday. I can't connect to any of their sites. I did connect yesterday, but couldn't log on. Then nothing again. I don't know whats on? .

If and when the site comes up, the model is still there. It is not that new though. It is the same model that has been there for a while now, except for a minor change I did a couple of weeks ago. Most would not notice any difference.

As for my plans for a real update, I'm not sure. The preliminary model upgrades I did looked promising. However, I am currently stalled due to problems projecting the different source data from the different missions to a uniform standard. Mola, Mex, MRO, etc.

I am also waiting for another data release from the CTX camera. I have about 10 or so mosaics started from the Vallismarineris area but they are only 2 image mosaics. I did do 2 of them with 3. Hopefully the next update will have data to fill the gaps.
cartrite

[cartrite]

Hi all,
My site's provider has been inaccessible, which makes my site inaccessible for over a week now. I can't access anything that is on the sitesled domain. I've heard nothing about whats going on and I guess it's time to start thinking about looking for another web host. If and when I do I'll let you all know.
cartrite

[cartrite]

This is freaking weird. Today I got disgusted and tried to set up another site. I went through all the motions and was trying to log on for the first time and the logon failed. Then I couldn't access that site. Not even the main setup page that I started with. I was ready to blow a cork. Then for some reason I tried the forum from my original site while I was logging tcp packets with a network traffic analyzer program and to my surprise the forum site came up. So did my site. I asked what happened at the site's forum but no one replied with an answer yet. Anyhow, for now at least, the site is back up. Mysteries of life.
cartrite